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I went a few years back and, as other have said, the view from the roof of the stand is superb and I went on a fine and warm autumn afternoon so not far off brilliant.
Crossing the course to the paddock area, there were a number of stalls around the paddock and it all seemed very rural and pleasant. Getting in and out a little haphazard with an interesting crossing to negotiate.
It is what it is and if you accept it as a country track, it’s not up to Taunton or Wincanton but stands up pretty well.
There’s so much redundancy built in to the NH season that a couple of week’s stoppage doesn’t make any difference at all.
If Henetson is desperate, he can always put Sprinter Sacre in a Jumpers Bumper – I ‘m sure there’ll be plenty of those scheduled.
I do recall Arena tried the term "Winter Flat Racing" a few years ago but it never really caught on.
Apart from those who don’t like Winter Flat racing (and no one forces you to watch it or bet on it), the fact is you could have the best-prepared track in the world but not only would you always be vulnerable to fog or high winds but you can’t make the surrounding area secure in weather terms.
The problem for Lingfield is as much getting to and from the track as with the surface itself.
As for tomorrow, the forecast sounds better for both Lingfield and Kempton while Naas seem likely to race as well.
Listening to the interview Neil Mackenzie-Ross gave on ATR, the point I found interesting was thatr the nature of the surface made it vulnerable to heavy snow and that it was impossible in such conditions to harrow the track.
I’m wondering if this is a problem with the new generation of Polytrack surfaces in that they can’t cope with heavy snow but can cope with cold. It’s an interesting one.
Oddly enough, my recollection is that it’s easier to harrow Fibresand in heavy snow.
Knowing the location, the problem they have is that while they might be able to get the surface raceable, access (especially if there are problems getting into Lingfield from the A22) may force their hand if there are poor conditions overnight.
The snow hasn’t been too severe in the London area so far – especially compared to further west – and I think Lingfield and Kempton will be back with us tomorrow.
The issue is of course that January and February are traditionally the times when the weather intervenes and there is a break in turf racing. Nowadays, frost sheets and drainage mitigate to some degree but it’s still possible to have a week to ten days with no racing (apart from Ricky’s beloved winter flat of course).
The other thing is there is so much redundancy built in to the NH pattern that there are plenty of opportunities for horses of whatever level to run their Cheltenham prep races and we now routinely move the top races like pass the parcel (and I think this is wrong) if the weather closes in and there’s also bumpers for jumpers if you want to get a racecourse gallop into your Cheltenham contender.
I’ve long thought the NH season was too heavily weighted toward mid-March onward and my controversial suggestion would be to move the National to mid-February to provide a midwinter focus for betting.
Nine, seven, six and seven for the four chases on the Lingfield card tomorrow.
There’s little doubt in my mind there is too much racing over Christmas/New Year when a) all the meetings are on and b) the ground is very similar everywhere.
The drier spell will help and it will be interesting to see if fields recover next week as ground improves back to good/soft.
Indeed, Lingfield has passed the inspection and will race tomorrow.
Looks as though the handicap will divide along with the Bumper.
This is another initiative we’ve seen coming from Ireland where tracks put on either all-chase or all-hurdle cards if parts of the course are unraceable. Lingfield’s problem is that the hurdle course is the summer Flat course and therefore has more use and has been watered.
The outside chase course is unused in the summer and can therefore be better preserved. I’ve long thought Lingfield could have taken on the United Hunts card at Folkestone quite easily and staged an all-chase card but the proximity to the Derby Trial meeting probably mitigated against that.
I presume tomorrow’s coverage will be the swansong. I don’t watch the terrestrial coverage of racing very much as I can get ATR and there are ways of catching up with the RUK races though not of course live.
I do think Channel 4 and its team have done a fine job for racing. The quality of the coverage in technical terms is very good and while we all have our favourites and those for whom we care less about among the presenters, I think the back room team and the technicians deserve a huge amount of praise,
The new grouping, presumably mentioned the best of C4, the BBC and the specialist racing channels, will no doubt have its admirers and critics. The tendency is for sports coverage to become more specialised but for racing, we need tone building the customer base and the terrestrial coverage is a big part of that.
ATR Racing Review was as follows:-
Part One:- Wolvo (Full), Limerick (Finishes)
Part Two:- Ffos Las (Finishes), Down Royal (Finishes)No room for Leopardstown despite there being Graded action, let alone Sedgefield, Fontwell & Towcester.
As I’ve said before, why not show the racing reviews between 6 & 9am rather then low grade Aussie Racing.
People carp about RUK showing too many replays, but at least the races are played back in full.
Hard to argue with this, my friend. To be fair, they have always struggled with the Boxing Day programme though they did use the "red button" facility in the past to show a couple of the cards. I think the Down Royal meeting has only been shown live in the past few years when other meetings have been abandoned.
I was once told they did not have the resources to show three live Irish cards.
Indeed, tonight’s meeting at Wolverhampton was halted after just three races. It does seem the Polytrack doesn’t do cold either and to be honest it’s not that cold at the moment.
The problem is a number of racecourses adjoin rivers or tributaries and the sheer volume of rain which has fallen in the past fortnight has got to work downstream from higher ground and from the tributaries into the larger rivers.
The Thames is fed by many rivers and will probably continue to rise for a while and that will be true of many rivers – I note Bangor are now worried about their meeting tomorrow. I’ve never known Kempton to flood from the river (it’s a good half mile or more) but there is a risk.
When I was an Annual Member at Lingfield a few years back, they called it "Winter Flat" Racing which I think is a fair title.
As someone else sai, you can’t legislate for fog or high winds. Lingfield have lost meetings when the track has been fine but getting to it has been impossible because the roads are snowbound.
I was there tonight and it was astonishing.
Most people were out in the sunshine (about 7,000 trackside I reckon tonight) and anticipating an uneventful race with SNOWBOARDER and Frankie prevailing (4/7) with AYAAR at 11/8.
Frankie jumped and set a strong pace but the horse was running green and I don’t think was enjoying the lightning quick ground. Harley, who had ridden the previous winner, tracked Frankie throughout and about a furlong and a half down, made his move.
Frankie was immediately pushing and riding the favourite and an upset looked on the cards as AYAAR came alongside and led but Frankie got a second wind out of SNOWBOARDER and the two were locaked together in the final 100 yards.
My first thought as they crossed the line was that AYAAR had got up but as we all waited for the verdict, I think a lot of people began to wonder if we were going to see something remarkable.
The two Tote payouts were £1.10 and 70p respectively.
I’ve long been a fan of the Review but I don’t entirely agree with some of the comments.
When all races were shown in their entirety, you could wait three weeks or more for some meetings to be shown (usually Irish ones). Cutting out the first half of a few NH races means all meetings can be shown which must be an improvement.
I don’t know why Southwell’s Friday NH meeting hasn’t been shown yet – has Thursday’s Limerick card been shown?
I assume that given the strength in depth at Ballydoyle, there’s little point in him going for the Irish Derby or King George so that’s the Leger.
Indeed, there’s an almost French feel to this – a summer break and then a strong autumn campaign so the Arc where he will presumably join ST NICHOLAS ABBEY.
Then what? The Champion Stakes?
That’s near enough $8 million AUS it’s a horse race not a presidential election
Yes, but the point is it has to be enough to get both sides to get involved. It also is potential insurance against a failed breeding career. What happens if FRANKEL isn’t fertile ?
For that kind of money, I would contend connectionc would make the race happen but there are very few people (the Arabs or the Chinese) who have that kind of cash.
A bonus of £1 million isn’t worth it.
The economics aren’t difficult – to get the likes of Tom Jones, Madness or even Calvin Harris requires a big outlay by the course and they have to cover their costs.
Not unreasonably they would argue that if you want to a concert venue to see any of the aforementioned, you’d be looking at £25 and all points upwards.
The truth is that this reinforces the view that the evenings are essentially a concert with some racing thrown in.
