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In this day and age, amd with all modern communications, surely it’s not too hard to have the Reserves up until 9:30/10:00 on Saturday morning. As already said, gives the trainers the chance to check their horses on the morning, assess the ground conditions, etc
Too many times in Racing we hear all the reasons why something can’t be done. C’mon be pro-active, I know there would be bookmaking problems, but if there’s a will there’s a way.I know I am a relatively uninformed newbie compared to most on here, but surely the chances of a short odds, highly-fancied horse being substituted from the reserve list and upsetting the odds must be virtually nil.
Considering that, of the 40 horses who make the final cut, a large percentage of them are regarded as almost no-hopers at 100-1 or more, then the chances of a really good horse being left lurking on the reserve list must be nil. Any substituted horse is going to be one with a very remote outside chance (a la Foinavon) and not going to affect betting odds at the top of the tree.
So the idea that a brilliant horse might suddenly pop up and bo**ox things up is very, very far-fetched and not worth worrying about, isn’t it?
Or is there something here that I am not getting?
As has been said, with 24 hour betting, there is no way you can have horses added to a race once the final field has been set, not on the day of the race. Imagine putting a bet on at 9am only to find the winner wasn’t available to you to back when you placed it, or having reserves in the betting only to have massive rule 4s when they don’t get in.
In this day and age, amd with all modern communications, surely it’s not too hard to have the Reserves up until 9:30/10:00 on Saturday morning. As already said, gives the trainers the chance to check their horses on the morning, assess the ground conditions, etc
Too many times in Racing we hear all the reasons why something can’t be done. C’mon be pro-active, I know there would be bookmaking problems, but if there’s a will there’s a way.A total non starter, I don’t give a monkeys about bookmakers but it would create chaos on the betting markets and is not required. 39 runners is enough anyway.
So the idea that a brilliant horse might suddenly pop up and bo**ox things up is very, very far-fetched and not worth worrying about, isn’t it?
Or is there something here that I am not getting?
I think that assumes there are no progressive types lurking in the lower 130s and high 120s who, with natural improvement, may easily have coveted a mark in the 140s had the handicap for the race been drawn up at the five-day decs (giving them a better chance of getting into the race) rather than two months in advance.
In general terms, high ranking in the handicap is best not always equated with perceived attractiveness as a Grand National aspirant. It was only last year, after all, that Joes Edge was only guaranteed a run within 48 hours of the race, yet was sent off the 8-1 co-favourite based on far more credible exploits in marathon chases than a lot of those further up the weights than him.
And let’s not forget, Contraband’s rating – however inaccurate it may or may not increasingly be – may ensure that he has only 16 above him in the weights, but every last one of the 23 below him in the list has greater pretensions of staying the trip than him.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
The owner of Contraband deserves a damn good kick in the balls. There is no reason on earth for that horse to be in this race. (This has nothing to do with my Joes Edge bet……)
In previous years any reserve runners were running from so far out of the handicap that they didn’t stand a chance; this year all of the reserves were within the handicap, so I’m hoping for a 100/1 shock winner – condolences about Joe’s Edge though; I was on him last year and was on tenderhooks up to the last minute.
On a slightly different subject but still related, how pathetic was the fine given to Nigel Twisten Davies? What the hell was he supposed to do run Ardaghey in yesterday’s race and the National?
On a slightly different subject but still related, how pathetic was the fine given to Nigel Twisten Davies? What the hell was he supposed to do run Ardaghey in yesterday’s race and the National?
Can’t have it both ways MCFC Stan, should decide whether to be a reserve or a runner yesterday, cost someone a run yesterday.
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