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Faller at Plumpton on 4th November. Sadly reported deceased on 7th. Looked a promising type. R.I.P.
He was very promising and still very young. Yet again the only horse with no chasing experience dies when running first time out over fences in a Nov H’cap Chase. Happened only less than two weeks ago at Newcastle to a Lucinda Russell chasing newcomer, I think. There is just one reason why it’s a race for Novices….
May he rest in peaceScamallach Liath ran in a handicap chase that was open to experienced horses as well as novices. I think this might be what ERL had meant to write, though he has written Nov H’cap Chase.
Presumably the point of novice races is to give inexperienced horses some racing experience in a slightly less pressurised environment. Where such races form a significant part of the sport’s current structure, it does seem silly to me that horses are allowed to circumvent them and go straight into open company. If nothing else, it opens the sport up to criticism and defeats the purpose of what novice races are for.
I appreciate some horses are more natural jumpers than others, and trainers may sometimes make a reasonable judgement that it is OK to run their horse straight in open company. However, I would like to see the rules changed to disallow this (e.g. first three runs must be in novice company perhaps). Preventing this from happening would also help to keep novice fields a healthier size.
RIP Scamallach Liath
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