- This topic has 28 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 8 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Last week we had festival trials day at Cheltenham and then the next two Saturdays we have super Saturday at Newbury and the ascot chase but in the middle we have sandown today.
I know the weathers been bad but compared with the prize money at the above meetings what’s on offer today at sandown doesn’t cut the mustard with me.
There isn’t a single valuable two mile handicap chase before Cheltenham so why haven’t they made a the old Elmbridge chase a 100,000 handicap?
They have let this meeting slip back a lot in the last ten years so why should they still hog this Saturday slot?
I would kick it out and move Newbury and ascot a week earlier,a move that would suit them as they would be a extra week away from the festival.I had similar thoughts about the decline of the Scilly Isles Chase. As Simon Holt said on Channel 4 this afternoon good horses such as….. Best Mate have won the race recently but he couldn’t name any others and nor can I. Oscar Whiskey was lucky to win today and can’t see him being a superstar.
Last week we had festival trials day at Cheltenham and then the next two Saturdays we have super Saturday at Newbury and the ascot chase but in the middle we have sandown today.
I know the weathers been bad but compared with the prize money at the above meetings what’s on offer today at sandown doesn’t cut the mustard with me.
There isn’t a single valuable two mile handicap chase before Cheltenham so why haven’t they made a the old Elmbridge chase a 100,000 handicap?
They have let this meeting slip back a lot in the last ten years so why should they still hog this Saturday slot?
I would kick it out and move Newbury and ascot a week earlier,a move that would suit them as they would be a extra week away from the festival.With Cheltenham and Newbury cards improving it stands to reason other Saturdays will suffer R&S. Not enough good horses to go around. To be fair the Scilly Isles is usually a good race in a normal year. Again, too many graded novice chases. Today, connections of top novices reluctant to take each other on; in case they leave their Festival race behind, having a hard race on heavy ground. Doubt if more money will change anything.
I like a small gap between the biggest meetings (Cheltenham Trials and Newbury) anyway; but only a "small gap". Changing weeks would mean too big a gap between Newbury and the Festival in March.
However, you make a very good point about a valuable 2 mile handicap chase R&S. Aren’t enough of them throughout the year, let alone at this time.
Value Is EverythingNot to forget not so many years ago the 3 mile race at this meeting was the Gainsborough Chase open to Gold Cup contenders such as Desert Orchid. How the mighty has fallen but then again nowadays there are similar opportunities at Cheltenham and Newbury.
I had similar thoughts about the decline of the Scilly Isles Chase. As Simon Holt said on Channel 4 this afternoon good horses such as….. Best Mate have won the race recently but he couldn’t name any others and nor can I. Oscar Whiskey was lucky to win today and can’t see him being a superstar.
Do you think trainers and owners are saving their horses for the Cheltenham handicaps ? " The horse isn’t good enough for the Arkle so we’ll wait for the novice handicap with most money on offer "
I was surprised to hear Alice say to BG that he must be glad to be going right handed today with Oscar Whisky
On a slightly different note, I often think the sight of horses slogging through mud offers to the public a worse image than whipping.
The last on TV at Sandown was painful watching
On a slightly different note, I often think the sight of horses slogging through mud offers to the public a worse image than whipping.
The last on TV at Sandown was painful watching
A very good point. I expected today’s NH meetings to be stamina sapping (to say the least) and so it proved. There was a meeting at Plumpton on the 13th January that was bordering on unraceable IMO.
There’s a recent thread on here about the merits of low class AW racing. I think the general public would be more attracted to a Lingfield low grade race that produces a tight, exciting finish over a Ffos Las heavy ground chase with only a few finishers.
On a slightly different note, I often think the sight of horses slogging through mud offers to the public a worse image than whipping.
The last on TV at Sandown was painful watching
What really matters though Joe, "image" or actual fatality/injury statistics?
Remember the Eider a few years back? Thought they should’ve abandoned that one; even worse than today. However, may be I was wrong, it’s up to jockeys to judge the pace better. It doesn’t matter how soft a course is if jockeys go slow enough, but that can not be said of the other extreme. After all, although it may not look great "slopping through mud" it is probably safer. Much better jumping out of that ground than Firm or Good going. Hitting the ground slower and softer when falling is a good thing, isn’t a slow motion finish a price worth paying?
Today the pace was due to there being so many front runners, with some of those needing to lead to give their running. Relax jumps poorly (as he did last time) if unable to get to the front and then almost downs tools. If able to forget last time out he had a good chance. Thought Coleman gave him an excellent ride, kept on getting up alongside when seemed likely to drop away.
Value Is EverythingOn a slightly different note, I often think the sight of horses slogging through mud offers to the public a worse image than whipping.
The last on TV at Sandown was painful watching
It was amazing watching Relax today. He was moving as if he were swimming, rather than running and if you had shown him in isolation you would have sworn he was tailing off. It was hard to believe that, moving with the speed of a sloth in a quagmire, he was actually pulling away from other horses. I had to put my Sky box on fast forward times six to make it look like they were galloping today!!
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Ginger,
I don’t think anyone watching racing like that would be thinking of stats. I recall that Eider well and thought exactly the same times ten.
The reality for some of these is that, were they not in contention, they’d be pulled up. I’m not blaming jockeys – not blaming anyone really, just offering a thought on how it makes me feel
Going back to the OP, this does seem to be a meeting neglected by the Sandown executive (who seem to be concentrating on the Tingle Creek and "Whitbread" (showing my age) cards.
The Gainsborough (again showing my age) had the likes of Burrough Hill Lad, Charter Party and Desert Orchid on the 1980’s roll of honour but since usurped by Newbury’s (now) Denman Chase, while with the odd exception (Best Mate….maybe Captain Conan) the Scilly Isles is a ticket to anonymity and a joke of a Grade 1.
Agree that there is a serious lack of valuable Two Mile Handicap Chases before the Festival, especially since the Clarence House (Victor Chandler) went WFA.
Doncaster briefly pimped up their Mansion House at an additional fixture for a couple of years in the mid 2000’s (also had a good 4miler on the card too
) but that fixture was taken over by what is now yesterday’s Ffos Las card (and the 4miler becoming a 3 1/2miler) and the Mansion House now back to an undercard event on the Great Yorkshire card.Long Distance chasers have the Hennessey, Welsh National, Great Yorkshire plus a number of other £40-50K races to shoot at.
2 1/2 milers have the Paddy Power, December Gold Cup and again have other £40-50K races to go for.
2milers….erm…erm… I can think of the the £45K race at Cheltenham’s Paddy Power meeting and that’s it.
Your Elmbridge chase pimp up is an excellent suggestion – or maybe the Mansion House at Donny.
I went to Sandown on this day a good while back also.
Can someone with a better memory confirm this. Didn’t the Mildmay/Cazalet race take place on this day? Was that another name for the Gainsborough?
Also, wasn’t there some kind of Champion Hurdle trial on offer? I remember seeing Rooster Booster there.
Definitely gone downhill a bit…
The Mildmay Cazelet was run at the January Tolworth meeting until early this millennium when it was moved to the December Tingle Creek meeting and rebranded as the Marathon Chase; an utterly sterile if appropriate name just slightly more sterile-if-appropriate than its later rebranding as the London National
Last year it went by the catchy title of LDS Leak Detection Specialists London National (A Handicap Chase)
If Barney Curley were really clever he’d buy a 5yo store by Slow ex Even Slower, name it Oxymoron or Contradictioninterms and have it off big time in one of the ‘regional nationals’ circa 2020
I Also, wasn’t there some kind of Champion Hurdle trial on offer? I remember seeing Rooster Booster there.Definitely gone downhill a bit…
This is also going back a fair while but believe the two mile race was originally called the Otley Hurdle. I could be wrong but have a recollection of Jim McGrath having a rant about the race either having to be cancelled or with only a couple of runners when he was at Stratford when it shared coverage with Sandown in the 1970’s or 80’s for an ITV5
Going back to the OP, this does seem to be a meeting neglected by the Sandown executive (who seem to be concentrating on the Tingle Creek and "Whitbread" (showing my age) cards.
The Gainsborough (again showing my age) had the likes of Burrough Hill Lad, Charter Party and Desert Orchid on the 1980’s roll of honour but since usurped by Newbury’s (now) Denman Chase, while with the odd exception (Best Mate….maybe Captain Conan) the Scilly Isles is a ticket to anonymity and a joke of a Grade 1.
Agree that there is a serious lack of valuable Two Mile Handicap Chases before the Festival, especially since the Clarence House (Victor Chandler) went WFA.
Doncaster briefly pimped up their Mansion House at an additional fixture for a couple of years in the mid 2000’s (also had a good 4miler on the card too
) but that fixture was taken over by what is now yesterday’s Ffos Las card (and the 4miler becoming a 3 1/2miler) and the Mansion House now back to an undercard event on the Great Yorkshire card.Long Distance chasers have the Hennessey, Welsh National, Great Yorkshire plus a number of other £40-50K races to shoot at.
2 1/2 milers have the Paddy Power, December Gold Cup and again have other £40-50K races to go for.
2milers….erm…erm… I can think of the the £45K race at Cheltenham’s Paddy Power meeting and that’s it.
Your Elmbridge chase pimp up is an excellent suggestion – or maybe the Mansion House at Donny.
I remember a year or two ago Alastair Down wrote an excellent piece in the Racing Post criticizing Sandown for their failing quality in jumps racing outside of the Tingle Creek and the "Whitbread". As CarryonKatie rightly says the situation hasn’t improved and the "Whitbread" is now just a plodders afterthought on on the last day of the jumping year.
I used to attend the course many times including yesterday’s fixture as it coincided with the card at Donny with the Mansion House chase and the 4-miler even though I never got the winner of the latter, but it was much more interesting than the dreary stuff at Ffos Las yesterday
I had similar thoughts about the decline of the Scilly Isles Chase. As Simon Holt said on Channel 4 this afternoon good horses such as….. Best Mate have won the race recently but he couldn’t name any others and nor can I. Oscar Whiskey was lucky to win today and can’t see him being a superstar.
Do you think trainers and owners are saving their horses for the Cheltenham handicaps ? " The horse isn’t good enough for the Arkle so we’ll wait for the novice handicap with most money on offer "
I was surprised to hear Alice say to BG that he must be glad to be going right handed today with Oscar Whisky
Happening more and more and there is little that racecourses can seemingly do. There must be more than three horses out there willing to run in a £20k 2 1/2 mile novice chase? It’s scandalous to be honest.
Do you think trainers and owners are saving their horses for the Cheltenham handicaps ? " The horse isn’t good enough for the Arkle so we’ll wait for the novice handicap with most money on offer "
Unlikely, as J A McGrath pointed out on the Sunday forum the prize money for the handicaps at Cheltenham is poor.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.