- This topic has 43 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 3 months ago by
.
- Posts
Good thing about this extra meeting is that Grandstand admission is Free to all racegoers.
Quite interesting to see how the public respond to this.
So to all my fellow National Hunt fans lets not be stupid in the atitude towards AW racing, sure it may not get the blood boiling in the same way as a race at Cheltenham or Sandown but it is still racing………………
Neil, I can hand-on-heart say that I personally think AW racing (and to a marginally lesser extent, Turf Flat racing) is complete and utter boll*ocks.
Each to their own and all that, and there are plenty on here who enjoy their AW racing, but please don’t ask
me
to like it just because "it’s racing". It’s akin to asking a Real Madrid fan to enjoy watching Cowdenbeath drag their sorry arses all over Central Park on a Saturday, just because "it’s football".
I want to state that first and foremost i am a National Hunt fan but i do have friends who are Flat nuts and while we sometimes take the mickey out of each others code for example myself saying how "we only see these quality horses for a year before stud" and her saying "What are those they are jumping" but it is all in good heart.
Also i have been to AW meetings in December, well 2 in 3 years but i did enjoy going and while the crowds were on a sparse scale they still have die hard racegoers who brave the cold and turn out to see some racing.
The AW is improving and the quality is very good certainly regarding some of the Lingfield races on a Saturday.
So to all my fellow National Hunt fans lets not be stupid in the atitude towards AW racing, sure it may not get the blood boiling in the same way as a race at Cheltenham or Sandown but it is still racing and AW fans are just as passionate for their code as we are for jumps, Diversety in racing is a good thing and with Turf,Jumps,AW,Pacing,Point to Point,Carriage Driving,Team Chasing,3 Day Eventing,Show Jumping, Equine Sport has never been so good.
I agree with all of that though the Carriage Driving team really lacks the class of the Dutch and you forgot to mention the Dressage which could run up a medal at the combined European Championships with the Show Jumpers at Windsor in August. oh and the Endurance Riding, we are pretty good at that too.
Although a dyed in the wool jumping man I do find Lingfield AW perfectly watchable, though not a big fan of Wolves or Southwell and have mixed feelings about Kempton.
I’m a neutral in the flat v green wellie spat, but it is interesting to observe how a feeble little thread with humble beginnings was kidnapped, bundled into the back of a horse box and found itself in the middle of a war that has been spluttering on for years.
I like Drone’s idea of sunning oneself in the summer rather than contemplating form, but I don’t know, I soon grow bored of outside, sunny or not and start to pine for the shade and the tinkle of the little bell with which my butler announces the arrival of the Racing Post. When you’ve hit one croquet ball, you’ve hit ’em all.
On the other hand, I do find myself getting unreasonably excited about the Cheltenham festival, without ever really knowing why or being familiar with any of the horsey contestants.
Best to approach the banquet of life with a big plate, as Henry VIII almost certainly said.
Neil, I can hand-on-heart say that I personally think AW racing (and to a marginally lesser extent, Turf Flat racing) is complete and utter boll*ocks.
Now you see, Grassy, even you have mellowed.
This year AW is merely "complete and utter boll*ocks".
Last year, however, it was "complete and utter w*nk, and an affront to the eyeballs".
My money’s on you mellowing down further to "complete toilet" by the end of the decade.
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.
Best to approach the banquet of life with a big plate, as Henry VIII almost certainly said.
Apropos of whom, anyone else think
Surfeit Of Lamprey
would make for an ace 18-character racehorse name?
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.
I personally like the AW handicaps 10f and shorter. It a mug punters quick fix agreed, but watching lap after lap only for your nag to give up the ghost after either an obstacle or puddle too many, bores me senseless.
Yup AW’s bent agreed, poor horses & poor rides & ridiculous betting swings but we all know that. I’d rather put up with all this than watch Steepledowns Grassy.
- Total Posts 17716
Grasshopper I think you’re problem lies within you have no extra edge over the every day punter and you need that on the flat, the form reading can get boring and repetative and I think you need something like you’re own speed figures or a system of sort to brave the long harduous season.
No, Mr Wilson – it’s because I find the Flat code utterly unappealing as a spectacle in every respect.
I always welcome the break from horse-racing (the odd French or summer jumping contest aside) between Punchestown and the Kerry National, as a chance to recharge the batteries.
well grasshopper as someone who loves watching high class flat racing i used to hate jump racing with the same feeling you have for the flat, watching slow old horses slogging through the mud in dreadfull races,but i have mellowed and now look forward to the top national hunt meetings,so i guess we can all change and it as i suspect we live a few hundred yards from one and other,we certainly would find plenty to argue about if we met.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.