New Coc just cant help himself

Like every festival the ground will make the bookmakers happy.

Rained most of the day in Chelt yesterday (and also during the night) so I hope he hasn't watered.

It is glorious sunshine at the mo so he might decide to ignore the forecast for tomorrow and water the lot.

doesn't look like there will be much rain next week tho but who knows????

fortunately hes done the old course(thurs/Frid) only (so far) and mild sunny weather forecast next week.
Seems like it would be a sin to start/race on good ground

good ground yesterday...5mm of rain plus watering...new course is now soft
roll on next saturday imo not interested

put 1/2 an inch on the new course yesterday on top of the rain that fell

always get them mixed up wonder!!

New course is now soft so should be good to soft for Thursday. Good ground for gold cup day.

Not ideal ground for some of the favs on Thursday and Friday. Will Hillcrest run on goodish ground ?

The new clerk clearly has no experience of chelt. He’s going to make a howler next week. They’re be a few horse deaths. I pray I m wrong.
He seemed proud and happy to start the meeting on good to soft on the good side.
Given chelt dries at one going change per day

It will defo be good. G/f in places at worst on Friday. Probably good to firm. Might even sneak firm.

The old clerk knew. Always started on soft.

Forecast dry then sunny. Poor new clerk. A baptism of fire.

You d think the old clerk would ring him up and tell him. The train is going to crash.

Hope I m wrong. But he seemed smug on itv today.

The old clerk knew. Always started on soft.


Just not true C>U>T>H>

Comingupthehill the new course is soft at present so won't be firm going by Friday

Brandy .... Good to see you about

The old Clerk gave it as soft last year day 1,the Arkle was 1.36 secs slower than standard.

Both the supreme and champion hurdle times indicated it was just on the easy side of good.

Yearly occurence,then the guesswork for the new course,for this showcase meeting.

They talk about "safe ground",perhaps someone should do a proper study,heavily watered on top with firm underneath to me is a recipe for disaster,the horses deserve better.

I,ll give him the benefit of doubt for now,Tuesdays times are the only guide worth noting.

Hey Nocturnal. Hope you're well.

Very true regarding official going. Will wait for the time of the Supreme until we really know the going.

Declarations are out for Tuesday

Only 7 in the NH Chase.

9 in the Supreme.

7 runners in national hunt chase is desperate runners wise. You cannot believe sir Gerhard isn’t running in the supreme with the questions over Dysart dynamo very unlike Mullins, we will see. As most know I hate stats but Sir gerhard will only be the second 7 year old to win the ballymore in its history, easy money

Are you going away for the week Harry?

No got a double hernia. Just the couch

Brutal trying to find an actual bet at this meeting, I’m down to the real dregs of the meeting

Every year its the same.

Fyi ...its the number two who does the course not the COC, claisse was different gravy , told the bha the course needed digging up but they wouldnt listen . Cheltenham is in a bowl, has a micro-climate but they have the top men and the resources and fundamental track no how to produce any going . They know where to put the going sticks. The best guide in the going is the jocks after the first. What you get in the media isn't what it actually may be. They put "soft" in the going for safety ,antis and snowflakes. I used to berate Claisse on here until I went to one of his seminars, different gravy altogether. i bet the new COC didnt understand what goes on behind the scenes.....

3:47 a good ground time
agree with u irish mixture of g/s & soft description is PR bs, completely mythical

correction 3:44

forecast is for possible rain later today and tomorrow with little or no rain Thursday and Friday

Will the water both/ either course tonight after racing?

they are considering it

fkin madness imo

cant possibly have a speed championship can we

F00ked it up good and proper.

Think the coc has been saved by the amount of water that has fell

I suspect the old guard was laughing his bollux off

The biggest criticism should go to the weather forecasters who got it completely wrong. They did forecast rain in some areas but the south midlands were singled out to miss it!

If they were racing on Saturday they’d most probably have needed to water after racing on Gold Cup day. Given the rain that fell on Wednesday, that suggests the drainage system is much more efficient than it needs to be.

going against the grain....all seemed ok in the end ,no complaints about the going from those that matter.....as usual a few fatalities,,always a sad sight to see...part and parcel of the game i suppose...heartbreaking for connections.....

Nicky Henderson was in no doubt the ground was to blame for Shishkin’s disappointing run in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival

Spoton again cobra... "No complaints about the going from those that matter "

Nicholls tried hard to hide his contempt for the watering but failed miserably.
The Coc was on a hiding to nothing and really it was the weather that caused the problem.

He said the day before that he had had 3 different forecasts, so what's he to do?? reckon he'd have took what did transpire opposed to do nothing and potentially seeing more horses break down on firmer ground if there was no rain.

Anyway, what has been glossed over when looking for a scapegoat is the fact that the heavens opened, the ground would have still been very bad even if he had done nothing.

Its not like it aint been like that before.

The clouds were held above the bowl instead of blowing over as expected.  Shame really.

I think the worst job from the coc and team were the ridiculous official going reports.
Good to soft on Tuesday?????

But by Friday, Shishkin was "sore" and sorry for himself. As he only jumped 5 or 6 fences what made him sore?

Hadn't read that, interesting stuff sage.

Brandy makes a good point, if coc thought it was g/s why water? At worst Wednesday without any rain would have been good going and nothing wrong with that, he’s fooked up and trying to cover his arse

Going on first day of 2021 Festival was officially soft but rode more like good to soft. On more occasions than I care to remember the official going description is altered after the first race or two and never is the CoC criticised for having to do so.

The reality of the situation is that for many years the official going description at a high proportion of Cheltenham meetings (throughout the season) has often been misleading and the jockeys riding in the first race are a more reliable guide to the true state of the going.

Irishone gives a plausible explanation as to why this might be so. However, in this instance, when it comes to conspiracy or c@ck up I’ll go for c@ck up every time.

Couple of other things ...

Its the new CoC's first year
Are the safety snowflakes being over-heard ?

Bad luck for me - nothing else.

possibly honcho .....They have so much technology there now it beggars belief how they could make such a c0ck up

I'm not sure what c0ck he made to be honest. The ground was lightning quick on Tuesday.If the forecast of just 2-5mm was correct it needed a bit of water surely?

Venetia Williams was delighted by course conditions on days 234. There are two sides to every coin.

Where does he get his weather info? Every forecast I saw was for persistent, heavy rain on the Wednesday. I was astonished to hear he was going to water. If I can find out what the weather's going to be sitting in my chair, why can't someone who has a multi-million pound business depending on it?

off Micheal Fish.

Touche

When I say c@ck up or conspiracy I’m referring specifically to the repeated inability of the Cheltenham CoC to provide an accurate description of the going prior to the start of a race meeting.

The decision to water prior to a deluge is a separate matter (and ultimately, given the volume of rain, had no impact on the going) but again the CoC described the going as Soft immediately prior to race 1 on Wednesday only for the jockeys to report back that it was Heavy.

strontium, I live in the BBC south west region (including Cheltenham) and I can assure you that on the Tuesday evening news the forecast showed the rain belt well to the east and south of our area although the forecaster did warn that the areas to be affected on Wednesday were uncertain. At no time did they forecast any more than light showery rain so the arrival of an inch took them completely by surprise as they admitted on Wednesday evening news.

That's interesting Sage - the national BBC forecast had it pishing down (though noone prediced the huge amount of rain that actually fell).

I think that Tiger Roll getting beat on the Wednesday helped the ground conditions immensely

The bha have it stipulated that the festival must start on ground slower than good. Doesnt matter what the COC thinks !  No NH racing in u k can start if "firm" is in the going.