Saturday's Meetings Newton Abbot N/H 7 Races 1:05-5:00p.m. Ascot Flat 6 Races 1:15-4:25p.m. Leopardstown Flat 8 Races 1:20-5:21p.m. Catterick Flat 7 Races 1:45-5:30p.m. Limerick N/H 7 Races 2:05-5:31p.m. Wolverhampton(E) A/W 9 Races 4:13-8:30p.m. Market Rasen Abandoned Stratford Abandoned Racecards At The Races Sporting Life Racing Post Good Luck
Given that Champions Day is supposed to be the climax of the flat season in the UK I have to say it is an utterly ****e card. They need to move it from this slot, the ground will be shocking again and we are highly unlikely to see any top class performances. Ill conceived from the very beginning.
15:05 Ascot - Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, 1m. (Straight) Big Rock ...................... 16:25 Ascot- Balmoral Handicap, 1m (Straight) Lattam .................... E/W on each and E/W double ....................
Ascot 15.45 If it were decent ground I would have no hesitation about Mostahdaf but he is too vulnerable if it gets soft/softer to take odds of 3/1. Apart from him it looks a lottery
Doesn't it feel to others that they've moved this Ascot feature back a week? I can't remember the Doncaster meeting being held so late (it'll be the 28th) and the Leger seemed late on the 16th September. The last time I went to the Leger it was on the 10th. To me it seems as if they inserted an unwanted week of poor racing somewhere this season.
Ascot 15.05 Another difficult race to pick a winner but at 15/8 I think I would be happy to lay Paddington
This does seem to be an annual moan. The other one is Shergar Cup day – also at Ascot. Champions Day was a bad idea right from the start. They wanted a fixture to compete with Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Sunday, they unwisely chose the Champion Stakes (then at Newmarket) as the centrepiece and wanted it at the newly rebuilt Ascot. October also got them around the scheduling issue they would have faced if they had gone for a September date. In order to get the races elevated in Group status to make the card they would have required agreement from the European racing authorities and the Irish would never have agreed because of the Irish Champion Stakes, which has now become the centrepiece of their big weekend in September. They should have left the HQ end of season showpiece alone and started with the September Stakes as the middle distance event but that would have been unlikely to attract a big field a few weeks before the Arc. They could not have had the Fillies And Mares race because of the Prix Vermeille. Now we have a Champions Day where there is virtually never quick flat racing ground. Plenty of top horses have come a cropper. Willie Mullins must be kicking himself for not entering some of his slow old plodders as he could have cleaned up.
I think that the whole fixture list has been a week late since Easter because it was early this year and the BHA have no say over the timing of religious holiday weekends. Blame the religious nutters. I do not know when St Swithin’s Day is but I think we are getting the whole 40 days of rain this weekend. Noah is arranging the transport to Ascot. Wait until the BHA’s comical new fixture list starts. I cannot see the ‘morning’ fixtures drawing great crowds but the bookies will be happy whilst the cull of betting fodder that they used to sponsor on the kitty litter cannot be much good for the finances of the courses concerned.
Ascot 13,50 Believing 25/1 e/w Coral four places, 22/1 others 16,25 Migration 10/1 e/w WH and bet365 five places, 17/2 sky six places Limerick Small bet 14,40 Everystep Oftheway 14/1 e/w four places
Surely everything has come right for Trueshan today? I know everyone was blown away by Kyprios in the 2022 Cadran but he beat some real dodgepots there and for me he is a top of the ground horse and I'll be amazed if Trueshan can't get the better of him under the prevailing conditions. Trawlerman is the one for money this morning but he is another who is likely to find it way too grueling.
Maybe I have misunderstood you, QMII, if so, my apologies, but your so-called 'religious nutters' have little or no power nowadays. Previously, years ago, The 'Lord's Day Observance Society' (remember them?) were a pain in the ass for most people. My opinion, for what it's worth and I've said it a hundred or more times on the forum, it is the utter greed of the modern-day bookmakers who are the problem. Fixture lists are overloaded and quite ridiculous , but the 'bookies' seem to love them, and the BHA seem to have no control over these avaricious accountants (they are not really bookmakers in the true sense). The powerful 'lobby' these people have makes me feel that 'back-handers' are involved, but that's just my opinion. Maybe, one day, donkey's years from now, we'll finally get rid of them, I dunno?
I think that here we are rehashing arguments that have been made before. As I stated in my previous post about Champions Day specifically this particular fixture was ill conceived. You may have misinterpreted what I meant by the religious nutters (obviously the Christian variety). They actually have no say in when religious events occur each year as events all seem to work on some notional calendar where event B happens a certain number of days after event A but, obviously, things like Easter Sunday have to be a Sunday so someone in Rome gets to nominate which Sunday. As the BHA does not control the financial contribution to racing from betting, it has always been a case of the bookmaking tail wagging the horseracing dog. In my opinion, decisions by the BHA regarding various changes to the sport in the last couple of months have been a sign of sheer incompetence.
Nobody in Rome gets to pick which Sunday will be Easter Sunday. Its decided by the cycle of the moon not by some random individual.
Hoping, as always, for a good day for Frankel but in particular hoping Chaldean can bounce back to form before he heads off to stud.
This farewell to Frankie stuff is irritating. Everyone knows it isn’t farewell. These days I am easily irritated.
My goodness, Big Rock absolutely demolished this decent field in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Very well backed during the day, and a bunch of money must have been won by those who knew a good thing when they saw one! Very impressive!
