NH season start-finish dates

[Cruella]

Since the end of the NH season has become something of a moveable feast in recent years, does anyone have a list of the official start/finish dates since 1996/97 onwards? Or can anyone point me in the direction of where to find said info?

[apracing]

Cruella,

Last day is the Sandown meeting featuring the Betfred / Attheraces / Whitbread Gold Cup, normally the last Saturday in April and I’m fairly sure that has been the case for all of the period you mention.

The start of the season is the next day.

You can find out the exact date by searching for that race on any results database, such as the Racing Post site.

AP

[Pompete]

2005-06 – Sunday 24th April to Saturday 29th April
2006-07 – Sunday 30th April to Saturday 28th April

[Drone]

According to Timeform’s numbering of races in their database:

96/97 Perth 6/6/96 – Stratford 31/5/97
97/98 Perth 5/6/97 – Stratford 30/5/98
98/99 Hereford 1/6/98 – Hexham 1/6/99
99/00 Perth 3/6/99 – Sandown 29/4/00
00/01 Fontwell 1/5/00 – Sandown 28/4/01

So the the current format of finishing on ‘Whitbread’ day and the new one starting immediately afterwards has been the case since 00/01. Can’t remember the actuality but presumably this was when the term ‘summer jumping’ was introduced encompassing May, June, July, and August.

[Cruella]

Thanks all, especially Drone – I had worked out from earlier RP results that the ‘Whitbread’ marking the end of the season must be a more recent innovation, so thanks for those earlier dates.

[graysonscolumn]

So the the current format of finishing on ‘Whitbread’ day and the new one starting immediately afterwards has been the case since 00/01. Can’t remember the actuality but presumably this was when the term ‘summer jumping’ was introduced encompassing May, June, July, and August.

"Summer jumping" actually existed as a recognised term right from the inception of June and July jumps racing in 1995 – certainly in terms of racecourses that were allowed to participate and the watering strictures they were expected to follow thereafter.

In the interests of completeness, the start and finish dates for the first ever 12-month jumps season are;

Perth 8/6/95 – Stratford 1/6/96

So, then, summer jumping as we have come to love it started on the former date above with a two-day Perth meeting, John Quinn’s Eriny officially being the first ever summer jumps winner. Saturday June 10th 1995 saw jumps meetings at Worcester and Market Rasen provide some light and shade on Derby day. As if to disprove the theory that the early years of summer jumping witnessed wall-to-wall tiny totals of runners, that Worcester card featured 103 runners.

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.

[Drone]

Thanks for that GC

If I’d made the effort to check the 95/96 season as well not only would I have been reminded that the Computer Timeform database started at Perth on 8/6/95 but also these introductory words:

Summer jumps racing got under way at Perth on softish ground which suited the lightly-raced ERINY, who opened his account over hurdles in a slowly-run event…

I really should know, but could you clarify just what the BHA consider to be the ‘summer jumps’ season at present? For example is the busy ‘new season’ in May (more meetings than October) included in the definition.If there actually is one.

As may be obvious I pay little attention to the NH ‘seasons’ and trundle on regardless year-on-year-on-year-on… though do wind down during high summer

[graysonscolumn]

Drone,

The summer jumping season, in so far as it was the section of the year not previously featuring jumps racing, was originally defined as running from that Perth meeting in June through to the Stratford card on the last Thursday of July. The day after the latter sees the return of Bangor, which had been the accepted starting venue of the jumps season from 1990-1 to 1994-5.

From an administrative point of view, I don’t know if that is still the recognised definition. From a watering point of view, I’m pretty sure it isn’t – enforced watering to prevent all hard and most firm going certainly extends further through the summer. From a marketing point of view, C4 seems to have decided that the Bluesq.com meeting at Market Rasen at the end of September marks the "grand finale" of the summer season.

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.

[Author]

Posts