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Sorry, couldn’t help but notice that three respondees quote their age as 37. (Pants, GC and myself).
GC also mentioned about the plethora of racing (ITV Seven / Grandstand) dominating 2 out of 3 available channels at that time.
Fast Forward to now with hundreds of channels to keep your kids occupied while you are doing housework/DIY etc…
No wonder people (other then those of a horsey background) show no longer show no interest in this wonderful sport.
We are now a niche sport.
Spot on – something many fail to recognise and / or accept
Flat or Jumps?:
A three-day period next week will take in live action at Uttoxeter (NH), Umberleigh (P2P) and Salisbury (Flat). Enough said.
How ironic, given our locations, and not having seen each other for a couple of years, we shall (all being well) be meeting up again in the beautiful Cathedral City of Salisbury.
I’ve nothing of much interest to reveal, but here goes! Great idea BH.
Age
– 68
Gender
– Female
Location
– Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire
Occupation
– retired
Political views
– Big distrust of all persons political, they all seem to be out for what they can get and rip-off merchants
Relationship status
– husbandless
How often do you go racing?
– Never now
Favourite racecourse
– Wetherby and Doncaster
How would you improve the racegoing experience?
– Cheaper entry mainly
What initially got you into racing?
– Just the love of horses really
Which other sports do you watch?
– Bits of this and that, but definitely no football!!
Flat or jumps?
– Jumps is my first love, but am getting into flat racing a bit more now
Favourite horses of all time
– Uncle Isaac, trained at Borthwickbrae by Thomas Scott back in the 60’s
Racing heroes
– The little guys that keep and run the moderate horses often with very little return
Do you gamble?
– Never now. My last bet was when Red Alligator won the Grand National.
What are you views on the promotion of the sport
– Not sure about this one. I’m not really in favour of trying to drag in people who are not really interesting in the racing scene – if they were interested they would be going now.
What are your views on animal welfare
– Don’t like the thoughts of cruelty or drug abuse, although I feel sure that most racehorses are well looked after during their racing careers. What happens to them afterwards is a bit of a worry. Would like to see more investigation into the apparent lack of bone in the ‘modern’ racehorse.
How would you improve the sport in general?
– No idea, possibly keep out the drunks who spoil things for others.
Is racing bent?
– By law of averages it has to be.
Anything else?
– No, I’ve already bored you all enough here
Age
– 48
Gender
– Male. But curious.
Location
– Warwick
Occupation
– retired
Political views
– Vote UKIP, but not just as a protest. Am currently in ‘told ya’ mode.
Class
– the one above Aristocracy.
Relationship status
– Recently dumped. Again.
How often do you go racing?
– 2+ times a week in winter, hardly ever in summer.
Favourite racecourse
– Cheltenham and Towcester
How would you improve the racegoing experience?
– Just get rid of the bloody drunks.
What initially got you into racing?
– Genetics. My great-grandad became a millionaire in the electoplating industry by WW1 but had pissed it away on the horses by WW2. Still, you’re not here for a long time!
Which other sports do you watch?
– Interested in many sports but especially cricket, rugby league and (as my avatar suggests) darts.
Flat or jumps?
– Always jump racing to watch live, bet more on flat racing than jumps.
Racing heroes
– Don’t have ‘heroes’ as such, but McCoy is an astonishing and resiliant athlete.
Do you gamble?
– Not in the last two years. When I bet, I bet in pretty large amounts, very frequently. Recently retired so planning on getting back into it as soon as the weather stops going mental.
What are you views on the promotion of the sport
– I think it is nigh on impossible to promote and attempts at such are largely irrelevant.
What are your views on animal welfare
– Now that the BBC can concntrate on laying into horseracing rather than covering it, I would say welfare is more critical than ever.
How would you improve the sport in general?
– Be more aggressive in it’s defence against those who know little but criticise plenty. Employ a social media officer.
Is racing bent?
– Of course not, don’t be childish.
Mike
Age: 53
Gender: Female
Location: Stockport area
Occupation: Artist & a lecturer in a college. Middle class upbringing.
Politics: A little left of centre
Relationship: Single at present
How often do you go racing: Rarely, about once or twice a year
Favourite Course: York
How could experience be improved: Better cheaper food, less drunken behaviour, cheaper admission.
What initially got you interested in racing: I always loved horses & I had ponies. My Father was the son of a bookie who had horses in training with Matt Peacock, we always watched racing on TV. Arkle & Mill House were the first ones I really remember & those clashes built my interest. I then became interested in the thoroughbred & bloodstock breeding.
Do you bet: No
What other sports do you watch: None really, a bit of equestrian.
Flat or National Hunt: Both equally.
Favourite Horses: Brigadier Gerard, Mill Reef, Busted, Never Say Die, Aureole, Bruni, Arkle, Desert Orchid, Attraction, Frankel.
Racing Heroes: Noel Murless, Henry Cecil
Thoughts on Animal Welfare: Consider most racehorses & stud animals well cared for. More needs to be done to limit wastage after their careers have finished. Research must be made into the lack of bone in modern race horses. Books to stallions should be limited, they were 40ish for a reason. Incentives for using different stallions/outbreeding need to be considered.
What are your views on promotion: Racing should be trying to attract long term supporters not quick fixes, drunks & corporate groups (although I can see that these are important for revenue). They should make the horse the centre of the sport.
I would like to see less fanfares, quipco parades of posters with the racing colours, sand tracks & razzmatazz. leave that to the Americans whose racing I dislike intensely.I don’t know what went wrong with my reply. supposed to have questions in bold but I must have done something wrong.
Forgot to give an answer to "Is racing bent" Probably a little but no more than some other sports, football for instance.
There have some interesting comments about the amount of racing on TV in the 1970s & early 1980s. This has to have had an effect. It was down to my horsiness & my Dad’s love of all sports (he played rugger for Yorkshire as a young man) that gave me my introduction from 5 onwards & also The Field magazine that in the 1960s & 70s had a lot of racing coverage with excellent photographs of the leading fancies for the big races.
I’ve nothing of much interest to reveal, but here goes! Great idea BH.
Thank you for saying so
I am chuffed with the way this thread is working out. And of course, such is the beauty of this thread, I’m interested in the opinions ofall
racing fans so thanks to all who have contributed thus far.
Age
50
Gender
A Manz
Location (area/type)
Scotland
Occupation / Class
Semi-retired
Political views
None (all opportunists and fibbers)
Relationship status
Divorced
How often do you go racing?
I don’t
Favourite racecourse(s)
None
How would you improve the racegoing experience?
?
What initially got you into racing?
Work mates
Which other sports to you watch?
Footie
Flat or Jumps?
Jumps mainly
Favourite horse(s) of all time?
Ajdal
Racing hero(s)?
Tony McCoy
Do you gamble? (if so to what extent, if not why not)
Yes. small stakes on Betfair usually about once or twice a month
What are your views on promotion of the sport?
None
What are your views on animal welfare?
None
How would you improve the sport in general?
Scrap Evening & Sunday racing
Finally, is racing bent?
A bit.
Anything else?
I think there is just too much racing. The mechanism for returning SP’s is dreadful, I would like to see that reformed.Age
40
Gender
male
Location (area/type)
london
Occupation / Class
journalist/lower middle-upper working
Political views
total contempt for the political class. Personal viewpoint: small c conservative on domestic and social issues; old style socialist on things like trains and power. Think Orwell’s Lion and the Unicorn.
Relationship status
I get around
How often do you go racing?
ten times a yearish, sometimes more.
Favourite racecourse(s)
On the big side: goodwood, ascot and big soft spot for Chester. Like the small jumps tracks, particularly plumpton. Brighton is a great day out when the weather is with you.
How would you improve the racegoing experience?
It’s far too expensive in relation to how difficult the game can be for joe public and the interested newcomers. I think if figures were available for how many first-timers walk away and never come back, the industry would be shocked. I am basing this on conversations I have had.
What initially got you into racing?
My nan used to watch it. My mum likes a bet.
Which other sports to you watch?
Tennis, boxing.
Flat or Jumps?
Both but jumps is where it’s at.
Favourite horse(s) of all time?
Sea the Stars – met him and the Queen on the same day. I never won a penny, I just marvelled.
Racing hero(s)?
Richard Hughes is the best jockey in Britain!
Do you gamble? (if so to what extent, if not why not)
Yes, but not excessively. I keep records and view it as a hobby.
What are your views on promotion of the sport?
They need to get over how compelling, exciting, dramatic, amusing and aesthetically satisfying a day at the races is. To an extent television has been both a boon and a curse because it has kept the sport alive but has given rise to cliches and cannot communicate atmosphere.
What are your views on animal welfare?
It needs to be rigorous, but the game should not be held to ransom by extremists.
How would you improve the sport in general?
Somehow it needs a boost from popular culture, as casino gambling has had. Re-open Ally Pally – London needs a track which stars can visit to create interest. Class 2s and 3s at Brighton (London-on-sea). It also needs to get across that you can win and it is, up to a point, a game that can be learned, as you would learn the rules to any game. There is a problem in getting across what is going on, what jockeys have to do, which races mean what etc.
Finally, is racing bent?
In its middle an upper divisions is it fairly straight but a few people are a bit artful. Elements of low division Flat obviously sail close to the wind. I would say if you watched the rubbish end of racing you’d see a few pulled horses a month. My guess though is that most of the artfulness in racing can be accounted for by any half-decent form student. It usually amounts to running a horse in unfavourable conditions. I don’t mind about that because that sort of thing merely becomes an element of form and ultimately leads to good prices. There are elements that can never be accounted for, such as boxing certain horses in, jockeys who cannot win boxing in others who can win, or indeed letting others out. That is part of the game and there it is.
Anything else?
I wouldn’t be too worried if I never had another bet on the all-weather. Also, A strictly delineated Flat and Jump season.There’s far too much racing and too many racecourses. It’s overkill. One course from each region in England. South-West, South-East, West-Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire (two). Exempt the North, Wales and Scotland, so at least 6 to go.
I can never understand why so many racing fans, including some very senior members of this forum, could possibly advocate closing racecourses.
I would hate to see any racecourses close down. They all have a unique character and serve a particular community, with no doubt regular local racegoers valuing the presence of their local course.
I would be sorry to see even unattractive racecourses, staging moderate and uninspiring fare, close. Places like Nottingham, Folkestone, Leicester, Warwick and Redcar often get slated but why would any genuine race fan want to lose a racecourse if they claim to love the sport for its own sake, rather than just as a means of betting?
It would be such a shame, not to mention depriving race fans who live near threatened courses of their chance of a day out without having to travel too far.
For this reason, I think it is great that there are so many point-to-point courses. They provide a local service, no doubt generate business for the area and add to the rich tapestry and heritage of the sport.
I can see that there is probably too much racing, especially on the all-weather, but as long as a racecourse is viable and can continue to survive through local revenue-raising initiatives, non-racing activities and the minimum of outside subsidy, I would like to see them survive.
I would hate to see courses like Hexham, Worcester, Hereford, Towcester, Newton Abbot, Kelso and Fontwell, to name but a few that spring to mind, close just because there was too much racing. Obviously, nobody is saying at the moment that these courses are remotely at risk and I presume that they are all financially sound. Cartmel is very viable and successful, we are told.
The big courses will always survive and would no doubt be exempt from any arbitrary closures so it would presumably be the smaller, perhaps independently-run, courses that could close.
I stress that there is no talk of any threat to any courses at the moment so I am baffled as to why some racing fans are so keen to wield the axe.
I would have thought that racing fans would be keen to maintain the diverse range of courses, serving individual communities, as part of the sport’s appeal.
I agree that we have to face economic realities in a double-dip recession but I would certainly not advocate closing courses as a deliberate policy. If it’s a very sad and unavoidable reality that a course cannot make ends meet and, despite every effort, is forced to close, then I suppose we have to accept that. But I wouldn’t want closure to be imposed on any course as a policy or as a way of cutting down on the fixture list.
Some parts of the country are well catered for, including Yorkshire, but I would hate to see, say, purely as an example, Redcar and Wetherby arbitrarily closed (if two in Yorkshire are being suggested for closure).
I still think it’s a pity that Teesside Park closed in 1981, not to mention others such as Lanark and Wye. I suspect not many would agree with me about Great Leighs but I will be very pleased it it reopens, even if there is too much all-weather racing.
I admit sentiment and nostalgia are no substitute for hard-faced business and economic realities but I hope all of the current racecourses survive.Well said CP but you must have noticed by now that some here would never be happy and if they removed 6 courses they would then have to find another 6 to remove and so on.
I too would have thought Racing fans would be supportive of all aspects of racing and defensive towards it but it’s like the snake eating it’s own tail here.
There’s far too much racing and too many racecourses. It’s overkill. One course from each region in England. South-West, South-East, West-Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire (two). Exempt the North, Wales and Scotland, so at least 6 to go.
I can never understand why so many racing fans, including some very senior members of this forum, could possibly advocate closing racecourses.
I would hate to see any racecourses close down. They all have a unique character and serve a particular community, with no doubt regular local racegoers valuing the presence of their local course.
I would be sorry to see even unattractive racecourses, staging moderate and uninspiring fare, close. Places like Nottingham, Folkestone, Leicester, Warwick and Redcar often get slated but why would any genuine race fan want to lose a racecourse if they claim to love the sport for its own sake, rather than just as a means of betting?
It would be such a shame, not to mention depriving race fans who live near threatened courses of their chance of a day out without having to travel too far.
For this reason, I think it is great that there are so many point-to-point courses. They provide a local service, no doubt generate business for the area and add to the rich tapestry and heritage of the sport.
I can see that there is probably too much racing, especially on the all-weather, but as long as a racecourse is viable and can continue to survive through local revenue-raising initiatives, non-racing activities and the minimum of outside subsidy, I would like to see them survive.
I would hate to see courses like Hexham, Worcester, Hereford, Towcester, Newton Abbot, Kelso and Fontwell, to name but a few that spring to mind, close just because there was too much racing. Obviously, nobody is saying at the moment that these courses are remotely at risk and I presume that they are all financially sound. Cartmel is very viable and successful, we are told.
The big courses will always survive and would no doubt be exempt from any arbitrary closures so it would presumably be the smaller, perhaps independently-run, courses that could close.
I stress that there is no talk of any threat to any courses at the moment so I am baffled as to why some racing fans are so keen to wield the axe.
I would have thought that racing fans would be keen to maintain the diverse range of courses, serving individual communities, as part of the sport’s appeal.
I agree that we have to face economic realities in a double-dip recession but I would certainly not advocate closing courses as a deliberate policy. If it’s a very sad and unavoidable reality that a course cannot make ends meet and, despite every effort, is forced to close, then I suppose we have to accept that. But I wouldn’t want closure to be imposed on any course as a policy or as a way of cutting down on the fixture list.
Some parts of the country are well catered for, including Yorkshire, but I would hate to see, say, purely as an example, Redcar and Wetherby arbitrarily closed (if two in Yorkshire are being suggested for closure).
I still think it’s a pity that Teesside Park closed in 1981, not to mention others such as Lanark and Wye. I suspect not many would agree with me about Great Leighs but I will be very pleased it it reopens, even if there is too much all-weather racing.
I admit sentiment and nostalgia are no substitute for hard-faced business and economic realities but I hope all of the current racecourses survive.I wholeheartedly agree…shame on you Ginger!
It’s not the number of courses that need be of concern; it’s the number of meetings each and everyone has to withstand. It seems pretty clear to me, at any rate, that the turf at many courses is suffering due to over-use viz the recent thread on omitted obstacles
We need go back only 50 years and there were several other racecourses, in addition to the blessed 60, that presumably paid their way with a fixture list a third of what is now
No, there’s no reason to close courses: what they should be doing – the fortunate 60 – is promoting themselves as venues for whatever, whatever…empty stands and all that land
York mint it mean times…
I would be sorry to see even unattractive racecourses, staging moderate and uninspiring fare, close. Places like Nottingham,
I agreed with 99% of this post! The above sits uncomfortably with me, Sir Henry and Godolphin though!
Nottingham was a cracking jumps track though, tragedy when they stopped the NH there.
Nottingham was a cracking jumps track though, tragedy when they stopped the NH there.
Same with Windsor. The jumping there was a spectacle and I liked it when Windsor stepped in to the breach and briefly returned to jumping when building work was being carried out at Ascot.
It was great to see Windsor jumping televised on the BBC at the time, although it was very disappointing when a couple of BBC meetings from Windsor were abandoned because of the weather.
Shame both Nottingham and Windsor can’t return to jumping as well as the Flat. I gather it was deemed not financially viable by both courses.
The jumping at Nottingham was always more interesting, in my opinion. Several jumps meetings there used to televised by ITV in the old days.
By the way, I mentioned Redcar earlier in a reference to the Yorkshire courses. I know it is in Cleveland really but I was including it in the Yorkshire reference because of its long-standing inclusion in the popular Go Racing In Yorkshire promotions, fronted by the ever-present Graham Orange.Nottingham was a cracking jumps track though, tragedy when they stopped the NH there.
Indeed it was Denis,supported by every trainer going, Jenny Pitman,David Nicholson,Michael Dickenson,Jimmy Fitzgerald all used it for prepping their Cheltenham Horses.
On the flat Sir Henry did and still does use Nottingham as a course for introducing his horses,Oh So Sharp
,
Slip Anchor
and
Oath
all Classic winners ran around Nottinghams flat galloping circuit.
I am chuffed with the way this thread is working out. And of course, such is the beauty of this thread, I’m interested in the opinions of
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