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What will the form figure symbol be for the five horses who were not identified by the Judge as completing? 0?
There was a 14 race card at Hereford in the 1970s, which as far as I know is a modern-day record. This is due to be equalled this Saturday and broken on Friday January 4th 2013, when another double header due to Southwell being out of commission sees 15 races programmed.
Worth recalling that in the 1960s the Vaux Gold Tankard was the richest handicap in Europe!
Does anyone know the results of this six-month review yet? I presume rosters will have gone out for beyond July 1st? Haven’t seen anything reported in the press however.
I think it will be a very good earner for them at Chester where most of the crowd would be none the wiser and I suspect these Bangor meetings are the "dry runs" for Chester.
Small courses like Bangor or Chester with not many fixtures or punters won’t change the way things are done, they’ll do well to survive the ongoing depression.
I think you underestimate Chester Simon – despite having some of the most expensive admission costs in racing it sells out at virtually every meeting.
Unfortunately the type of crowd it attracts, on the whole, couldn’t give a toss about the racing so they wouldn’t even know if they were being taken for a ride with the betting.
I’m not sure I like the idea of courses going it alone but I can see why they are doing it – the Chester / Bangor management team are clearly financially very astute.
I think Paul has this spot on. There may be some value (is there any value in racegoing at Chester these days?) in studying off course totes at some of the quieter Bangor and Chester meetings in the coming months. I’m not convinced there will be much value to be had in BangorBET or ChesterBET, but time will tell and, as Tuffers points out, pool betting could be a very different landscape in a few years time.
To what extent did putting the big Channel 4 unit / Morning Line set north of York for the first time since the Morning Line was rebranded in January 2011 have anything to do with Highflyer’s impending bid to keep broadcasting horse racing coverage on Channel 4 beyond the end of this year? Even Simon Holt made the trip, albeit in his course commentator / C4 piggyback role.
Hitherto Northumberland Plate Day, Scots National and Ayr Gold Cup had been given the second meeting look in terms of cameras / presentation / Morning Line set up…
If Highflyer don’t get this contract, then almost everything is up for grabs in terms of presentation, commentary and format.
The production of racing on Channel 4 from 2013 is going out to tender shortly. Highflyer’s contract ends at the close of the year, so there is very much potential for a blank canvas in terms of its presentation line up, should a new company get the contract. It will be fascinating to see how Channel 4 the broadcaster (not the Channel 4 racing team) promote the sport to a wider audience next year.
I had also noticed the more widespread return of the habit of running through all finishers, though hadn’t noted one channel (or its courses) rather than the other had stipulated it. I would have thought any edict on the matter may have more likely emanated from Racetech, perhaps?
gc
AFAIK there is a Commentator User Group which comprises members from Racetech, RUK, ATR, Channel 4, the racecourses, betting shops etc, so it wouldn’t surprise me if each can have their own requests within reason (note the regular placement of Hoiles, Machin and previously Goode as course commentators at Channel 4 second meetings). Certainly since late summer the percentage of races on ATR courses where the commentator has attempted the name the whole field passing the line is much higher than on RUK courses. Contrast David Fitzgerald’s deliveries at Sedgefield and Wetherby this week. At ATR-covered Sedgy, whole fields were called past the line in each race, whereas there was at least one race at RUK-covered Wetherby where Fitzgerald was happy to stop at fourth place, even though it was straightforwardly possible to keep going.
My understanding is that commentators are now required to call the whole field past the line (as far as is practical / possible) on At The Races-covered courses.
I’d love to know where Ian Bartlett actually is when he does these French commentaries. In France, or patched in from a London studio with the ambient racetrack noise mixed in?
AFAIK the commentaries are done from the Equidia studio in Paris, off-tube.
