Wednesday, January 02, 2019
Good feedback from the last chapter, thank you, Neil. The funny thing is that I don't think that you were disagreeing with me, as you said that you didn't much like the proposed scheme of which I was sceptical. Plenty of interesting ideas in the plans which you had discussed with Peter Savill - and he would have been a very good person to discuss them with, as he was always very open to innovation. In a lot of ways he was ahead of his time, and he put his heart and soul into trying to help the sport. He deserved a lot more support than he ultimately received.
We didn't end the year with the final runner which I had anticipated because I was obliged to make Sacred Sprite a non-runner on Sunday, so we didn't have our intended trip to Lingfield. She seemed to have knocked her off-fore fetlock joint and, although she was 100% sound, there was some bruising around it, and it would have been irresponsible to have run her. Fingers crossed it's only a short-term problem, and the inflammation has now almost all gone so I hope that she'll be back cantering at the start of next week.
There were just three horses whom I made sure did not miss a day over Christmas as they were due to race in the next 10 days, so they were my three lots on Christmas Day and Boxing Day when there really wasn't much action on the Heath. As it's turned out, only one of them will have ended up running. As described in the previous paragraph, Sacred Sprite ended up missing her race on Sunday, five days after Christmas; and Solitary Sister won't be running in her intended race at Wolverhampton on Friday (10 days after Christmas) as she's one of TWENTY-ONE horses eliminated from it. So that just leaves one of the trio running: Konigin at Chelmsford tomorrow night. Let's hope that she makes things worthwhile.
Noo Year
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
i believe team racing in some form has mileage
the latest incarnation seems as you correctly say is another excuse for more money being diverted towards the top of the tree so i suppose we half agree !!
it seems to be as a racing fan , ex owner , syndicate member , punter and sometime pundit on the sport that while i understand the excitement of racing many do not and they view it solely as an excuse for a booze up , something to do before a concert or a total waste of time and money they would never be seen at , frankly they just dont get it , as these people make up the vast majority of the population for insiders to believe that more of the same is fine shows a blinkered attitude and the naysaying of any initiative put forward is totally against the best interests of the sport going forward (not you John but you know many just say no whenever any new venture is mentioned)
if the middle eastern owners ever removed their interest in Uk racing the sport would frankly be in deep deep trouble and then a lot of people would be asking why didnt we try something different when the sport was relatively healthy - as such new initiatives need to be given a chance and wither or blossom as these things do , because regardless of what many think a card full of runners who are hardly well known in their own yards let alone by the public at large is not of any interest to the new would be racing fan and anything where the competitors become at least a little familiar has to have some mileage
and in the spirit of being positive i have often pondered a racing equivalent of a football cup competition so here is the idea for all to ridicule
lets say over a mile
ok so 16 races each with 16 runners = 256 runners required say all rated 0-70 at initial entry (you can change the distance ratings whatever)
no seeding , level weights , an open draw (ie if a trainer enters four and they are all in the same race tough)
the first four in each race qualify for the next round
so round two a week later same draw rules 4 races of 16 runners first four in each heat to round three (the final)
a week later final one race of sixteen runners
in the event of a horse being injured and unable to take up its position the fifth placed runners are ballotted as reserves
prize money round one first winner 10k second 5 k third 3k fourth 2 k
round two first 20k second 10k third 6 k fourth 4k
final winner 50000 second 20000 third 15000 fourth 10000
total cost 580k
one initial entry fee say £ 250 in the event of oversubscription the initial round is drawn by ballot NOT on ratings or other criteria to give the potential for a turn up or two but the horses ballotted do not get back their entry fee
any thoughts ?
Post a Comment