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On a semi-related note, a big thumbs up to Stratford for framing at least one of the three non-hunter chase races on the Friday card in such a way as not to attract large fields – or at least, fields so large that any of these showcase hunter chases run the risk of stabling-related balloting out.
Only a few years ago, there was the wholly unsatisfactory situation that the lady riders’ hunter was limited to eight or nine runners due to the proliferation of big fields in some of the other events, albeit admittedly when the hunter chases had to share the Saturday card with the likes of the Gambling Prince Trophy.
That situation improved when the four hunters were moved on to the Friday evening card, along with a 2m3f hurdle, a 3m3f hurdle and a 2m4f novice handicap chase. No recourse to balloting.
That situation improved even more this season with the novice handicap chase being converted to a straightforward novice chase, which obligingly cut up to four runners. Definitely no recourse to balloting!
There is the danger, of course, that that decision may be reversed hurriedly on account of such a small field, but I’m sure I speak for many in the hunt racing community when I thank the Stratford executive for making this change however temporarily, in the likely knowledge that the race would attract fewer takers than it did in its handicap incarnation.
I must register one note of complaint, though. I was working at Stratford on Friday evening and the viewing from ground level, never great at the best of times, was as bad as I’ve known it on account of the Stratford Food Festival tents erected in the centre of the course.
I’ve got slightly divided loyalties on this one, as I’m a sucker for a food festival and was pounding the flags of the Bakewell farmers’ market only a day later; and the imperative for a racecourse, not least an indie like Stratford, to open up other revenue channels through the hosting of these sort of events, is well understood.
If coordinating such events to coincide with race meetings is the way the course intends to go from here on, however, can it at least be done at the same time as investing in some more extensive stands (even additional temporary ones if needs be), please? Without the giant screen provided, following all of the action would have been beyond the gift of most people not lucky enough to be watching from a corporate box.
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.
Viewing at Stratford has been hopeless for ordinary racegoers ever since the new stand was built. It’s just an expensive place to watch racing on TV.
As for the water jump issue, it seems to me on reflection that the BHA should spell out in the rules exactly what is required of riders on tracks that have a fence bypassed on the run-in. And then show the effect of the rule at each course on the map the jockeys are required to check in the weighing room.
At least that should ensure it’s clear to everyone whether or not the jockey that leads over the last has to leave room for a challenger at the elbow.
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