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If people were watching the National today, especially the closing stages, focusing on which were Mullins horses or under which ownership the horses were rather than the spectacle of the race, then I’d question why they were watching at all.
I can only speak for myself, but I during the race I never considered the trainers at all, just the horses. It’s only afterwards when the results are in, that all the chat is about his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th and I don’t think it detracted from the race at all.
Would it have been a better race if all these horses had been trained by different trainers?
People have often referred to Dickinson and his ‘famous five’ and that was 42 years ago!!
Whether it is detrimental to other owners and trainers is a different question entirely and I’m not sure how a trainers success can be penalized so as to spread the big races and prizemoney around more.
I don’t think there’s anything unscrupulous going on with Mullins Quelle Farce, I just think he’s simply very, very good at what he does. I don’t think it can be compared to the days of Pipe and some of the stories that emanated from there at the time about various ‘unorthodox’ practices.
“I actually feel today that I’m witnessing the death of NH racing in the UK”.
You may well be witnessing the slow death of NH racing in the UK, but the cause can’t be attributed to Willie Mullins, not when the various interests can do it all very competently on their own.
“Yes, it was Ascot on Sat, Feb 15th, and I was there. Several thousand young people with zero knowledge of horses or racing, badly dressed and consuming alcohol non stop.”
But if there had been something to engage them while they were there, perhaps it would have helped.
Just letting them in cheap or for free will just lead to what you experienced AP.
If there was some app developed where there was an attractive monetary prize, at least something that would catch their eye and interest…….and I don’t mean a hundred quid!!!!
It couldn’t be something like the ITV7, because a loss in the first race means you’re out and back to the bar. It needs to be something with a points system, so there’s a reward for coming second and third….fourth even and continuing the interest from race to race….always giving ‘hope’.
The person with the most points after the final race wins the prize.
Additional aspects that make racing unique, like form, distances, ground, weight/handicap, etc could be included, but only in a very basic guidance form.
Meet a trainer, jockey, owner, stable staff and see racing from their perspective. It would surprise a few to know the hours many of the stable staff work for instance.Just a thought, but whatever ideas are considered, engagement has to be a major consideration, because just letting them in to run rampant and hoping that the day out will create a life long bond with the sport isn’t enough.
Nobody does really Glad, that’s why it’s on a downward spiral.
It seems to me that every party is basically looking after their own interests and not the sport as a whole where everyone would benefit.
Bookmakers are strangling the sport and the only way for racing to prosper is for a TOTE style, but nobody wants that anyway….so the spiral continues.
Prior to saddling up, one of the presenters went to see Vaubon.
He was very settled and content, just taking in the surroundings. He was tethered in an open fronted barn/lean-to (I presume the other horses were also in this building), and above was a misting system that seemed to be running constantly. I didn’t see a fan, but it would be logical to have them set up to circulate the air.
Of the races I watched, none of the horses at any of the Aussie racecourses appeared to be in any discomfort from the heat.
“….would have been easy for JP to move him to Ireland when he bought him.”
High’s of the week.
JP still here and long may he continue to do so.
As long as the Mullins horses ALL run on their merits, I don’t think it makes much difference how many he runs in a Championship race. The stable favourite doesn’t always win and I can’t envisage one of his leading owners purposely ‘losing’ so another can win.
Although a little surprised, I wasn’t bothered about three unraced over hurdles horses running in the race from that stable.
It wasn’t as though this was their racing debut and I’d be pretty confident that they could jump, even if they hadn’t been extensively schooled.
What I do question is the betting angle……….how do you factor in a horse that hasn’t jumped a hurdle in public?
“Is it purely down to the cost of travel and accommodation?
Or are punters not satisfied with the product anymore?
Or did interest in Cheltenham reach its peak and all we are seeing now is an inevitable tailing off?”I think it’s a combination of all of those CAS, which Cheltenham have not taken into account and have now killed the goose that laid their golden eggs, or at least strangled it into submission as they have tried to drain every last shilling out of their customers.
They have appeared to focus on increasing ticket prices as much as they can, but I don’t think they have factored in the full cost of a day at the festival. Travel, food and drink, accommodation, crowd size have all increased substantially as well as ticket prices.
In my opinion, although there are many possible reasons, the main two would be ‘value for money’ (incorporating all costs) and race quality.
I believe extending it to four days started the rot (and heaven forbid the greedy buggers tried for five!!). Many of the additional races didn’t add to the quality of the event, but probably did add to the bookies satchels.
The additional races also allowed trainers to diversify with their best horses, which then brought about too many heavy odds-on favourites in Graded races. It’s always nice to see these horses, but not in one horse races and certainly not in Championship events.I don’t blame the trainers, they have to do what is best for their owners, so dropping Lossiemouth into the Mare’s instead of the Champion Hurdle was probably the best decision at the time. The point is, Willie Mullins shouldn’t have had the option.
I’d be interested to know what the numbers are for odds on favourites in Festival races when a three day event compared to four days. If racing and betting isn’t competitive, then punters will lose interest and they’ll bet from the comfort of their own home.
What did surprise me this year was the vacant space around the winners enclosure when the horses came in.
Has there been a gradual change of the type of attendee?
I strongly believe that a lot of genuine, knowledgeable racing enthusiasts have simply stopped going and the people who go now are more ‘once a year’ or casual punters.
The genuine racegoers obviously have a deeper interest in more than just the winner and I suspect that even though their particular choice didn’t win, they would still like to see and appreciate the horses and try to see them in the winners enclosure.I wonder if today, many attending just simply choose a horse, watch the race and then win or lose, move onto the next race containing another list of unfamiliar horses names.
In days of olde, the parade ring before a race and the winners enclosure would be packed out, which leads me to believe that there is generally a different type of customer attending these days and Cheltenham with their Corporate greed, have lost a lot of their core clientele and replaced them with, ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ customers.
I think Chamberlain has a Memoriam Master List reference book in his pocket.
I know there are occasions when emotive situations come up and everybody has full sympathy for those concerned, but he does seem to milk every last drop he can out of others misfortune.
It begs the question, is it genuine concern and sympathy or just for TV?
No, the dingo’s are kept off the racecourse until after racing Glad, less distraction for the horses……apparently.
Hellcat is referring to temperature, 36 degrees (96.8 Fahrenheit).
Much better than a chilly Cheltenham!!
He wouldn’t have been a paddock pick, that’s for sure.
Sweating, very edgy, practically carried into the stalls by the handlers.Of the six runners, five were ex-Euros.
Arapaho
Circle Of Fire
Land Legend
KinesiologyGreat finish with Arapaho catching Linderman in the shadow of the post and then Vaubon nailing them both on the line.
Vaubon needed every inch of this 10f and they collected $198,500 (approx £97,000) for this G3.
I think you’re right Hellcat, with the prizemoney you have down there, as long as the horse stays sound, it could be money well spent.If you don’t mind me asking Cork, why do you oppose it, because to me it seems such a logical and sensible approach, as long as criteria and safeguards are in place and adhered to. I don’t want to see situations where next of kin are forcing the issue to benefit from it.
As I’ve got older, my thoughts have been similar to Moehat, although I don’t have a dog.
Dying is not a fear in itself, but the thought of a long lingering death is. Days, weeks, months of constant pain, where time is irrelevant, just seems to me to be cruelty for the sake of it.Surely it is my life and if I was in that situation, shouldn’t I be allowed to have the choice in whether to continue it or not?
I’m not talking about situations where somebody is having a rough time in life, I’m talking about terminal illnesses and needless efforts to prolong peoples lives regardless of their quality of life.To me it’s incomprehensible that if somebody accompanied Esther Rantzen to Switzerland, then they would face criminal charges. In this day and age, she shouldn’t need to go to Switzerland anyway!!
Medical Assistance In Dying has been legal here since 2016. Of course there are certain criteria that have to be met, but it’s always seemed a civilized and sensible approach.
If you were to keep your dog or cat in the condition that we keep many humans, then you would rightfully be prosecuted.
I know of somebody who was suffering extreme pain with terminal cancer and opted for assisted dying and he went out to his favourite song, Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones and his pain and suffering was ended.
What does concern me though is the change that has been made for 2027, whereby people suffering from ONLY mental illness will be eligible to apply.
Noted Glad, but I’ll also note the recent budget changes to inheritance tax.
In general, farmers are not cash rich and many carry substantial overdrafts to continue in business.
What is to be achieved by cutting off the hand that literally feeds you?
Relative to the budget and inheritance tax for farming, does this represent the Labour mindset?
John McTernan- Former Labour Advisor.
“Farming is an industry we can do without”.I’m just curious to know, if there is no farming, then where does the food come from and what happens to the land?
Import it all?
Without traditional farmers, the big corporations will take over completely and I think we can guess the rest.I was interested in Ralph Beckett’s comments about winning the November Handicap and the money to the winner being just over £38,000, yet when he last won it 19 years ago, it was just over £36,000.
Based on that, it’s a mammoth 4.78% increase to the winner over the 19 years!!
I looked at some prestigious international races and I was really surprised by the prize money for the Derby and 2000 Guineas by comparison to the other races. Of course there are extras like stud value, but I was just looking at prize money.
In the 19 years, the Derby has increased 21.7%, which is poor by comparison to the Arc de Triomphe at 240%.All fees to the owners have increased, but perhaps AP or others might be able to give an insight into that.
Of course this isn’t extensive and scientific, but from this, who is actually making money from UK racing, because it doesn’t appear to be the owners and I doubt most trainers are reaping it in either?
NOVEMBER HANDICAP
2024…….1st £36,078
2005…….1st £34,431
+4.78348% increase
.
.
.
ARC DE TRIOMPHE
2024…….1st £2,484,347
2005…….1st £729,447
+240.58%
.
DUBAI WORLD CUP
2024…….1st £5,480,314
2005…….1st £1,875,000
+192.3%
.
KENTUCKY DERBY
2024…….1st £2,440,944
2005…….1st £853,958
+ 185.8%
.
COX PLATE
2024…….1st £1,604,278
2005…….1st £744,898
+115.4%
.MELBOURNE CUP
2024…….1st £2,352,941
2005…….1st £1,265,306
+86.0%
.
2000 GUINEAS
2024…….1st £283,550
2005…….1st £185,600
+52.8%
.
DERBY
2024…….1st £882,407
2005…….1st £725,000
+21.7%
.
————
.
JAPAN CUP
2023…….1st £3,171,349
2005…….1st £1,290,418
+145.7%
.
HONG KONG MILE
2023…….1st £1,908,413
2005…….1st £536,193
+145.7%.
