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Smithy wrote:
Perhaps he had some good staff at the time.
You have hit the nail precisely on the head.
I saw the hurdles at first-hand at the Perth races today. Alan Dempsey was there giving the sales spiel and several Trainers came up and enthused about them. They don’t come cheap, 800 euros for a 4-ft section, but guaranteed for 5 years and completely maintainance-free. Sam Morshead is going to pursue a crusade to have them introduced at every UK track in the interests of equine welfare, but recognises that this is unlikely to happen and says he will have an uphill task to get the HRA even to approve their use at the next Perth meeting in April.
If they do meet with general approval, I would hope that the NTF and the ROA could exert some pressure.
From what I’ve seen they have been a great success where they’ve been introduced at the minor Irish tracks such as Kilbeggan and Ballinrobe and have resulted in very few (if any) fallers. They appear to be a half-way-house between the traditional and the fixed-brush hurdle. Sam Morshead is to be congratulated for trialling them this week and I know he wants them to become a permanent fixture at Perth starting from next April’s meeting. They seem to offer the benefits of the fixed-brush hurdles, i.e. encouraging horses to jump properly, without the inherent dangers. The hurdles at Worcester are a deathtrap imo.
He’s actually received a nine-day suspension starting on 28th September, which means he’ll have to miss the valuable Chepstow meeting on October 11th (for many the first day of the jump season "proper").
The only consolation is that he’ll be able to ride at the 2-day Perth meeting next week where, if precedent is anything to go by, he’ll be guaranteed at least six winners for NTD.
I’m surprised that anyone still takes an interest in this discredited farce which seems to have outrun its sell-by date by about two decades.
Am I the only person in this forum who hasn’t a clue who these two people in Federer’s box were?
Surely there must be somebody else….Himself?
Fred Astaire vs. Gene Kelly is my preferred analogy.
No prizes for guessing which is which.
Now that I have been informed that Jim Lewis was the part-owner of Oumeyade I suddenly feel much more forgiving towards Sam Thomas. Even if I’d backed the bloody thing I’d still be having a little celebratory drink and a chuckle….
My understanding is that PB wished to return to the South at the end of last season and the offer of the No. 1 position at Twiston-Davies’ gave him the perfect opportunity. So it’s not true to say that he "lost his job" at Howard Johnson’s.
Not sure that the fact that N T-W’s horses have for once kept their form for a whole season can be related to Paddy’s arrival, though.
So, a young, inexperienced amateur is guilty of over-confidence — it happens.
For MP to suggest that this is comparable to some celebrated cases of skullduggery in the past is quite ridiculous.
The going is now officially heavy.
Predictably, Lingfield have called off tomorrow — I live about 10 miles up the road and there really doesn’t seem to have been that much overnight rain, certainly not a deluge. Seems it only takes a heavy shower for them to abandon.
Just going back to Ginger’s comment about the unreliability of the Fontwell going reports, the worst period for that was when a member of the Stickells clan was Clerk of the Course (a name, sadly, which is synonymous with incompetence). Since his departure the state of the course has improved markedly.
Paul Nicholls must owe a big debt of gratitude to Anthony Bromley, who manages to supply his wealthy owners with a seemingly unending stream of top-class ex-French horses, Master Minded being his latest purchase to achieve Championship status.
Astonishing to think that around 60 of Bromley’s purchases competed at the Festival.
Colin, I grant you that KC’s language was colourful and somewhat OTT, but some other well-known racing personalities were on the receiving end as well. Apparently that was fine until she came to our lovely Lydia.
And anyway, I thought Hattie Jacques was a much-loved national institution?
I enjoyed that post until the crass comment about our lovely Lydia.
Colin
Colin, far from being a "crass" comment, KC has expressed her view that Lydia is not a particularly good broadcaster, a view with which I concur. Agreed that she (KC) might have used a less provocative tone. But, as I discovered myself a little while back, heaven forbid that anyone should have the temerity to criticise any of the TRF "deity". They will be rounded upon, ordered back to their rooms until they have learnt and absorbed the accepted orthodoxy, then tested before they are allowed to re-emerge (perhaps under a new identity for their self-protection).
I like this forum. But the one thing I don’t like about it is the genuflection shown by otherwise sane members towards those members they consider to be celebrities.
This was going to be one of my bigger bets of the meeting until I saw him entering the paddock…..lethargic to the point of being semi-conscious and as dull a coat as McCririck’s elephant outfit. He ran accordingly.
