- This topic has 12 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 10 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Stalls in Britain to be numbered from inside
This was reported on 2nd December 2010 and I thought it was supposed to be starting with Kempton in January 2011
It doesn’t seem to have happenned
Anyone any idea why they haven’t started trialling it?
- Total Posts 17716
Can’t see the point of trials anyway; horses don’t read numbers, and that’s virtually the only difference.
Better they don’t have them imo, at least the corruption of the form book will be traceable to one single day.I believe this overdue reform is coming in at the beginning of the turf flat season, although Jan 1st would have made a lot more sense, I agree.
Btw, what on earth would be the point of "trialling" the new system? What is there to "trial"??
Here is the full quote in the press at the time
Stalls in Britain to be numbered from inside
BRITAIN is about to come into line with the rest of the racing world, except Ireland, by numbering starting stalls on all racecourses from the inside.
At present, draw positions begin on the right, as viewed from the stands, which creates a different configuration depending on whether the track is right or left-handed.
The positioning of the stalls will not change, but punters used to taking into account any draw advantage will have to reverse the established thinking on data from 11 courses.
Those tracks – Ascot, Beverley, Carlisle, Folkestone, Kempton, Leicester, Musselburgh, both Newmarket courses, Ripon and Sandown – are being designated right-handed, along with Goodwood, Hamilton, Salisbury and Windsor, even though those four racecourses include left-handed turns.
BHA director of raceday operations and regulation, Jamie Stier, explained: “Where there’s a doubt, we’ve looked at the majority of the track.
“Some races at Goodwood, Hamilton and Salisbury, for instance, involve going the reverse way up the straight, but both have right-handed loops, and that’s how we will treat them.
Jamie Stier: BHA director of raceday operations
“The same applies to Windsor, which is a figure-of-eight but the majority of its turns are right-handed.“Newmarket is unusual in that it has two tracks, on one of which – the July course – the standsare on the right of the track, while on the Rowley Mile course, they are on the left.
“Both will be treated as right-handed tracks, because when a bend is negotiated, it’s right-handed.”
The change, which will be trialled at Kempton from the start of next year and is expected to become universal from the beginning of the 2011 turf season, has emanated from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities to examine greater harmonisation of raceday rules.
If you were starting out now that’s probably what you would do but not now with all the history, tradition and familiarity our racing brings.
Meanwhile prize money continues to plummett despite all these "brilliant" initiatives (48 hour decs, moving all the best races to a Sat etc) from the powers that be.
Race after race, day after day for 1500 quid and a Champions Day for 3 million, it’s laughable.It seems to me the BHA & RFC are doing their very best to alienate punters and owners in this country, it’s certainly worked with me.
- Total Posts 17716
But this is Racing For Change, remember, who work on the principle of
if it ain’t fixed, break it
.
In fact, one of the more sensible things they’ve done, in my opinion (now they’ve spent more time and money sorting out the consequent anomalies around figures of eight, July Course, and so forth.)
All a bit like H.M.Government gunning for quangos. It ends up costing more, and producing even greater bureaucracy….
- Total Posts 17716
Why don’t they just give the stalls handlers a brush and tin of dulux external house paint and tell them to slap the numbers on the doors. Would take about an hour and cost about 20 quid. If they want to make it a bit classy you can buy those plastic templates with numbers cut out from any art shop…..but labour costs go up as you need one guy to hold it while the other paints.
On a serious not good idee if it speeds up loading but why the hold up?
Rod Street, supremo behind BHA tinkering think-tank Racing For Change, today announced that the jockey’s cap is to be harmonised with the rest of the world.
"Yes, it’s true. We can confirm that in order to enthusynergise British racing with places like Macau, Panama and South Africa, we’re encouraging owners to invest in Pom Pom caps," Street said. "Evidence suggests that adding a cool, trendy, woolly ball of different colours to the standard jockey cap attracts thousands of young racegoers and women to the races. And that’s what racing is about isn’t it? I think we can all agree on that."
When it was pointed out to him that this initiative might be seen by enthusiasts as irrelevant in the face of the coming financial apocalypse, he shook his head and described critics as entrenched conservatives who fail to see the bigger picture.
Racing For Change’s Pom Pom Initiative is to be trialled at the Lingfield Derby Trial meeting.
- Total Posts 17716
Admirable, Max! Though personally I believe the pom-pom should be
silk
, the better to encourage an aspirational and fashion sense amongst the young males targeted by this excellent initiative.
Aussie Jamie Stier was chief stipe for six and a half years in HK, where the tracks are right-handed and number outwards from the inside.
Why do some of you guys want to confuse him as director of raceday ops at the BHA, so that he can no longer automatically think "low number = inside draw = not so far to run" ?
Rather take the idea, then encourage him to move on to North America next and harmonise away their notion that the saddlecloth/betting number has to correspond to the stall rather than the rating.
Inventor of the horseless carriage was likely also told "if it ain’t broke….".
By the way, Saleem Golam is riding in Macau this winter and no bobble caps in sight:
The change, which will be trialled at Kempton from the start of next year and is expected to become universal from the beginning of the 2011 turf season, has emanated from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities to examine greater harmonisation of raceday rules.
Has this started yet?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.