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Regarding how good Suroor and Ferguson are:
I will start of with Ferguson. I’m not sure we can say whether the Godolphin form can be his fault with the horses that he is told you buy for them. If you were the bloodstock agent for Godolphin and Sheikh Mo asked you to buy a certain horse, you went to see it and didn’t like it at all yourself….. what would you do?
Ring the sheikh up and tell him it’s useless (quistioning his judgement) P45 in the post the next morning and bad media for him………. or just the buy the horse and accept your commission. I know what i would do.
I think the main question is how much patience Sheikh Mo has, he seems to have it in spades because i would have got rid of SBS a long time ago. You only have to look at their runners in America, they have a great strike rate. Someone called Mattee (spelling?) trains them over there even though it still says SBS……….. They gallop the hell out of all these horses in England and most are a spent force before even getting to the track.
Passage Of Time will get gubbed. Light Shift will end up being Cecil’s best Oaks hope come the day.
This fella will follow Diamond Tycoon of the edge of a cliff if it happened to happen. Why can’t people realise that although he was very impressive in the maiden i very much doubt he will win a group one in this country.
He was able to dominate at Newbury and run quickly without any pressure, but i very much doubt that he can run as quickly when under pressure.
As regards to Cockney Rebel, i don’t think you can knock him really. It wasn’t the best of guineas, agreed, but he did it pretty easy in the end and never looked in any danger after quickening up really well. What is going to beat him in the Irish guineas?? Dutch Art if anything probably preferred being over the other side because he was able to dominate the closing stages over that side.
Adagio ran too bad to be true, but i doubt he will ever beat the winner over a mile.
She was very good yesterday, wasn’t she. I thought they had said the time wrong at first!
The only thing that might count against her this year is her running style, she has to come late and she could find trouble in these big field sprint races like the kings stand.
Asset looks like a winner of the golden jubilee on his performance at HQ, he travels so nicely.
Dandy Man needs no introduction, he is all speed and will pick up his fair share this year.
Soft ground will mean Reverence should make hay…….. but soft ground might be a hard thing to find this year.
and don’t forget Les Arcs.
A superb sprinting rank this year.
The north don’t need a super racecourse, they already have some of the best tracks in the land: Pontefract, Beverley, Ripon and York!
Usually you will hear me saying the champion hurdle or Arkle, but this year i think the Champion Chase will be a fantastic race what more could you want: Voy Pour Ustedes, Well Chief, Nickname and Newmill fighting it out. I don’t think it will be as easy for Well Chief as many think.
I for one would be very annoyed if they did start charging for many of the things on there.
Some of you might think its value, but for the usual racing fan, that isn’t that much of a betting man (usually small stakes) it is awful.
Most people use media (mostly the Racing Post) to get into racing, if they start charging for site usage, it will deter people from the sport, imo.
We pay enough to get into race meeting etc without having to pay for getting form on the internet. They charge enough for the newspaper, which keeps rising.
Horse Racing is something i enjoy but in England it is too expensive to follow that closely.
I recently returned from the US where i went to Santa Anita, and for their biggest days racing in the entire year i was amazed that general admission (Tatts to you and i) was just $5, Club house $8.50 and Turf Club (members) $20!!!!! Their race cards only $2.25 and the DRF $3, i think.
In France it is just the same……..
Why do WE have to pay through the roof for a sport we love to follow? Because a select few are always willing to pay these stupid costs, pushing the smaller fans away.
Adding anymore costs to the RP website, no matter how good it is would be unforgiving imo. I didn’t see that the site needed improving from the last upgrade.
I don’t like the changes. I like reading the spotlight verdicts, which used to be below every race, but now you have to open up something else to get them, and as you all say we will probably have to pay for them soon, which i think is a joke.
No wonder Horse Racing is struggling to get fans in this country ahead of other sports. Everything is money these days.
Quote: from Flash on 6:23 pm on Mar. 9, 2007[br]I think Straw Bear is a good horse but I see him as more of an Aintree horse. Think he will be outslogged up the hill.
Thats the negative about him that i have, but other than that, he is probably the value with McCoy on board. He may just be able to quicken better than his rivals at the last and do a catch me if you can.
Godolphin still have plenty of horses in Newmarket, although they won’t be doing much at this time and will be using their private training facilities i would have thought.
Warren Hill is the easiest place to walk to from the town and gets the most people viewing the morning exercises.
As has been said before you really need to get up there before 8 at the latest to see most of it.
You can head up towards the Rowley Mile to see the gallops at racecourse side.
Or up the Bury Road and taking either route when the road forks, although there is more space to park if you take the right hand road from the town towards Kentford.
I too, have been trying pick holes in the form of DC, which i still don’t think is as good as the form of BI or HE.
There is still a possibility that Straw Bear will turn the form around with Detroit City when he was badly in need of the run at Sandown and still got close to Detroit City. The softer ground will help Straw Bear apparently but i’m not convinced Chelters really suits him although his unlucky defeat in last years Supreme.
I think Hardy Eustace will win, with Straw Bear not far behind with Brave Inca back in third.
For me this is turning into the most competitive race of the festival. A couple of weeks ago i was saying Well Chief was my banker but looking into it deep down, we don’t know how VPU would have faired if he hadn’t unseated Choc, and don’t forget VPU’s win in the Arkle last year a very hot race with a solid form look to it and in a very good time.
We don’t know how Nickname will act round Chelters but soft will help and although the form might not have a great look to it, he can only beat what he is put against and do it easily as he has been doing this season.
It’s going to be a great race and at this point, i won’t be having a bet in it.
I don’t think MWDS will be run off his feet, but i think Fair Along has his measure, he has beaten him on soft ground before, so i can’t see the form being turned around.
Having a 2 1/2mile horse in the Arkle is usually a good thing and i know how confident about Another Promise they are, and as i can’t have anything else at the prices i have backed him at a big price and will have an e/w bet on track.
Quote: from apracing on 10:27 am on Feb. 18, 2007[br]<br>DB,
It matters to the racecourse because they collect a fixed percentage of the total turnover. Presumably they have had complaints and have chosen to act on them.
Jonny,
The comparison with what the Tote will take in a betting shop is flawed – in a shop, it’s the bookmaker that pays the fixed costs for staff and equipment. On course the Tote have to pay the costs and as the takeout on a £1 bet is only a few pence, the transaction cost is probably more than the return.
Quite why they can’t revert to the method they used in the 60’s and 70’s, when there were different windows for different levels of stake, I’ve no idea.
The Tote have always been utterly hopeless at dealing with punters wanting bigger stakes anyway. About ten years ago, I went to Yorkshire to go racing during Royal Ascot week. I tried to place a £500 win bet on a short priced Ascot favourite in cash at a Tote window at Thirsk.
The reaction I got was about the same as if I’d been unmasked as a money launderer for a Colombian cartel.
I subsequently wrote to Peter Jones, head of the Tote, and asked why a customer offering them a guaranteed profit of £80 for a single quick transaction got worse treatment than one tendering £2 in small change. I suspect his repky is still posted in the press office at No. 10 as a shining example of what public services should aim for in responding to complaints.
AP<br>
Right, you were trying to have a £500 bet at THIRSK……… the tote windows probably didn’t take £500 on all the races put together up there :biggrin:
The big punters tend not to use the Tote, unless they are trying to interrupt the pools.
Does seem strange you were treated like that, was probably just the shock though.
As far as this matter goes, Cheltenham are behind this, as AP said, about the fixed percentage they get. and as most of the English public do not like asking questions they will see the "£5 minimum bet" stickers on the window and either walk away or just up their stake without any question asked.
£2 will still be accpeted by the majority if not all of the window staff as they have been asked to use their disgression on this matter.
As much as most of you seem to be against the £2 punter, i think it will hurt the Tote and the Racecourse. Everyone i have spoken to admit that the majority of people who use the tote are casual racegoers and have a few little bets for fun, rather than making any serious profit.
I will very rarely use the tote, unless i have exactas as you can never be sure where you stand with your profit. Even if you leave it until the last minute, the screens are delayed (apparently only 3seconds). I was at Towcester a few weeks ago and got the exacta in the first, about a second before the off the exacta was paying 10.80 for the £1 stake. To my amazment it returned paying 6.20!
Quote: from apracing on 10:27 am on Feb. 18, 2007[br]<br>DB,
It matters to the racecourse because they collect a fixed percentage of the total turnover. Presumably they have had complaints and have chosen to act on them.
Jonny,
The comparison with what the Tote will take in a betting shop is flawed – in a shop, it’s the bookmaker that pays the fixed costs for staff and equipment. On course the Tote have to pay the costs and as the takeout on a £1 bet is only a few pence, the transaction cost is probably more than the return.
Quite why they can’t revert to the method they used in the 60’s and 70’s, when there were different windows for different levels of stake, I’ve no idea.
The Tote have always been utterly hopeless at dealing with punters wanting bigger stakes anyway. About ten years ago, I went to Yorkshire to go racing during Royal Ascot week. I tried to place a £500 win bet on a short priced Ascot favourite in cash at a Tote window at Thirsk.
The reaction I got was about the same as if I’d been unmasked as a money launderer for a Colombian cartel.
I subsequently wrote to Peter Jones, head of the Tote, and asked why a customer offering them a guaranteed profit of £80 for a single quick transaction got worse treatment than one tendering £2 in small change. I suspect his repky is still posted in the press office at No. 10 as a shining example of what public services should aim for in responding to complaints.
AP<br>
Right, you were trying to have a £500 bet at THIRSK……… the tote windows probably didn’t take £500 on all the races put together up there :biggrin:
The big punters tend not to use the Tote, unless they are trying to interrupt the pools.
Does seem strange you were treated like that, was probably just the shock though.
As far as this matter goes, Cheltenham are behind this, as AP said, about the fixed percentage they get. and as most of the English public do not like asking questions they will see the "£5 minimum bet" stickers on the window and either walk away or just up their stake without any question asked.
£2 will still be accpeted by the majority if not all of the window staff as they have been asked to use their disgression on this matter.
As much as most of you seem to be against the £2 punter, i think it will hurt the Tote and the Racecourse. Everyone i have spoken to admit that the majority of people who use the tote are casual racegoers and have a few little bets for fun, rather than making any serious profit.
I will very rarely use the tote, unless i have exactas as you can never be sure where you stand with your profit. Even if you leave it until the last minute, the screens are delayed (apparently only 3seconds). I was at Towcester a few weeks ago and got the exacta in the first, about a second before the off the exacta was paying 10.80 for the £1 stake. To my amazment it returned paying 6.20!
Sorry, i forgot to mention that this rule will not be the same in the Best Mate enclosure. £2 will still be the minimum.
This will effect the Tote if people automatically think they can’t have their normal £2 win on the big priced horses, but as i said. Staff have been told to use their disgression about this matter.
I’m not quite sure why Cheltenham have all of a sudden asked for them to do this, apart from greed.
