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Wit
The deal to buy the Post took ages to come to fruition, and there was never any certainty that it would until the final contract was signed. The Irish consortium was named as the preferred bidder several weeks ago, but that was still no guarantee that they would be able to come up with a bid that would be acceptable to MGN. Under those circumstances, AB was entitled to take a place on the Timeform board, since he had no way of knowing what the future of the Post buyout was, if any.
Now that it has come off, I doubt he will have much time to devote to other activities anyway. Seven per cent is an awful lot of readers to lose in 12 months, and it is always a great deal easier to shed them than it is to tempt them back.
I’d be very surprised if Alan Byrne were to continue as a director of Timeform now that the Racing Post deal has been concluded.
A Triple Crown really needs three distances. The Guineas, Derby and Irish Champion would be a better one if you are going to go beyond national boundaries (and why not, it’s an international business these days, after all).
The original Triple Crown was designed for a different age and its time has gone. There are still enough people around in racing who were born into that age to keep arguing and hoping that it should be the ultimate aim of all owners, but the simple fact is that it has had its day.
110 yards is a fair old difference, to be fair. Thanks for pointing it out, it’s odd how you can get things into your head that are so thoroughly wrong.
The Preakness is a mile and an eighth, so they have to drop back from 10f and then go up to 12f.
1& 3/16 the preakness
Fair point, but only for the last 82 years. Before that, it was 1 and 1/8.
The Preakness is a mile and an eighth, so they have to drop back from 10f and then go up to 12f.
They will be charging within weeks, if not days, but it will be interesting to see how they go about it. Charging per download for the video form – as opposed to a flat fee – has pretty much killed it for most users, but the new mob are a good deal shrewder than the last lot and unlikely to go down that route.
A flat fee of £10 a month would get plenty of takers if – and it’s a big if – it includes unlimited access to video form (which, don’t forget, is completely free on Attheraces).
What could muddy the waters from the RP point of view is serious competition. At the moment, there isn’t any, but theirs is not the only major racing database in existence. Timeform is now owned by Betfair and it is very much in Betfair’s interests to make as much form as possible as widely available as possible to keep people betting on its core racing markets. They have more than enough teccys to produce a serious rival to the RP site, and more than enough money in the bank to keep it free.
Since Crisford was basically conceding defeat earlier in the week, it was a fair chance to take. And even if the horse had won, they had his quotes to use again when they re-worked the intro.
ie. "For a few brief minutes yesterday, all seemed well in the Godolphin universe as they welcomed back Laverock, their winner of the King George at Ascot. But was this a sign of a Godolphin resurgence, or merely a measure of the desperate lack of quality in this year’s renewal of Ascot’s summer showpiece? Godolphin’s own spokesman seemed to suggest the latter explanation just a few days ago. The only Group One that Godolphin can win these days, it seems, is one that does not deserve the status in the first place.
At that point, you’re off and running……
Anyone with a cable running past their house may be interested in today’s announcement that the full Setanta package will be free to Virgin Media’s XL package subscribers from next Thursday.
The press release:
Racing UK to extend audience by 1,400,000 with Virgin Media tie up
Racing UK, Britain’s leading horse racing television channel, adds 1.4m to its audience via a deal with subscribers of Virgin Media’s XL package.
Simon Bazalgette, Racing UK’s Executive Chairman, commented: “Racing UK’s availability to such an increased audience is a win-win for everybody from commercial sponsors to the viewers themselves. Racing UK quickly outstripped industry predications and it is now time to take the channel on to a new level and this deal goes a long way to doing just that.â€Â
The Racey Bits, by Siggers and Williams, would have to be the funniest racing book I’ve read.
Agree with the comments about "autobiographies", most are self-serving, ghost-written dross. Richard Dunwoody’s would be an exception, though, one of the rare examples in which you get a flavour of the subject’s character (and what a mixed-up character it is).
Clearly not, but why give them free advertising too?
The Post apparently insists on seeing "proofs" of tips before tipsters are allowed to advertise, so why not demand some sort of guarantee, even if it’s only for 15 minutes in the shops and to a maximum of £50, before they will include prices in the table in the first place?
And while I’m at it, do the breeding experts on here think that allowing AI would be a good thing or a bad thing for the Coolmore Stud operation? Again, maybe a stupid question….
I’m barely even a novice, never mind an expert, when it comes to the breeding side of things, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but is there not a big difference between "re-enforcement" – and I’m so glad it’s not me rummaging about in there – and AI. Re-enforcement still demands that the stallion and mare are in the same room and do the biz. You can’t do it if the stallion is on a different continent.
Bolger said in a statement: "Teofilo had a blow-out this morning at 6.30am over five furlongs and moved with his usual fluency.<br>"He gave every indication that he was fit and ready to run.<br>"Unfortunately at 9.00am there was excessive heat, and some soreness at the back of his off-fore knee when palpated.<br>"After discussions with my senior staff, I have decided that it would not be prudent to run him in Saturday’s Stan James 2000 Guineas.<br>"Consequently, I shall not be declaring him for the race.<br>"My staff and I have made every effort to have Teofilo fit and well for the first Classic of 2007 but must now accept that a cautious approach is the correct way to go as more serious damage could be done if subjected to a race at this time.<br>"A further press release on his condition will be issued in two weeks."
Perhaps someone who always backs the short prices and usually waits until two or three more races have passed, or until the next meeting, to cash winning tickets?
But surely a good deal of this applied last time around too – Southern base, smooth operator, nice smile etc etc – and they didn’t pick him then, in what is always a fallow period for either party when they have to face an incumbent.
So why would they do it now when there are two alternatives who would both have knocked Kerry into the proverbial receptacle four years ago?
