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This is not a "Smart Alec" type thread.
But why are there so few such events nowadays, and when there are, why are there so few entries ?
As a personal preference, if I owned a suitable animal I would far rather let him / her, gain some valuable experience and learn the game, before being forced into competition with experienced handicappers.
Is it a sign that steeplechasing is slowly dying, and that NH racing will simply be hurdling, dominated by flat bred stayers ?What happened to novice chases is a prime example of what happens to anything that is targetted by the ‘something must be done’ mentality.
Small fields are are inevitable in novice chases, because the races are aimed at a single generation of what is a small pool of horses to start with. Compared to the numbers involved in flat racing or hurdling, the number of chasers in training has always been smaller.
Without trying to go over the entire history of the changes made in recent years – all of which were designed to eliminate the small fields so hated by the bookies and which cost the courses money, this is the current situation.
In place of novice chases, we now have beginners chases (i.e novice chases for horss that haven’t won a chase), a much bigger program of novice handicaps for horses rated up to 140 over hurdles, a restriction that prevents horses from going into open handicap chases without at least one run in a novice or beginners chase, and restrictive conditions in ungraded novice chases that prevent horses from winning more than two such races.
Alongside all these changes to the program, which have happened mainly in the last ten years, we also have Phil Smith repeatedly assuring trainers that their horses will not be punished by the handicapper for running close to higher rated rivals in novice chases.
The problem with that is that Smith isn’t believed or trusted by trainers – and an hour or two spent reading the handicappers thread down in the Systems section will show why that’s the case.
Unless you have a horse that you believe can compete in the novice chases at the big spring festivals, there isn’t single incentive for owners not to switch their horses directly into handicaps. That way you have a chance of winning a race and the prize money is at least as good and often better than running in novice races.
The current set-up is a mess, but if you have a race planning department, in order to justify their existence, the chances are they will plan races and that simply saying that the current program is perfect will see them out of a job.
Nicky Henderson has had his say on the subject. You have to agree with him, and with the posters above: the current situation is a joke.
Henderson is totally incorrect in what he says about his problems trying to place Grandouet and Oscar Whiskey – this is in an article on the Sporting Life site.
He claims that the only race in which he can run Grandouet before Xmas is the Graded 2M novice chase on Tingle Creeek day.
He could in fact have run Grandouet at Lingfield this afternoon, or he could opt for a beginners chase at Warwick on Dec 8th and those are just two I found in a 5 min check on the Post website. For some reason he seems to think he’s not allowed to run his horses in those races.
Hard to say whether this is ignorance or incompetence, but I know which I’d vote for.
Henderson does also bemoan the fact that he has 8 horses that were rated over 140 over hurdles, that are now ready to go chasing, and that there are so few opportunities for them that they are going to have to run against each other.
This is race planning that can only be counter productive, and frankly beggars belief. How are "novices" supposed to learn their trade ?
Still bookies prefer handicaps don’t they, and we know who really calls the tune.I wonder if Nicky makes use of the BHA Interactive Race Planning initiative. I noticed Musselburgh racecourse today advising they are taking race suggestions for their meeting on the 9th December.
Fair play to Nicky if he makes use of this initiative. If he doesn’t he really should look into it.
The last I read a few months back was the BHA commenting that the take up of the initiative was not great. On the other side of the fence trainers were complaining that the scheme was overly complicated and not producing the desired races. Not sure if things have improved recently.
But why shouldn’t they run against each other? Are we supposed to arrange the program differently each year to suit Henderson’s current inmates. He has over a hundred horses in training – it’s inevitable that he has to run more than one in a race at times.
Not so long ago he was complaining about the lack of trial races for the Champion Hurdle when he had three contenders for the big race that he wanted to keep apart.
But he doesn’t seem to mind running them against each other come the big day.
I fully agree that the move to more novice handicaps is bad news and obviously bookie led in the effort to increase field sizes. But there are standard novice chases available and plenty have passed by this season without a single runner from the Henderson stable.
It’s hardly the fault of race planning that Henderson has deluded himself into thinking he can’t run his 140+ horses in the available races.
Hold on, am I missing something or is Nicky?
Are there conditions on a number of novice chases preventing the entry of 140+ rated hurdlers?
No, there is no such race condition in any beginners or novice chase.
The only races that aren’t open to hurdlers over 140 are the increased number of Limited Novice Handicaps during the first half of the season. These are restricted to horses rateed 0-140 and are the only handicaps open to horses that have not run in at least one beginners or novice chase.
Mr Henderson has already run the 166 rated Grandouet in a standard Class 3 Beginners Chase at Sandown this season, so he ought to be aware that his statements this week are inaccurate.
Perhaps he has confused the rule that states a horse must run in one novice or beginners chase before it can move into open handicaps, as meaning that he can only run a horse once in such a race.
After all, he does have something of a history of being confused by simple rules.
No, there is no such race condition in any beginners or novice chase.
The only races that aren’t open to hurdlers over 140 are the increased number of Limited Novice Handicaps during the first half of the season. These are restricted to horses rateed 0-140 and are the only handicaps open to horses that have not run in at least one beginners or novice chase.
Mr Henderson has already run the 166 rated Grandouet in a standard Class 3 Beginners Chase at Sandown this season, so he ought to be aware that his statements this week are inaccurate.
Perhaps he has confused the rule that states a horse must run in one novice or beginners chase before it can move into open handicaps, as meaning that he can only run a horse once in such a race.
After all, he does have something of a history of being confused by simple rules.
Thanks AP,
His comments do seem rather odd.
Agree with APRacing. I have never understood why over timber the trainers seem to completely call the tune in keeping their horses apart. Owners seem to have little input.
Stop moaning Henderson for gods sake.
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