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What’s happening with the overnight declarations recently non runners have become an absolute nightmare mostly at the last minute non just rags 1st and second favourites in the tissue and not just the odd one or two 4+ it’s just ridiculous. Every time this happens I have to recalculate everything and I just don’t have time and I don’t work. I check up to about 12 o’clock mainly with Oddschecker where the bookies are pretty quick with non runners but still not late enough when I look at the results another shed load of NR’s have appeared The system is now just a nonsense
How much must racing be losing from punters backing all the non runners? And what do the BHA do about it? Sweet FA and the silence from racing journalists is deafening, in fact most want more 48 hour decs
In fact on the whole no one seems bothered, it’s very puzzling when racing is struggling for prize money and the mess it makes of betting.
This isn’t a recent problem, some time ago I posted a similar article bemoaning the increasing number of non-runners for increasingly bizarre and eye-opening reasons, for example when given a bad draw over 5 furlongs at Beverley. However yeats is correct no one seems bothered and is deemed as just one of things, I don’t bet anymore and one of the reasons why I stopped was because of the non-runner nonsense.
I took this matter up with Wetherby last week when there were 21 non-runners out of 54 declared in 7 races. Their contention was that Soft (Good to Soft in places ) was significantly different from Soft (Heavy in places). I countered that there wasn’t much difference between a main description of going as ‘Soft’ and a main description of going which was ‘Soft’. Unfortunately they didn’t seem interested, particularly presumably since it doesn’t seem to stop people coming along to throw over-priced beer down their gullets all afternoon.
I did enjoy the afternoon’s racing, but it would have been significantly better with a full complement and any race analysis was pretty well done on the hoof.
Rob
Rob,
I doubt if many of those non runners were anything to do with the going, regardless of what excuse may have beeen given officially. The real problem is with re-opened races – the system whereby any race which has less than eight runners declared by 10 am (in this case 10 am Friday for a Sunday meeting) is re-opened and all the trainers that have withdrawn horses they entered at the six day stage are given 30 minutes to change their mind.
Given such short notice, a lot of trainers just say yes, they will declare to run after all. But later they get the chance to have a look at what’s running, discover that other trainers have taken the same option as them, and that a race they hoped would offer prize money just for turning up, is now looking too competitive. So they revert to their original decision and use the going as their reason to avoid either the six day ban imposed for self certificate or the expense of obtaining a vets certificate.
It’s a classic example of unintended consequences, the desire to eliminate small fields instead producing lots of non runners and still producing small fields.
You may remember me making the same points about a three runner race at Newbury that also had three non runners, on a thread you posted on in July last year.
Talking of non-runners Mullins quietly withdraws Vroum Vroum Mag at Sandown and yet no-one appears to be raising an eyebrow except me?
Pretty obvious call by Willie really. He had 9 horses declared for Sandown today and every man and his dog knows that if he wasn’t in the running for champion trainer they wouldn’t have been declared. So the only reason she was in that race was because of the trainers title, so when he could no longer win it he decided to wait for punchestown. Perfectly logical
Pretty obvious call by Willie really. He had 9 horses declared for Sandown today and every man and his dog knows that if he wasn’t in the running for champion trainer they wouldn’t have been declared. So the only reason she was in that race was because of the trainers title, so when he could no longer win it he decided to wait for punchestown. Perfectly logical
What is logical about it?
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Excellent decision by Mullins. Sandown in April is pretty savage on the tendons – it made no sense to risk VVM’s career in the toughest race of her life.
Pretty obvious call by Willie really. He had 9 horses declared for Sandown today and every man and his dog knows that if he wasn’t in the running for champion trainer they wouldn’t have been declared. So the only reason she was in that race was because of the trainers title, so when he could no longer win it he decided to wait for punchestown. Perfectly logical
What is logical about it?
Logical that he should withdraw her when considering the aim of running her could no longer be achieved, and when you consider that withdrawing her now means she can run in a grade one next week with more prize money and prestige up for grabs.
Nichols has withdrawn two from the last race, and Mullins has withdrawn one. Perfectly obvious that the only reason those horses were declared in the first place was because of the trainers championship. Do you really think solar impulse and ulck du lin would have ran in a grade one race if the trainers title was already decided?
Rob,
I doubt if many of those non runners were anything to do with the going, regardless of what excuse may have been given officially. The real problem is with re-opened races – the system whereby any race which has less than eight runners declared by 10 am (in this case 10 am Friday for a Sunday meeting) is re-opened and all the trainers that have withdrawn horses they entered at the six day stage are given 30 minutes to change their mind.
Alan
That certainly makes sense, since in the principal race on the card 7 out of 8 stood their ground. I explained your version to my wife whose opinion is that trainers are taking the mickey out of the racegoing public and that the authorities don’t seem bothered. This afternoon I have been trying to explain to her why only 23 runners turned up for a point-to-point on ground reported as ‘good’.
Rob
It’s not logical at all and it’s not sporting.
Willie Mullins was obviously happy to risk ruining Vroom Vroom Mag in search of what is actually a pretty meaningless title. However, he was quite happy to the spoil the race by taking the huff and pulling the horse out.
If he really had the horse’s best interest at heart he would never have entered her here in the first place.
Willie Mullins must be pretty insecure if he feels the need to win the trainer’s title in this country to prove something. It is fairly clear where the important targets are and they are at Cheltenham and if he actually felt that the Trainers Championship title mattered so much, then why not plan a proper campaign to win it, instead of a half-assed cramming in of runners at the last gasp saloon in the death throes of the season.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
It’s not logical at all and it’s not sporting.
Willie Mullins was obviously happy to risk ruining Vroom Vroom Mag in search of what is actually a pretty meaningless title. However, he was quite happy to the spoil the race by taking the huff and pulling the horse out.
If he really had the horse’s best interest at heart he would never have entered her here in the first place.
Willie Mullins must be pretty insecure if he feels the need to win the trainer’s title in this country to prove something. It is fairly clear where the important targets are and they are at Cheltenham and if he actually felt that the Trainers Championship title mattered so much, then why not plan a proper campaign to win it, instead of a half-assed cramming in of runners at the last gasp saloon in the death throes of the season.
Disagree entirely with this. What Mullins did deserved a fine but it was totally logical.
Who has said anything about ruining the mare? The trainers championship may be ‘pretty meaningless’, but it would be an excellent achievement for a trainer based in Ireland to win it, as it would for a UK based trainer to win the Irish Championship. I doubt Ricci would have wanted her entered in today’s race if it were not for the fact Willie was in the running for the championship. There are bigger pots to play for next week and at least Mullins had the decency to come out and say as much. From the owner’s point of view it makes plenty of sense to run next week. It had nothing to do with ruining the horse or the horse’s best interests.
I don’t know why you say Mullins is trying to prove something by winning the UK trainers championship? What trainer wouldn’t like to win it? I very much doubt winning it is on Willie’s to do list at the start of a season but if you’re in the running coming to the business end of things why not have a go at it?
Sounds to me like you have a dislike of Mullins SC, as much as a dislike of his actions today, which I could understand.
I thought pulling out the horses when the championship was decided was shoddy, ‘ungentlemanly conduct’, bringing the game into disrepute etc
what about the thousands of punters who had bets running on the races……all those Saturday Lucky 15s and Yankees, Placepots & Jackpots etc
what about the thousands of punters who had bets running on the races……all those Saturday Lucky 15s and Yankees, Placepots & Jackpots etc
None of them lost money by the withdrawal of the horse, in any event doesn’t that scenario apply every Saturday when there are loads of horses withdrawn? It just doesn’t apply when Vroum Vroum Mag is withdrawn.
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