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Take out the last twelve months, and the past decade has arguably been the most stable for Cheltenham where non-abandonments is concerned. Certainly losses of the December and January meetings were more commonplace once.
Previous Cheltenham losses from 1989 to 2020, not including those due to Covid or foot and mouth:
Fri 15/11/19
Tue 01/01/13
Sat 13/12/08
Wed 12/03/08
Sat 28/01/06
Tue 01/01/02
Mon 31/12/01
Sat 15/12/01
Mon 01/01/01
Sat 30/12/00
Wed 01/01/97
Sat 27/01/96
Mon 01/01/96
Sat 09/12/95
Mon 02/01/95
Fri 01/01/93
Thu 31/12/92
Sat 25/01/92
Sat 08/12/90gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
My pleasure! Not been on here for about a year since today – many thanks to Nathan Hughes for bringing me out of cold storage. Anything exciting happen?
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Sunday racing is a relatively new innovation on the calendar.
Sunday racing in Britain celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in just eighteen months time, Friendsheep, and is fewer than three years younger than artificial surface racing. You’d hope people had worked out by now how to programme and develop it to optimum effect.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
With Sunak and Hancock in racing constituencies, you’d expect some kind of government bail out when the well eventually runs dry.
…with accompanying playing to the audience once again from the latter, q.v. the triumphalism of Hancock’s Tweets upon the resumption of racing in June, which misread the proverbial room somewhat.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Being easy on the eye covers up a lot of sins though, in my book
It certainly continues to serve me well.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
The erstwhile Mercedes-Benz meeting at Chepstow wins this all day long for me.
“The jumps is back!” “It’s the start of the jumps!” No, it bloody isn’t.
Insisting otherwise is an insult to those courses operating during the summer which have increased the quality and scope of their offer year on year in the (count them) 25 years since summer jumping commenced, and frequently provide more interesting, charming, storied fare than the second and third strings of the behemoth yards going for short-of-top-class Chepstow handicaps and Graded novices as their forebears did, Because That’s What We’ve Always Done And Always Will.
It’s an argument that maintains that jumps racing, and the broadcasting thereof, hasn’t moved on a day since the BBC last covered the meeting in 2005, all evidence to the contrary.
Its continued place in the narrative of unearthing that season’s Festival winners is thoroughly undeserved, too. You have to go back to Altior in October 2015 to find the last horse to win at this Chepstow Saturday fixture and then also at Cheltenham five months later.
It’s basically not all that, as the young folk say; and I’d far rather fill the eyes with the beautiful views and homespun joys of Hexham on the same raceday.
Incidentally, Chepstow doesn’t even win out as the nicest raceday experience one could enjoy in Monmouthshire, as anyone who’s been to the Curre & Llangibby point-to-points at neighbouring Howick will confirm.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
If as many courses are apparently on the bones of their bottoms as the worst rumours suggest, then the imperative to get a meeting on by whatever means possible and collect the £6k per race in broadcast revenue becomes all the greater.
Not, one would assume, that this was the driver behind either the ARC-owned Sedgefield’s unsuccessful gamble or that of the JC-owned Haydock a week last Saturday, but independent Plumpton will far rather have had the six increments of cash for last Monday’s touch-and-go meeting than not.
There have been the grand total of five surviving turf jumps meetings north of the M62 so far in 2021, and none since Musselburgh on January 22nd. If that was the main motivation behind the Sedgefield officials going right to the wire, I’m not sure I can blame them.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
No less apt, but very confusing at the time, was when a classified ad appeared in the Post offering shares in a 2yo called BREXIT, on the condition the youngster stayed in the yard.
As in, Remained there.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Salmon ftw, o Friendsheep; though from an environmental impact point of view, I don’t need any persuasion to swap more of even my salmon intake for mussels. Nom.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
He might have been a bit of a champagne socialist
“Of course I’m a Champagne Socialist. The difference between me and a good Tory is he keeps his money while I share mine” – Brian Clough, 2004.
RIP Zorro. The Post columns of the late-1990s which first introduced me to him were never anything less than forthright and written with a dazzling clarity and economy. He didn’t have stock phrases as such, but one that seemed to come up more than most – “the joke has worn first thin and then out” – is one I’ve delighted in re-using plenty over the years.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
That’s usually a really good fun fixture, occasionally blessed with an upwardly mobile winner of the Silver Cup feature (I saw Joe Jo Star oblige there barely six weeks before landing the Swinton). Shame I’ve not managed to get to it for a few years now.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
It is, Jac, it is. Many thanks!
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
They also appear to be in use at Cartmel now.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
He’s top of the pile as far as I’m concerned, Paul, with all of the personal qualities you’ve listed. His commentary on the 2010 Dipper Chase remains the high watermark for how to call a two-runner race and make it appropriately informative and entertaining throughout.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Ah, the infamous first half of 2012, when Matt Chapman, Gary Capewell and John Blance were effectively engaged in a 15-stint, three-way play-off to gain a more permanent place on the Racetech roster.
Paul’s recollection gives a fascinating insight into the then modus operandi of the first-named. I’d far rather my commentator actually concentrated on technical accomplishment and accuracy than trying to shoehorn in the gags, showings-off and grandstanding in an apparently preordained manner; and whilst I didn’t mind Matt’s attempts to pretty much regurgitate the formbook in some commentaries (which was little different to what Raleigh Gilbert did on occasion), I’d suggest this too is best used sparingly and not at the expense of other basics.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Gareth called at Beverley on Tuesday
…and Uttoxeter this Saturday just gone.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
The Post in the main, especially for more historical research purposes; but also the Point-to-Point Racing Company site for UK action between the flags (subscription required). Results are available for as far back as the start of 2005, the last I checked.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
