Simon Claisse

I just wish he / Cheltenham would update the turftrax going map on their website every day.

there is a reason why they don't

Whats happened to his watering can this year? usually cant wait to get it out!

has it started snowing yet?

Oooh Clay you enigmatic little teaser!

He has said he won't water because 15mm rain expected Thursday-Sunday. But this is not guaranteed, could eaily miss the course, but then it will be too late to water unless he does it Sunday night?

he has watered during the meeting before - it usually produces nightmare going

Has now changed the going to good-to-soft, good in places and lowered the rain forecast to 7-10mm which is still not certain to fall - I could have told him all this a week ago (wonder how much John Kettley gets paid) Should have been prepared to water on Saturday morning if the forecast rain doesen't come as expected on Thursday and Friday. if it stays 100% dry it will be verging on good to firm (though he'll still call it good/good-to-soft) and just imagine the headlines if there are a spate of fatalities

Heavy rain shower for about an hour early hours today....woke me up!

cheltenham will need significant rainfall over the next few days just to hold the ground imo. This track dries v v quickly

There is supposed to be some rain due tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. If it fails to materialise at all, or in sufficient quantity then I can see them watering on Sunday. Even then, the ground will still ride just on the slow side of good. Punters can strike a line through horses that need proper soft ground.

It's obviously a really difficult job, sort of damned if he does and damned if he dosen't, and if he leaves it to mother nature then I guess he can't be blamed. But with the long range forecast he should have had from the start of March I reckon he maybe should have watered a little between last Saturday morning and Tuesday night as the the sun was out and the temperatures quite warm , so would have been absorbed quickly and this may also have helped the grass cover a bit as well.

how is a difficult job? it' not rocket science just to tell us what the ground actually is. he should stop insulting us by calling it good to soft when it's nothing of the sort. The man is a joke.
He called it good to soft on the 1st day last year when respected people said it was the fastest ground seen at the festival for 15 years.
This clown should stop insulting people's intelligence

He seems to love the bloody attention in my view. They make so much fuss about it all. It's not exactly difficult to get the ground right on that course. It dries out so quickly so if you get to Sunday and theres no rain, chuck a bit on. We all know it will be good to soft in the description but IMO they will have it good if they can for Tuesday.

2010 binocular time:3 mins 53.8 secs  going good to soft best official rating 172
2009 punjabi   time:4 mins 00.9 secs  going good to soft best official rating 166
2008 katchit   time:4 mins  8.1 secs  going good to soft best official rating 166
2007 sublimity time:3 mins 55.7 secs  going soft         best official rating 166

I think we can actually say without a shadow of doubt that Claisse is either for some reasone putting us all away,or he hasnt a clue what hes on about,how can a horse with the exact same rating (sublimity)run 12.4 seconds faster than the 2008 winner ?,on softer going!!!.
Think its fair to say his opinion isnt worth a light,he has no way of actually knowing what the going is until the first race is run.
But in all honesty,any man thats been in a job as long as he has should be able to give a more accurate assessment then he has been giving us us over the years,or at least be honest enough to reassess what he originally thought the going was.
My advice,have a stop watch ready for the supreme novices,if its hovering around the 4 minutes mark,i think we can safely assume its on the dead side of good.
Menorah ran 3 mins 56.52 secs in the first last year,a time which would definitely say good,not the good to soft description given.
Adding further substance to that theory was binoculars inability to quicken in punjabis champion hurdle,won on good to soft in a fraction over 4 minutes,but being able to win last year on the better going,good,in a time 7.1 seconds faster,not the good to soft claisse told us it was.
Lesson learnt?.[;)]

God i wish Claisse could read that!

theres no escaping what a bull**** he is!

LOL


Stick readings wont give you any clue either, just look at the history and weep

According to the readings, Denmans 08 victory was on faster ground than Kauto's, either the device is a waste of the BHA's money or he hasnt a scooby how to use the thing

BTW Grand cru's cleeve reading was faster than last year Champion hurdle, then you look and the rating was taken on the tues when racing was on the Sat

Actually,come to think of it,i was there in 1997 when Make a stand won the champion hurdle in 3 minutes 48.4 seconds,on GOOD
What the hell were they actually running on then ? CONCRETE ?

Didnt Shadow Leader do a fast time in his Supreme???

would Claisse have measured the distance for all those Champion hurdles before the meeting? Would distances have been as advertised?......

Yes Zil Shadow leader was 3:48/ 9ish

Who knows Roger, weve become so used to being misled, ironically its easier to do jumostimes from the 1st hurdle or chase.

As for trying to pick them out on the flat its become harder with camera angles

jumps times

yep, Mordin does from the 1st hurdle, so I've adopted that method for Cheltenham. Its a shame they cant keep the hurdles in the same place and the distances correct each season would make the Jumps much more interesting. As it is, I just dip in for Cheltenham every year.

1997 shadow leader 3 min 49.9 secs,1.5 seconds slower than the champion hurdle won by make a stand.

what does Simon Claisse have on every member of the Racing Media for them just to ignore the shocking misleading of the going year in year out?
He is average in the extreme. No wonder racing is going the tube with guys like this at the heart of one of the biggest meetings of the year

He'll have to water soon, just checked the met office forecast and they say no more rain before racing with brisk breezes and temperatures getting up to 11 degrees.
He now has to turn the taps on...

In an ideal world we would have genuinely good jumping ground, which is what most trainers want. In the interests of safety for the horses, the authorities want it on the slow side.

I'm not sure on what basis the ground will be rattling by Tuesday if there is insufficient rain. The going is a function of a number of factors in addition to rainfall - level of the water table, grass length and covering, temperature, sunshine and wind.

Claisse will be charged with producing safe ground. However, trainers don't like watered ground if it can be avoided, as it can make it false.

the muppet is watering today. unreal

shut the **** up, you moaner

Clay what is your problem? There was rain forcast and now that rain doesn't look like coming he is watering a little. What is the big deal?

He has claimed the ground is where it wants it plus there is between 7.5 and 12mm forecast to hit course by monday. why cant he just leave it alone.
What did you prefer - honestly now - last year's Champion Hurdle run on unwatered ground or the previous 2 Champion Hurdles run on watered ground? I think it's a no brainer to be honest

I'll remind you of an earlier post - in case you missed it. Do you honest believe a word that comes out of this COC's mouth? Do you trust him to get it right?

2010 binocular time:3 mins 53.8 secs  going good to soft best official rating 172
2009 punjabi   time:4 mins 00.9 secs  going good to soft best official rating 166
2008 katchit   time:4 mins  8.1 secs  going good to soft best official rating 166
2007 sublimity time:3 mins 55.7 secs  going soft         best official rating 166

I think we can actually say without a shadow of doubt that Claisse is either for some reasone putting us all away,or he hasnt a clue what hes on about,how can a horse with the exact same rating (sublimity)run 12.4 seconds faster than the 2008 winner ?,on softer going!!!.

Cant see any problem with him slapping a few mill on a present  with the high winds around wont make any difference just stop it drying out so much.
If it didnt rain could end up with gd to firm to start the meeting.

He has to water given the forecast - would be like a road on Tuesday otherwise.

The guy would obviously love to have 100% good to soft ground every Cheltenham Festival Tuesday- the fact that he hasnt been able to achieve that every year surely shows that to do so isnt as straightforward as you are suggesting.

In 2007, i studied all the weather forecasts i could on the Monday the week b4 Chelt and basically there was rain forecast virtually every day up to the weekend, much of it heavy, on top of going which at the time was described as Soft. I hammered Soft on the Going market with a saver on heavy only for no rain to materialise at all the whole week....only Claisse's politically-driven assessment saved my bacon, as he stuck with Soft (good to soft in places) for the first day even though times showed it was definitely no worse than Good to soft.

Claisse is open to criticism for leaning on the side of what he wants the going to be called on Day 1 rather than what it actually is, but to suggest he has an easy job in arriving at best-case scenario ground given the changeable nature of the weather is nonsense imo

Forget best case scenario - there are pros and cons with that argument also - for the moment, all he has to do is just tell us what the ground actually is.....it is all we ask for. It's a disgrace that year in year out we have to watch the Supreme to ascertain what the going actually is.
if a Clerk can't tell what the ground is then he/she really shouldn't be in a job.
it's 2011. it is not too much to ask, surely?

According to the BBC weather website forecast for Cheltenham it should be raining right now. Then a bit more Staurday night / Sunday morning.

But Metcheck says hardly any rain at all during this period, Theweatheroutlook says no rain until Tuesday but then light rain everyday of the festival, and Netweather says little bits and pieces from today to Monday then some more on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Metoffice says light rain Saturday / Sunday but possibly heavier rain on Monday

Bright sunny and windy this afternoon. My missus has just put the washing out.......

Is it too much to ask for a stick reading at 12-00 on Tuesday??, as clay said its 2011, and we should have another after racing.

I wouldnt have a bet in the Supreme unless i KNOW that its been hammering down with rain, otherwise you are guessing

agreed zilzal. Amazed at the amount of people on this forum who are happy to be misled when considering having a bet. Strange

Do you not have a bet the rest of the year clay? Cos i'd be happier as to what the going will be for the Supreme than i would be for the first race of most meetings.

duncan - fair point. I try and avoid meetings that have been watered. I tend not to bet much on rubbish racing anyway

plenty of rubbish around at the moment Have made mental note to take 2 weeks off before Cheltenham nxt year....this stuff is awful

Going latest,APPARENTLY,good to soft good in places.
THE going at Cheltenham eased slightly on Sunday morning after 3mm of rain overnight.

With just two days left until the start of the four-day festival, the ground was changed to good to soft, good in places from good, good to soft in places on the Old course, which had 4mm of water applied on Thursday and Friday.

Speaking on Sunday morning, clerk of the course Simon Claisse, who was expecting a dry day,said: "After the rain overnight, we have changed the going on the Old course to good to soft, good in places.

"We applied 7mm of water to the New course and the ground on that course is the same."

After watering and rain,its anyones guess what the going might be,but take a look at Sandown on saturday when punters were stitched up like kippers.
We were told good,good to soft in places,the fastest time was the imperial cup,which was over 7 seconds slower than standard.
They were finishing like drunken sailors,the way the turf was chopping up and the times tell us it was not anything like good.
I will be timing the first race Tuesday and posting here what the EXACT going is,not what Claisse is telling us.

Asking Claisse for an accurate assessment on the going is like asking a jew the latest price of pork

agree 247 and clay, claisse is just a blatant industry man and he lies every year.

also whilst im talking about liars, Jim Macgrath yesterday on the racing.....blatantly lied when talking to francombe saying the ground was good ...on the faster side of good.

If you are reading this mcGrath then get ready ,im sending emails in to channel 4 for you to watch your mouth with you blatantly misleading the public, hang your head in shame you liar!

What a w**ker that simon claisse is,i just timed the 1st race at 3 minutes 48.384 seconds,it is lightening fast,fu**in clueless t**t,absolutely unreal.
This guy has'nt got a clue,sack him ffs.

Can someone please tell me why there word "soft " in the going description.

again its proven, claisse is just a ****g liar

LOL, I made it 3.49.48, might have hit a bit soon before the off though

Its lightning fast

I said this would happen,look,its good to firm on the cross country,and its the same on the hurdles and chase courses,its probably the fastest i can ever remember it.