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Racing at Ayr had to be abandoned after after seven of the twelve horses were involved in a nasty pile up during the Up To £125 Free Bet At Victor Chandler.com Handicap.
Earlier in the day another rider parted company with the two-year-old Jigajig approaching as he neared the line in the Victorc Chandler.com Median Auction maiden Stakes.
A heavy downpour could have been the cause and with such torrents becoming heavier and more frequent these days, maybe more attention should be taken to the state of the ground after such a deluge.
The safety of horse and rider must come first.
CORRECTION, Jigajig’s rider parted company with his mount AFTER the winning post.
Sorry.
The safety of horse and rider must come first.
And is anyone suggesting it does not?
By the way on a very pedantic point, it was six of the horses involved in the main incident, Neon Blue came down independently. That, of course does not make it any more acceptable.
Also it is questionable as to whether the ground was wholly responsible for the Jigajog incident.
Notwithstanding the above observations, what happened at Ayr is not acceptable and it is not as if it is the first time they have had such issues.
I believe the BHA, in the guise of the Inspector of Courses need to take a long hard look at Ayr to try and get to the bottom of what the problem is with their racing surface and if the matter cannot be identified / resolved I think their licence to race should be suspended.
I’d guess that the basic cause of this problem is over-watering, or to be more precise, too-frequent watering.
The firm ground upon which the rain fell probably only had shallow roots, so the surface layer got ripped off the substrate. You could say the racing surface just fell apart.
Was a nasty sight to watch but thank heavens all horses and jockeys came back apart from Joe Fannings collarbone.
Ayr does have a problem with its bend which goes downhill and is also tight and as was mentioned horses on the flat do go very fast around it.
They should move next Mondays meeting to Hamilton or Musselburgh so they can have a longer and more detailed look into it, although it is the Glasgow Fair Meeting and they will get a massive crowd coming in from the City the main thing is to make sure the track is fit for racing.
Ayr does have a problem with its bend which goes downhill and is also tight and as was mentioned horses on the flat do go very fast around it.
Racecourse director Stuart Morrison noted on RUK that the bend is no more tight or sharp than equivalents at Haydock or Redcar, but does occur one furlong closer to the finish of the race (3.5f out or thereabouts) than at those two courses (4.5f out) and is therefore traversed that bit more frantically. Significant? Accurate? You decide.
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.
I’d guess that the basic cause of this problem is over-watering, or to be more precise, too-frequent watering.
Overall that may well be the case, although do note that the course hadn’t been watered since Thursday prior to today’s meeting.
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.
I have watched the replay several times now and I think we are very lucky the worse we are looking as is a jockey with a broken collar-bone (although of course not lucky for Joe Fanning – who looks like missing Goodwood) and a horse, Balwearie, with a broken jaw (being treated at Glasgow University)
Racing is certainly getting more than its fair share of bad publicity at the moment – and we still have the Karl Burke ruling to come.
Horrible incident and as I am no expert on landscape gardening, I have no idea about causes. However, as the jumps course is inside the flat track, could Ayr possible start the turn for home sooner, cutting across the jumps course and thus making the turn for home less sharp. Obviously this might impact race distances by 50 yards but that must be a price worth paying.
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Racecourse director Stuart Morrison noted on RUK that the bend is no more tight or sharp than equivalents at Haydock or Redcar, but does occur one furlong closer to the finish of the race (3.5f out or thereabouts) than at those two courses (4.5f out) and is therefore traversed that bit more frantically. Significant? Accurate? You decide.
gc
Unfortunate comparison with Haydock, which has had more than its share of problems on its home bend, and not for dissimilar reasons?
I know this is probably a daft question but do horses in, say, eventing wear a different kind of shoe to the lightweight racing plates that horses have, therby having a bit more grip?. I realise that this wouldn’t make any difference if the ground was unstable in any way.
Unfortunate comparison with Haydock, which has had more than its share of problems on its home bend, and not for dissimilar reasons?
Haydocks problems have nothing to do with its bends and everything to do with its Clerk of the Course. At the recent meeting there on the 3rd of July, Paul Hanagan described it as
firm
when he walked it, the official going report called it
good
, the jockeys said it was riding
good to soft
and the bottom bend was railed out to avoid the
soft
patches on that part of the course. Almost a full house in going descriptions at the same meeting for the hapless Kirkland.
At least Katherine Self had the good grace to head back out to sea.
Does anyone know if some of these courses are literally falling apart because of the amount of water they put on them these days?
Yes; I did read that but, memory like a goldfish, I’d forgotten. Did think to myself that any heavier footwear would cause problems if a horse suffered an overreach, but didn’t think of joint problems.
What about the (eventual) post race interview with the Ayr officials on RUK!
They didn’t realise, or accept, that there were two separate incidents; it was argued that the fall(s) happened on the straight and not the bend; and that it was caused by a slowing horse falling back.
As the studio guy said, the pictures told us more than the interviews, and the interviews seemed to demonstrate denial…..
I saw Jigajig at close quarters the other week and the animal in question is a bit of a handful to say the least.Might have contributed although to be honest I haven’t seen today’s footage..
It reminded me a lot of the 1989 Portland at Doncaster. It looked shocking, but luckily there were no fatalities. It could have been a lot worse for sure.
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