A Veritable Banquet

We may be living in the age of technological change and advancement but racing is still at the mercy of Mother Nature, where even the purported “all weather” courses have fallen victim to the harsh winter conditions.

Of course it’s the turf racing which is suffering most of all and if it isn’t snow and frost throwing the racing program into disarray then it is standing water from the melting snow and subsequent heavy rain – racing doesn’t seem to have a chance in the battle with Mother Nature at the moment.

There was some respite at the weekend where, following a Herculean effort by ground-staff, Cheltenham was able to stage its Festival Trials Day. A meeting which was the brainchild of Edward Gillespie and one which has grown in significance year by year. This year all the cancellations helped the day even more as, with the dearth of racing, many of the big guns were not able to avoid one another.

The day before the meeting a friend of mine called the Cheltenham card “the feast after the famine” as, with due respect to Ayr who managed a mid-week turf meeting, us National Hunt Fans had been deprived of our staple diet.

As it turned out the feast description turned out to be somewhat understated, it wasn’t a feast at all, it turned out to be a veritable banquet.

I have to admit the day did not start well from a racing perspective. In the opener we saw a defeated odds-on shot in the shape of Irish Saint, although it has to be said his vanquisher Rolling Star was a worthy winner.

It was in the second race where it looked as though it was going to be “one of those afternoons to forget” and everything was going to go wrong. The Novices’ Chase went to the most unexpected winner, in the shape of Vino Griego, a win that left most observers speechless as the horse who has been called so many bad names in the past sluiced home in the testing conditions.

Were we going to be destined for an afternoon of shock results as the weather, once again, seemed determined to play havoc with our sport?

The answer was no as the card really picked up. Katenko confirmed his recent Sandown win was no fluke, even prompting trainer Venetia Williams to suggest he may have a go at the Gold Cup.

Potentially overshadowing that victory was the fall of Lucinda Russell’s rising star Bold Sir Brian who was beaten when falling at the last. It was one of those falls which makes your stomach knot as the horse was motionless on the turf and the screens were quickly erected.

It was one of those falls where you instinctively fear the worse but there was some hope as the screens remained up but the van which removes stricken horses remained resolutely where it was parked up.

Then the screens wobbled, came down and Bold Sir Brian had risen Lazarus like from the turf, hopefully to fight another day, with the crowd applauding as his handler took him back to the stables.

It lifted the atmosphere greatly even in the press room, usually the most cynical place on the racecourse there were smiles as the horse walked back.

Next up was the bonus race, the Victor Chandler Chase, postponed from a snowed over Ascot the previous week.

One of the things about racing is we are always looking for the “next big star” and the VC featured on in the shape of Sprinter Sacre. Nicky Henderson’s charge was an impressive winner of last years Arkle and has taken to chasing like a duck to water. Beating a high class Tingle Creek field last time out this was his run on heavy ground.

I suppose the sign of a good horse is he treats all conditions equally and he showed no problems with the testing conditions as he sluiced home to a 14 length victory, giving him an aggregate winning distance of 95 lengths in his seven chase runs. His “narrowest” victory being a “mere” six lengths.

The appreciative crowd knew they were watching a star and he was roared home.

The roar that greeted Sprinter Sacre was absolutely nothing compared to the roar which accompanied the finale of our next contest, the Argento Chase, considered a Gold Cup trial.

Imperial Commander is something of a fragile horse. Runner up to Kauto Star in the 2009 Betfair Chase at Haydock, a race which many will say produced the most epic finish ever and winner of the Gold Cup in 2010 he hasn’t been seen in a competitive race since pulling up in the 2011 renewal of national hunt racing Blue Riband.   

Yet despite a 680 day lay off he cleared the final fence of the Argento in front and it looked as though we were going to be in for a fairy-tale finish at the course Imperial Commander loves.

It’s an oft used cliché  but the roar from the crowd was deafening. Certainly nobody in the stands could hear Richard Hoiles describing the finish.

Maybe it was the cacophony of noise, maybe it was being off the course for 680 days, maybe it was the testing conditions, maybe a combination of all three but the Commender was tiring on the tough run-in and, as the form book will attest for time in memorial, he had no extra in the dying strides as Cape Tribulation edged past him to deny him a perfect return.

Indeed Imperial Commander looked so tired, for a brief moment I though his rider Paddy Brennan would jump off him straight away.

It was a brave performance and if the race has not taken too much out of him he must again be a serious contender for the big one in March.

It wasn’t just the horses who stole the limelight. Multiple champion jockey AP McCoy once again showed why he is the best we have ever seen with two totally contrasting victories.

It is often said McCoy will somehow get a horse home where others wouldn’t and At Fishers Cross was a perfect example. The New One is another of those touted about rising stars and he looked set to take the novices’ hurdle and without McCoy being around he may well have done.

However McCoy managed to get something extra out of At Fishers Cross and with a late final thrust he got his mount home by a neck.

By contrast he rode Mr Watson from the front in the final contest of the afternoon. By the final flight it looked as though Kings Lad was going to pull off a shock as he came upsides.

Some jockeys would have panicked, not McCoy, he knew exactly what he had under him and on the run-in he opened up the throttle a little bit more and won pulling away.

It was a sublime afternoons racing, it is what racing is all about.

 

It was “only” Festival Trials day, in truth it wasn’t “only” anything – it was an afternoons racing which would have been worthy of The Festival itself – those of us fortunate enough to be there were able to feast at the top table.

Let It Snow

Just in case you haven’t noticed, or you are reading this outside the UK, it’s been snowing outside.

Apparently racing is “suffering” as a result with meetings being abandoned left right and centre, although I fail to see how a meeting can be abandoned if it hasn’t actually started, as far as I am concerned unless the meeting has actually commenced it is CANCELLED.

Even the supposed “all weather” meetings have been called off due to, ahem, the weather. Those of you who follow my web site will know I stopped referring to it as “all weather” racing a few years ago and I refer to it as “artificial surface” racing. Surely it is time the racing authorities took the same approach?

I’m very tempted to find some advertising material extolling the virtues of all weather racing and passing it to the Advertising Standards Authority to see what they think of the use of the term.

It isn’t simply a matter of semantics, it makes racing look absolutely stupid, having a product it calls all weather racing, when it patently isn’t, is absurd.

Of course, some would argue that racing is a past master at making itself look stupid, so it should not be any great surprise.

Reading some of the racing forums you would think the loss of racing is the end of the word – well it isn’t – life will carry on. For those working in the industry it’s an annoyance but an occupational hazard which has to be accepted as a fact of life.   

For those compulsive gamblers who cannot survive without their betting fix it seems the bookmakers are going out of their way to accommodate them with betting available on real horseracing from such diverse locations as France, South Africa, United States and even Chile!!

Let’s face it, who in the UK, with any modicum of common sense, would want to bet on racing from Chile unless they have a serious gambling problem?

Then again judging by the sheer number of “races” being shown people are obviously happy to bet on cartoon racing otherwise there would not be such a proliferation of it in the betting shops.

Looking at one leading bookmakers website, between 12:45 and 13:30 this afternoon there are no fewer than 22 virtual horse races being shown, in other words one every two minutes!!!

Another bookmaker has virtual cycling, tennis, horse racing, greyhound racing, football and motor sports.

Why would anybody in the right mind want to bet on these events? Talk about “a fool and his money.”   

Yes it’s snowing but it isn’t the end of the world. It’s highly unlikely anyone is going to die because there isn’t any racing taking place.

I’m old enough to remember the winter of 1963, where racing was shut down for months yet the industry survived.

OK I wasn’t old enough to notice the lack of racing – but I remember the months of freezing.

Listening to the news this morning I am astounded at the number of schools across the country closed as a result of the snow.

I don’t recall schools being closed back in the winter of ’63. In those days we were not ferried to schools by car, indeed most families did not even own a car – my parents never had a car.

We had to walk to school and even my infant school was a two mile walk which we had to do in all weathers.

Nowadays the "precious little darlings" have to be ferried to school by car, quite often even less than half a mile, usually by mothers with complete disregard for traffic regulations.

Heaven forbid children, or even the parents come to that, should have to use their legs and actually walk somewhere.

No wonder there is an obesity crisis amongst the children of today - especially as they are also pumped full of burgers and other junk food.

A Different Weeks Racing

Well 2013 is already a week old  and I’ve managed to go racing three times already, none of which were actually in my original plans for this month, all of which were the result of the bad weather we have experienced this winter.

I traditionally start the year with racing at Cheltenham, for a National Hunt fan a great way to begin the year, even though it isn’t their strongest supporting card of the season.

This year the meeting was called off with plenty of notice so I had time to divert …… to Fakenham.

On the face of it going to Fakenham could not have been a bigger contrast but surprisingly racing at Fakenham has more in common with Cheltenham than you may think.

The biggest downside with a day out at Fakenham, unless you happen to live locally, is getting there. Dual-carriageways are few and far between in deepest Norfolk and the journey usually entails being stuck behind a horse box / lorry / tractor* (* delete as applicable) or if you’re very unlucky all three.

I have to admit setting off early on New Year’s Day was a relief as, clearly, the lorry and tractor drivers were having a lie in after the celebrations of the previous night and, for once I had a stress free trip to the course. It’s just a shame I cannot say the same about the journey home but that’s another story.

When you arrive at the course there could not be a bigger contrast with Cheltenham. The location is unapologetically rustic. Parking is in fields and I cannot think of a time where I have been to Fakenham and my car has not been plastered in Norfolk mud.

The contrast with Cheltenham is even more stark when you see the course itself. Whilst Cheltenham is open and undulating, set in a natural amphitheatre, Fakenham (being in Norfolk, where any land over 100m high is considered a mountain) is almost completely flat and incredibly tight, each circuit being only a mile.

So by now you must be thinking what has he been on, if he thinks there are similarities between the two courses.

Well the answer my friend is the crowds. Cheltenham is the one big course where most of those attending happen to be strong racing fans. Fans who appreciate what is happening on the track. Fans who are actually there to see and enjoy  the racing.

The same can be said about the crowds at Fakenham.  I know it’s a cliché that the smaller NH tracks attract the purists but Fakenham is the living embodiment of that cliché.

You won’t find the beer swilling stag and hen parties at Fakenham. What you will find is a loyal local following who know and love their racing and woe betide any jockey who rides out a finish a circuit early, or jumps an extra fence at the end of a race.

There is also a huge, non-racing, attraction at Fakenham if you are a lover of seafood. There is a chap from Cromer with a sea food stall, which has the best tasting shellfish you will find anywhere.

Going to Fakenham is an absolute delight, even though it is a pain to get to.

My second meeting of the week couldn’t have been a bigger contrast as it was Wolverhampton.

I had originally pencilled in a date in February for my annual visit to Wolves but with Southwell out of action, due to the weather, their meetings have been redistributed and as a result Wolverhampton was staging a 15 race card last Friday.

I thought that had sufficient novelty value to make it worth a visit.

Actually let me just make my position clear regarding artificial surface racing. I don’t despise it per-se. It has a place in the racing family, especially as it was originally planned, as a fall back when NH racing is lost due to inclement weather in the winter months.

However it has moved far beyond that, it now takes place all year and on many days it forms the majority of the racing. Now I accept there are a few decent races on the surface but it has to be admitted most of the AS fare is low grade racing.

However, for me the biggest negative is it is bland and boring. One of the greatest things about racing in this country is the diversity of the courses. They all have their own character. I’ve already mentioned Cheltenham and Fakenham, throw in the likes of Newmarket and Chester, Fontwell with its tight figure of eight and Aintree with it’s almost two mile National course and the diversity of our racing becomes evident.

Artificial surface racing, by contrast, is on a flat, basically oval, track with the only “diversity” being differing surfaces and Kempton being right handed. It is just so much of a muchness.

Anyway, I though Friday’s card would be different and it was and I have to say a 15 race card is too much.

It’s interesting to note that after race seven it was “all change” as we had new a new commentator, new judge, new starters, new stewards. Even the Racing Post changed their live reporter and race reader and most of the SP reporting team changed.

I soon began to realise why. By race eleven I was finding it hard to concentrate. Anyone following my race reports would have noted by then the reports were becoming even vaguer than usual, if that’s possible.

By race thirteen I had almost lost the will to live and by race 15 I was in a state of almost hysterical euphoria as I realised I had made it through to the last race, seven and a half hours after the first.

I did briefly wonder if my ambivalence towards artificial surface racing was clouding my judgement but I thought back to 13^th March 2008.

This was the Thursday of the Cheltenham Festival, the day after racing had been cancelled due to high winds and in an attempt to stage the full Festival, ten races were scheduled that day.

For me Cheltenham is the highlight of the year, there are no bad races, it is racing at its supreme best but I also remember, even with what should have been a racing Nirvana, I was feeling jaded by the time race nine was reached.

I really do think it is possible to have too much racing in one go, even if it is top draw racing.

I can now see why it was “all change” after seven races.

The “usual” limit to the number of races of a card is eight and I believe that should be set in stone – having more just does not work.

My final meeting of the week was the Coral welsh National at Chepstow.

Originally scheduled for 27^th December it was lost to waterlogging and rescheduled for last Saturday.

I have to be honest and admit I was secretly pleased it was postponed. It is one of my favourite meetings of the year and family commitments meant I would not have been able to attend had it been staged on its original date. So the move was a, selfish, blessing for me.

It is Chepstow’s biggest day of the year and it’s one of those meeting I like to arrive at a good three hours before racing begins, just to avoid the crowds.

I have to say the crowds didn’t seem as big on Saturday and they didn’t seem to be as boozed up as usual, which was a big bonus in my book.

My only concern was escaping afterwards would have been more difficult as, historically, the race was run as the fourth race on the card to fit in with the BBC schedule, however this time it was the sixth race to fit in with Channel Four.

This meant many people would be staying later than usual – in the past the crowd began to drift away after the big race so there were fewer around at the end of racing.

In the end escape wasn’t too bad, I left the course an hour after the final race and it took about 20 minutes to get out.

Despite the dire conditions racegoers were treated to some great racing, with some dramatic finishes, none more so than the big race itself where Paul Carberry produced, arguably, the ride of the season to get Monbeg Dude home in front of the Welsh trained favourite Teaforthree, out McCoying the legendry McCoy in the process.

It was also good to catch up with Lee McKenzie, who was doing the on course presentation, and to spend some time with him putting the racing world to rights. I have to admit I miss hearing Lee’s commentaries on course and hope he will, one day, return to the commentators rosta so we can hear his trademark “theyyyyyyrrrrrrrrrreeeee offffffff”.