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I find Champion’s day a bit ‘odd in that there are all sorts of Champion’s races throughout the season.
At this time of year it feels like the flat season should be winding down after the Cesarewitch, with the November handicap drawing a close to the turf season.
Now, the focus should turn more to the jumps.
Champion’s day feels like one of those crackpot British Racing ideas, trying to over engineer something that does not need to be.
I still feel all these years later that my idea of making the Balmoral handicap into a national lottery sweepstake would increase interest for the day at least ten fold.
There, about 20 joe punter’s would each have won a million quid or more, and major charity’s received much needed funds.Even on here there were objection’s and no enthusiasm, so there it ended.
Shame as it may have made some of us willing to give this a go a ‘pretty penny’ to bring the idea to life, and also an opportunity to raise their name as a major fundraiser.
“tbh I’d much rather have softer ground on Champions Day rather than a combination of tight turns, draw bias, very firm ground and too many races in the Breeders Cup.”
With very few exceptions (like the Kentucky Derby where 20 horses are squeezed into a 12-horse space) there isn’t a significant post position bias at any of the tracks used for the Breeders Cup. Certainly it’s not something that I normally take into account in handicapping the event. The ground for the Breeders Cup is given more water than usual to accommodate the complaints of European trainers and judging by the success rate of the European turf horses the horses don’t seem to mind.
I do agree there are too many races. The juvenile races should all be consolidated into dirt and turf and the dirt mile eliminated since it just seems to draw good horses away from the classic.Why don’t they use the covers used to protect from frost in harsh winters to prevent excessive rainfall from getting into the ground when exceptional weather events are forecast? It’s not rocket science. Just a bit of bin-liner material covering the track.
OK. But waterproof covers are (relatively) cheap. For such a high profile meeting, it shouldn’t be beyond the wit of man to get a thin bit of polythene over track for a few hours when exceptional rainfall is forecast.
The USA have the Breeders’ Cup.
The French have Arc weekend.
We have, err, six Flat races, this year potentially on a Hurdles track which is marginally less of a quagmire than the Flat circuit and was trampled all over by the great unwashed in the cheap seats on the inside during Royal Ascot.
You’ve got to smile – completely unwatered all summer, grass actually turns yellow at times during heatwaves, Nicky Henderson won’t run Constitution Hill on it in November, surely as a direct consequence, yet letting nature take its course produces a more raceable surface for so-called Champions’ Day than the overwatered Flat track.
Finally, why did Ascot’s CoC need John Gosden for company while walking the course?
“What completely unbiased advice, which couldn’t possibly benefit any of his own entries, was Gosden offering?” I hear you ask, dear reader.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“OK. But waterproof covers are (relatively) cheap. For such a high profile meeting, it shouldn’t be beyond the wit of man to get a thin bit of polythene over track for a few hours when exceptional rainfall is forecast.”
100%.. its “Champions Day”. They need to start acting like it
Cricket season is over, just about. Even some club cricket teams and private schools have the big covers. I know it would take a loads to cover the course but every year its the sameCharles Darwin to conquer the World
BC (and US racing in general) leaves me cold for many of the reasons Ginge has just stated – Champion Day was better when it was the Fesitval of British Racing back in the day and held at Ascot in September.
Hey ho, I may not like that it was a totally manufactured event and that Newmarket was done dirty to get here but this is where we are now but at least some of the soft ground performers will have an actually chance to shine….we have also been fortunate over the years that some of the top horses by and large either enjoyed getting their toe right in or were still just good enough to overcome testing conditions.
I do think currently that the Balmoral Handicap should be done away with altogether (it sticks out like a sore thumb) so that we at least finish the day off with the Champion Stakes as the crescendo of the who meeting rather than….oh by the way you can’t go yet as we have a 20 runner handicap to finish the day.
If they really have to have a handicap race on the card maybe they should put on a series of 5 qualifying handicaps (first 4 home are in) throughout the season with the Balmoral being the series finale and bump up the prize money to £150k to the winner (its currently £103K) and make it the first race of the day instead.
“At this time of year it feels like the flat season should be winding down after the Cesarewitch”.
That is sort of how I see it as well. I enjoy the Dewhurst/Cesarewitch card at Newmarket, which is in effect the end of the Flat as far as I am concerned.
Ascot on heavy ground does nothing for me. After that it is the end of October and I want the jumps season to get going properly.
Calling it “champions” is odd, how many winners over the years can truly be called champions, Frankel comes to mind.
The more I know the less I understand.
Confirmed, three races being moved to the inner track.
The more I know the less I understand.
The Champion Stakes, for so long run on the historic Rowley Mile course at Newmarket, the Headquarters of British racing. Now run on…the jumps course at Ascot.
Ha ha, I noticed that – aka the Hurdles course. But we can’t have the most prestigious one day Flat meeting on a jumps track, now, can we?
“Inner Flat track” sounds better than “Hurdles course” or “Royal meeting picnic area.”
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The round course is described as soft, heavy in places with the inner “flat” track good to soft, soft in places.
Cue the non runner list.The more I know the less I understand.
Three Group races, including one of the most prestigious Group 1s on the calendar, being run on the jumps track is bad enough. But to insult our intelligence by calling it the “Inner Flat” track (when no Flat racing is staged on it at any other time during the year, unless you include bumpers) only makes it worse.
The day does not work. Wrong time, wrong venue. No amount of hyping it up by the racing media will make it better.
There was no need to create this day. The old September festival at Ascot and the Champions Day at Newmarket both worked perfectly well.
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