A Funny Week

It’s been a funny old week has this week.

On Wednesday I had a day of contrasts.

On the racing front I attended what must have been the most uninspiring, uncompetitive race meeting in many a long day, all the more annoying because the card actually looked quite competitive the day before.

Matters were not helped by Haydock being hit by an overnight deluge, which significantly altered the going and led to many non-runners.

Only one of the seven contests produced anything approaching a finish to get the pulse racing.

Notwithstanding the poor quality racing the talking point of the afternoon centred around the “performance” of Nevertika.

Leaving the parade ring he was the 3/1 favourite for the contest, although quite why was a moot point as he was returning from a lay-off of almost a year.

However as soon as he emerged from the parade ring he bolted, ran away with his inexperienced rider Harry Haynes, who lost his irons and had to endure what, I imagine, was at best an uncomfortable, at worse an extremely painful ride as his mount did a full circuit of the mile and a half course at near racing pace. For good measure he also twice managed to almost demolish the running rails.

By the time he pulled up he was drifting markedly in the ring – at least the drift would have resulted in a smaller Rule 4.

He was eventually pulled-up in front of the stands with Haynes gingerly dismounting, soon to be joined by the horses lass and trainer.

The somewhat small crowd were expecting the horse to be returned to the stables and for the withdrawal announcement to be made.

They waited, we waited in the press room. The lass started leading the horse, however not in the direction of the stables but towards the start where the other eight runners were waiting patiently.

It has to be said there was absolute incredulity in the press room that the horse was going to be allowed to take part in the race.

The vet took a look at the horse at the start, it must be a withdrawal now - no it was allowed to line up, by which point it had drifted out to 7/1.

To quote the official form book Nevertika was “in rear, ridden along and lost touch after 4th, tailed off when pulled up before 6th” – Quel Surprise!!!!

There is absolutely no way that horse should have been allowed to take part.

Yes his price drifted on-course but what about those who backed the horse before the antics. They were never going to get a run for their money.

Some will undoubtedly argue “well that’s racing” or “horses have bolted before and still gone on to win.”

Both statements may contain some element of truth, however “well that’s racing” is not a justification. It doesn’t mean it is right, the same comment could equally have been applied when we had wooden running-rails and concrete posts.

At a time when racing is attempting to attract new blood incidents like this do not look good.

In response to the comment “horses have bolted before and still gone on to win.”

Well yes they have, but they are in a minority and very rarely when they have run a full circuit of the track flat out.

Common sense dictates, in the circumstances seen on Wednesday afternoon, Nevertika should not have been allowed to race.

It was not good for punters, it was not good for the image of racing and, most importantly, it probably did the horse little good either.

So all in all an unsatisfactory day at the races.

Anyway as I said at the beginning it was a day of contrasts and going racing at Haydock on Wednesday had an ulterior motive as, after racing, I was going to meet some long lost relatives.

Ironically this meeting came about, indirectly, as a result of racing, or to be precise non-racing.

I am not the sort of person who can sit at home doing nothing and when we had the prolonged cold snap in January I decided to research my family tree - after all there is only so much all-weather racing a man can take.

I knew Dad had a sister and I had four cousins but as with a lot of families they had lost touch over the years.

I have some very vague recollections of seeing them when I was about four years old, believe me that was a very long, long time ago.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I managed to track them down and to my utter delight I found out my Aunt was still alive, 90-years-old, and that she and three of my cousins all lived within four miles of Haydock Park.

Wednesday was the day to finally meet them again.

I have to admit I was, to use the venacular, bricking it as I drove from the course to my cousin’s house. I need not have been, they are all lovely people and four generations of the family were there to meet me … … I had a great evening and came away with loads of photographs and stories of when Dad was a lad. Something very special, as we have no photographs of Dad in his younger days.

Now contact has been made the next move will be to get Dad to meet his sister for the first time in 45 years, for what I expect will be a very emotional reunion and my "kid sisters" can meet part of the family they have never met before.

I didn’t get home until the small hours of Thursday morning but I don’t care because what happened that evening more than made up for any rubbish day at the races.

In some of my previous ramblings I have moaned about internet forums and in particular racing forums and especially anonymous posters who think hiding behind a nickname gives them the right to be gratuitously offensive with impunity.

Well I have to report I have finally finished with internet forums. I have to say I made my exit with mixed feelings but what I have seen on the forum in the last week has vindicated my decision.

I had been concerned for some time about the level of personal abuse being dished out on the forum, inevitably by the anonymous posters.

In addition there was one poster in particular who seemed to delight in twisting virtually everything I wrote and was seemingly intent on just stirring things up.

Needless to say he was hiding behind an moniker and, as it often the case, a wholly inappropriate one. In the end he made one comment too many and that was that, I decided to no longer post on the forum in question or, indeed, any other forum.

A couple of times since I have wondered if I was being rash in no longer posting, however as I said, a couple of subsequent events have, I believe, vindicated my decision.

First of all I was talking to a colleague on the press room, indeed the very colleague who introduced me to the forum in the first place, and told him I had stopped posting and explained why. He then told me he had also stopped posting because of the levels of personal abuse being dished around the forum. In his case it was a thread entitled “Derek Thompson Is A Tosser,” which stopped him contributing.

Derek Thompson polarises opinion, however no matter how much you may dislike his style making a comment like that on a public forum is not acceptable. Needless to say the thread was started by an anonymous poster – I wonder if they would have the guts to call Derek a “tosser” to his face. I suspect not.

For the record my view is his style may not be the most appropriate for the big meetings, however he is absolutely brilliant at "working the crowd." He is perfect MC or commentator for "family days" in he has the ability to engage with the crowd, the sort of person who can get the first timers to come again. And from my own dealings with him I find him a likeable, friendly man.

It goes without saying the thread attracted a number of personally abusive postings about Derek. Although it is perhaps unfair to single out Derek here, as there are equally abusive threads about the likes of Big Mac and other "personalities".

Now, even if I had not stopped posting when I did I would certainly have stopped posting in the past week.

After the Champion Hurdle a thread appeared with a provocative, indeed potentially libellous, title which questioned the integrity of a leading racing journalist and broadcaster.

I am not going to add further oxygen to the fire by repeating the details here, suffice to say the basic question being raised was a valid one but the tone and underlying implication of the original posting was wholly unnecessary and over the top.

Interestingly the original posting was from a normally anonymous poster however on this occasion he did, at least, add his name at the end.

The “debate” then became quite robust with, unsurprisingly, more snide comments being made.

To their credit the journalist against whom the allegations were made came on the forum and explained their point of view, addressing the points raised.

That should, of course, been the end of the matter.

Of course it wasn’t, the thread then continued with further sniping and abuse.

Robust debate is one thing – gratuitous offence is inexcusable.

It has to be said the journalist in question is more than capable of defending themselves and stating their case. That is not the point, they should not have to defend themselves and they certainly should not have to defend themselves from abusive posters.

The mentality of some of these posters is such they think they can make these offensive comments with impunity and they cannot be traced.

How very wrong they are, not only are they personally liable for what they post they can easily be traced – perhaps they should bear that in mind before posting any more abusive, defamatory, comments.

Or failing that they should just have the guts to say what they feel openly without hiding like the cowards they really are.

As I was always taught, “if you are not prepared to say something to someone’s face then you should not say it at all.”

John Hunt - The Perfect Radio Commentator

I have just had my first Saturday at home since January 9th and looking at my diary I will not have another one until July 17th .

It isn’t a desertion of racing that led me to be at home but after a week “commuting” to Cheltenham I was yearning for a lie-in and some proper food.

I even had a desire to eat some fruit and veg, which may not sound unusual except I view vegetables in almost the same way a vegan views a perfectly cooked fillet steak. Never mind five-a-day I am lucky if I can muster 5-a-week. But after a diet of fast food, namely bacon rolls, burgers and fish and chips my body was crying out for some decent food.

It gave me a chance to catch up on the oft maligned Channel Four Racing and I have to say I found their coverage to be perfectly OK. Yes it would be nice to have more paddock coverage but that is also a criticism that can also be laid at both dedicated racing channels.

I also took the opportunity to catch up on C4’s coverage of Cheltenham and, again, they made a good fist of it but I wish once again they would show more of the horses in the preliminaries rather than some of the “features” but I suppose they also have to cater for the non-racing viewers as well.

Also was it me but were there more commercial breaks than usual.

The most annoying aspect of C4’s coverage was the fancy camera work with far too many changes of angle and close-up shots. This wouldn’t normally bother me but in the media centre they were using the Channel 4 pictureswhich meant the DVD recorder in the media centre also recorded these shots. This meant when watching a replay it was difficult to get a proper picture of what was going on in the race, it was so exasperating.

As always Simon Holt’s commentary was faultless. Although it has to be said all the commentators covering the Festival were on top form. Richard Hoiles, Mike Cattamole and Mark Johnson for the on-course and, especially, John Hunt on BBC Radio.

It has to be said John Hunt’s commentaries are a far cry from those of Peter Bromley and even his successor the excellent Lee McKenzie and I have to say the difference has taken some getting used to. John has a more relaxed, informal approach to his calling.

He does, however, provide the perfect commentary for radio. Not only can he paint a picture of what is happening in the race, the picture he creates is in glorious Technicolor, giving you a real feel of what is happening and the atmosphere.

Hunt has, in the last year, given the two best radio commentaries on any sporting event. If you can listen to his call of Sea The Stars Arc and this weeks Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Being at both events I did not hear his calls live but I heard both later on. He manages, almost perfectly, not only to convey what is happening but to also convey the electric atmosphere. Listening to both those commentaries I can relive the emotions I felt at the time.

Being a commentator, especially a racing commentator, is one of the most difficult broadcasting jobs around. Being a radio commentator, in any sport, is even harder. Being an exceptional radio commentator is a rarity but in John Hunt I believe we have one.

On the subject of the BBC Radio coverage of Cheltenham it is right to give credit where credit is due.

Last year I was very critical of the coverage, in particular the “pantomime” coverage on one of the afternoons.

This year there was no repeat, instead good professional coverage and there seemed to be more coverage in other shows as well, although we still had to suffer Peter Allen’s clear dislike of the sport.

I was particularly impressed with the coverage on Sport On Five on Friday evening, which made for good listening driving home from the course. Of course it helps when the presenter has a liking for the sport .

So well done BBC Radio and very well done Mr Hunt.

How Was It For You?

Well, how was it for you?

No, don’t worry it is not the question of an insecure lover. I am enquiring, of course, about the Cheltenham Festival.

Presumably if you happen to be a bookmaker it will be “it was absolutely fantastic” and in all probability you will be reading this on some tropical beach.

If you were a punter the answer will probably be “quite painful”. There are, of course, some success stories and some near misses. Like the punter who would have picked up a cool million had Carruthers finished third rather than fourth in the Gold Cup.

From a betting perspective it was a Festival of two halves. The first two days were both good to me. I had laid Dunguib quite heavily and also backed Menorah to win the opener. Coupled with each way bets on Zaynar and Carole’s Legacy I was certainly smiling after day one.

Wednesday was saved by a last minute punt on Poker De Sivola after seeing him in the parade ring. Plus I laid Long Run, although most of that profit was lost by Punchestowns not winning. My laying of Long Run also attracted some friendly abuse from a well known commentator who had backed Long Run and telling me in no uncertain terms it was his money I had taken.

Thereafter it was downhill in a big way. Despite backing Big Bucks and BallaBriggs I still finished the day well down. Now Friday – well let us just ignore that completely, an unmitigated disaster from a punting perspective with my only return being on Carruthers in the “betting without Kauto and Denman” market.

So financially very much a loosing week.

Of course punting, at least for me, is only a small part of the Festival. For me it is the spectacle of 26 top races, nearly all fiercely competitive and, of course, the atmosphere of actually being there.

For me the “excitement” of Cheltenham really begins in January when a padded envelope containing my media accreditation drops through the letterbox.

Even accredited racing journalists still have to apply for accreditation for the “big four” (Cheltenham, Grand National, Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot) mainly because of the great demand for media access.

At the Festival there are two main press areas. The main press room and the media centre. The main press room is reserved for the trade papers, broadcasters and the correspondents from the national press. In the food chain of racing journalism I, naturally, am somewhere near the plankton level. Therefore my accreditation only allows me access to the media centre.

This is not as bad as it first sounds as the media centre can, in most aspects, be a better deal. By all accounts the main press room gets very full, indeed over full. Indeed one colleague described it to me as a room full of ego’s. It also, apparently, gets very fractious with frequent clashes and disputes, nay near fisticuffs, over such matters as “ownership” of chairs.

In the media centre, provided you have booked a desk in advance there is a space for you, with your name and there are no squabbles over seating at all. Indeed the media centre is the base of the Irish press contingent and that leads to a great atmosphere especially when they stagger in after a heavy night on the juice and, even more so when the “home team” beat the Irish yet again.

There are only two “disadvantages” of being in the media centre as opposed to the main press room. The main one being there is no direct viewing of the racing, whereas the press room has a balcony overlooking the finishing line. The other disadvantage is it is located in the Guinness Village.

If you don’t know the layout of Cheltenham at the festival let me tell you the villages role is well described by its title the - Guinness Village.

Basically it is the drinking centre of the Festival. It gets very crowded and as the day progresses it gets progressively louder. The crowds are a problem, especially on Gold Cup day, as they make getting from the Media Centre to the Parade Ring / track something of an assault course.

The noise does become a pain, literally, especially when you are trying to think of something different to write or are attempting to analyse a tricky race. Add in a band playing at full volume next door (playing the same set three or four times a day for all four days) with the added bonus late afternoon of drunken revellers stamping their feet on the metal stands in time to the music and it is small wonder 90% of those in the media centre have earpieces or earplugs in.

I have to say Cheltenham do look after the media well and the access granted to the participants is particularly good. There are even some rituals. Go to the weighing room steps between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning and there will be a clutch of racing journos and broadcasters all trying to elicit words of wisdom from the arriving jockeys and trainers.

It is a really great atmosphere and despite the difficulties of battling through crowds it is my favourite four days of the year.

It is also, in another way, the most difficult four days of the year. On principle I refuse to pay the inflated hotel prices in the Cheltenham area during the Festival, even if they can be claimed as “legitimate business expenses”. Therefore I commute each day, this means leaving home about 7:30 for the first three days, 7:00 on Gold Cup day. Arriving at the course around 9:15. Then not getting back home until around 9:00 in the evening.

Eating sensibly also goes out of the window for the four days. “Breakfast” tends to be a cereal bar whilst driving to the course and a bacon sandwich on arrival. Lunch is from a nearby mobile unit which is invariably a “choice” of Hog Roast , Burger or Fish & Chips.

Note to all racecourses, not just Cheltenham, please, please, please give racegoers a better food choice from the mobile units. Not everyone wants grease laden fast food – please provide some healthy options.

The other occupational hazard is it is not possible to drink too much and I am not talking booze here. I daren’t drink any more than a single bottle of water during the day as the queues for the loos make it almost impossible to do what comes naturally without risking missing a race.

On a quiet afternoon at Leicester it is no problem popping into the loo mid-afternoon. At Cheltenham you need to allow at least 15 minutes and with 35-40 minutes between races it is a near impossibility.

On Friday I had to miss the Foxhunters as I was so desperate to empty out.

But as I have already mentioned all the discomfort is worth it to experience a day at the Festival. It is hard work, you need patience and if you have a strong bladder it is a distinct advantage, however to be able to watch National Hunt racing at its very best it is a meeting that should not be missed – even if the results are sometimes beyond comprehension.

Roll on Cheltenham 2011.

Cheltenham, Late Inspections and a Missing Curry

I went to Cheltenham racecourse last Wednesday.

No, I have not cracked up and turned up for The Festival two weeks early, I was there for the Countdown To Cheltenham press launch.

Apart from around 100 assorted members of the media and a similar number of contractors doing preparation work for the Festival, the place was deserted.

It had a strange, surreal, feel. Cheltenham without the crowds is a wholly different place. It somehow seems forlorn, lonely. It is a similar feeling after each day of the Festival.

To avoid the crowds leaving the course and car parks most hacks, myself included, hang around for about 90 minutes after the last race. At which point a quick, straightforward, exit is virtually guaranteed – apart from Gold Cup day when there is never a quick exit.

At that time of the evening Cheltenham is also like a ghost town, the only evidence of the massed crowds being the mountains of litter being attacked by a veritable army of cleaners.

The Cheltenham launch was held in the Panoramic Restaurant way up in the upper levels of the Grandstand.

I have to say it is an area of the course I do not usually frequent, after Wednesday it is an area I do want to frequent.

It is not very often in life that you have a “Wow” moment, however my arrival in the Panoramic Restaurant was one such moment. The view of the racecourse is absolutely awesome, a magnificent aerial view of the action . . . . . it would be virtually impossible to miss any of the action.

It is also an area of the course where access comes at a premium. For the Festival you are looking at around £600 a head and for non-Festival meetings between £75 & £140 a head.

However for a special day out for a racing fan it would be money well spent.

Anyway, enough of the free advertising.

The aim of the session was to launch the “Countdown To Cheltenham” an easy going affair and the chance for the course to update the assembled media with the progress as the Festival approaches.

Edward Gillespie was first up and, as always, was (justifiably) talking up the Festival, whilst conceding the economic realities and admitting they have scaled down the corporate hospitality offerings this year.

The Q&A session inevitably turned towards staging the Festival on a Wednesday to Saturday, rather than Tuesday to Friday – the questioning spearheaded by Big Mac.

It was very interesting, next day, reading the reports in the Daily papers and it was quite evident as to which of the hacks was personally in favour of the Saturday finale by reading their interpretation.

Reading a couple of the reports you would have been left with the impression that Mr Gillespie just cannot wait to move to a Saturday festival and it was almost a certainty for 2012.

In reality his response was much more guarded and cautious but hey why let the facts get in the way of your own agenda.

Next up was Simon Claisse, Director of Racing and Clerk Of The Course. Normally one of lifes eternal optimists even he was downbeat about the star of the track.

The harsh winter has not made preparation of the track easy and he admitted his groundstaff were two weeks behind where they would like to be in terms of preparation. However he was still confident of having decent ground for the big day.

Clerks Of Courses are a much maligned species, and I am the first to admit I have fired bullets in their direction in the past – indeed I will be firing some more in a pew paragraphs time. However it must be an absolute nightmare trying to prepare a decent track for what is, arguably, one of the greatest meetings of the year. As he pointed out the course has, since Christmas, experienced 66 nights of frost and snow.

However, whatever the problems the course may encounter, there are few doubts everything will be ready for the opening day and the almighty, unique, roar which will ring out towards Cleve Hill as the tapes go up on the opening race of the 2010 Festival.

On a weather related note, the cold snap, although not as bad as it was still haunts racing and overnight frost results in numerous inspections.

Now I understand the need to inspect after a heavy frost, however I do get really annoyed when inspections drag on and on and the final decision to race is taken at the last minute.

The latest “will it, won’t it” saga came at Stratford on Monday, where the final decision to race was taken at 1:00, just an hour before the opening race.

In this case the decision was that racing went ahead, however can you imagine the, justified, outcry had racing been abandoned.

What about racegoers having to travel a long way to get to the races. I was a prime example on Monday – had I waited for the final decision before setting off to Stratford I would have missed, at least, the first and possibly first two races. As it was I had to set off not knowing if the meeting was on or off, a not very satisfactory state of affairs.

I have said this before and I will say it again. If racing is to be credible these last minute decisions should not be made. Nor should the decision be left to the course itself, they have to much of a vested interest in the meeting going ahead.

The decision to race should be made by independent inspectors and if a course is not fit to race two hours before the opening race then the meeting should be called off.

Finally some tragic news from Fontwell – the Curry shop (the best on any UK racecourse) has gone. On the 2½ drive to the course I was looking forward to the curry.

Alas I am destined to be deprived, having to settle for fish and chips instead – the fish and chips are OK but no substitute.