Cunningham K.O.s Ben Newton in Round One

GC good guy

Agree with GC on that - thought it was a desperately poor idea from Ben Newton.

To the Rp's credit though - they have employed Eddie Fremantle as a writer/tipster - surely that is step in the right direction?

KAPOW

Great Stuff from Yifter there

Is this an attack on that embarrassing 'consolation' nonsense in the paper the day? I assumed that was a fishing mission.

Did he say as much while he was in their employment ?!

back in the bad old days when Newton was allowed to commentate he called a photo wrong at Bath. It was a maiden in the early nineties won by Pasternak who of course went on to rather grander things. In fairness to the WestCountry Shoeshine Boy it was desperately close and he was seen lifting his specs and tilting his head at the print outside the weighing room.
"No matter which way you look ,Pasternak's still fckg won it "said a bolshie Welsh bloke.
A sense of humour would've been nice. Wac.

wasn't on April 1 was it ? Ben's get out ?

It was 31st March - I must admit I had to read it twice to work out whether it was a wind up... Maybe it was intended as an April Fool but they got the date wrong?

graham used to write a good piece in the post and wasn't afraid of speaking his mind (hence hiim not working there anymore imo)

but has lost all credibility with his tipping website B-)

hows cunninghams subscription site going? i read newtons article which while i agree the prospect of 6 handicaps is ludicrous i got the impression it was rather tongue in cheek and at least it didnt interfere with the proper 4 days,saturday should be binned completely imo.

The Three Ferretts was packed,at a nearby table i witnessed this scene unfold.

nogoodboyo,was holding court,his usual buddies were there,Bruce the boss,Mandella,Tom Jones,and the aftertimer a bit dizzee had popped in .

That was when boyo started promoting somebodys tipping line,Madella kept his eyes lowered,bruce was holding his head in his hand,even dizzee looked uncomfortable.Boyo stood up ,hunched his shoulders in his recently purchased black oxfam jacket headed towards the bar.

Bruce gestured after him,a finger to thumb shake of the wrist,Tom shook his head,Dizzee said to be fair thats the first time ive heard boyo say something positive about an English man,Mandella looked up and asked the others,"in this country can you still be called a man and have a tipping line?"

.

4 days is too fkin much

back to 3 please

Paul Nicholls thinks it is a great idea.

"Journalist criticises former employer wot dispensed wiv his services"

"Let the debate begin says Ben. All right then Ben.I'll begin it with the suggestion it's a crap idea which plays to the agenda of the big bookmakers who shore up your paper way more than the interests of people who go racing and back horses

would he say that if he still worked/wrote for Racing Post?
let that debate begin.

Yes he would.

Sorry "Failed RP Tipster in frenzied attempt to create publicity for relaunch of commercial tippin site SHOCKER"

Well said GC. Absolute tripe idea

they kept the couche winstanley and got rid of GC says it all about that shower of s.hit

I am afraid the paper is now pretty much designed for bookmakers, and those who dont play ball are shown the door.

Editorial mentions of Skybet - bar the negative, such as the increase in minimum bet sizes, recently - are now a thing of the past after they stopped advertising and apparently Betfair have now stopped too.

Be interesting to see how this editorial policy improves the trade paper, even if the introduction of Eddie is obviously a big plus.

Mind you, the same editorial policy applies with ATR, RUK, etc, so the Post are certainly not alone in this regard.

I know this isn't going to be popular, but I'm really struggling to understand why more Cheltenham wouldn't be a good thing.

Any racing there is pretty damn good, even if it is a bunch of handicaps -this new idea would be like the old Heath meeting after Royal Ascot, and would be a hell of a lot better than the dross currently served up the Saturday after Cheltenham, which imo is curently the worst hangover in racing...

Surely you want to preserve the fact that it (generally) takes a good horse to get a run at the Festival? If you own a horse that isn't quite good enough and gets balloted - tough. The prestige and quality of the festival shouldn't be compromised on this score.

how about an all hunter chase card on the Saturday with the Foxhunters moving to that day?

millhouse, do you actually go to Cheltenham for the festival?

The mole, what I'm suggesting is that the new day isn't part of the Festival, just like the Heath meeting wasn't a part of Royal Ascot.

It would be a hell of a lot better than the very steep fall back to earth that is currently served up on the Saturday after the Festival, and that way Cheltenham get their Saturday meeting, and the traditionalists get to keep the Festival as it is...

the midlands grand national is on the saturday -good class handicap

Stake, no I don't usually go.

I do understand that it's mainly the people who go that don't want change, though I'm not really sure why, other than that it's a big ask to stay the trip...??

Surely you don't have to go for every day though...??

Would have thought the last thing punters wanted after the Festival proper was 6 x 24 runner handicaps to solve.

If they add another day, the temptation to move the Gold Cup will be too difficult to resist.

Any meeting staged on the following saturday after the festival is going to have the feel of 'after the lords mayors show' about it .

4 days is too many ... already a few missable races imo

I've never been able to get my head around how less Cheltenham is better than more Cheltenham.

Any race there is something better than a race at most tracks, in my opinion...

One example is the introduction of the mares race, which detracts from the CH and World hurdle participants.

Think its all emasured in pints of Guinness sold. Extra days = Extra Guiness sold so nothing at all to do wiv racing ;)

mill - now theres 3 good races 3 hcps per day,minus the xcountry,bumper,hunter chase,before there was great race after great race,it is a bit spread thin now.i think a 5th day/sat would destroy the festival,its just barely good enough now wed/thur weak,i ve been for last 25 yr and dont mind 4th day ,but its just the max ,in their corporate words - there is no more pips to sueeze out of me.