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Is this true?
Kim Bailey, Paul Kealy and Mick Fitz on the morning line all stated this was the case but my understanding is that Newcastle have made their fences significantly softer in recent seasons like many other tracks.Courses just don’t want fallers any more and have reduced the risk.
Are there any tracks left in Britain with big fences that need some jumping? Ruby said the other week that even Cheltenham fences are easier to jump than some Irish ones.
I would say newbury, the last ditch there is as big as anywhere nowadays and as for cheltenham…there Is a lot of give in them nowadays, indeed the 2nd last on the old course and the 4th last on the new course are now trolly fences
Tend to agree in that these days Newbury seems to appear to have the stiffest fences in the UK. Kempton probably not far behind.
The Newcastle fences still appear to be a reasonable test to me.
Agree that overall fences appear much softer then a decade ago (even Cheltenham has a fair amount of give in them).
Some places (Market Rasen & Musselburgh) have fences which are little more then brush hurdles. Sadly, Haydock’s aren’t much tougher. Conversley, this seems to have resulted in more fallers as horses and jockeys take more liberties around these tracks.
This is not just a trolley-dolly thing as Ireland is (I think) 100% trolley-dolly but places like Fairyhouse take a fair bit of jumping.
This has some details of attrition rates
https://www.timeform.com/Racing/Article … ,_part_one
But attrition rates are not the same as difficulty of fences, due to feedback and likelihood of better jumpers gravitating towards courses with fences that are difficult to jump.
Interesting article, Simon, thanks.
I’ve no data to offer, but just from watching over the years I suspect that many tracks have softened their fences. I see horses hitting the birch so low that it’s hard to believe they stand up. Again, no data, but perhaps many falls these days are more through ‘technique’ errors than ‘simply’ hitting a fence low down. By this I mean, horses who make errors which affect their balance so badly that they cannot stay on their feet; landing very steeply, slipping on landing etc.
When I was at Aintree in the mid-1990s, the Mildmay fences were so tightly packed, I could have walked the length of one on top of the birch without sinking too far. You could lean against one with your full weight (and mine, at that time, was pretty substantial), and it would give no more than two inches. They’ve been thinned out a lot since then.
Poor weather and not feeling well lead to me watching a lot of racing this weekend. I noticed that Fontwell’s fences seemed quite stiff. Some of the smaller courses still have real jumps. Southwell’s looked more like the brush hurdles they were using.
What I have noticed are how few courses have a water jump now. Where do they still have one apart from Sandown, Cheltenham and Aintree?What I have noticed are how few courses have a water jump now. Where do they still have one apart from Sandown, Cheltenham and Aintree?
I think Newbury has one and also Huntingdon, Wincanton and Market Rasen. These are the first that spring to my mind. But, I could be wrong too.
https://www.timeform.com/Racing/Article … ,_part_one
Thanks for the link! I didn’t realise that 2m 4f is the most frequent distance to be run in chases.
There’s no water jump at Market Rasen these days, and the one at Huntingdon is a sort of virtual water using coloured plastic on the landing side.
Other tracks that still have a traditional water jump would be Exeter, Ludlow, Stratford, Perth and Cartmel. Not sure about Leicester but the Post course map still shows it there as the first fence in the back straight.
Yeah Leicester still has a water jump.
However like Sandown its in the back straight and invisible from the stands, in my view water jumps should be situated right in front of the stands such as Ludlow and Newbury do
I agree. I only knew there was a water jump because the commentator said so. There’s no big screen either so it’s pretty pointless for racegoers.
The water jump at Auteuil is quite spectacular and demanding as well. But the horse seem to jump it very well and it is one of the "easier" fences at the track.
If you go to Youtube and enter ‘Grand Steeple Riviere’ in the search box (for some reason there’s no direct link), you’ll find a 1m 30 sec piece from Equidia talking to Jacques Ricou about the water jump, or Riviere Des Tribunes, with plenty of action shots.
I agree. I only knew there was a water jump because the commentator said so. There’s no big screen either so it’s pretty pointless for racegoers.
Very harsh, imo, wanting them to jump a big screen
Poor weather and not feeling well lead to me watching a lot of racing this weekend. I noticed that Fontwell’s fences seemed quite stiff. Some of the smaller courses still have real jumps. Southwell’s looked more like the brush hurdles they were using.
What I have noticed are how few courses have a water jump now. Where do they still have one apart from Sandown, Cheltenham and Aintree?I think this is still accurate
https://theracingforum.co.uk/horse-r … mp#p434454
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
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