- This topic has 52 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 6 months ago by
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they’ll have to have a re think before the next cross country race, surely, as all the horses will end up trying to follow the same route and there won’t be enough room for them!
How on earth can the hedges and bushed not be considered as the boundary of the course when part of the course has rails which also has the hedges alongside so in reality they are both the boundary.
And the stewards who said its ok must be the thickest people in the world, you may aswell drive on the wrong side of the road as their no road sign which says keep to the left only.
Neil
I really can’t see the problem. The course layout was explained to the riders before the race, and surely in this race in particular the riders would take careful note of the course. Davy Russell certainly did take note and benefitted from it.
The route from one fence to the next in this instance was a direct route, what’s wrong with that. It’s a cross-country race which by its nature means there will be some quirks.
Rob
Good stuff, Alan.
No problem with Russell’s enterprise, and wasn’t involved financially, but every year something crops up here and if the hedges aren’t a boundary, what’s the point in them? To make it look pretty whilst compensating for the fact that the race attracts some equine pensioners who aren’t good enough to win normal races?
I have no problem with cross-country races tbh, and am content to enjoy them as a spectacle. In many respects, this type of added drama merely adds to the intrigue!
The races are a novelty and, as such, hold absolutely no interest as a betting medium for me.
Another shambles today. Does anyone actually have any interest in this nonsense?
hi smithy!yes,i definitely have,and theres quite a simple reason:pure excitement!and that is,IMO,what jumps racing is all about.
andy :D
Judging by the crowd that went out onto the course loads of others love them too Andy . For goodness lighten up you lot. It is nice to have something a bit different at times and the race was a fine spectacle with a great finish including a dead heat for fifth. 9 in with a chance coming to the second last, are we quaranteed to see that in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
Stop knocking them and enjoy them for what they are, an exciting spectacle which takes us back to the very beginnings of steeplechasing. I’d rather have them than any number of Class 6 nonentities on that dreadful all weather.
For goodness lighten up you lot. It is nice to have something a bit different at times and the race was a fine spectacle with a great finish including a dead heat for fifth. 9 in with a chance coming to the second last, are we quaranteed to see that in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
Stop knocking them and enjoy them for what they are, an exciting spectacle which takes us back to the very beginnings of steeplechasing.
Couldn’t agree more with that, Bob. The total number of races held in the UK each year runs into five figures – how much would it really inconvenience you vehement opponents of the cross-country races to keep your wallets in your pockets for just four races a year, for crying out loud?
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.
Another shambles today. Does anyone actually have any interest in this nonsense?
Plenty. Next question.
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.
compensating for the fact that the race attracts some equine pensioners who aren’t good enough to win normal races?
“Normal” is relative.
I think I remember from our Sprotsnam days that you always did very well in the all-weather races at Southwell, and certainly it’s the only artificial surface course on which I back myself to find winners regularly.
Isn’t the uniqueness and incongruity of the Fibresand track next to others in the country just another manifestation of a “not normal” racing challenge, though, and with that the mulitple winners at the track not winners of “normal races”?
I could labour the point further and mention those turf courses that offer singular challenges, such as the figure of eight chase course at Fontwell, but I trust the point is understood, whether agreed with or not.
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.
I’ve rubbished these races at various preview evenings as ‘The Ever Decreasing Circles Chase’ or ‘Three Laps of a Garden Centre’.
Like a dwarf in the bottom class – it’s not big and it’s not clever.
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.
- Total Posts 17716
Maybe there is a compromise?
Cross-country races could be run before or after the real racecard, like bumpers, the Mascot Grand National etc. are, then those who are only interested in the actual sport of horse-racing could do their own thing?These races are fantastic. They allow me to get to the bar and get served within a semi-normal timeframe.
i like these races. Aside from today, they are not unreliable betting mediums but more importantly, great to watch. Everyone should go centre course sometime and see…its quite something
as for today….well as in the best sports..the spirit should be paramount.
And it wasnt.
Maybe there is a compromise?
Cross-country races could be run before or after the real racecard, like bumpersMaybe there is a compromise?
Cross-country races could be run before or after the real racecard, like bumpers…Or we could just call it a bumper and leave it where it is?
Jeremy,
I have no problem with anyone that enjoys these races – variety is the spice of life. There are even people who like Cartmel for some reason, even though those present see next to nothing of the racing!
My personal objections to the Cheltenham set up are:
1. The construction of the cross country track on the infield was largely responsible for the long running problems of fast ground conditions at the early season meetings and the Festival. The removal of the pasture to create the track meant that water ran away and/or evaporated faster than previously, lowering the water table across the whole course area.
2. It was not introduced as an exciting new addition to the variety of races, but as a combination of cold calculation and vanity project. The calculation from the management concerned increasing the attraction of the November meeting to Irish visitors. The vanity from the original sponsor who just happened to own a top class elderly chaser that he thought would be able to run in the races.
3. Cheltenham is already under a spotlight with regard to equine injuries and fatalities, just as it was at the time this track was built. I could see no possible benefit in giving the ‘antis’ another potential stick with which to beat NH racing. A death on the cross country track would have provided them with an ideal propoganda opportunity – ‘horses forced to jump banks’ etc. That hasn’t happened, but in my view, it remains a potential problem.
I’ve no issue with cross country races per se, but I just don’t think Cheltenham is the right place.
- Total Posts 17716
There would certainly seem to be little point in using the hedges to mark out something which might easily be construed as a course, only to render them pointless unless planted in conjunction with a ‘C’ marker.
Why not just use the hedges as a guide and, perhaps unthinkably, do away with the markers altogether?
It’s no wonder racing suffers under the BHA.
Thought John Francome summed it up most succintly on today’s Morning Line with his pithy; “Bloody ridiculous, having bushes in the middle of the track”.
Is this horse-racing, or orienteering?Someone on the Betfair Forum said something similar Reet – they don’t need the BHA they need the Ordinance Survey
Don’t disagree with all you say Alan but our fences are already very samey – compare that to abroad where there’s banks, hedges, spreads, oxer’s, proper water jumps (with safety adaptations I must add), ditch and rails and they seem to have lower fatality rates than the up hill and down hill birch fences we have in the UK and Ireland.
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