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….First of all, note I used the former name of the Ayr race and didn’t use the English prefix on the Aintree contest.
There is only one Grand National – and that’s the one run at Liverpool, same as there is only one Derby, which is run on Epsom Downs.
Anyway, while switching order of this season isn’t quite as sacrilegious as running the 2,000 Guineas after The Derby would be, it nevertheless strikes me as particularly stupid
Thoughts?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I’m sure we’ve already had a thread on this. Tried to find it, but the search function on this forum is terrible.
Apologies if that’s the case.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It does seem a strange decision, especially since Easter should not make any difference.
I have always thought Scottish National Saturday is one of the best of the year, with the mix of good jumping action at Ayr and high quality Flat action at Newbury.
This year it will be jumps cards from both venues, with Newbury’s being overshadowed.
That appealing mixed Saturday has now gone missing for three years, thanks to lockdown in 2020, the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in 2021 and a quirk of the calendar in 2022.
I think it’s for one year only because of the clash with Easter.
It doesn’t make any sense to me as the Scottish National has traditionally attracted horses who didn’t make the cut for Aintree or didn’t get far in the National. Obviously those horses will still be aimed for April 9th rather than Ayr.
Christian Williams actually said yesterday that he has aimed two horses for Ayr as the Scottish was going to be weaker this year.
Considering that every year this contest makes the top 10 races for betting turnover it makes no sense to change the date.
I completely agree with the above.
Red Rum did the Double in 1974 and I feel sure that never would have happened if the races had been the other way round.
There is IMO only one Grand National but, that said, the Scottish National is still a great race in its own right and a tremendous spectacle.
I hope neither contest suffers as a result of this absurdity.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I think the date for The Grand National has been pushed out too far in recent times.I’m sure we’d be told this is to accommodate other fixtures which are themselves being run too late. April 2nd would have been far better and more in keeping with tradition. Then look forward to Ayr the following week (unless it’s Easter).
100% agree.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Easter is being blamed but the fault lies with the 2,000 Guineas being run in April at not May and BHA wanting jumping done and dusted so as not to detract interest from the flat.
Thank goodness Ayr agreed to move or it would have been 2 week gap between Cheltenham and Aintree this year.Easter is a week earlier next year so I suspect the National will be on the 1st April with Ayr two weeks later.
Now that racing is permitted on Good Friday one might have thought that the annual headache of fitting the fixture around the ‘movable feast’ of Easter was over
Presumably Ayr did not want to race on Good Friday, if so why not?
Or were Lingfield insistent that they should have their big Good Friday meeting ‘to themselves’?
I don’t think the date of the Guineas meeting has anything to do with it as it’s long been run on the weekend it is this year, which by a quirk of the calendar happens to be 30th April & 1st May. Last time this happened was 2016 and next year will see the shift of the fixture list forward a week which happens every 6 years; so will in all likelihood be run on 6th & 7th May 2023, from which it will shift back again to 30th April over the ensuing 6 years
Reason that the date of a certain day shifts backwards year-on-year is because 365 days is 52 weeks 1 day and the cycle is 6 years not 7 because one of those will be a leap year
Sorry to be pedantic Drone but the next 30th April/1st May weekend after this year will be 2033 as two leap years fall in this period one being 2028.
You have to think if you will be even here to see that Drone
Well spotted Homer, I overlooked that there could be two leap years within a 6 year period. On checking further, one has to go back to 2005 for the year the Guineas fell on 30th April prior to 2016: a period of 11 years which ties in nicely with your 11 year wait for the next one
Nearer 80 than 70 in 2033: Evens each of two nursing home and six-foot under; 4/6 and 6/4 you?
The Irish National falls on Easter Monday; I’m sure I read somewhere last year this is the reason for the switch.
“one has to go back to 2005 for the year the Guineas fell on 30th April prior to 2016: a period of 11 years which ties in nicely with your 11 year wait for the next one”
Sorry Drone wrong again. Frankel’s guineas in 2011 also fell on 30th April. You will have to go back to the 11 year period between 1994 and 2005 for the 11 year gap. There is always 28 years between these anomalies hence this next one being 2022 to 2033. Kind of works out – leap year every 4 years * 7 days per week = 28.
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