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This has to be a first and for a Grade 1 track too – maybe a sign of things to come?
Completely agree with the trainers’ basic premise but don’t not see how their actions will make any difference.
If rich and powerful owners and trainers boycott such races, the “little guys” will fill the void.
Yes, it would likely take all trainers/owners (big and small) to join forces which for the richer ones may not be too much of any issue but for the smaller guys/gals (that would see it as an opportunity to not have to compete against the bigger stables) it would be much harder to be on board with.
I think Newbury would/should be able to find a few more pennies behind the back of the sofas to boost prize money to an acceptable level but probably thought they could get away with what was put on offer and got caught with their proverbial trousers down by the reaction from trainers.
I accept there’s other issues here but I thought it might have been a useful home gig for some of the many lesser talented performers in the Berks/ Wilts area.
Trainers from the area spurned the 19k Magnum Classic Ice Cream Handicap at Ascot last Saturday too .Just three runners, all from Newmarket.
Prize money, yawn.
There’s a story at the bottom about a trainer who has gone to France and picked up 180k, there’s your answer if you don’t like it.
What could be more amusing than a group of ex-public school elite trainers acting like a trade union?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I think they should round up the crowd
All the sober ones so about 100 of them and have a 5 furlong race that all the non sober ones can bet on.Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Wealthy trainers bleating about prize money, while inflation is running at 10% and energy prices have as good as doubled and are set to rise further.
Maybe someone could play the world’s smallest violin in sympathy for them?
I used to have a Stradivarius I could have played but I had to sell it so I could buy 10 litres of petrol.
Newbury showing again that it’s just a pretend grade one course.same with NH with its pathetic prize money for Game Spirit/Denman Chase
Remember what Hamilton’s clerk said last week:
“We struggle to get runners and struggle to get people to watch, it’s a bit worrying. We water well, PUT ON GOOD PRIZE MONEY and it’s a lovely place for the stable staff. We try everything we can do.”
I know the best races will sometimes have small fields because there are fewer good horses but at Cheltenham this year there were only two British trained horses in the National Hunt Chase (both trained by Rebecca Curtis) and none at all in the Turners Chase, despite there being good prize money for the places.
“What could be more amusing than a group of ex-public school elite trainers acting like a trade union?” – this comment. Love it Ian!
Delighted to hear it, Tonge!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The obvious other elephant in the room is the ridiculous amount of racing and what baffles me is how trainers can often have 2 or 3 almost identical races to choose from on a busy day. Prize money wasn’t the issue at Ascot last Saturday for the 3 runner handicap pilgarlic alluded to and 2 of those 3 runners came from the same yard/owner and again today at Newbury the prize money isn’t horrendous, you’ve got a 19K handicap for instance attracting just 6 runners and what struck me about that particular race is that its a 0-100 but only 1 horse in the race is even rated above 90. There seems to be a much smaller population of 90+ rated handicappers these days I presume because they are either fast tracked for some cheap/easy black type if they are fillies or they get sold abroad.
Impressive local support for the Brampton Manor Handicap at Newmarket today. Four runners, none from so called HQ. One each from Lambourn and North Yorks. The two others are from Bernard Llewellyn’s yard at Fochrhiw at the heads of the valleys in South Wales.
The prize money for the void race was the same as that for the opening race on the card, a 2yo novice stakes which drew 11 declarations and 10 ran. Newbury should be offering better prizes, but it would appear the problem was the type of animal the closing race was aimed at rather than specifically the prize money.
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