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http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-ra … t7DaysNews
Yeah, sure. Bringing yet more low grade AW racing into being really will "enhance Newcastle racecourse as one of the pre-eminent racing and events venue in the UK."
Who do they think they’re kidding!
Replacing the predominately low grade turf racing which currently makes up most of the flat cards at Newcastle?
Rob
No fan of all weather racing but makes sense to have a track in the north of England, and as robnorth said the majority of Newcastle’s existing flat action hardly sets the pulses racing.
I decided many years ago that trying to keep up with the increasing fixture list was impossible, so something had to give. I no longer take any interest in the flat all weather racing at Kempton, Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton. Looks like Newcastle will join the list.
You can imagine the ATR introductions on a winter’s Friday/Saturday evening…..
"Welcome to another night of competitive (yes, we know it’s rubbish, but those bookies still need more of your money!) floodlit action from Newcastle and Wolverhampton."
Where’s that remote…click.
Looks like the jumps track will be unaffected and may even gain additional fixtures, so not all bad news.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Oh dear how sad for racing.
To me it is slowly but surely sounding the death knoll for racing as we know it.
I cannot stand the stuff and if you look how many stewards enquiries and why they ran badly explanations on the BHA website the vast majority are to do with the all weather. I wonder why.It is poor low grade racing the majority of the time and those who follow it and say they make a profit I take my hat off to you beacuse it is just like computer racing to me. No rhyme nor reason.
We seem to be getting more all weather and how they expect to attract new people to racing with this is beyond me.
Just my opinion though.
I decided many years ago that trying to keep up with the increasing fixture list was impossible, so something had to give. I no longer take any interest in the flat all weather racing at Kempton, Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton. Looks like Newcastle will join the list.
I’m in the same camp as you for the precise opposite reason…..I decided to specialise in all weather racing and I don’t want more work to do !
There’s enough fixtures to keep me busy without adding any more
On the more general matter…….Newcastle is a track that I’ve never had a handle on, it seems non-descript with no features that can give you an angle. There’s very little interesting racing there. Basically it’s a track that I’ll always overlook if there’s racing elsewhere on that day
So it would be no great loss to me if turf racing ended
I can understand an AW track in the far North, but floodlit all weather should be like dog racing with horses (basically think Wolverhampton – which works because it has – or had as it’s been about 15 years since I’ve been there – a dog race atmosphere), in other words a tight track where the action doesn’t stray too far from the stands.
Whereas the Newcastle plans seems to be involve replacing the turf with AW which seems a bit perverse as I think part of the track (never been there mind) is out of sight from the naked eye.
Suppose Arc think they can attract the Geordie P!$$heads every Friday or Saturday night. Wor the lads!
Either that or if it gets rejected they will build a couple of thousand houses on the site!
Once again the anti non turf brigade trot out their usual racing is doomed because it’s not on turf argument. As Rob has intimated all they are doing is replacing low grade turf racing with low grade non turf racing. With the exception of the Northumberland Plate meeting most of the racing at Newcastle is Grade 5 and 6, I would take a guess at 80-85% but all of a sudden because it may be run on an artificial surface it is the end of the racing world as we know it.
Bizarre
Listen the only reason this is happening is because All Weather is what ARC and ATR have to work with.
What else can ATR do now they have lost Ascot it will not be the last course they turn into an all weather that is for sure.
If Doncaster wasn’t built on untouchable common land know doubt they would have turned that into one but make no mistake ARC’s future is in All Weather expect one of the tracks in the West country to be next in my view.
We now have a pattern Racing UK Flat and Jumps, ATR All weather and small jumps and Irish.
Looks like the jumps track will be unaffected and may even gain additional fixtures
…And this detail, peripheral to the main headline as it may appear, is actually the most telling thing of all to come out of the whole story as far as I’m concerned.
Simply put: from where are the additional jumps fixtures going to be sourced?
ARC is absolutely within its gift to bid for them, of course. It’s equally at liberty to transfer fixtures from elsewhere within its portfolio.
Similarly, ARC can simply translate most of Newcastle’s 18 currently programmed turf Flat meetings (barring the Northumberland Plate one, it would seem) to the new synthetic surface and none more than that, for all that this would make it by a very long way the least-used non-turf course in the country. Again, however, it’s equally at liberty to transfer fixtures from elsewhere within its portfolio.
If one of the major motivations for initiating an artificial surface course up north has been to counter the geographical disparity regarding how such courses are currently distributed, then to me it follows that ARC will think this is best achieved by Newcastle’s new track replacing one in the Midlands.
Ally that to that aforementioned suggestion of adding to the Gosforth Park venue’s jumps fixture portfolio, and the final pieces of the jigsaw come together.
In short: if the idea for Newcastle’s synthetic course gets the go ahead in the New Year, I genuinely – and sadly – think that Southwell will be toast within a year or two of that.
gc
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.
Looks like the jumps track will be unaffected and may even gain additional fixtures
…And this detail, peripheral to the main headline as it may appear, is actually the most telling thing of all to come out of the whole story as far as I’m concerned.
Simply put: from where are the additional jumps fixtures going to be sourced?
ARC is absolutely within its gift to bid for them, of course. It’s equally at liberty to transfer fixtures from elsewhere within its portfolio.
Similarly, ARC can simply translate most of Newcastle’s 18 currently programmed turf Flat meetings (barring the Northumberland Plate one, it would seem) to the new synthetic surface and none more than that, for all that this would make it by a very long way the least-used non-turf course in the country. Again, however, it’s equally at liberty to transfer fixtures from elsewhere within its portfolio.
If one of the major motivations for initiating an artificial surface course up north has been to counter the geographical disparity regarding how such courses are currently distributed, then to me it follows that ARC will think this is best achieved by Newcastle’s new track replacing one in the Midlands.
Ally that to that aforementioned suggestion of adding to the Gosforth Park venue’s jumps fixture portfolio, and the final pieces of the jigsaw come together.
In short: if the idea for Newcastle’s synthetic course gets the go ahead in the New Year, I genuinely – and sadly – think that Southwell will be toast within a year or two of that.
gc
You are probably right about Southwell, Southwell has costs ARC a fortune in flooding repairs and lost days and it’s reputation as the joke track of UK racing doesn’t help plus it’s lack of floodlights hasn’t helped it.
It could be ARC would want to increase their all weather portfolio tracks then again in order to try to get all weather more popular they need Newcastle to bring all weather up to a higher standard and if Great Leighs ever gets reopened then Southwell is really doomed.
ARC could be taking a risk Great Leighs can’t get a race if they don’t get it right could Newcastle end up being a similar white elephant.
I have no problem with low class racing on synthetic surfaces in the UK. If there is a financial case for low class racing, so be it. But why has the UK not moved on, progressed, taken the initiative about the use of synthetic surfaces in better class races? In the last year in the USA, there were over sixty Group-class races on synthetic suraces, fourteen of them Group One. I know that Santa Anita dug up its sythetic track two years ago, but progress is sometimes like that, three steps forward and then one step back. But at least the USA is thinking about, and taking action on, the future of race course surfaces. See: http://www.drf.com/news/tracking-development-synthetic-racing-surfaces
Does the BHA care two hoots? I know they have long term problems with concepts like leadership and taking responsibility, since they are always keen to off-load that sort of stuff to others, or to just keep quiet about it. Hardly what one would call a dynamic approach, except in the area of regulation.
There was talk at one time of Newbury developing a synthetic track, but given their looking-to-the-past approach about most things I am pleased that it did not happen. Perhaps Jockey Club Racecourses will take a bold step by switching money from the maintenance of one of its two Newmarket courses to develop a round course (with a straight sprint) synthetic track instead. A lot of Newmarket’s Summer meetings are all about entertainment, so get rid of the July course and replace it with a flood-lit synthetic track. They could also take fixtures from some of the other turf courses who seem unable to provide a good customer experience (!!!) That could encourage better class racing in the Summer on the current synthetic tracks and leave the lower-class stuff, for the other eight months of the year. For the future sake of UK racing in a global sport, I hope that we see top-class racing on sysnthetic surfaces sometime soon.
It will be interesting to see whether Jockey Club and co let ARC expand the all weather or if they decide they want a piece of that action too from previous experience they will want a piece of it.
RUK have bid for Irish Rights, American, South African in the past they will not allow ARC/ATR to get in front on the all weather circuit for long.
The pros and cons of conversion to ‘all-weather’ aside, a number of points come to mind.
Newcastle’s track is 1m 6f round, plus another four furlongs of chute for the striaght mile. That’s a lot of track to be laid and maintained, a significant amount more than any other artificial track previously laid in the UK.
If they light the whole track then that’s a serious amount of floodlighting to be put up, a lot of energy consumption and potentially significant ‘light pollution’. Granted the track is in a tree-lined park, which perhaps mitigates somewhat against the latter.
I just wonder if they would build floodlights to cover just the straight track and just hold races up to one mile under lights? From experience of a straight track only meeting at Newcastle it’s not riveting watching, but then if Newmarket can do something similar on a regular basis…
If they wanted to floodlight the round course and reduce costs shortening the circuit might be considered. However, shortening the round course would present diffculties as it would cut through the Northumberland Golf Club, and I would presume that would put the noses of a few local worthies out of joint.
I must say I would be tempted if they were able to hold some decent class meetings. I’ve nothing against racing on artificial surfaces and the north could very easily support such a circuit. I do think this particular scheme has one or two significant fences to scale.
Rob
Rob , good post well thought out !!
However we both know it will be populated by class 5 , 6 , and 7 races , dross for the bookies , dross for ATR , and loads of dross for punters who attend …
I imagine its only a question of time regarding Newmarket or some other grade 1 track joining in , at least they will have some quality racing on show
Ricky
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