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Punters doubtless have reason to be angry after the well-backed outsider (20-1 into 8-1) Let The Show Begin was steered the wrong way by his amateur jockey Mr C M Murphy in the Cross Country Chase at Punchestown.
Later in the race, two other runners ran-out as they couldn’t get round the ‘sharp’ turn in time to face the next obstacle.
Should Mr C M Murphy face equal punishment for going the wrong way as a professional jockey taking the wrong course in a two mile hurdle? Interesting.
Shock horror, Enda Bolger trains the winner. I don’t know why they bother with these Bolger benefit, toy races.
As David Ashforth said in the following days Racing Post after the cross country at the Cheltenham Festival two years ago, "The cross country is a race where they go round & round until an Irish horse gets to the front, then they head for the winning line"
They are "Marmite" races, at the Festival I normally repair to the bar!
I love cross country races, but goodness me the one at Punchestown is poorly done up. I have no idea how ANYONE could make their way round correctly. There need to be more flags or hell road signs(!) to help those guys out.
I love cross country races, but goodness me the one at Punchestown is poorly done up. I have no idea how ANYONE could make their way round correctly. There need to be more flags or hell road signs(!) to help those guys out.
One almost went down on that stupid hairpin turn too, as well as two missing out the obstacle altogether. Ridiculous layout really.
Like a road map drawn on the back of a roll of wallpaper by a 5yo, to play with his model cars.It is really not that hard to remember. In the sport of 3 day eventing every time you do a competition you have to learn a new 2 or 3 mile track with loads of fences and jumps of different kinds along the way.
It s actually really fun as I would imagine the cross country races are. I would love to go round one of those courses one day at high speed!!
Punters doubtless have reason to be angry after the well-backed outsider (20-1 into 8-1) Let The Show Begin was steered the wrong way by his amateur jockey Mr C M Murphy in the Cross Country Chase at Punchestown.
Later in the race, two other runners ran-out as they couldn’t get round the ‘sharp’ turn in time to face the next obstacle.
Should Mr C M Murphy face equal punishment for going the wrong way as a professional jockey taking the wrong course in a two mile hurdle? Interesting.
I think the problem with giving an amateur the same punishment is that a pro may get banned for a number of days, for an amateur jockey that might be a season out.
As far as the cross country chases go, I enjoy watching them but goodness me, the courses are like a maze.
Has the course at Punchestown changed since last year [or do they change it on a regular basis?]..I don’t remember the ‘water splash’ thing before.
Not as bad as not knowing where the finish line is, mind!
I actually backed one that ran out on the final bend (Theroadtocroker) when travelling like the winner…
The three mile Xcountry course clearly needs remapping. You can’t ask horse’s to turn that sharply.
The history of Punchestown going back centuries is banks and stone walls – it’s not comparable to the Cheltenham race which is only a recent thing.
The sport of steeplechasing itself traces back to a race between Buttevant and Doneraile in 1752. It’s only right and proper that the banks course is one of the highlights at Punchestown.
The history of Punchestown going back centuries is banks and stone walls – it’s not comparable to the Cheltenham race which is only a recent thing.
The sport of steeplechasing itself traces back to a race between Buttevant and Doneraile in 1752. It’s only right and proper that the banks course is one of the highlights at Punchestown.
If that’s the case, is it not too much to expect a jockey to know his way round then?
Richard Hoilies was in todays Racing Post saying that next years Punchestown Festival x-country is to be sponsored by TomTom!
Moehat, yes they certainly USED to have an eventing course and they held an International Advanced competition there in late summer but I think they cancelled it a few years back due to lack of sponsorship
In fact I think Punchestown held the European Eventing championships around the turn of the century.
It was a very popular event in its time.
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