Jesus, really, is this bloody abomination still going? Why ffs? Okay, I know this doesn't deserve it's own thread, but really , I'm seriously pee'ed off. I don't get much time to follow racing these days, but this afternoon I am at a loose end so I thought, why not get a RP on the way home from work this morning, and plot up in front of the telly this aftie? I wonder what meetings are on, says I to myself, not suspecting for a moment that the terrestial TV coverage would centre on the worst racing related ****-show since the Agha Khan star's bungled kidnap. Thanks a lot to whichever carnival of clowns are keeping this crap going...
I suspect that included in the contracts for any racing pundits and commentators employed by the TV channels, terrestrial or satellite, is a paragraph stating that they are not allowed to criticise this contrived piece of pish! The Marx Brothers come to mind; "The party of the first part ............................... "
The Shergar Cup has always been a complete joke but I did think that ITV’s coverage perfectly demonstrated it. They kept telling us how there were 30,000 racegoers and the place was full even though it did not look that packed. By the running of the last race they were falling over themselves to praise the guy who organised it for conspiring to have three of the four teams still in with a chance of winning and six of the jockeys still in with a chance of winning the silver saddle as top individual jockey. Surely that means that the races were fixed then – so should there not be an enquiry by the BHA? During the afternoon Chapman kept going around finding pretty girls and asking them if they wanted to go out with Oli Bell; but also asking them why they had come to the races. Amazing how many of them had come to see Craig David and seemed to know absolutely nothing at all about the racing. If they do not have an after racing concert at next year’s Shergar Cup, how many of those pretty girls will show up? When Chapman spoke to the rails bookies, they politely indicated that business was light. What they actually meant was that lots of £2 each way bets from 20,000 Craig David fans was not going to cover their pitch fees and they had already run out of 50p pieces after the first race paying out the places.
How about hiring Craig David to present the racing? Use celebrities as a new innovation to attract the viewers to come to see their "hero" in the flesh and also to tune in at home to watch in awe as they tell us how they went to the racing on a Monday...interviewed a jockey on Tuesday...did a little commentating on Wednesday...we were putting bridles on Thursday...went for a BHA inquiry on Friday...called 2 false starts on Saturday...chill on Sunday.
Having worked for a on course bookie I can confirm this is the case, I worked on the front and at these meetings would normally try not to make eye contact with the women and hope they would bet elsewhere, then purposely look for the bigger bets off the blokes, after the race other books would have massive queues of women paying out loads of change while we were free quicker to take bets, some of these music events were very good earners though, Worcester on Derby day and Leicester in July were the best.
Mmm think you're just being a bit snobby to be honest ( unintentionally ). Not every race meeting should be for racing enthusiasts you have to have some of these different fun types of meetings to spruce it up a bit and some for your typical non racing enthusiasts. Good to have a worldwide comp too with different jockeys etc As an example The quality of actual racing and cards at Lingfield for 90% of their meetings is sub par but it's still my fav course to go to and i prefer the day/night out at lingfield racecourse than say Cheltenham or Ascot etc any day of the year. Depends what you go for i guess, i love racing but first and foremost but when i go it's still about the day out & having fun for me, and i love the actual racing spectacles at the big races/days and always try to go e.g cheltenham, guineas, champions day but i don't have as good of a time at them than i do at a crap 7 race class 5-6 meeting at Lingfield. Probably more to do with the fact they're more quiet, comfy and the actual surroundings ( e.g the paddock/course are close, lovely hotel to stay & have lunch/dinner right next door ) the ladbrokes in side to have a bet elsewhere or play on the machines to kill some time in between races. Cheltenham or Newmarket as an example just stresses me out, which is why i never go gold cup day anymore because it's even worse, it's just too packed, no room to manouevre, tough to get a prime viewing spot, long lines to get a drink or a bet on, getting out is a nightmare. Takes away some of the fun for me . Bit Hypocritical as at the same time i love and envy the atmosphere & the roar.
Thanks for the Stewards’ Cup winner, but... Coming from a working-class background, I certainly would not consider myself a snob. It does appear to a seasoned veteran like me that “Racing For Change” has decided that how to make racing successful is to have a concert at every meeting to draw in loads of people to bolster the crowd figures, even though the attendees will not show up week-to-week for the actual sport (look at the Shergar Cup). Lingfield is not local to me, so I have never been there. I cannot envisage any situation where I would do so, unless they have a superstar lined up to run. I have been to Kempton and various other tracks as a racing follower. If Champions Day were at Newmarket – where the Champion Stakes used to be – would the attendance be as high? I am afraid that racing is selling itself out to populism so those that are dedicated to the sport are being sold out.
I agree with Chelsea I also enjoy a day out at lingfield but never been for the jumps. The all weather championship is a great innovation that has improved mine and the Mrs interest in the all weather.
QM i never said you were a snob at all, i just said the post comes across as a bit snobby. And fair enough, everyone sees it different, but having things like concerts after the events makes it a day/night out for people which appeals to some
I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve turned into a raging feminist but very strange, and it could even be argued unsettling, that in the run up to the event (line up slightly changed after Michelle Payne’s ‘illness’) they were calling a ‘team’ of women all in their early to mid-30’s ‘The Girls’! Could any sort of ‘team event’ ever really catch on and it become a major event??? Personally, I doubt it. I suppose if the money was totally mega you could have a few of the major barns or owners prepared to run a team from their own super squad of animals but last minute injury or a severe change of going could devastate such a competition, I suppose, and render it ridiculous. Think the ‘Shergar Cup’ works best as some form of twee, novelty, fun event like it is now. Think the teams though need a rework as the current framework adds very little.
