The Tale of The Cheltenham Tw@t and The Taps

Can't risk anything better than good going, they're terrified of fatalities.

I dont see the problem whole season is spent running on softer ground , do we want considerably faster ground at the festival - its a winter sport. I also believe priority number one at the meeting is the horses safety.

Nonsense from the OP. He is putting on precious little and it will still be better ground than most of the runners will have been on all winter. Why would you want quick ground ???

OP talking out of his @rse.

year on year this guy consistently produces top notch ground for festival, yet he still gets slagged for no good reason, it would be utterly reckless of him to allow the ground to dry out.

Nicky Henderson was told live on RUK today that they had starting watering, his face was a picture

correct decision imo

I'm not Simon Claisse's biggest fan, the reason being his official going reports can rarely be relied upon to be accurate.  What concerns me about him watering the course is that he may think there is a risk that the going on Day 1 of the Festival will be quicker than "the slow side of good" but given his track record of incorrect and misleading going reports, who's to say that he's basing his watering decision on an accurate going assessment?  Too many in the sport are in thrall to this man.  He performs heroics in getting racing on in conditions which would defy most CoCs and he is motivated by good intentions but in recent years his going reports have been unreliable more often than not and no-one dares to pick him up on it.

Correct decision, has to maintain the ground but not over do it.

I have no problem with him watering to get firmness out of the ground

Shouldn't be allowed to go any further though

^ Firmness??????

It's fecking good to soft with good patches at the moment.......by his own admission, not good to firm, so is actually probably good to soft all round (he'll be saying it's more good to give him the excuse to water). What's wrong with racing on Good going, where in the rules does it say all NH races shall be run on soft going? Don't forget good to soft for NH would be classed as Soft for the flat, it's hardly a fecking road out there.

And forecast to have some light rain Sunday/Monday, should at least wait to see if that materialises first.

The Clown could produce gluey dead ground here and we know how that can affect results.

so what happens if he leaves it to nature,and we have a firm ground gold cup??
would you be happy with that??

I think the strong breeze coupled with spring sunshine forecast  today will justify him watering on this occasion. Been a very dry couple of months compared with last year.
Rained 4 mm on tuesday yet the course dried out from 6.2 to 6.5 within 24 hours later.

Looking at the weather forecast and the official current going, if correct then he hasn't put enough water on

turftrax map showing gd/soft gd in places

there is now a bit of rain forecast for the week, i do hope he doesn't over water !!!!!!

what weather forecast is that ?


Little or no rain for the next week.

BBC showing rain Monday and Thursday

Showing light rain, which means next to none.

BBC suck for weather, always predict negative stuff. need http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

Why the faith in XC? Forecast is less rain and more sun with them than the BBC.

I doubt the OP knows were Cheltenham is, let alone visited it.

I see Sandown is Good to Soft today, would you want to see water on top that, based on how the races are being run??????

Loper: You really shouldn't comment when you are clueless and guessing, I've been to the Festival every year bar a couple of years since 1996 and will be there Thurs/Fri this year.

Cheltenham a lot different to Sandown though mate,drains really well.
I think the clerk of course knows what he's doing,he will get the ground as fair to the horses chances as he can,whilst making it as safe for them as he can.

Fair enough Buddeliea, just seen too many cases before where they have watered before rain or over watered on decent ground to produce false, dead, sticky ground where like at Sandown today, you are either in the van or you have no chance at all and they can't all race up with the pace with the field sizes at Cheltenham. If it rains Sunday/Morning this is what could happen. Watering is false unlike rain and produces false ground which equate to false results, bookies will love it if it's the case.

Loper: You really shouldn't comment when you are clueless and guessing, I've been to the Festival every year bar a couple of years since 1996 and will be there Thurs/Fri this year.

In that case may I suggest that you walk the course before issuing profanities at the Clerk of the Course.

I will be out on the course after every race every day as I have been without exception since 1982.

Guess you work there then Loper?

Well keep up the good work, I know the staff work really hard and do produce the best possible ground they can for the best racing week of the NH Season.

I hope you are and the Clerk are right and all have a great week.

As there been any statement of how  much and which/whcih part of course old/new have been watered.
Judging by the strong breeze could it actually make watering uneven??

They are watering 'selectively' Geoff.

Because of the severe undulations some parts of the course dry out more than others.

It has been tacky at the entrance to the straight at the bottom of the hill yet cracks appearing at the top of the hill on the far side at previous festivals.

If I remember correctly 2010 was the last time he was badly caught out by this policy. I think he was watering just before and during the festival with a forecast of some rain on the Friday but as Friday got closer the amount predicted began to rise. By the Friday he was in damage limitation mode when he began on official good ground which was given as soft after about three races and they were absolutely legless coming up the hill by the last couple of races.

Needless to say I'd backed a decent ground horse in one of those races.

xc weather gives a totally different outlook to bbc !!!!!!!!!!!!

A little spell of rain showers tomorrow which won't make much difference but a squally band of rain on Monday.

Look at the ground at Sandown today - seriously hard work. Think Cheltenham will be similar.

unclepuncle • March 7, 2015 5:35 PM GMT
A little spell of rain showers tomorrow which won't make much difference but a squally band of rain on Monday.

Look at the ground at Sandown today - seriously hard work. Think Cheltenham will be similar.

Shows what little you know 

I know a lot more than you'll ever live to see.

super7hans • March 7, 2015 6:08 PM GMT
unclepuncle • March 7, 2015 5:35 PM GMT
A little spell of rain showers tomorrow which won't make much difference but a squally band of rain on Monday.

Look at the ground at Sandown today - seriously hard work. Think Cheltenham will be similar.

Shows what little you know  Crazy

Yes you are a PRAT...Weighed in Weighed in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!