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The quality of horse competing in the Shergar Cup has certainly gone downhill since its initial meeting at Goodwood in 1999.
I think there is a place for it on the calendar and am happy to see it continue although I can’t get remotely excited about it.
What exasperates me the most about this year’s renewal is that it’s felt the female jockeys need a team of their own even though they are talented and qualified enough to be included in the other all-male teams. To add to this they are patronisingly called "The Girls". Cringe
I’ll use this thread to vent what I was thinking earlier when I was trying to find out today’s racing news: the Racing Post website is bloody awful. I’m not a subscriber so I use it primarily for news, cards and form, but it is the news aspect which is really shocking.
The format (click and reveal, and scroll down a million times until you get to something relevant)is exceptionally poor. It is impossible to find news stories, and as someone else has mentioned, there are very few stories on there which are in the paper. I know there are "members’ section" stories which I can’t access but they could still do something with the layout.
In fact it is the worst newspaper site I’m aware of. While I’m far from a Guardian reader, they have their website spot on, and even if the RP got half way to replicating that, it would be a vast improvement on what we’ve got now. All I want is a user-friendly website to access horse racing news, but it seems like I either haven’t discovered it or we just really need one built! (I currently use Sporting Life for a basic overview).
I’m sure if I’d have been at Newmarket yesterday I’d have had a good enough time – the standard of racing was high – but I can’t help but agree with what Alastair Down wrote in the RP today.
My full thoughts are on my blog (linked in my signature) so I won’t write them out again here, but the way they’ve messed with the end of the Flat season has somewhat ruined it for me. Makes no sense at all
– plus I used to love Champions Day when it was at Newmarket. I remember being there in 2000 for Kalanisi vs Montjeu – that was a great day.I consider myself lucky that I love the Flat AND the jumps
I miss the old days when both codes had more defined beginnings and endings to their respective seasons. That said, in essence the same meetings still herald the start of each season "proper" and I have fond memories of both codes stretching back 20 years now.
Overall I do have a slight preference for the Flat (the international scene and the breeding/bloodstock elements just give it that more depth for me) but honestly I’m happy all year round.
To be honest I get annoyed by the tribal nature of some hardcore jumps or Flat fans who feel they have to continually slate the code they favour least – OK a bit of jesting is fine but I’d rather any racing than none at all.
Thanks Maruco, I’ll have a look. I’ve been on Twitter a year now and have found it better than I thought – it’s most useful for knowing what’s happening, as it’s happening.
I’ve kicked off my own blog. It’s not how I want it to look just yet – I want to get a bit soap boxy in time – but it’s a start considering I’ve not blogged for an age!
Whenever they talk of women going racing it is always along the lines of what they will be wearing and competitions for the best dressed lady or couple, so now we get overdressed girls and women turning up dressed for Ascot at the most low key meetings. Somehow the wrong messages are being sent out and it needs to be centred more around the horses, but as you say I think it’s a waste of time trying to draw new people in, they are fair weather racing folk in every sense of the word.
By the way, totally agree with this, as a fellow female forumite. The expansion of "Ladies’ Day" is positively nauseating considering the last place I want to wear stilettos and some over-revealing dress is the racecourse (that’s what nightclubs are for). Most of the women I saw on Eclipse Day at Sandown were falling over 7-inch feels, drunk, and invariably on hen parties. It’s the kind of thing that puts me off going to Royal Ascot, Aintree etc. I just want to see the horses. Also, when are we going to have "best dressed gentleman" introduced onto the racecourse?
I agree with many of the sentiments on this thread, although there are three distinct groups: punters, racegoers and the racing enthusiasts who aren’t particularly bothered about betting (I’m not, although I always bet when at the track).
It would be interesting to see how many of this latter group have actually fallen into racing by chance – i.e those who don’t have a family connection to racing. What has always struck me (and probably what is a bit of a turn off about the sport to be honest) is that it can be more difficult to get involved in racing at certain levels if you’re not "the son/daughter of so and so who is the brother/sister of blah blah blah".
It’s a small aside, and we all know about racing’s closed circles, but I meet more people who have got the racing bug through family connections than other means. That’s not to say there aren’t more out there like me and the rest of us on here. No one in my family ever had an interest in racing (in fact my sister says it’s barbaric and won’t let me watch it in her house
) and there are few friends I’ve met in my life who would even bother going to a racecourse. I’ve spent years dragging friends and unsupecting family members along with me. Not one of them has ever chosen to follow the sport afterwards, even those I took to see Frankel run last year.Yes, marketing initiatives will only go so far i.e getting more people racing which can only be a good thing. My very untrained betting eye tells me that racing has been sidelined as a sport to bet on over the years – I remember the days when the front of betting shops were dominated by racing displays – no more.
Racing cannot robustly and effectively defend itself against the small but aggressive lobbying of minority groups like Animal Aid and bloated politial charities like RSPCA. Agreed, these issues hit the headlines just once or twice a year (Aintree and Cheltenham) but nevertheless something more needs to be done to combat the lies and hysteria they like to promote. They have a sinister agenda and nothing these days surprises me. Just look at what is happening to the Grand National.
Similarly, racing still has a long way to go to market itself effectively despite some laudable and creative initatives (I’ve been a QIPCO racemaker this year). In recent years I have seen expensive advertising initiatives around London for the Derby, Ascot, Cheltenham etc, and many of these posters have not even included a photo of a racehorse, for God’s sake. Plenty about dresses, hats, champagne and live music but not about the sport – and don’t forget, the best horses in the world have been racing at these meetings. Despite the flaws of the Shergar Cup, the meeting did have some of the world’s top jockeys, but again, the advertising listed the bands playing – not one mention of world class riders. What other sport fails to promote its stars like this? How will people ever get interested in the sport on a longer term basis if they don’t even know what they are there to see?
I find this topic frustrating, because racing is to expert at closing ranks, shooting itself in the foot and failing to promote the positive aspects of the sport.
Very sorry to hear of your family issues. I like your blog but sad to hear that you have decided to quit writing about racing at the end of the year.
A similar thing happened to me six or seven years ago – I turned my back on racing for various reasons although I didn’t really make a conscious effort to. Yet fast forward the clock and I am returning to it because I’ve missed it so much and Frankel in particular re-ignited the spark during difficult times personally. I am still as fascinated as I was when I got hooked on it 20 years ago. That said I share much of your angst about the way the sport is run and marketed.
I was away over the weekend so didn’t tune in to the Shergar Cup. However I passed a few advertisements for the Shergar Cup on the tube last night on my way back. Well, you wouldn’t have known it by looking at the adverts. They simply listed off the bands playing on Saturday – no "Shergar" or "Cup" to be found.
I’ve been venting about this for well over a decade now so the record is wearing thin, but is racing really so insecure that it is utterly incapable of marketing its own product? It was bad enough seeing huge billboard ads for the Derby a couple of years ago with not a photo of a horse in sight (but a Zebra for Investec if that counts). Surely some serious questions need to be asked here?
My Channel 4 gripe today relates to the fact the Channel 4 Watch Online facility on their website did not work at all. Stuck at work, I locked myself away with my laptop in a side meeting room to sneakily watch a few races, and not once did it stream, despite refreshing the page a hundred times. It managed to stream advertisments first though!
My second gripe is that the highlights show does not start until 00.40 tonight.
Maybe I could just do the decent thing and buy a device to actually record the racing in the day, although my flatmate is very satisfied with the cheap and nasty Freesat box we decided to get on moving in.
In the meantime I have decided to go for the only other alternative option which ensures I can actually see some racing this week, and that is working from home for the next two days. After that I might just ditch my job and find one where watching Royal Ascot counts as part of it.
Thanks wit. Yes it will be on in the bookies but to be honest I don’t fancy hanging out on my own in some dodgy bookies in Battersea to watch the race – I’ll take the audio followed by replay.
My personal favourite is David Nicholson getting Moorcroft Boy back from a life-threatening neck injury to win the 1996 Scottish Grand National. That was pure magic.
Just saw the 10 o’clock news report which naturally focused on the death of the three horses today – shots of the green screens up etc.
I wouldn’t mind as much if the BBC actually paid any attention to racing at any other time, but they never do. Or if they were fair and balanced in their reporting. They’re only interested with highlighting the negative aspects of racing and they seem to relish it. I’m sure they’ve made the animal rights lobby happy anyway.
(I’m in a bad mood so am not focused on putting forward a more constructive argument right now…I just got very wound up by what was on the news, because the average person watching that would have no real clue about racing).
I guess I am one of the lucky ones who has always enjoyed both codes equally
On saying that I suppose I do have a slight preference for the Flat overall for the following reasons:
– The Pattern – a series of top notch races and festivals throughout the season instead of geared up to one festival at the end (although this has been messed about with of late)
– The breeding and bloodstock aspect.
– The international scene and the strength in depth that provides.
– The aesthetic qualities of pure speed (think Frankel!) and sectional timing, although this could be matched over jumps by the thrill of the horses jumping.
I’m guessing the biggest problem with this season’s NH action is that all the quality racing is packed into weekends and not spread out quite as much, although it actually suits me as I can’t get ATR on my Skybox and I don’t subscribe to RUK!
Still, I’m already planning on getting tickets to wherever Frankel runs next so I’m keeping tabs on that one. And I’m looking forward to the warm, light, spring days.
I was contemplating this one but was otherwise engaged on Pall Mall.
Still, I’m up for a TRF meet up another time as I was meant to join one a few years ago and failed.
I didn’t see it, but I’m more interested in how good a trainer Aidan O’Brien is rather than how good he is at PR.
Having worked in politics (and PR!) for some time, I’ve met too many PR types who, to be frank, I just can’t trust.
Not to say that all those good at PR are untrustworthy, but those who are excellent at their job and provide excellent PR for their sport/industry (such as Frankie Dettori for example), are rare. I guess they are lucky to be multi talented!
Then again, there is also a matter of manners and politeness and obvious distraction during an interview that is being broadcast around the world. It just looks rude more than anything else – but then again I didn’t see the interview so can’t properly judge.
– plus I used to love Champions Day when it was at Newmarket. I remember being there in 2000 for Kalanisi vs Montjeu – that was a great day.
