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I don’t have a problem with mediocrity as you can have a cracking finish between two horses rated in the 50s or between two horses rated in the 120s. I enjoy watching racing from the likes of Beverley and Hamilton as much as Goodwood or Newmarket.
British racing’s biggest selling point is it’s variety. With racecourses as different as Chester and Newmarket on the flat and Cartmel and Cheltenham over jumps there is enough diversity in the types of racing run to keep everyone happy. The big danger now is the risk of AW racing taking over the calendar and leading us down the road towards the snoozefest that is American racing.
The difficulty of compiling the fixture list is trying to keep owners, trainers, bookmakers, broadcasters, punters and racegoers happy. Good luck to anyone trying to sort that lot out!!
In my opinion there are too many big races on saturdays which means that races that deserve to make the headlines that day are overshadowed by a card elsewhere. Meanwhile sunday racing is crying out for more big events.
As someone who always enjoyed playing canadian yankees the easter monday was a favourite day as i would end up with about a dozen canadians on the go so even when one of my horses lost i would still have a pile of betting slips that could still be the one.
If i could bring back any old racing traditions the 16 meeting easter monday would be right up there along side the four mile chase at Cheltenham on new years day.
I would be disappointed if they moved it as Sandown is THE home of the Whitbread. Although as a jumps rather than flat man i am not a big fan of mixed meetings i always thought it worked on Whitbread day.
As for Cheltenham it has more than enough big meetings as it is.
And finally the BHB still have to come up with a better finish to the NH season and then a decent break before the start of the new season.
When Brave Inca was pipped in his first attempt at the Champion Hurdle it was suggested on that weekend’s Morning Line that he go chasing. The next year he wins the Champion.
I see no reason why MTOY can’t improve the couple of pounds he needs to overturn the form with Jezki. It’s not to say he will but he should be given the chance.
As for Ayr well this was the right time for Nicky Henderson to try the hood and new bridle as this race was an afterthought. Now we know it doesn’t work. And MTOY is hardly the first horse to disappoint in his first run after the festival.
There are pluses and minuses with the changes that channel 4 made. I was fed up listening to John Francome telling us what a great ride the jockey on the winning horse had just given and i think that Graham Cunningham and Mick Fitz are great additions. However the loss of Alastair Down is still felt on the big occasions and McCririck did make the programme more entertaining.
The big criticism i have of C4’s coverage is their camera angles. Nothing annoys me more than not seeing EVERY horse jumping a fence in the early stages of the race and too often C4 seem to be going for the arty shot rather than the best possible view.
Surely it’s not too much to ask to have a stationary camera at each fence in the national so we can see all the horses go over the fences instead of just the leaders.
However in general i think that Channel 4 are doing a coog job.
