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Presvis?
Is that still running? The guitarist out of the Manics is more visible than Presvis.
Ne’er mind. That sneakily campaigned blot which hacked up at Kempton this afternoon with a billion lira on its back will soon be taking over.
And then, alas, after Filthy has exploited the flawed British handicap system till it bleeds, he’ll be off to the South China Seas…
The effluent being pumped through the speakers for Canford Cliffs’s triumphal return to the enclosure on Saturday made it sound as if the hooded hordes of orcs were about to descend from the Burghclere Hills in order to burn and eat the luckless animal.
I’m still rolling, Pinza. Nice one.OneEye,
Along with a few of Bukowski’s epigraphs, that story is my personal Sermon on the Mount.
Forget the drink – that confused matters. Bernard was a legendary soak and everything he did and wrote has to be taken in that context – and as Venusian comments, that drinking-as-literary- statement/way-of-life was of its time. Now its frowned upon, as you know – like smoking and gluttony.
This story says to me that no matter how bad it gets as a gambler – no matter how cruel the Gods – there’s always hope.
And another race.
If only we’d have gone down this road, Robert99
Couple of things worth discussing from yesterday’s RP:
As part of the Broughton bid, the BHA have apparently agreed to forego 50% of the sale price of the Tote in order to have a guaranteed seat on the board of the new Tote and a guaranteed minimum annual income of £11m. I’m not sure I like this tactic.
Yet, Betfred have made "the commercial decision" not to engage with horse racing to the extent of the Broughton bid.
How can you not engage with horse racing? Surely they should be knocking the BHA’s doors down? I’ve spent the last twenty four hours working out how they got this far in the process with this level of indifference to the sport.
I honestly can’t see a future for Fibresand. It simply isn’t worth keeping a horse which only acts on Fibresand in training and if a horse acts on turf or polytrack then there’s no reason to run on Fibresand either.
Spoke to a respected trainer last year, Tuffers, who said to me that if Southwell dug up the fibresand and replaced it with either Polytrack or Tapeta, it would be THE best artificial surface track on the planet.
The bends gently sweep, there is ample time to jockey for the best position, time to get into a rhythm down the back straight, and there is, of course, the long journey home.
Sadly, in the same way they don’t race greyhounds over straight tracks, it will never happen – there wouldn’t be any betting mileage in it.
For the record, a 0-90 handicap is Class 3, a 0-85 is Class 4, and reducing a race from 90 to 85 top rating saves the track between four and five thousand depending on the day of the week.
Thanks for that, AP. We’re back to the daily rate/media rights arguments again because there just aren’t the punters turning up at Southwell this year – not even on really hot days – to fund that kind of difference.
Tuffers, that’s really poxed. We’ve been starved of anything approaching good racing all season round here. There’s been some right drek – the most mundane season I can remember for horses. Highlights? Dubai Hills and Stanley Rigby. Struggling for others.
Last year, there were those sponsored 5f sprints worth up to £18,000. Midweek too! Moorhouse Lad once won one of those (I think) and you can guarantee Dandy would turn up mobhanded.
This year? Nothing remotely similar. I’m not sure what the richest race run at the sandpit this year was – I have a feeling it was 9k to the winner, Christmas time.
However, I would have been interested to see how many runners those matched tariff Class 3’s attracted. There have been some really strange anomalies recently.
Southwell has downgraded every race on the card on 17th May.
How is that possible? Is it an all Banded card now?
For some reason, on hearing this news, I was reminded of the time Spinal Tap supported the Puppet Show.
I like to ask, what are people’s view when a pretentious horse is compared to a great horse of the past? For example Frankel to Nijinsky.
…or your namesake, Red Rum. No way would Frankel ever open an ASDA on Southport High Street. Only the
Waitrose
would ever be cool enough…
I voted Yes. Living in a town where there has never been anything other than a Tory MP – well, apart from the days when there was a feudal Lord of the Manor who used to bait bears in the pit at the Saracen’s Head, and hunt mud-encrusted serfs through Blidworth Woods with his bloodthirsty Norman pals* – I guess I had no choice.
The interesting thing is the turnout. On the Electoral Officer’s address register, there were hardly any ticks. Do people care?
*Come to think of it, local Tory grandee Patrick Mercer is ex-Cavalry. And old Roger the Drunkard on the Burgage hasn’t been seen for at least a
month…
I’m happy with my two selections – one on the inside, one on the outside.
Afleet,
Still can’t quite figure out how much speed we’ll have in the race to set up for the deep closers but MMM’s style is a stalker and I think if he gets a good trip he’ll be one to watch out for, for certain! Not only that, his woman trainer had a heart transplant a couple years ago and has a small stable and seems VERY hands on with him. And not only that he is residing in Zenyatta’s former stall and if just a smidgeon of her champion and racing ways touch his feet he is sure to run like the ind!
Is there a better story than this, this year?
I couldn’t get on with "Spiral," Moe. Far too soon after The Killing. Plus, like Luc Besson and his ilk, I felt it pandered to an American market. The Killing pandered to no-one.
Did you know that our cousins over the Atlantic have remade The Killing?
I’d bet Tote exclusively if the liquidity supported the enterprise. Fifty quid can destroy a tasty Tote price at Southwell – that’s embarrassing for a major racing nation.
The big festivals and Saturday meetings are definites though.
I always bet offline – partly because sitting about in my boxer shorts watching telly, drinking Scrumpy Jack and munching warmed up doners, with the Blue on main screen and a shrunken poker table tile in top left, wasn’t doing my outlook on life much good. A lack of fresh air, sunight and contact with actual
people
wasn’t helping either.
After a year of watching horses on telly, seeing a horse up close again was a trippy experience.
Also, I bet with high street bookies, particularly pension-enhancing cross card accumulators – one major argument against a Tote monopoly. Although all the textbooks I read as a kid argue against accies – advice I followed for at least fifteen years – one major problem with that advice is that while win singles might bring home regular slices of bread and butter, they certainly don’t bring home the vintage champers.
All you need is one big day when you see the ball like the planet Saturn and bang, six line up. Off to the Sandy Lane with a leggy blonde, a Samsonite briefcase full of cash and a Fez.
Cracking days racing, it seems, and this wonderful horse played his part. Roll on the Coronation Cup!
Only just seen it – an absolutely jaw-dropping performance, one of the best I’ve ever seen.
I can see Margot winning one of those big Ascot handicaps. Have you noticed Bell is far more likely to put Hayley on his buzzers lately, AJ?
Anticipating upcoming big races.
A Day at the Races – unbeatable entertainment.
The heritage, intertextuality, culture and ironclad tradition of horse racing.
Badactor, you’re always welcome over here, sir.
Still have your Mine That Bid photo as one of my screensavers.Thanks for the musings too. If they are yours (it’s not clear), the fact that Archarcharch isn’t trained by one of the "Big Eight" should be considered a strength as far as I’m concerned. I’m definitely interested – as I am in the much more interestingly named Mucho Macho Man, (welcome back, Afleet!), an animal with similarly low profile connections.
Can’t be doing with pesky monopoly trainers – long live the Underdog.
