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To see Colin Tizzard crowned Champion trainer..I’ve put a lot of faith and money into his horses this past year and he’s never let me down….Unlike Willie Mullins who changes horses targets as soon as I back one for a particular race..He can do what he likes with Yorkhill as William Hill gave me 7/2 to win any race..Cheers Nath.
Stop those f”””ing tv shots where you can only see half the horses jump a fence because they are showing the pictures from a moving car. I hate it
My one racing wish is for ‘racing’ in general to stop being so negative. The glass is always half full and whatever the situation or race or occasion etc, people always choose to vocalise what they think was bad/wrong. Please stay positive!
For Coolmore to be less dominant on the flat
Similar to this, I’d like Mullins to be less dominant over jumps. I don’t actually mind Coolmore/O’Brien’s domination because I think he will support the sport and isn’t afraid to run his big-hitters against each other, as he did in the Arc and the Irish Champions Stakes. Mullins doesn’t seem to be as generous with his stars, as he’s perfectly entitled to be, but I think it would only be good for the sport if say Annie Power and Faugheen ended up in a big race together, but Mullins would never let that happen.
*Some competition for the likes of Thistlecrack and Douvan (preferably not trained by Mullins)**
*ITV Racing to be a real success
*A decent RSA
*Yanworth to win the Champion Hurdle
*Racing media to stop being quite so servile to trainers/owners/jockeys/horses/bookies
*Timeform to finally admit that letting the tea boy do the ratings in the sixties wasn’t a terribly good idea
*For flat breeding to stop putting quite so much of a premium on speed over stamina
*Lots of winners at decent sorts of prices**The competition can turn up after Cheltenham, obviously.
Twitter=@PGHenn
So don't run, just like the others always do
Churchill to prove a few dissenters wrong and dominate his age group (thank God, he’s not by War Front).
I wonder how long Coolmore will persist with War Front
They ‘only’ sent 40 of their best mares, including 20 Galileo blue-bloods, to him in 2016. However, they are spreading the net wider. They sent 30 mares to American Pharaoh and 20 mares to Uncle Mo, half of them European turf mares, and they have said to expect to see the progeny of both stallions running over here.
Cheltenham finally get their head out of the sand and propose a 2 1/2 mile Grade 1 for senior hurdlers.
It makes absolutely no sense at all not to have such a race when there is an equivalent race for chasers and two 2 1/2 mile options for the handicappers.
There are some horses sent chasing ( Peddlers Cross, Saphir Du Rheu ( basically anything by Al Namix ), Oscar Whisky etc ) who’d be better suited to such a race. Plus others over in Ireland like So Young, Zaidpour, Solerina, Thousand Stars etc who often bypassed Cheltenham because 2 miles was too short, 3 miles too far.
People scoffed at the Ryanair Chase but who now would complain about that since it became a Grade 1 ? Some of our nearest and dearest National Hunt horses have won that in the last decade.
Who now would complain about that since it became a Grade 1 ?
I would for one.
The race has no history and no true prestige. It is a jumped up Grade 2 which adds nothing to the festival, serves only as an advertising vehicle for the odious Michael O’Leary and detracts from the true Championship races. Indeed, it has significantly weakened several Gold Cups by unnecessarily diverting the likes of Imperial Commander, Cue Card, Vautour, Don Cossack and First Lieutenant. Since the turn of the millennium, there have been three bona fide two-and-a-half mile champions – Native Upmanship, whose being too early to win a Ryanair takes nothing from his legacy, Albertas Run and Monet’s Garden who didn’t even win a sodding Ryanair in two attempts and is best remembered for his Champion Chase exploits.
It is a unfathomably stupid and unnecessary race which would not be missed were it consigned to the history books under the heading “White Elephant”.
The mere suggestion of a hurdle equivalent evokes the need not for a psychiatrist but for a shotgun.
” Adds nothing to the festival ”
That’s where i stopped reading*. Equine snobbery. Pure and simple.
* or should have. A couple of those horses didn’t stay the Gold Cup course, a couple of others didn’t stay it at that time in their careers, most of them wouldn’t have won a Champion Chase.
You’re being selfish ( also a dislike for Michael O’Leary is affecting your judgement ) Some horses are best at 2 1/2 miles. It’s a fact and there should be a championship hurdle for them at the Olympics of horse racing, just as there are championship races at all 2, 2 1/2 and 3 miles for chasers.
With racing welfare in mind would like to see restrictions put on how many times a two year old is allowed to run in it’s first year (max 6) with strict veterinary screening after every race.
Hard to believe that only 40 years ago two year old racing was not even considered, now with lure of high stud fees these young thoroughbreds are made to put pressure on their fragile limbs while they are still developing a lot do not make it past that.
Having kept a close eye on Frankel’s first crop this year it will be interesting to see how those lightly raced compare against those that raced more often and of course there are some that will appear as 3yo’s on a racecourse for the first time this year.
Anything that can be done to help stop the sickening sight of a young colt or filly breaking down on the racecourse has to be top of my wish list for this racing year…Jac
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...not gonna happen but for bookmakers to take a decent bet without knocking you back or questioning whether you are an arber.For them to trust their odds compilers,i am getting to old to run around 10 shops to get bits on here and there.
Finally to wish all TFR’s a happy wealthy and healthy new year
1/ to back a winner
2/ robin roe to win the neptune
3/ altior and min to get to the arkle. like hardy says min to turn the tablesUnfortunately Robin Roe out for the season mate.
Equine snobbery. Pure and simple.
The best horses should compete against one another and not have a cop-out alternative which, in the age of conglomerate training and owning empires, is taken advantage of all too often. The Ryanair is nothing more than a second rate consolation prize and it shouldn’t be dressed up as a championship contest. Especially as there will be horses competing in the Champion Chase and the Gold Cup every year who would annihilate most Ryanair fields.
A couple of those horses didn’t stay the Gold Cup course.
Tough titties?
It’s the Gold Cup. The Blue Riband for the classiest and hardiest of all staying chasers. Kauto Star wasn’t a thorough stayer but his class carried him up the hill. One Man’s didn’t so he went for the Champion Chase and died a legend. Had One Man won a Ryanair, he would have been remembered as the King George king who couldn’t win a Gold Cup and that would have been sad on so many levels.
a couple of others didn’t stay it at that time in their careers
The Cathcart would have been perfect for those horses.
You’re being selfish ( also a dislike for Michael O’Leary is affecting your judgement )
How am I being selfish? You’re being selfish! (I feel stupid for having just made that argument)
My pure, genuine, heartfelt hatred for Rupert Murdoch dwarfs my mere disdain for Michael O’Leary but I commend the move to revert the Stayers’ Hurdle to its correct name. Michael O’Leary is a prince compared to Khalid ibn Abdullah (an actual prince) and his family yet the latter’s support of racing and perennial sponsorship of the International Stakes is such that most instinctively refer to that established and prestigious as The Juddemonte. Michael O’Leary killed the Cathcart dead, created a new race (rather a black hole), slapped his horrible company’s name on it and declared it a championship. The difference between Mr Abdullah and Mr O’Leary is that one put a race and the integrity of the sport before himself and another put himself before a race and the integrity of the sport.
there are championship races at all 2, 2 1/2 and 3 miles for chasers.
There is already a championship race for 2 1/2 hurdlers and it’s called the Aintree Hurdle. The championship race for 2 1.2 chases is the Melling Chase. If these races can be won by 2 or 3 milers then said 2 or 3 miler is the champion 2 1/2 miler – not some horse who can only be champion because the actual champion was busy contesting a real race.
the Olympics of horse racing
I’m going to close with this argument because like the Ryanair chase, it is mostly fluff.
The 1896 Athens Olympics lasted for 9 days and had 43 events. The 2016 Rio Olympics lasted for 16 days and had 306 events.
What you’re proposing is a further dilution by adding an unnecessary “championship contest”. I think the Ryanair should be scrapped because any further dilution is absurd. Just for fun though, I’m going to take your philosophy and apply it to fantasy races that ought to be at the festival.
2m2f Champion Hurdle (for those who are too slow for 2m but can’t quite stay 2m 6f)
2m6f Champion Hurdle
3m2f Champion Hurdle (why do we not get many marathons for hurdlers? Sedgefield hold a few I think but not many)
2m2.5f Champion Chase
2m7.5f Champion Chase
4m Champion Chase
I could do these for every half furlong increment but even I think that would be silly :P
2m Cross Country Chase
2m4f Cross Country Chase
3m Cross Country Chase
4m4f Cross Country Chase
2m4f Juvenile Hurdle
3m Juvenile Hurdle
2m Juvenile Chase
2m4f Juvenile Chase
3m Juvenile Chase
2m Mares’ Hurdle
3m Mares’ Hurdle
2m Mares’ Chase
2m4f Mares’ Chase
3m Mares’ Chase
2m4f Bumper
3m Bumper (why not?)
2m Mares’ Bumper
2m4f Mares’ Bumper
3m Mares’ Bumper
5yo Champion Hurdle (because most of them aren’t ready at that age to take on the big boys)
5yo 2m4f Hurdle
5yo 3m Hurdle
5yo Champion Chase
5yo 2m4f Chase
5yo 3m Chase
Veterans’ 2m Hurdle
Veterans’ 2m4f Hurdle
Veterans’ 3m Hurdle
Veterans’ 2m Chase
Veterans’ 2m4f Chase
Veterans’ 3m Chase
2m Hurdle for entire male horses
2m4f Hurdle for entire male horses
3m Hurdle for entire male horses
2m Chase for entire male horses
2m4f Chase for entire male horses
3m Chase for entire male horses
2m Hunter Chase
2m4f Hunter Chase
4m Hunter ChaseWe’re also going to need corresponding handicaps for all of the above, a farmers’ race, a lady jockey’s race (not actually a horrible idea), a race for greys, a pensioner riders’ race, a good dozen charity races to cover all distances, disciplines and charities and oh my god, oh my god, oh my god YES!….
Tell you what. Cut you a deal. You can have your poxy 2m4f champion hurdle if I can have a…
3m6f CROSS COUNTRY PONY RACE!!!!!!!!!
With racing welfare in mind would like to see restrictions put on how many times a two year old is allowed to run in it’s first year (max 6) with strict veterinary screening after every race.
Hard to believe that only 40 years ago two year old racing was not even considered, now with lure of high stud fees these young thoroughbreds are made to put pressure on their fragile limbs while they are still developing a lot do not make it past that.
Having kept a close eye on Frankel’s first crop this year it will be interesting to see how those lightly raced compare against those that raced more often and of course there are some that will appear as 3yo’s on a racecourse for the first time this year.
Anything that can be done to help stop the sickening sight of a young colt or filly breaking down on the racecourse has to be top of my wish list for this racing year…Jac That’s a good idea. I must admit to pulling a face whenever i see a horse running for the twelth time in six months ( i think i saw one of Johnston’s race fifteen times a year or two ago ) Obviously not as common for 2 yr olds but it cannot be in the horse’s best interest, even if they enjoy their racing.
Just using David Evans as an example and not intentionally singling him out – Princess Way ran 14 times last season as a 2yr old.
With racing welfare in mind would like to see restrictions put on how many times a two year old is allowed to run in it’s first year (max 6) with strict veterinary screening after every race.
Hard to believe that only 40 years ago two year old racing was not even considered, now with lure of high stud fees these young thoroughbreds are made to put pressure on their fragile limbs while they are still developing a lot do not make it past thatI suspect you made a typo Triptych but if not, two year olds were certainly racing 40 years ago and given that several of the famous 2yo races such as the Cheveley Park, Middle Park and Dewhurst were introduced in the 19th century it seems likely they’ve been racing throughout the history of the turf, though would be quite prepared to believe that there’s many more races now, pro rata
I would agree that care should be taken with the workload 2yos are subjected to and your idea of a maximum number of races has merit
It would be interesting to see some stats on how many horses raced at 2 are not seen again in subsequent seasons. As far as I’m aware this ‘natural wastage’, if indeed there is significant ‘waste’, has had very little publicity; so one can only assume it’s either deemed acceptable or purposely hushed-up
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