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We have this debate every year.
This afternoon, Ascot will host a big crowd with loads of newcomers to racing – particularly youngsters – enjoying a rare, or maybe first-time, day out at the races.
For
one
afternoon of
one
day in the year, racing tries something different, something original, that gets widespread positive media coverage. The response is typically overwhelmingly negative.
Shall I tell you what ‘real’ racing fans want? They want to moan like buggery about everything. It’s unbelievable.
Anyway, if you are going to Ascot, have a great time – everyone else there will be!
Mike
Quality post and I agree with every word.
Seconded.
The narrow-mindedness of the moaning tendency makes me despair of the future of the sport, and people wonder why racing doesn’t seem to be able to reach out to the big world beyond.
Thirded
It’s a novelty, fun event that was never designed to appeal to we ‘purist’ bores and its position in the calendar during the ‘high holidays’ of August and hiatus between Goodwood and York is an ideal time for such frivolity
Were Ascot unhappy with it then they would have in all likelihood done away with it sometime ago
There’s plenty of ‘regulation’ racing that doesn’t interest me personally but I just choose to ignore it, not dismiss it
An entertaining but different spectacle from the norm that I’m sure was enjoyed by all on-course today
I never watched it today, so maybe the annoying updates on the latest "team" scores aren’t done anymore.
It may be "different", it may be "novel", "groundbreaking"even, but it’s still a blxxdy daft idea. Maybe some youngsters will enjoy it, but they’ll probably have enjoyed it because of the racing itself, not the "team" angle of it. Just because something is "new" or "novel" doesn’t automatically mean it’s any good.
Or maybe I’m wrong; maybe little Johnny will have enjoyed it SO much that he’ll pester his parents to take him racing again. Just imagine:-
DAD. "Johnny, you enjoyed the Sergar Cup day so much, I’m going to take you to Cheltenham tomorrow."
JOHNNY. "Thanks dad, I’ve been looking at the 2 day decs and can you just tell me which team A.P.McCoy is in?"Fourthed anyone?
Always creates a certain amusement where people attempt to take the higher ground but are effectively just moaning about others moaning. What’s worse?
Without an occasional moan I suspect there would be very little change, good or bad.
I agree that, if I had bets these days [few and far between] I’d ignore it from that perspective. But, if I was trying to encourage my family to take an interest in racing it would be a good event to take them to. And I actually enjoyed todays coverage.
Me too Moehat, first time for everything.
I was rooting for The Girls.
Value Is EverythingThe American girl was awesome. Am I right in thinking that Olivier Peslier rides Ascot very well
? I had a friend who used to back him a lot at a certain course, and I thought it was Ascot.
Yes we have this discussion every year and I normally pop up to defend it!
As others have said it’s a one-off day and hugely popular with the racegoers who like it’s relaxed ambience. Even Richard Hughes pointed out that the crowd far outweighs King George Day and there is a buzz around the place.
You can say the crowd is down to the concert but lots of other courses also have concerts – often with bigger current names – and I think the actual racing does appeal to the family market.
My 11yo daughter – who normally doesn’t watch racing on TV – was glued to it throughout the day and was cheering on her favourites. She totally got the team element and it was a very positive experience for her.
I was a bit concerned about the concept of the girls team but they did prove they are as good – if not better – than the men (without any advantages) which is a good thing for the public to take on board.
I’m certainly glad that it’s gone away from the original – flawed – concept of the teams chosen by their country of ownership. That was a disaster.
The world class jockeys which are show cased certainly add something to the British Calendar. Last year we showcased Jo Moreira who went on to take the racing world by storm and this year Emma-Jayne (who is Canadian by the way) showed that she’s top class. They also demonstrated how well overseas riders communicate with the media.
The team thing does rile some and I can see why. However the jockeys are also chasing the Silver Saddle (and the cash that goes with it) so they are definitely out for themselves, as they should be.
The quality of the racing had dipped in recent years but the cash injection has meant better quality runners and really competitive racing this year. No less than 12 runners were rated 100+ and the lowest rated runner on the card was 82.
It’s a special day which works well for the huge on course crowd and was enthusiastically presented by More 4 and Channel 4.
Fifthed.
A fun event, a bit different, and what a star that Canadian jockey is. Tough as old boots in a finish and a personality that puts some of our jocks to shame. We need her over here!
I’m sure everyone attending had a great day out. I know I enjoyed it although it was so obvious that C4 wanted the girls to win.Very much agree with Adrian although I watched it on RUK rather than C4. Find it hard to understand the vehement animosity towards the event from some.
A few extra observations about the event, the early start was a bonus, wished more meetings started a bit earlier rather than all aiming for the 2.00pm mark.
The "Girls" team should obviously be renamed "Ladies" team.
Although understanding the arguments against it, would still like to see all the riders ride in all the races. If we can have reserve horses then surely we can have a reserve jockey in the unlikely event of injury or illness? I’m sure there would be no shortage of volunteers.
The biggest negative for me and one that detracted considerably from my enjoyment of the actual races were the coloured silks. When watching races I like to know which horse is which and just found the similarly coloured silks too confusing, it didn’t help that the commentator also got confused by them.
This could be solved by having individual coloured silks, eg 1 team could have black, brown, blue, another red, pink, orange etc.
On the topic of commentators why don’t they have a top commentator for the event? Mike Catt this year, Croc last year and Mike Vince previously.
Although they wont all obviously be available, they need a Hunt, Holt, Howes, Johnson or Machin for it. His C4 contract may have precluded him doing it but it was disappointing to hear Holt calling a mickey mouse meeting at Lingfield instead.
I never watched it today, so maybe the annoying updates on the latest "team" scores aren’t done anymore.
It may be "different", it may be "novel", "groundbreaking"even, but it’s still a blxxdy daft idea. Maybe some youngsters will enjoy it, but they’ll probably have enjoyed it because of the racing itself, not the "team" angle of it. Just because something is "new" or "novel" doesn’t automatically mean it’s any good.
Or maybe I’m wrong; maybe little Johnny will have enjoyed it SO much that he’ll pester his parents to take him racing again. Just imagine:-
DAD. "Johnny, you enjoyed the Sergar Cup day so much, I’m going to take you to Cheltenham tomorrow."
JOHNNY. "Thanks dad, I’ve been looking at the 2 day decs and can you just tell me which team A.P.McCoy is in?"A ‘novelty’ rather than ‘novel’ then?
Do you have evidence that the reason it was introduced was primarily to encourage a new generation to become interested in racing?
If so, I agree with you that it won’t; but naiive old me thought it was just meant to be ‘silly season’ high jinx and not envisaged as a means to an end
I didn’t watch it either and don’t recall ever having sat through the whole show but – and I recall mentioning this on a previous year’s dissing thread – I was once in my local WMC on Shergar Cup day, supping their delectable Sam Smith’s Dark Mild and the regulars were having a whale of a time discussing ‘team tactics’ ‘how many points do ‘we’ need to win’ and other such trivia
So plenty do enjoy the novel novelty
I also agree totally with Betlarge……the Shergar Cup is what it is and it does what it says on the tin……there is NO bad news.
By far the most worrying thing here is how it brings out the cynicism,bitterness,snobbery and negativity that abounds in forums like this over something that is a bit of take it or leave it fun.
I have been cynical previously but I put it on (recording) last night and found it curiously enjoyable. Tight finishes and slightly better horses than in previous years.
Just sorry that Channel $ didn’t spend time looking at the runners in the two group races elsewhere.
Overall I think there coverage has improved a bit, but it is still boring with too much analysis and interviews.Went once. It was OK. I don’t really like handicaps but I thought on this day all the riders will be trying – no instructions from the trainer to "let him settle"
It was interesting seeing the foreign riders as well.
However I resented paying an inflated price because of the concert so guess what I DIDN’T GO AGAIN. So if you don’t like the whole thing that’s the easy answer, don’t go, don’t bet on the races. Try newmarket or haydock.
And I really don’t think there is any agenda to attract newcomers and so on … the agenda is to make a profit, just like any other enterprise, and I guess they achieve that every year.
Yeats there are a couple of reasons why they jockeys only ride in 5 of the 6 races.
Firstly it means that if there is an injury/illness or late arrival (like at Haydock) there are a couple of jockeys who could ride so we wouldn’t get non runners.
Having a top class reserve jockey just standing by wouldn’t work. They would rather go and ride at other tracks even if (like the reserve horses) you paid them to be there.
Secondly it allows the jockeys who are resting to do some media work (Channel 4/RUK/Press) so that they can convey to the viewers what it is like to participate.
Thirdly some of the international jockeys aren’t riding regularly at this time of year. Therefore they feel 5 rides is plenty. Remember in events like the Hong Kong jockeys competition they only ride in 3!
I don’t think it should be taken too seriously, OK it is not perhaps ‘relevant’ in any great respect to anything, but it does provide an event which can be marketed in a different way to a standard ‘big race’ day and I am sure that there are people who are engaged by the team/competition concept who normally don’t get switched on by each race being a stand-alone event (see Adrian’s comment re- his daughter). I’m sure it’s the sort of thing that would have engaged me as a youngster.
Even now, as an old cynic,I found myself avidly watching the last couple of races to see whether Wilson could beat Peslier. I even had a few quid on her in the race where she dropped the whip and was touched off…
But the glaring thing for me, mentioned several times by Graham Cunningham on Ch 4, was the ease and readiness with which the visiting jockeys approached the media interviews they undertook. Our lot could learn a lot, if they were bothered about it which, frankly, I don’t think they are. I thought it was bizarre, for example, that Queally wasn’t present on the Morning Line with the other captains (there may have been good reason but if he can’t fulfil the media requirements then appoint someone else captain who can).
I’m not sure what the answer is, or how to make it happen, but one thing that is sorely missing from our racing scene is personality and personality sells. That girl made more of an impact on the public yesterday than most of our leading jockeys have done during decades in the job.
Exactly. When was the last time you saw one of our jocks whooping with joy as they skipped into the weighing room. I had never realised that sort of unbridled joy and outgoing personality was missing from the sport, but this event has highlighted the gap in spades. It was an eyeopener if nothing else.
I actually like what Insomniac suggested earlier in the thread. Why not showcase the Shergar Cup around the whole country? Let’s have the spectacular event staged at all the thirty-odd Flat turf tracks in Britain in turn, say in alphabetical order, perhaps? So we would begin with Ascot (again!), followed by Ayr, then Bath, Beverley, Brighton, Carlisle, Catterick….and so on. Now that would be even more of a novelty, wouldn’t it?
Considering the huge crowds Ascot manage to attract for the event every year, it would be interesting to compare crowd sizes with the same event staged at the smaller tracks around the country, especially around the northern circuit. And come the always popular York’s turn, in about thirty-four years’ time,……….who knows what will happen?
Then again, dreams don’t ever come true, or do they?
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