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Great paper, the RP. Love it. It’ll be here in twenty five years, ne’er mind ten.
The growth of the Internet appears to have spawned an awful lot of skinflints, innit. Tenpence? I’ll bet half you lot thought Mars Bars were
loads
bigger when we were kids.
Well done the Post. Enjoyable innovations today.
Hi Bruce.
Great post.
Cheers.
My jolly newsagent just told me it’s £1.90 a pop Sat and Sun, £1.70 weekdays, commencing tomorrow.
2.05 Silk Hall; Classic Swain
2.40 Kilcrea Asia; Billie Magern
3.15 Private Be; Mount Benger
3.50 King Troy; Kennel Hill
4.25 Keki Buku; Rajeh
5.00 Kangaroo Court; Presentandcorrect
5.35 Brackloon High; Sheriff HallHope that C4 has the bleeper button at the ready to avoid offending the genteel viewer.
I well recall some jockey yelling "Hang on Sir, my horse is having a ******* s*it" at the starter at Aintree one year in the 80’s, picked up by the BBC’s effects microphone.
As there have (according to the RP) been only 16 instances of remounting in 2007 and 2008, with 10 of those earning prize money, it really isn’t that important IMO, but I back the decision.
As someone said, equine welfare led to the same rule in eventing, and that is no less a spectacle for it- in eventing (more so than racing), remounting was seen to be the ‘macho’ option, regardless of the horse.
Plus, it’s OK AP saying that he won £55k for his owners by remounting Blowing Wind- how much did he cost spread punters who’d sold the number of Grand National finishers that day?
And finally, can’t let a thread about remounting pass by without repeating old tale of the famous riding instructions given by Capt. Tim Forster to Charlie Fenwick on Ben Nevis just before the 1980 Grand National:
"Keep Remounting".
Cheers Tuffers- not concerned at all on legal grounds, as they would have fewer legs to stand on than Douglas Bader, but I do worry about how easily an inefficiently-run company can blot your credit-rating copybook due to a crass error, and you are then obliged to sort it.
No, I’m not out of pocket-beyond 35-40 mins on hold on an 0844 number last night.
I was considering doing the £9.99 ‘watch it on PC’ job but don’t think I’ll bother now, and would encourage no-one else to do so.
Here we go. Two letters, one telling me my sub ended on 1st Sept, the other one threatening debt collectors and my credit rating being adversely affected.
OK, I’ve had an apology, but if this is the sort of first letter that they send if someone (unlike me) has missed a payment, I do wonder about their customer service. Often, a payment can be missed because a debit or credit card has expired.
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.ph … 28993&da=y
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.ph … 28992&da=y
The letter dated 16th Sept actually arrived yesterday, despite its date- thus prompting my strop, and this thread.
Now got through to the 0844 line after 15 minutes in queue.
Executive Summary
– Profuse apologies from RUK-
Details:
Me:
"Just had a letter about a failed subscription payment. Why? I was with Setanta and didn’t renew
"
[Gave him my account number and he checks his system]
Nice guy at the other end :
"It’s just an automated letter- sorry it looks quite threatening."
Me:
"I’ll say, it threatens me with debt collectors and damage to my credit rating, something I value and guard very highly.
"
NGAOE
"It’s just an automated letter, I’m very sorry. I’ll put a stop on it now. You won’t receive any more letters.
"
There we are- letter on asbestos writing paper to Watchdog averted, but still leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
Will do- cheers.
Will scan both letters in at work tomorrow, duly redacted as to the "Dear Mr. Eye-of-Sauron" bit and let you have it.
Thanks again.
Problem when they do something like this, is that they don’t really realise that they have a pretty small constituency, many of whose members communicate as on here.
A bit like the old adage that goes along the lines of- if you have a good restaurant meal, on average, you tell 3 people. If you have a bad restaurant meal, on average you tell 7 people.
Q1- Is there a place for the annuals, in future years, other than as a collection of (admittedly superb) essays, pedigree referrals and historical ratings?
I ask this as, if I was looking at a horse whose line went:
"mare; winning pointer; poor maiden chaser; pulled up and dismounted after second on hurdling debut; stays 3m; acts on firm and good to soft ground"
which if it was in a book printed in September, and this was now the middle of January, surely I’d be far better off checking her last few runs online.
If it is the case that the annuals are a snapshot, and nothing more, fine, but increasingly when I get the annuals I devour the essays and the editorial but ignore the ratings and comments etc on the other horses.
The annuals permanent value is as a review of the achievements of the season’s more notable horses. We’re well aware that customers use the annual in many different ways and, unlike almost all other products that we produce, they have sacrosanct boundaries which we are very wary of crossing.The annuals have long been regarded as our flagship publications and we are extremely proud of them. Even as production costs continue to grow, we are committed to maintaining their fine tradition for the foreseeable future.
Q2- Is there any way that, say (and for a fee), Timeform addicts could have access to an online database of comments, squiggles etc. without having to subscribe to the Black Book
We already have the Horse Search facility which may well be the solution you’re after. If you purchase a timed subscription to timeform.com, you can search for any horse as you see fit in that timed period. You’ll find more details at timeform.com under the ‘Horse Search’ link in the left-hand menu.
I pay for the basic package due to the fact that my handicap ratings are stored on their server.
I have sent off at least 6 emails complaining about the service they supply, notably Top Speed refusing to rate race meetings like Southwell NH, Wetherby NH, Haydock NH, Tranmore and a few others for example.
And the reply you get back is that there is not enough races to calculate the ratings!
The racecourses noted above have been around for decades and because of the amount of meetings now to assess, some simply are not being done.
Now you have the once mighty Raceform Ratings (RPR) wallowing at the bottom of the naps table, time for a change of personal I think?I don’t believe that you need even the minimum subscription package to be able to store your ratings on their server. I do so for my speed figures and pay no sub.
In fairness re Haydock and Wetherby NH both tracks have been radically revamped in the last couple of years, and what the Post say is quite correct- there is an insufficient sample of races on goodish ground to be able to prepare standard times with any degree of accuracy.
Dunno about Southwell though- I’ve got loads of races from there in my data base and some standard times (they do alter the distances summer-to winter, but even then I’ve got enough data).
Chapter 7
What a whiz idea to release my autobiography in October (rather than in June).
It means that the Post can serialize it in fawning style, and then I can sell bucketloads by signing them at Chepstow, and places like that….
But you missed out the best bit:
*Based on a loaf of Hovis Wholemeal Thick 800g from Sainsbury’s (£1.24) – June 09.
Members’ Club price is based on a monthly subscription of £7.50 divided by the average
number of days in a month (30.43 days).Useless piece of information, but given to me, in good faith by the Arkwright who runs our local corner shop.
What is the difference, in number of slices, between a "THICK" sliced and a "MEDIUM" sliced standard supermarket loaf?
Well?
OK- it’s one measly slice less in a THICK loaf than in a MEDIUM.
Go check it out.
Crusts don’t count
