Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
why not make the hennessy grade one? you could then have a grade one chase at newbury instead as over the trolly fences at haydock.
im sure the sponsors would be up for it as the hennessy seldom attracts the top horses indeed i doubt we will see a horse rated as high as denman in the race again if ever.a very big crowd was at cheltenham today at times it was like being at the festival trying to get about.why cant sandown and newbury atract the crowds cheltenham do?
i still miss the 4 miler that was on new years day,the card now has a mile and a half bumper…..sign of the times i guessive always thought that if a grade one race didnt attract enough top horses it would be downgraded to a grade two. so it suprising that the like of the finale and the scilly isles are still grade one.
even the ascot chase has struggled to justify its grade one status in recent years although this seasons race could attract kauto star.
it will be interesting to see how the new grade one victor chandler chase at ascot in few weeks shapes up given that the champion chaser has never been aimed at it.
prize money has never been an issue in jumping like it is on the flat. a 20,000 race can get a better field than a 100,000 race simply because it fits in better with the build up to cheltenham.
on the whole all the new grade ones races such as the betfair and the tingle creek has helped the mid season out of the shadow of the festival a bit and its interesting to note that the king george was not a grade one race until the 70s i think.
on the down side if the scilly isles was downgraded then it will lessen even further a once great sandown card….remember the gainsborough chase?
also all the new grade ones has ment that the top horses dont tend to run in the big handicaps anymore,much in the same way as in the 70s when the flat pattern came about.talking of wierdos that go racing,i was at kempton on boxing day and while the king george runners were going to post there was loads of people all in a line waiting to be served at the burger vans. why do these people bother to go in the first place?
another tip is maybe miss the last race to avoid the mass charge for the buses. that whats i do with the excellent park and ride.
many thanks for that lydia. its nice to know that it was the bbc who delayed the betfair chase. as i said before it was nice just for once to have a bit more time to enjoy looking at the top horses.
note forgetting the fake sound of the horses jumping hurdles. i remember at aintree in october someone pressed the hurdle noise button while a trainer was being interviewed. why do the bbc always teat its viewers like idiots?
after going to haydock yesterday it didnt turn out as bad as i thought. though i was puzzled that the big race was started in the same place as the half a furlong shorter brush hurdle. as for the delay…at least the race got a proper build up instead of being rushed. a race as good as the betfair should have a 40min gap before it to make the most of these great horses.
i note that huntingdon are not happy with the turnout of the peterbrough chase and its clash with haydock and ascot. maybe the soloution is instead of having three big meetings on at the same time they should just put all the big races on one card somewhere.despite saying at the time that he will never have another runner at the course,i see that trever hemmings is running turpin green in the betfair tomorrow.
im off there too despite saying that i wouldnt go again,if trainers are still happy to run the top horses there then it might be not as bad as we feared.so far KAUTO STAR,EXOTIC DANCER,MY WAY DE SOLSEN,ACES FOUR OLLIE MAGERN and OUR VIC are said to be going for the betfair chase. it seems that ripping up the jumps course has had no affect on the race infact it shaping up to be the best betfair so far.
if only it was being run on a proper course.great to hear alan king on the bbc yesterday call the newly named boylesports international hurdle "the bula"
chetenham have a new saturday meeting on champion stakes day next month so will be interesting if that kick starts the season
back in 2001 i attended a day at all the main flat festivals ie: chester,epsom,royal ascot,newmarket july, goodwood,york and doncaster and noticed how flat the atmosphere seemed compared with cheltenham and aintree.
even eclipse day at sandown was the same,so i would say cheltenham and aintree are the best festivals the rest are also ransthere was a time when the king george stood head and shoulders above every english group one race. now its just another one of them.
no wonder debeers decided to end their long sponsorship.
