I know these things are all a matter of opinion, but the strength of the Sprint, the Fillies And Mares and the Long Distance Cup are down to the money on offer as none of them have been elevated in terms of their pattern status. Quite a number in the Sprint are the usual suspects (upgraded handicappers like Genki). The Fillies And Mares would have been the Pride Stakes at Newmarket. The Champion Stakes would have been run a fortnight after the Arc in previous years and it was not uncommon for some of the beaten horses to come from Longchamp looking for a consolation prize. The consolation prize having increased substantially might see a very competitive field face the starter, although the crabby odds on offer for So You Think suggest that the bookies do not think it is very open.
Exactly QM. Sir Barney's comment was that "They’ve thrown so much money at the venture and to be frank have attracted no more entries than they would have down had the races been kept in their former guises." I don't think this is the case at all. The quality and quantity of the entries is far higher than if they had been kept in their former guises.
Lets see how many actually turn up before suggesting that the fields are stronger because of the change.
I think the Champions Day card looks good but they really need to have a rethink on Future Champions Day. Having the Middle Park followed by the Dewhurst was just plain stupid
Roger Charlton’s pair of Bated Breath and Sea of Heartbreak certainly won’t be turning up at Ascot as both have now arrived in old Canada – where much more money is on offer to both horses this weekend. Somewhat paradoxical that the BHA throw all this loot at a fixture and 2 horses who would have been favourite (or very close to it) in 2 heats fly off elsewhere in search of better prizemoney! The ‘lucky last’ apart which looks likely to be a very keenly contested handicap it’s going to be very interesting to see what prices the old faves go off, on Saturday, at Ascot. At the moment they don’t look wide open books (and given the fact that there will, in all probability, be a few withdrawals from current lists they are unlikely to see much lengthening of odds, methinks) and you would have to wonder exactly how much betting interest they will generate across the Isle.
I think Champions' Day has generated the wider interest that racing so badly needs. There can be no doubt that the media has given the races far more coverage than they would otherwise have done. I think it is now important to drop the cynicism and support this day to make it a success. What it is this year is only part of the story, it is what it will become that is the most important aspect. If we racing fans continually criticise the day for its (obvious) weaknesses then nothing will be achieved. We should relish the prospect of a top class days racing and support it wholeheartedly. The tinkering that is required can happen, but i think it is crucial that we do not allow the negatives to get in the way of us giving it our full support. We must be present a united front and celebrate a day that celebrates the best of British racing.
There was a massive error in today's Express, where the racing writer had bemoaned the fact that all the races were not G1s and quoted a bookmaker as saying the BHA had missed a trick. It says something of the quality of racing journalist (and bookmaker) in this country when they have no grasp of how the Pattern actually works, and think that a G1 can be made out of thin air!
They must have got the story from the guy who writes the blog on irishracing.com its under Frankel the fig leaf.Hope someone gets caught out for pinching someones"journalistic knowledge", unless the phone taps are up and running again
Princess, you don’t really “read” the Express do you? Tell me that you happened to have a copy wrapping your fish and chips or that you use it for horse bedding – it must be absorbent. All those sales races are worth more than half of our Group 1 races, so surely they should all be Group 1! Doh!!!
Just watching the previews on Racing Post TV and John Gosden says about the Sprint "Freddie bringing that filly over is a nuisance to all the trainers here"!
If Moonlight Cloud runs, she will take some beating. The 48-hour declarations are in for Saturday’s card now. The races can be viewed starting at Sporting Life Racecards, which has tabbed pages allowing a view of each race. There are eight left in the QEII.
Ha! No QM, I don't read the Express - someone on Twitter (think it was John Maxse) had flagged it up.
