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And even with a PMU system, the going might not be so good:
CAS,
It’s Ladies Day at Perth, which guarantees a crowd, as it seems to do at any track. Although of course they can only use that trick once per year.
QF,
It would be easier to offer positive input if the marketing guru in charge would offer up some specific objectives and show what things he’ll measure to establish the success or failure of his campaign. But as usual with this sort of thing, what we get is vague, meaningless slogans – e.g. “raise the profile of racing”.
We had all this fifteen years ago with Racing For Change, which talked a lot, spent a lot and produced very little in the way of change.
Here’s the answer:
Martin St Quinton: ‘It has been a baptism of fire at Cheltenham’
I haven’t seen any comment on this (may have missed it) – the British horses running in handicaps at Punchestown were mainly given slightly lower marks than their current official British mark.
Bill Baxter and Petit Tonnerre both won off marks 2lbs lower than their British Mark. Jeriko Du Reponet was 1lb lower. The largest difference I saw was 3lbs, which applied to Stoner’s Choice an also ran in the 3M handicap hurdle.
So a reverse of what has been happening for many years at Cheltenham.
This is a minor point, the really important question remains are they doing the draw on the pavement outside Wetherspoons using painted ping pong balls again this year.
Or has somebody watched the video and decided they need a diversion to throw a veil over that disaster.
Well, given the huge success of the Racing League in attracting massive crowds and high betting turnover to the benefit of racing, what could possibly go wrong with extending the same concept globally.
If they can just keep the sheep off the track and avoid the weighing room catching fire, this looks guaranteed to be a success.
But don’t tell everybody, the inspiration for this actually came from the latest Enid Blyton offering, Five Go To The Shergar Cup.
He wouldn’t be allowed to run in the Ascot Gold Cup without a preliminary race on the flat. These are the race conditions:
Horses will only be eligible to run in this race provided
that they have a current BHA Handicap Rating of 80 or
higher at midday of the confirmation stage.
Horses which do not qualify for a rating may also be eligible
providing the BHA Handicapper is satisfied that the horse’s
racecourse performances up to and including the day before
confirmation merit a provisional assessment of 80 or higher.
Horses which have not run will not be eligible.In order to have that race and convince the handicapper, I reckon he’d have to run in the 2M Henry II Stakes at Sandown on May 29th.
Cunningly, the second acceptance date (pay another £3,250) is May 27th!
This might work:
https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news/thames-valley/news/
Then click on the ‘Appeal’ box.
CAS,
It’s the names that aren’t in that top ten as well – the likes of Pipe, Hobbs, Bailey that would have been there in the past. And the promising ones that got their start with Nicholls or Henderson, but can’t make the step up – Pauling, Longsdon, Derham, Fry.
But there are five Irish trainers in the top fifty and they have collected over £6M in prize money – which is money that won’t be available to buy better horses for local stables.
Enormous credit to Skelton that he’s even close to Mullins, given that he has just five horses with six figure earnings this season, while Mullins has nine in this country alone and goodness knows how many in total.
I recall a visit to a young, ambitious trainer about twelve years ago, keen to show off his facilities, which were excellent. Gleaming new barns, uphill AW gallop, schooling grounds, well equipped office, etc. As we sat in his luxury owners suite and talked about his recent Grade 1 winner, he asked what I thought he needed to make it into the top five and eventually be number one. I said he’d need at least five owners willing to spend a million pounds each year to buy and keep horses, because the top yards always have a steady supply of new horses each year to dominate the novice programs.
And that’s what Mullins has – but this side of the Irish Sea, those millionaire owners aren’t concentrated in one stable, but spread too thinly across twenty or more trainers. And therefore those trainers just don’t have the firepower to buy the best horses.
The first ever edition of Chasers and Hurdlers, covering the 1975/76 season, has a lengthy piece on Brown Lad, who they rated 175 as a chaser, second only to Captain Christy (182) among Irish chasers that year.
They do include a note that Brown Lad won two bumpers as a 7-y-old.
An interesting report that has been copied and pasted on a BF forum thread:
A GOOD old-fashioned gamble wiped out bookies to the tune of £500,000 – after a group of punters launched an amazing betting ring attack.
Rocky’s Diamond won at 100-1 at Limerick and a photo of a betting slip showing a punt for €250 each way has gone viral online.
This was just one of the gambles that came in on the 100-1 outsider
But that colossal €30,000 (£26,000) return was just the tip of the iceberg.
A double including Rocky’s Diamond and Diamond Nora, who was backed from 150-1 into 16-1 before winning at Ballinrobe, also came in.
According to Irish Racing, a major off-course bookie was walloped for €339,000 (£291,000) from the outlandish €30 each-way punt.
The winnings didn’t stop there, as reports of one punter at Limerick and a group at Ballinrobe working together collectively stung the bookies big time.
It is believed all their winnings combined cost the layers around half a million quid.
Both the horses are trained by Declan Queally, who runs his Irish yard alongside his son of the same name.
Declan Junior is brother of top Flat jockey Tom Queally, who rode Frankel to all 14 of his victories.
Incredibly, both brothers were on board horses who won in Barney Curley’s famous 2010 gamble.
On-course bookmaker Brian McDonnell was one of those hit by the latest gamble.
He explained how it came about and how he was ‘out the game’ after Rocky’s Diamond won easily by five lengths.
He told Irish Racing: “It was a really bad day for us but if I had allowed him the bet he asked for, it would have been desperate.
“The customer struck the bet six minutes before the off and if the race started 20 minutes later, he’d still have been putting money on.
“I was out of the game after laying the bet and Tocky McCarthy (fellow bookmaker), who was standing beside me, was taken next.
“There was no point going to my fellow bookmakers (to hedge) at 100-1 and 50-1, as they weren’t going to lay me and I was stuck with it.
“Bookmakers had assumed he was backing the favourite or second-favourite because they couldn’t see the price changing (on the longshot) and couldn’t figure out which horse he was backing, until he went to them.
“That helped him get around the ring and I quickly realised he was trying to take every bookmaker out – which he had a fair go at.
“In the region of €100,000 was won at Limerick and my bet was settled that day.
“I sent a message to Ballinrobe to say what was going on but as the horse passed the line at Limerick, the reply said ‘they’re at it here as well’.
“Unfortunately my father got caught at Ballinrobe but not to the same level.
“Ballinrobe has more bookmakers and they spread their bets but it wasn’t hit for the same volume.
“Limerick has a smaller ring and was done by only one man.”
Amazingly it could have been even worse with the Queally-trained Olympy De Cerisy being backed into 11-10 favourite in the bumper.
But despite going clear the five-year-old gelding finished runner-up to Willie Mullins’ 5-4 Ballygunner Castle.
Punters were in awe of the colossal gamble.
One said: “I have a feeling this is the biggest touch in Irish racing in years. Well done all concerned.”
While another posted: “That’s a beautiful thing and probably well deserved.”
Remember Vroum Vroum Mag!
If the trainers title is decided by the big chase, Lossiemouth(Fr) is likely to be withdrawn from the following race to save her for Punchestown.
Assuming of course she’s declared to run at the 48hr stage.
Chantilly and Deauville both have layouts similar to Kempton,right handed, 3F straight. Chantilly has a chute off the end of the back straight that allows them to run 1900 metre races with just one long bend into the straight.
There are other AW tracks across France that race regularly. Cagnes Sur Mer is a mirror image of Southwell but warmer and with a more picturesque backdrop! Lyon La Soie is solely an AW track, with turf racing at the other course in Lyon, Lyon Parilly.
Pornichet is another AW only track with a 7F circuit and the whole place looks a lot like Wolverhampton. Pornichet is on the north bank of the Loire estuary, so the equivalent of having an AW track in Southend.
The big difference with here, is that all these lesser tracks also stage trotting meetings, so are not solely reliant on flat racing as a business. But there’s no apparent AW snobbery in France, Deauville stage AW races on the same card as a Group 1 race on turf, and there are no riots in protest.
“I would have thought it should be possible to publish the historical going stick readings for each racecourse to see how the going descriptions compare”
Turftrax do precisely that, you can find the figures here:
