Hamilton off

No wonder I got lost.

can go 3rd left and take seenick root.

I think that would be a long way round, last time I was on the A56 it was around the Warrington area!

farcical scenes...again

Come racing in Britain. Oh, but don't come racing if there are showers in the forcast.

Well, we haven't had all this BS for a couple of weeks so it's well over due

Jun 28, 2022 -- 3:21PM, StillLearning wrote:

farcical scenes...again

Absolutely agree. This is what you get when the ground is over watered, you get false patches and generally unsafe surfaces. Supposedly good to firm going at Hamilton today, you don't kick the top off the surface or leave prints in the surface either if that's what it truly is.

It's a total shambles. Not just today, all over the UK and Ireland, horses slipping up on bends, finishing times clearly indicating the going is wildly inaccurate.

The game's difficult enough without having to guess at what going we're getting served up, which amounts to nothing more than total guesswork by the clerks.

You try being a jockey on good to firm with 1mm of rain having fallen. It’s treacherous.

running the sprints?

3.15 Abandoned.

sprints going ahead

It truly beggars belief that we've had a plethora of ground issues in recent years causing delays and abandoned races.

What happened in the 2:45 that has caused them to not run the 3:15?

We have had next to no rain up here for weeks, they wouldn't be racing if they hadn't watered. The course needs a good drenching for it get into the ground,

In other words, Flag, our racecourses are not fit for purpose.

Without natural rain its getting more and more like they aren't

Buicks mount in the 2.45 appeared to slip coming off the bend around 6 furlongs out, mind you he had to steady the horse not long after the start, too keen.

The've got the taste for it now, how did they manage in years gone by, we're in Britain and this type of weather is par for the course {no pun intended} yet we've not had this level of abandonments before.

The horse was pulling for it's head from the word go and was virtually uncontrollable at that point.

None of the other runners had a problem. If I were the owner of a runner in the abandoned race I

would be steaming!

I doubt if they watered as frequently Duffy. Must have something to do with it

You try being a jockey on good to firm with 1mm of rain having fallen. It’s treacherous.

No more treacherous since horse racing began, in fact due to improving standards of turf husbandry a lot less treacherous.

What has changed is attitudes and the long hand of the Insurance industry.



It is known as the 'Tylicki Effect'.

pretty simple solution to all this nonesense nowadays and thats to get these tight turns sanded ala Fontwell /Musselburgh - doesnt detract from the action and wud put an end to all this but no they will just carry on regardless

Should I cash out my prophets in the 15:50?

In the previous race I laid the third fav at 4.2, he went to 5.3 and then it voided.

all i can advise is to remember if you're being gaze that he doesn't say "prophet" and you should try to remain in character with regard to the part you are playing

I can say whatever I damn please.

of course, but then you'll get banned and you wouldn't want that again would you?

I've never been banned you clownmug.

Hamilton have very cleverly decided to reschedule their last race to clash directly with Chepstow at 4.55 rather than picking an empty slot before the 5.10 at Roscommon

course record by Jordans there...... the mind boggles as to what sort of watering they did round the bends

Jun 28, 2022 -- 3:33PM, the dealer wrote:

We have had next to no rain up here for weeks, they wouldn't be racing if they hadn't watered. The course needs a good drenching for it get into the ground,

Sorry the dealer, I appreciate it may be your opinion, but that's just wholly inaccurate and actually feeds the myth that's becoming more and more common these days.

If they hadn't watered it would have been genuinely quick ground end of story. To say we couldn't have raced at Hamilton yesterday if we hadn't artificially watered is just not true. Back in the day we had races run on truly firm and even hard going. This just isn't allowed to happen any more and it must be a directive from the decision makers at the top of the game.

The crux of the problem for me is the animal rights people and those of a similar mindset, pressuring the industry as a whole over a number of years to avoid running horses on genuinely quick going. The misconception is that quick going creates faster animals and times which creates more chance of fatalities. This, to my knowledge, has never been proven to be true. It began with the high profile national hunt meetings and now its creeping into both codes of the sport for most meetings up and down the country.

So long as there is a decent covering of grass, kept at a suitable height of cut, the actual going in itself is not dangerous. Courses are artificially overwatered and you end up getting false surfaces, caused by the water from the sprinkler systems not properly draining away down low enough, you end up with weak growth on the surface and in the roots below the surface, which causes the dangerous surfaces, accentuated  when you get sudden downpours as we get in the UK and Ireland. This is then what causes horses running at speed round sharp bends at course like Chester and Hamilton to name but two to take false steps.

As I said yesterday, its been creeping into the sport for a while and nobody seems willing or able to speak out about it. Mr Frisk's Grand National record will never be in danger given the current mindset of Clerks up and down the country.

Like most things, it'll take a horse or jockey to get seriously injured as a result of racing or riding on false ground for it to be even thought about. It's as important as the careless / dangerous riding debates that are coming up more regulalry.

I can only think of one racing podcast that I listen to which regular flags the issue of false going reports and poor track conditions up as a massive problem, and rightly so. The rest just bury their head in the sand and try and defend clerks as having "difficult" jobs to do. Its no more difficult a job than it was 30 or 40 years ago.

The 1st race at Pontefract on Monday saw Serena Brotherton swinging wide into the straight to get near to the stand side rail. If the given going as Good was to be truly believed, why would she even have done that? The going stayed Good for the whole meeting as far as I know, with some races being nearly 8 seconds above standard. That's just not right.

I was at Hamilton yesterday and it was obvious that at least 2 horses had problems round the bend in question, if the rain had come earlier (as it was forecast) then it probably would have got into the ground properly and no issue, as it was the persistent rain (although not heavy) on top of good to firm ground was worst case scenario, my bigger issue on track was why there needed to be a delay to the 6th/7th races

however to address Somerset Sam points below - there has been pressure from WITHIN the industry, many trainers simply refuse to enter/run their horses when firm appears in the going description so obviously some Clerks are doing what they believe is necessary to hold up the field sizes, however IMO if we went back to 20-30 years ago and good to firm was the almost standard 'summer' going then trainers would be less 'concerned' or else they'd be having some awkward discussions with owners as to why they should continue to pay £400-500 per week for their horse to stay in its' box...I accept the external pressure exists but if there are those within the industry who are of same mindset then you've already lost the argument

INTERESTING POINT YOU MAKE GORDON ABOUT THE RAIN NOT YET GETTING  INTO THE GROUND.
I WONDER  IF THEY CONSIDERED  RUNNING  THE RACE  AT A LATER TIME AFTER  The  OTHER  RACES .

there may be some indication of what the cause is at Bath. Firm ground now with a good shower on it. Elsewhere a recipe for abandonment. But they have no watering system.