Is it my imagination, or have I seen this all before? Was there not a lot of racing frozen out last year? And what of the year before? I seem to recall one season when bad weather all but killed off racing for a couple of months. I suppose the average bloke in the street canât be blamed for this fiasco, but someone has to wear it in the arse. The question is, who? The answer is simple really, the blame has to placed squarely at the feet of those with a blinkered view of the world around them, the powers that be, who just happened to run the Hunt scene. What a bunch of knobs! Who in their right mind is going to plan a grass race course for jumpers who do their thing in the colder months? For Godâs sake, didnât they live in that part of the world? Couldnât they see that the open paddocks were going to ice up? I repeat, what a bunch of knobs! If after retirement, you walked into the offices of a wealth management firm, with a view to investment, and saw such a complete lack of regard for the bleeding obvious, youâd likely risk a broken leg, in your haste to get out the bloody door. Where was their foresight? Isnât this the country that fought off the Spanish Armada? The country that cranked up the industrial revolution? The country that gave us Z Cars and The Sweeney? This is a country that breeds a type of person who is capable of surviving the likes of both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair for ****s sake. These are hearty souls who have been tested in the most trying of conditions, and not been found wanting. What does that say about the good folk of the United Kingdom? Well couple of things really. 1, that they are loyal and brave, and 2, that they seem quite willing to fed **** by the shovel load. Why else would the rank and file punter in the UK fall into line in support of grass racing at this time of year, when itâs plainly obvious that the only sensible thing to do, would be to convert each of those frost threatened courses to All Weather surfaces. For too long now, the average punter has been swallowing the accepted version of how things aught to be done. Few seem willing to question the status quo. Maybe this belief in grass courses is so ingrained, that the average supporter of the industry isnât capable of thinking outside the box. Theyâve been harnessed to a blinkered view. Again, I make a concerted effort to point out that this is not the fault of the average punter today. He is merely the victim of the centuries of misguided thinking from those who have held power in the past. But all is not lost my friends. There is a way out, and each of you has the wherewithal to find that exit. I promise you, that once freed of the shackles of the past, you will embrace the new world with a vigour that will surprise you. One only has to look to the recent past to see the problems that bind themselves to grass track racing at this time of year. Towcester has been abandoned due to frost. Anyone see the irony here? A place that sounds like âtoasterâ is too cold. For heavenâs sake people, wake up and smell the ****, itâs all around you. Yesterday we lost lost Leicester and Ludlow, and last Sunday, Sedgefield was flushed down the old swanny. (not you mate ) Each of us knows that from this point on, things will only get worse. So I ask you in all seriousness, why put up with it? My friends, itâs time to take a stand. You know it, and I know it, so lets do something about it. Iâm calling for a complete boycott of the Cheltenham Festival. We need to stick together and let our lack of investment in the show case of the Hunt Season, speak for us. We must remain committed to the cause and not let a wedge be driven between us, in that way, we can hopefully see the Cheltenham Festivals of the future, conducted on the All Weather course. You know itâs the truth, and I know itâs the truth â¦.. now get back to work the bloody lot of yaâ.
Good morning, Cyclonic. I hope you are keeping well. All Weather Racing on fibresand with carthorses and Hayley Turner wearing a black veil to keep the splashback away- or is it Lester Piggott in disguise? I don't think so. We have traditions in the UK, not like you colonials over there in the desert. We used to send you our convicts. I'm going to write to the BHA to suggest we send you our All-Weather fixtures . Then you can easily build a new course- Ayres Rock would be a good location, and you Aussies could build a grandstand on top. You wouldn't even need to import any fibresand! If racing happens to get frozen off in the UK, then we can do what a bookie did in 1963 (when racing was off for weeks) ie. bet on races from years before and, if you had a good memory, then you could back some winners and get rich. As for losing Leicester, Ludlow, and Sedgefield...say no more! Now, Cyclonic, do something positive and get on that All-Weather beach-and take in the sun. That'll clear your mind! Or drive you totally bonkers!
How are you my friend? Things on the beach were fantastic yesterday. We had the day at home today due to the rain. Out here where the sun has some bite, and the summer rain makes the grass grow faster than an old bloke's whiskers, grass is the enemy of the man of the house. With the grass needing cutting every 10 days or so, I have no end of trouble getting the good woman behind the lawn mower. I'm thinking of cementing out yard and footpath, and painting it green.
Nah! I don't cut grass any more , Cyclonic. I made my back garden into a courtyard c/w fountain. All I need to do is sweep it occasionally- and clean out that bloody water feature. That gives more time for watching the geegees. Must go, I have to go and have my lobotomy at the hospital. Catch up with you later.
Morning Cyc - we may well have been the Nation that fought off the Spanish Armada but in teh interests of political correctness and racial harmony we're not allowed to mention it these days. As for all weather NH racing this was introduced over 20 year years ago, the hurdles at Southwell were fairly unforgiving but the problems came when there was a faller, horses suffered serious injury hitting the firm surface (under the sand there is no cotton wool !) and I think there were some serious jockey injuries as well, I'm sure the IJF released some stats that x % of fallers ended up with broken bones, far more than on turf courses. There of course is still the option of finding a better/more suitable surface and installing that but the cost to cover a 12f course (equating to some 120,000 sq metres) with a new product will be ridiculously expensive and you're unlikley to find an Arena Leisure investing in this. Also, in the case of winters 2009/10 and 2010/11, with severe weather the problem wasn't just confined to racing conditions, travel chaos meant yards couldn't get their horse boxes out, lanes/roads were impassable and the chaos meant very few punters could get to the racecourse, so even if racing conditions were suitable the chances are there would be no horses, no staff, no bookmakers and no punters !
As a staunch republican, I'd have no problems with the monies paid to the Royals being returned to the poor old punter. If that's not enough, then the labour needed to lay the new surface could come fron those on the dole. Work for the dole. As for the fragile horses being injured on these new courses, maybe we could just clone a stronger breed of horse. As for people getting to the courses in bad conditions, why not use the armed services? A few helicopters and a supply plane or too should do the trick. I'm fully aware that the supply plane couldn't land, but parachute drops shouldn't be a problem.
Cyc, i think that ,we race monster trucks, motor bikes and almost anything else in a stadium, so the UK punters should insist that after the Olympics the olympic stadium should be turned over to the BHA, so they can use the running track ( which is bouncy, all they have to do is cover it with sand/dirt/grass) and have ARENA NH races,. The advantage of this is plenty of seating , great veiwing,etc
Great idea Islander. Just imagine a field or 20 over a dozen or so laps on a 400m track. Two fences down the back straight, and another two in the front straight. We could keep the water jump used by the 3000m steeple chasers. Fast foot outlets all over the place, loads of toilets and concession stands. All under cover. Brilliant idea mate. It's this kind of lateral thinking that seems to be missing at the BHA headquarters. I think I might just fire off a quick email and see what comes of it. If anything happens, I'll mention you in passing when I'm accepting my peerage.
But the carnage will be only a hundred meters or so away. Every time a horse bit the dust we could have the Rocky theme pumped throughout the place. Every second person through the gate will be handed a free vuvuzela. What an atmosphere. The other half of the crowd would get a couple of flares.
If horses were indestructible you could safely guarantee that this would be the most popular/exhilarating sport almost overnight. It would be brilliant. Unfortunately they aren't so the broken legs etc. would probably put a bit of a downer on the whole event pretty quickly.
They might not be indestructible now Zen, but our cloned super horses will have legs like steel cables. The only broken legs will be either from the jockeys or the punters in the stands. If it's the riders, it doesn't really matter, they are easily replaced. If some bozo in the stands snaps a leg in the excitement of a multi pile up in the front straight, we will be able to get him out pretty quickly so the other patrons won't be put off by the screaming. Anyway, we can then let in another customer. It's a win, win here mate. I sure that with a time, you'll quickly get on board. This is a ground floor opportunity, too good to miss.
Hi all. Did you know that the natural and best underfoot conditions for horses is grass and that all the all weather surface manufacturers are actually striving to simulate turf. Might be cheaper to ensure better draining and have under soil heating to keep the turf in good condition. Amanda recently managed the sale of 11 horses from France to UK and on visiting the stud where they all went she was gob smacked by the set up. A 400 metre INDOOR race track and inside the track a beautiful grass show jumping arena. All private. FFS how do you get that rich?
There is some serious money about Ron, no doubt about it. Make you wonder about the big picture. Millions of children perish each year due to the lack of vitamin c, yet others can swan around 500 million maga yachts. But then again, what right do I have to pass judgement? I have a 42 inch plasma, car and motor bike (wifes), fridges full of food, no debt, money in the bank. To the poor, I'm also guilty of consuming too much.
I would argue that Towcester, Leicester, Ludlow and Sedgefield should be cancelled permanantly, if you really have the punters interests at heart. The last thing we need is more all weather borderline thoroughbred racing. Room 101 with this article Cyc.
