A Tale Of Two Meetings

Saturday 28th November is one of those racing days which really shows the contrasts in the sport, perfectly illustrated by two meetings, geographically only 61 miles apart but a world apart in terms of the racing on offer.



On the one hand we had day three of Newbury’s Winter Festival, the highlight being the Hennessy Gold Cup. On the other we had Towcester, where the highlight was a 3 mile novices’ hurdle.



By rights I should have been at Newbury, however I also knew the course itself and the press room in particular would have been heaving and being a grumpy old man I would have spent the entire afternoon moaning and complaining.



Towcester by contrast was very quiet, crowds comfortable, only three others in the press room. Still plenty of chances to complain though.



Course commentator Richard Hoiles and I had a good moan about race planning.



At Towcester there was a 3 mile handicap hurdle due off at 2:35, a race that should take around 5’ 49” in good conditions and today they were far from good. Yet the big race of the day, the Hennessy at Newbury was scheduled to start at 2:40.



We were both miffed we were going to potentially miss the start of the big race. Indeed we agreed that given a spreadsheet we could easily organise race times ourselves without overlaps.



In the end it was potentially even worse, as the Towcester hurdle took 6’ 33” to run. Luckily the Hennessy was late off.



Anyway back to the contrasts. Newbury had a really top class card and it wasn’t just the Hennessy – the undercard was also cracking.



Lough Derg put in his usual brave performance in the long distance hurdle but even his bravery could not hold off the simply scintillating performance of Big Bucks, who took the contest without even getting out of bottom gear.



The real superlatives, however, were saved for Denman, carrying 11 stone 12 lbs and giving between 12 and 26 pounds to his rivals on his seasonal debut. He defied top weight to take the competitive contest although supporters may have had a few flutters approaching the last as his stablemate What A Friend, carrying 22lbs less, looked to be a danger. However contrasting jumps sealed the contest with Denman putting in a good leap and What A Friend looking as though he wanted to run out.



Paul Nicholls has two brilliant champions in the shape of Kauto Star and Denman and I hope above all hopes they both arrive at Cheltenham on March 19th fully fit – if they do the hyperbole of two years ago will look like a maiden aunts’ afternoon tea.



Towcester by contrast had the most uncompetitive racing I have seen in a long time. Now Towcester is renowned for its exciting finishes but not today. The first three races were won by 23, 24 & 13 lengths respectively. The “closest” finish of the afternoon was 2½ lengths.



There was some good riding with conditional rider Bernie Wharfe winning the Velcro award after finishing up round Double Dash’s neck at the last and somehow managing to get back in the saddle to take third place.



It says a great deal about the standard of racing that the most memorable aspect of the day occurred in the parade ring before the final race.



Caroline Bailey’s Qayak had been feisty in the preliminaries, having two handlers. Suddenly he bucked broke free of his handlers and careered around the parade ring, scattering assorted connections.



He then demolished a nine foot section of the parade ring rail. Running loose again a racegoer had to run as it looked as though he was going to jump the far rail in the ring.



Instead he turned, charged across the ring in the direction of the main enclosure , sending racegoers scattering in all directions. Fortunately he did not jump the rail but hid did damage another section.



As he headed towards the far end of the ring his lass bravely stood in his way and luckily he stopped and was caught.



I had just left the parade ring when the incident happened and I have to say it was very frightening incident, which had the potential to have been very serious with potential for injury to horses, connections and the general public both inside and outside the parade ring and full credit to the lass.



It brings home just how dangerous the sport is.



As I said a day of contrasts but it is these contrasts which make our sport so exciting and interesting. It is the “bread and butter” meetings which make the big ones stand out even more.



It isn’t very often I agree with the BBC’s erstwhile Racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght but this afternoon he said “Yet another fabulous Saturday; truly this is a golden period for jump racing.”



Do you know what – he is spot on.

A Matter Of Timing

A very interesting advertisement appeared in last Saturday’s Racing Post.


It was in the recruitment section and was from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and was for a “Race Times and Race Planning Executive.”


The advertisement states the jobholder will “manage the coordination of all race times across the UK, ensuring optimal intervals and avoiding any race clashes.”


All I can say is – not before time.


It is bad enough when races are delayed, resulting in clashes. However the weekend before last there was a clash of races actually built into the schedule.


The Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, the feature race of the day incidentally, was scheduled to go off at 2:55.


The “standard” time for the 3m 1f contest is 6’ 5”, yet there was a Listed contest scheduled to go off at Ascot at 3:00, meaning even if the Charlie Hall went of bang on time the Ascot race was due to start as the feature race was building up to a climax.


Notwithstanding the clash built into the schedule one would have expected the start of the Ascot contest to have been delayed until the Charlie Hall had finished.


Of course nothing of the sort happened, the Ascot race was off on time resulting in a clash.


Paul Struthers, the BHA’s Media Relations Manager has stated, “There is someone who is office based on Monday to Friday who helps to co-ordinate any amendments to off times Monday to Friday. At a weekend the responsibility lies with the Stewards.”


Well clearly the communication between Stewards is not working.


Having races clashing does not help anybody, punters get frustrated, bookmakers potentially lose revenue and even broadcasters have to resort to split screen presentations which are far from ideal.


Now I happen to think avoiding clashes is more a matter of common sense than rocket science.


So here are my high level suggestions for avoiding clashes.

1. Plan the race times correctly in the first instance. If there are, for example, two jump fixtures and two flat fixtures then alternate in the scheduling going jump, flat, jump , flat. Do not schedule jump, jump, flat, flat.


2. Ensure there are adequate gaps in the initial programming. When there is a race with a standard time of six minutes, do not schedule the next race elsewhere to go off in five minutes. The minimum gap between “off times” should be the standard time plus two minutes.


3. Avoid the obsession with off times having to be on the “five minutes” , whilst the gaps between races should be as regular as possible, is it a big issue if a race is scheduled to go off at 3:03 instead of 3:00?


4. It is a fact of life that race starts will be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. However there are plenty of occasions where there is no obvious reason for a delay. For any race where the race is more than two minutes later than its agreed off time the stewards should hold an enquiry. If the delay was avoidable, e.g. jockeys late from the weighing room, a trainer late sending a horse to the parade ring, loading not beginning soon enough, then those responsible should be punished. The onus should be on the course to prove the delay was not avoidable.


5. When races do become delayed then the schedule, across all courses, needs to be proactively reviewed and managed. This should be done centrally and should not be left to individual teams of Stewards to arrange. The individual responsible should have the authority to override local Stewards.

Clearly managing race times is a great deal simpler on days where there are two or three concurrent meetings. When there are four or five it becomes more tricky and on Bank Holidays it is an impossibility to avoid clashed, in which case the emphasis should be to avoid clashes at the principal meetings.


The individual responsible for coordination should have the authority, for example, to put all races back five minutes. Or where there is sufficient leeway just delay the start of the next race by a couple of minutes.


We are in the 21st Century and all key players at a meeting are in radio contact.


As I said it is not rocket science and it can work. I recall being at Ffos Las on St Leger day. The St Leger was running late and there would have been a clash had the Ffos Las race gone off on time. What happened was the runners in the Ffos Las race were back for five minutes and loading began once the St Leger finished. No histrionics or dramatics. Punters at Ffos Las were kept informed and the time was made up by the end of the afternoon.


In that last paragraph I touched on one key aspect of the whole plan – communication. It is essential that spectators on the course, punters in the betting shops and at home are kept informed of what is happening. It is essential that racecourses, bookmakers and broadcasters are kept fully aware of what is happening and the information is disseminated as quickly as possible.


Of course changes to race time can be kept to a minimum provided the initial off times are realistic and that avoidable delays are eliminated as much as possible.

I could quite easily do the job for the BHA, it’s just a pity they cannot afford me.

The (Sand) Pits Of Racing

As a large number of racing eyes pan west towards the, self proclaimed, World Championships – i.e. that overblown excess in self indulgence known as the Breeders Cup, opinion here has been divided as some celebrate and others bemoan the 20th anniversary of “all-weather” racing in this country.



I have always though the term “all-weather” to be a misnomer – after all was the first scheduled meeting not abandoned to fog? And there have been many abandonments over the past twenty years due to adverse weather conditions.



The term “all-weather” was actually coined as a marketing ploy as the original point of the artificial surface racing was to provide an alternative in the depths of winter when the weather decimated jump racing.



Since those early days of backup meetings all-weather has spread, like a cancer, through the sport so in 2010 we have 302 all-weather meetings scheduled and, doubtless, that number will increase should we see the widespread abandonment s of National Hunt fixtures.



I suppose one “positive” is they have stopped selling the line that all-weather racing is provided as a backup for turf cancellations.



It is not – it is provided as generally low grade betting fodder, solely for the benefit of high street bookmakers.



Yes I concede it isn’t all low grade, there are even some listed races run on the all-weather but 85% is low grade fare contested not by “has been” runners but by “never will be” runners.



Take a look at next years fixture lists. Of the 302 meetings 110 are evening fixtures outside the main evening racing season – in other words meetings run exclusively for the benefit of bookmakers to provide betting opportunities for the mug and compulsive gambler in the evenings.



Looking at the attendance figures is certainly enlightening.



The figures suggest AW is not that popular with racegoers and apologies for the stats but they make interesting reading.



Here are the attendance figures for 2009 to date (up to last Tuesday)



National Hunt



No Of Meetings: 375

Mean Average Attendance: 4,053

Median Average Attendance: 2,432

Highest: 78,790

Lowest: 621



Flat Turf



No Of Meetings: 586

Mean Average Attendance: 5,733

Median Average Attendance: 3,283

Highest: 66,852

Lowest: 535



All-weather



No Of Meetings: 237

Mean Average Attendance: 819

Median Average Attendance: 688

Highest: 3,318

Lowest: 144



Size Of Crowd By Meeting type



National Hunt



500 - 1000: 21 (5.6%)

1001 - 3000: 214 (57.07%)

3001 - 5000: 81 (21.6%)

5001 - 10000: 40 (10.67%)

10001 - 25000: 12 (3.2%)

> 25000: 7 (1.87%)



Flat Turf



500 - 1000: 43 (7.34%)

1001 - 3000: 217 (37.03%)

3001 - 5000: 132 (22.53%)

5001 - 10000: 114 (19.45%)

10001 - 25000: 64 (10.92%)

> 25000: 16 (2.73%)



AW



<500: 59 (24.89%)

500 - 1000: 126 (53.16%)

1001 - 3000: 50 (21.10%)

3001 - 5000: 2 (0.08%)

Whichever way you look at the figures the racegoing public, even after 20 years, do not like the all-weather product.



Add to the equation the exceptionally weak on course betting market. A combination small “crowds” coupled with just three or four bookmakers not being uncommon. One wonders what the attraction of the all-weather racing is.



I am not calling for the abolition of all-weather racing, it has its place, however it needs to be tempered. It needs to revert to what it was initially set up to provide. In other words a back-up option for use in inclement weather.



One of the delights of British racing is its diversity.



Take a week in April where I went to Ayr (Scottish National), Kempton (AW), Towcester, Epsom, Fontwell and Sandown. Six courses, including an all-weather fixture, and every one completely different in character – for me that is the attraction of racing in this country.



In January when we lost all the jump racing I went to five AW meetings in one week - I had almost lost the will to live by the end of it - just down to the sheer repetitiveness of it all. The only bright note was one of the meetings proved to be the death knell of Great Leighs.



If I lived in the United States I would despair, I certainly would not be a follower of racing where the “sport” consists of a homogenous mass of flat oval courses, where races of 1½ miles are considered to be marathon races.



Calling the Breeders Cup the World Championships is just sheer arrogance on the part of the Americans. By all means incorporate it into part of a World Series which, on a points basis, could take in top races around the world at different tracks and on different surfaces.



Until then the Breeders Cup, for me, is just another all-weather fixture, albeit with a better quality than a Kempton Wednesday evening or Wolverhampton Monday afternoon fixture.