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1:30 – Vasco du Ronceray
2:05 – Il Fenomeno
2:40 – Utopie des Bordes (NAP)
3:20 – Long Run
4:00 – Chapoturgeon
4:40 – Paint the Clouds
5:15 – Petit Robin1:30 – Captain Conan (Reserve Nap if Cross Country cancelled)
2:05 – Catch Me
2:40 – Ghizao
3:20 – Wonderful Charm
4:00 – Vino Griego
4:40 – Prince of Pirates
5:15 – Sacree Tiepy (NAP)1:30 – Godsmejudge (NAP)
2:05 – The New One
2:40 – Houblon des Obeaux
3:20 – Mail de Bievre
4:00 – Cash and Go
4:40 – Milord
5:15 – Vieux Lion Rouge1:30 – Pique Sous
2:05 – Majala
2:40 – Fruity O’Rooney
3:20 – Khyber Kim
4:00 – Sacree Tiepy
4:40 – Sirene D’Ainay (NAP)
5:15 – Forgotten GoldI’ve just been speaking to my contact at Mons Racecourse about this as I’m preparing a press release. Basically, the official line is that Sascha Stappaerts has been banned as an owner, trainer or rider until the end of this year. However (this is where it gets complicated), she can’t actually re-apply for a licence as an owner, trainer or rider until the end on 2018! As for Eastern Warrior, he is banned from racing until 2018. As mentioned previously, Stappaerts has also been fined 10,000 Euros.
Eastern Warrior is one of just many ex English horses trained in Belgium nowadays. Indeed, the ex-Mark Johnston trained Spirit Is Needed has literally just won the 5th race at Mons tonight, just one of many now Belgian trained horses that began their career in the UK. Before the increased prize money in Mons in 2011, we used to see plenty of Belgian horses make the short journey over the border to contest races in Germany, and infact some still do, however roles have been mainly reversed recently with many German trainers sending their horses to Mons for the superior prize money.
I saw Rosie’s Glory run in Germany last year!! She’s now trained in Belgium, and I think she ran in the 2008 Belgian Grand National meeting at Waregem for new owners Denvic Stables and trainer Savinja Braem. Shortly afterwards, she changed stables and is now trained by Ludo van Buylen for owners Stal Luro, and she’s a regular on the all weather course at the Hippodrome de Wallonie at Mons in southern Belgium. She’s actually been quite successful if I remember correctly – infact, you can see one of her victories here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwaH5JMJw7M
She’s in the predominately white colours with cheekpieces, and leads pretty much all the way here. I think the jockey is Eddy Schepens, who is one of the top jockeys at the course.
1:30 – Balder Succes
2:05 – Via Galilei
2:40 – Brindisi Breeze
3:20 – Burton Port
4:00 – Barbers Shop (NAP)
4:40 – Bourne
5:15 – Kid Cassidy1:30 – Solix
2:05 – Catch Me
2:40 – Rubi Light
3:20 – Thousand Stars (NAP)
4:00 – Hectors Choice
4:40 – Be There In Five1:30 – State Benefit
2:05 – Cotton Mill
2:40 – Walkon
3:20 – Finians Rainbow
4:00 – Megastar
4:40 – Colebrooke
5:15 – Sir Johnson (NAP)1:30 – Midnight Game
2:05 – Sprinter Sacre
2:40 – Fruity O’Rooney
3:20 – Zaidpour
4:00 – Maljimar
4:40 – Terre du Vent (NAP)
5:15 – Vino GriegoWhat happens in France, Germany, US, Australia, Hong Kong, etc?
In Germany, you can dress however you like pretty much. For example, Mannheim is one of the smaller courses in the country and doesn’t have any Group races, so the feel is almost that of a point to point in the UK – all very relaxed, although those of us that work there do tend to be ‘suited and booted’ so to speak. The most ‘highbrow’ meeting would the be ‘GrosseWoche’ at Baden-Baden, where you will see posh frocks aplenty – it really is Germanys answer to Royal Ascot. However, here you will find no actual dresscode. OK, the official line is that in the more exclusive areas such as the Brenners Lounge or Champions Club (the top two enclosures), a smart jacket would be advised, but overall, you can wear what you want – smart or casual, hat, jeans or T-shirt. That is the official line from the Baden-Baden committee, however I was in the Brenners Lounge restaurant back in 2009, and I saw people there in plain white T-shirts and smart jeans – I do think they would draw the line at ripped jeans though.
Personally, I always tend to wear a suit at the races, but that’s because I’m either working for trainer Christian von der Recke, going there as an owner, or in the pressbox working for myself or the RP. On the odd occasion I’m at the races just as a standard racegoer, I used to wear smart casual, but to be honest, I got so used to wearing a suit at the races that I tend to wear it even just as a racegoer as well now.
As for dresscodes – well, my opinion is, if you want to wear a suit and tie, or jeans and t-shirt, you should be allowed. Racing want to attract all kinds of people for all walks of life, so really all dress codes should be allowed in my opinion. Just don’t go naked!!!
As someone born and bred in Oadby, I guess I’d better say something on this thread! Yes, it is my local course, and having lived quite literally a stones throw away from the course for nearly 30 years before I defected to the Bundesrepublik in 2000, it does hold some great memories for me. Many a summers evening as a young boy, I can remember being in the garden at home listening to the commentaries over the loudspeaker – those were the days!! Living back in Leicester nowadays, I still get to the course whenever I can. It was a dream come true for me back in January of this year when my own horse ran at the course – and finished last! Not to be outdone, we returned last month, thinking she couldn’t do any worse – and she was pulled up!!
As for bus/train services, well, that’s kind of my specialist subject!! There are 2 bus services, the 31 and 31A (which replaced the 30 about 5 years ago), You can find a map and timetable here:
http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/serviceInfor … =2475&r=UK
The buses do go past the train station, and they’re pretty frequent every 7/8 minutes, although evenings and Sundays do have a reduced service. The fare is (I think) £2.20 for a single, but you can actually get a day ticket for £3.80. However, the good people of Arriva Leicester have announced that fares will increase in the New Year, but no exact date has been given as yet.
A few Christmases ago, I got a 2 DVD set called ‘Horseracings Greatest Ever Races’, with races between 1938 and 2004. It’s narrated by Clare Balding, and it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, the company, Green Umbrella, don’t seem to be around anymore, but there’s a bit more info about the DVD on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Horse-Racings-G … B000C4ETN8
There are a few reviews as well which might help.
I couldn’t see the race live, but I’ve just caught a replay of it on YouTube. As someone involved in cross country races within the Crystal Cup series (I was asked to advise on suitable courses in Germany), I do love these types of races. However, as cross country courses across Europe go, Cheltenham is actually one of the easiest to navigate. So why did yesterdays incident happen? Well, whilst noticing that Miss Coward may not have looked up approaching the bend (she did seem to have her head down), there are a couple of things that they do in Germany that MIGHT help stop a recurrence of this happening:
WALK THE COURSE
I honestly don’t know if the riders are asked the walk the Cheltenham cross country course before racing, but in 2009, I was in Baden-Baden for a chase which was part of the Fegentri World Amateur Riders series. My job was to take the English speaking jockeys round the course and show them where to go. Baden-Baden is a difficult, twisty course, and we spent a good half an hour going over the course, and I also gave each of the jockeys a map just to familiarise themselves further with the course, Only 2 weeks ago, I was in Krefeld with an English amateur jockey, and again, we walked the course (along with a member of the racecourse committee) so we knew exactly where we were going. Ironically, I actually saw Peter Gehm in Krefeld whilst I was there – in his case when Registana went the wrong way at Cheltenham in 2004, he walked the wrong course at the end, but I do believe walking such a complicated course can be really beneficial.GET THE TAPE!
Mannheim is another course where I walk the course with any visiting jockeys. However, they have an additional trick to help any riders who may be confused with the layout of the course – and surprisingly for Germany, it’s a very low-tech solution!! All around the course, marshals are paired up with a long piece of tape, so that the jockeys are completely clear as to which part of the course they need to navigate. Like Baden-Baden, Mannheim is a difficult, twisty course to navigate, however, as the chase course is in the middle of a flat course only 6 furlongs round, you can imagine just how tight it is. To demonstrate this in action, here’s a video of a chase in Mannheim from October:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSI53iIK7nE
1:20, 2:55, 3:42 and 3:55 into the video, you can see the tape in action, but you can also see the marshals with the tape pretty much throught the race. OK, it does look a bit of a homemade solution to the problem, but I can tell you that this works. I’ve never seen a jockey get lost or take the wrong course at Mannheim. All you need is a marshal who knows when they’ve got to put their tape up, and you’ve got the solution!! The nearest thing I can thing to this would be a police cordon, and I think on the whole, they seem to work.
As for previous postings mentioning the fact that the Cheltenham race may have been low on quality, yesterdays race actually offered the lowest prize money of all the Crystal Cup races this year. With six figure sums on offer for races in the Czech Republic, France and Belgium (yes, Belgium!!), on a personal point, I think it’s a real shame to see such a poor purse for Englands cross country showpiece.
Jumps: Registana – 2004 Sporting Index Chase, Cheltenham.
Flat: Overdose – 2007 St. Laszlo Cup, Budapest.
Escellent read Pinza, thanks for that. The Gran Criterium which I covered for the Racing Post is on YouTube, and even if people don’t speak Spanish, you can see the quality of the presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrmnBnP2V8M
I was really impressed by the whole coverage, and I got the impression that Spain is one of thoss countries really on the up in terms of racing. Apart from Equiano, there are several decent Spanish trained horses winning races in France, and the winner of the Gran Criteruim, Matusalen, is unbeaten in four races and could turn out to be one of Spains best ever horses.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I’ve been championing Danedream since she won the Italian Oaks. Peter (trainer) told me she was something special, but he does sometimes talk up his horses too much. OK, German group races can be weak, but sometimes we can produce superstars. Borgia, Tiger Hill, Shirocco….and now Danedream!! A great day for German racing!!! Also congratulations to Bruemmerhof Stud, especially Gregor Baum, the breeders of Danedream (he bred Amicelli, you know!). German bred horse, German trainer, German jockey – 2011 Arc winner – MADE IN GERMANY!!
