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What a shame that the greed of JCR have rode roughshod over the jumping pattern with the staging of the 100.000 betfair hurdle at haydock!
Next week we have the grade one fighting fifth hurdle but now with this new race it must harm its grade one status?
Obviously the BHA have no control over this but they are in charge of off times so who’s the joker who has planned a 3m2f h,cap hurdle at Huntingdon just ten minutes before the betfair char?It’s a joke. We might have had Faugheen v The New One without this extra contest turning one exciting race into two yawnfest cakewalks. Three when you consider the impact on the Coral Ascot Hurdle.
There’s plenty of room for more cleverly framed conditions races, especially hurdles, but I agree, tomorrow possibly wasn’t the best time to have one.
On the other hand……..
If there weren’t enough valuable races so that all the top horses could avoid each other then the ‘narrative’ of the season might get a bit boring
If something wins the Fighting Fifth next week easily then we’ll have 3 horses on the Champion Hurdle build up, plus the ones that win the Irish races. We might have 6 or 7 horses all fancied for the Champion Hurdle
If Faugheen, The New One, Jezki, Hurricane Fly, whatever wins the FF had all run at Newcastle next week because it was the only race for them before Christmas and let’s say Faugheen won by 5 lengths…….we’d likely now be looking at one challenger for the Champion Hurdle not 4 or 5
Having all the contenders able to avoid running against each other before Cheltenham keeps the season alive……
but who’s going to run in the Fighting Fifth? My Tent or Yours is out for the season so can’t see anything of much quality running next week unless Willie Mullins brings something over
Slowly Away, I’d counter that the big names avoiding each other until March doesn’t keep the season alive. It keeps
Cheltenham
alive.
The rest of the season then becomes a sequence of uncompetitive prep races. Cue Card, Dynaste, Silvinaco Conti and co’s seasons aren’t any less alive after fighting out a competitive race at Haydock today.
Some of the great two mile races in recent years have been away from Cheltenham. Harchibald v Rooster Booster in the Christmas Hurdle, MTOY v The New One there last year, Rooster Booster v Self Defence in the Agfa Hurdle (x2), Osana v Katchit and co in the International, Rock On Ruby v Darlan…
Over in Ireland, Harchibald, Hardy Eustace, Brave Inca and Macs Joy used to face each other about five times a year! Likewise, Hurricane Fly has faced Solwhit, Go Native, Jezki and just about every good two miler again and again in recent times. It doesn’t detract from Cheltenham because the results can always be reversed come March.
I want more competitive races through the season, not just a March bonanza.
Totally agree, and couldn’t disagree more with Slowly Away.
I know I bang on but the obsession with 4 days (one too many of course) in March will end up killing NH racing.
I guess what I mean is whilst these horses can avoid each other we can cling to the fantasy that there are half a dozen great hurdlers…..
If there were only a couple of races that they could run in before Cheltenham and they all turned up we might soon be left with the knowledge that there’s only one great hurdler….
and then the season would seem a bit flat, lacking expectation of great contests to come
You don’t win the Championship races at Ascot in November. There’s been plenty of horses that look like the second coming early in the season but they do nothing come the spring. Let them race versus each other in the early part of the season and return for the rematch at Cheltenham / Aintree.
The main issue we have nowadays are the powerhouse stables that have too many of the best horses contained within. For example Henderson has millions of pounds of bloodstock in his yard….but no runners in the Betfair Chase today.
but who’s going to run in the Fighting Fifth? My Tent or Yours is out for the season so can’t see anything of much quality running next week unless Willie Mullins brings something over
I’m in that camp of opinion as well. Outside of the first three in the betting it’s only Hurricane Run who might roll back the years and spring a mini surprise.
I can’t see the Fighting Fifth having a strong field nor much impact on the Champion Hurdle market.
Nicky Henderson has a couple of youngsters in Sign Of A Victory and Vaniteux who are possible improvers but it is a big ask for either to make the step up to Championship grade.
Un De Sceaux, Vatour and Annie Power are unlikely to take part in the race and despite all the bluster about where Faugheen is going to go, Willie Mullins surely realises he’d be foolish to pass up a pop at the Champion Hurdle.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Outside of the first three in the betting it’s only Hurricane Run who might roll back the years and spring a mini surprise.
The 2005 Arc winner rolling back the years to win the Champion Hurdle would be more than a mini surprise.
Sorry Steve.As Steeplechasing hinted, with Purple Bay near the top of the market, it’s a pretty dire Fighting Fifth. Even Sea Lord and Goodwood Mirage have been tipped up by a few judges.
What a shame that the greed of JCR have rode roughshod over the jumping pattern with the staging of the 100.000 betfair hurdle at haydock!
Next week we have the grade one fighting fifth hurdle but now with this new race it must harm its grade one status?
Obviously the BHA have no control over this but they are in charge of off times so who’s the joker who has planned a 3m2f h,cap hurdle at Huntingdon just ten minutes before the betfair char?Dare I say it, are JCR (and media partners Turf TV/RUK) looking to kill off the Fighting Fifth and get one of "their" races (the old Bula I refuse to call it by it’s current name – or this new race) promoted to Grade 1 – especially as the Fighting Fifth is one of only two UK Grade 1 races (Finale Junior Hurdle the other) on ATR.
Knowing ARC’s appetite for downgrading races to the lowest common denominator to save a few quid in prize money, can see the Fighting Fifth becoming a £6K class 3 handicap in a few years at this rate if the JCR sabotage comes off.
Knowing ARC’s appetite for downgrading races to the lowest common denominator to save a few quid in prize money, can see the Fighting Fifth becoming a £6K class 3 handicap in a few years at this rate if the JCR sabotage comes off.
The Fighting Fifth was a Grade 2 limited handicap for three years from 1995-7, though with line-ups of 7, 8 and 8 for those runnings the improvement to field sizes compared to what had gone before wasn’t astonishing by any means.
That dabble with a handicap format did already happen on Northern Racing’s watch, Sir Stanley Clarke having purchased Newcastle in 1994, but common sense soon prevailed. Whether it will continue to in the post-Arena/Northern merger era, though…
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.
Outside of the first three in the betting it’s only Hurricane Run who might roll back the years and spring a mini surprise.
The 2005 Arc winner rolling back the years to win the Champion Hurdle would be more than a mini surprise.
Sorry Steve.As Steeplechasing hinted, with Purple Bay near the top of the market, it’s a pretty dire Fighting Fifth. Even Sea Lord and Goodwood Mirage have been tipped up by a few judges.
This is my new strategy to get a reply to my posts on here Young Fella. Don’t be surprised if the horse is referred to as
Hurricane Higgins
by me before Cheltenham next year.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
"CarryOnKatie":1ttswyob wrote:
Dare I say it, are JCR (and media partners Turf TV/RUK) looking to kill off the Fighting Fifth and get one of "their" races (the old Bula I refuse to call it by it’s current name – or this new race) promoted to Grade 1 – especially as the Fighting Fifth is one of only two UK Grade 1 races (Finale Junior Hurdle the other) on ATR.
Commentary piece in today’s Racing Post saying exactly that as the field for Saturday’s race is hardly stellar. I’m sure JCR are hardly crying buckets over the poor turnout
Sorry Steve.
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