This weekend I've spent three days, walked 15km+, eaten three sausage and bacon cobs and possibly watched the changing of the guard in NH racing in the UK. We saw the rise and rise of the Tizzard yard, with the Potts Irish legion joining the yard they look to have a proper battalion to go to war with. Sizing here versus Sizing there was what we saw, with smatterings of Fry, Skelton and Nicholls. Then we got to Sunday and the Henderson yard had the double blow, a great send off for Sprinter Sacre (a bit low key but that seems apt for what happened next), and the demise of Simonsig. Grey horses have always had a way of lighting up NH racing for the public and this one was another star the shone bright on his day. This day though the sight of Barry G sprinting to him and holding him down on the ground was one that will be tough to forget. Right in front of the stands, right in front of those who it hurt the most, the stable lads and lasses and those connected with the horse. Racing at its toughest. A yard now that has a massive void, and I hope that Altior can fill the gap for them. It does look like Henderson is going to struggle, he doesn't have the Cheltenham horses he once had and it seems the time might even arrive that he might ponder the great R word. Is this a change or is it a blip?
You summed the whole weekend up perfectly! First of all hope you had your five a day mixed in with bacon and sausage cobs! With the Potts bringing thier horses over has only bought good to this country's racing and what's better yet is that they took a slight gamble you could argue putting them with the tizzards! Yes last season he had his best season ever and won some big races- but compared to the likes of Nichols , Henderson, King he was still a small fry in terms of the number of horses. Which will give him confidence and other owners to stock horses with him and contest the likes of ones I have mentioned above with some real ammunition(more than what he has at the moment which in Cue Card and Thistlecrack is more than most trainers would dream of, but u know what I mean) and the likes of Fry and Skelton superb stuff especially In the Greatwood Understudy vs mentor and the understudy! Bet he loved that moment Now for the forums favourite trainer! What a day of mixed emotions I won't go in to Sprinter nor Simonsig too much (I posted my feelings on Simonsig yday and I didn't even know the horse personally but boy does it still hurt- I know what the ones who looked after him every day. Feel- having recently lost my own horse) but his once trademark horses are either in double figures or thier time in racing had passed, the likes ok peace and co, Hargam and more who once seemed so promising have failed to justify their true promise and the same seems to be said each season! Am hoping Altior can re light that spectacular horse fire and more come out the stables! But who knows there may be another potential Sprinter Sacre or even another Binocular that's right Binocular !lurking in Seven barrows somewhere! The man is a genius no matter what your views are on him you don't be in racing and that successful if your not! So to answer your question Nass it's a blip!
A horrible weekend for Seven Barrows losing the flying grey Simonsig and in awful circumstances but without sounding too harsh thats all part of the sport, sadly, and the bad luck has been going round. We all know Closutton lost there best chaser and another up and comer last Sunday but in actual fact it was three, as another Supreme owned horse was lost on the gallops. Ben Pauling who hasn't the quantity of horses of a Mullins or Nicky has his flag bearer ruled out and you just don't know if or when he will be back. Sadly countless horses die, 95% of which we never hear of. The ones I feel most for are the lads and lasses who spend so much time and devote so much care to them. The bad luck has also been shown with various stables losing horses, Mullins and de Bromhead being main examples but in this respect one man's bad luck has become anothers good luck in receiving these horses! It's great Sprinter has went out at the top and in fine fettle by the sounds of it. I suspect retirement is on the horizon for old Nicky boy at some point, they all must give it up, but a man whose been at the top of the game for 40 odd years must be more than happy with what he's done in racing and in equal measure what he's got from the sport. His career will be more celebrated than mourned when he decides enough is enough. Very morbid Monday stuff Nass old boy! As I said on yesterday's thread it is a horrible sport when you see fatality up close and I can speak from experience there, it can put you off the game at times.
With the retirement of SS and the tragic passing of Simonsig it can seem like an end of an era. I feel Nicky 'The Needle' does have some positives though - O O Seven was mighty impressive and we are awaiting the chase debut of Altior who could go to the top of the tree. Who knows? One thing for certain though, we shouldn't write him or his 'Magic hands' off.
In regard's the great man's standing in the NH game in the UK you would say the guard has already changed with Mr Nicholls having taken the trainer's title on nine out of the last ten years. I very much would be surprised should the fire burn in Nicky's belly (the brandy might make it I guess) to win the title again, I dont think he has the desire to play the numbers game with Nicholls or his young apprentices or a resurgent Tizzzzzarrrrdddddd! Quality would be the name of the game for Hendo and he still has horses to aim at the big races in March. In many ways I see Ireland mirroring this very soon with Elliott playing the numbers game in pursuit of the trainers title against Mullins.
What a load of sanctimonious claptrap. A lot of these comments (and others that I’ve just reviewed from yesterday where we have had posters saying how devastated they are one minute and 5 minutes later posting their tip for the next race) are about as self-righteous as a poppy seller. There comes a point in everything when its passed its sell by date and needs axing (slavery, bear baiting, cock fighting, public executions, etc) and I think we have now reached that point re National Hunt racing. For me a large part of the problem exists because so many of the horses running in the NH sphere are no longer bred for the job (the current level of fatalities appears unprecedented simply because the horses are far, far, far too fragile for the job these days) and the so-called ‘H.Q.’ is simply a death trap – the fatality rate at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival was 14 times the number of the normal level, re that number of runners, at a standard meet (stat courtesy of ‘The Weekender’) and already this season we have seen more equine fatalities at the course. Whilst, I find it the height of bad taste that as Simonsig stood fatally injured thousands of racegoers, either pretending the latter wasn’t happening or simply because they are heartless, joyously cheered home Fox Norton. I’ve loved and been a huge fan of N.H. Racing for years but there comes a point when punters can no longer simply shrug, ‘Oh no’ before after a couple of moments silence asking, ‘who do you fancy for the next heat, then?!?’ I’ve defended the sport in the past, big time, but really don’t think I can anymore...
Barney, I assure you that you are not alone with that school of thought. Yesterday troubled me, a lot. It hurts me that Simonsig, a beautiful grey who provided the Racing Post and public with some glorious moments in his short career, was an afterthought on their news feed, hidden away from any headline. Pretending it didn't happen, or that he didn't matter. It was a crushing scene. And the thing is, we should feel the same about every one that we lose. I don't know what to say, but I am troubled by it right now. Too much is swept under the carpet and it's always a case of 'the show must go on'. I'm not so sure, but emotions are running high at the minute.
I can defend it, this is more than a sport for the lads and lasses at the yards, it's a way of life, a job, but also much more than that. To see the real and raw emotions at Cheltenham yesterday showed that, and for every day out racegoer there was at least another who felt what was going on. Now I know I was on the privileged steps of the members but people knew what was going on and it was more than a minutes pause. Very little murmur from the stand for the rest of the race, and to be honest for the rest of the day. NH racing has its issues, but yesterday showed this in polar opposites when they retired SS with a little heat in his leg, and tried to get Simonsig back to what he is bred to do. Horses are fragile but as many die in freak field accidents, or in the stables/training as do on the racecourse and when the horses are going full speed in the biggest events the likelihood of an error being fatal is obviously heightened. We have seen with the flat and the Le Reve accident that the dangers are real and we do need to mitigate as much as possible, but jumps racing is doing that and the Jockey Club courses are to the fore of that. As for the poppy seller comment, each to their own I guess, racing can be a wide church like the general population and those who follow should be allowed to do so without demonisation.
This for me has been one of the toughest couple of weeks horse racing has had in recent memory. The loss of Vautour and Simonsig the greatest tragedies, the sadness at the retirement of Sprinter Sacre and of course the life changing injuries to Freddy Tylicki. The sport will recover, but these are certainly not easy times.
Can I just make the point that without horse racing none of these animals would be bred in the first place. I know that maybe that doesn't give us carte blanche to put them at risk in the NH game but horses are at risk from birth onwards as are humans. We bred one beauty who slipped on his way back in from grazing one morning and managed to fatally sever his own tendon. Vautour died playing in his paddock with Shaneshill. One at Wolves on the flat this weekend snapped a leg on the home bend. The list is endless. Just because the horse is better than average doesn't make his demise any more or less tragic and lets face it to a lot of people out there the emotional attachment is very much some way behind the desire to have a winner. If you are going to get over emotional about these beasts then you are in the wrong game. (so says a man who absolutely loves his own racehorse!)
I agree that to lose any racehorse is a tragedy, the point is though that those horses which are better than the average are what makes the sport.
It slightly puzzles me, and pains me as well, why some are so keen to present the ‘glossy brochure’ image, if you like re, NH racing or divert the subject somewhat by mentioning lads/lasses and horses not being bred at all. If you want to going down that route I’m sure similar things were being said about bear baiting, prior to its eradication, in the 19th century. My comments were based on the cold hard reality of what has been happening in the NH sphere both these past few days and in recent terms.
Ive never been attached to jump horses the way I have been to some flat horses, The New One probably one of the few I really liked, can appreciate the qualities of the good ones and the odd average one but its all about the flat class for me. When you see the great flat horses the jumpers just seem like plodders, its a different game, my favourite horses were too good to jump hurdles or fences. I wouldnt be that bothered if NH racing was stopped and can see the point about it being dangerous, but id never call for it to be stopped without tongue in cheek because it does produce some legends, Kauto, Denman and Sprinter Sacre recently.
There is no sport without risk. I'd argue that it is the core of sport. Owners, trainers, managers, players, jockeys are all aware of this risk and do things accordingly. Horses are not. They just do their best.
They're sentient animals all of them , left to their own devices they would run and jump and breed with each other and the in bred would be no more --but man controls them for his own ends -the breeding and racing industries and all that goes with that -many people become attached on a sentimental level to individual animals that have been given names to identify them as property , equally many who bet on them are removed from such feelings and see them as a means to an end -- i detest any animal cruelty and have real problems with the blood and guts brigade who say hunting is a sport - but racehorses enjoy life mostly , and are relatively pampered , but they do pay a high price for this --are they asked to much of ? The old store horse is seen as uneconomic in the present climate , which means a change in the breeding industry pattern , resulting in more delicate specimens Got to say that jumpers provide the thrill as opposed to flat runners that just run faster than others over distances / conditions - a simplified take but essentially true
I can't see the poppy seller comment so I post carefully get a ****ing grip.....it's very sad about what happens at Chelts at weekend I posted my thoughts there on the post I understand all sentiments I owned horses thankfully non diet but lost them as they not good enough...... millions died to allow us to watch the sport we love...... get it into perspective boys Stay Frosty
Look I must admit I’m becoming anti-NH racing. I guess those that are trying to protect or preserve the pastime fall into 2 categories: (i) Those who are trying to kid themselves into believing it is wonderful, everyone involved in the sport is in it because they love the horses and everything is always ‘champagne and roses’, or (ii) Those who know the risks and don’t care about them. Paradoxically, I think I have I have more respect for the latter group of people as at least they are being honest with themselves rather than the former who are wheeling out glib, contrite and sanctimonious statements that actually mean nothing whatsoever whilst trying to deflect from the actual reality that is currently happening right now in jump racing. I’ve spoken above about the utter contempt I felt about reading posters say one moment how sad they were about Simonsig and within minutes then wanting, or giving, a tip for the next race. That to me seemingly is what a lot of NH followers are about – wanting to say the right thing but then quickly either pretending a fatality didn’t happen or moving on with totally undue haste. Meanwhile, ‘millions died to allow us to watch the sport we love’ has to be the most pompous thing I think I’ve read on here. What next millions died so we can eat chocolate biscuits, millions died so we can borrow library books, millions died so we can cross the road. That remark actually belittles the people who have died in wars, of whatever nationality, throughout time.
what are ya wanting Barney a day of National mourning? In all your time here can you honestly say you have never put a horse up on the day one has died? Spare me the suspense, of course you have. Just because Needles is declining and it's one of his "stable stars" you are having a good strop. What category do all those who are involved with the animals fall into then? Enjoy today's Beef stew and dumplings.
STH, read my original post on here. I’ve said how much I‘ve loved and been a fan of NH racing in the past but just feel that we have reached the stage were enough is enough. Not asking anyone to support this view or looking for any sort of backing whatsoever. It’s purely a personal point of view and stating where I am as an individual with NH racing right now. Yes, I’ve put a horse up before who has died and yes I’ve been at a racecourse when one has been fatally injured. Don’t think I’m having a strop at all and don’t think the fact that Mr Henderson is involved has any relevance whatsoever. Just detailing where I am right now with NH racing. I may be right I may be wrong. It’s merely by viewpoint. Yes, it’s Tuesday so its beef stew and dumplings later on (unless there is an abundance of chicken in the coalface pantry and that replaces the beef which it does now and then). My place at the ‘top table’ is reserved.
