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I can't see a point to it....
It is not a culmination to the end of the season.
Minimal runners taking their chances to showcase their talent..
It is not a culmination to the end of the season.
Minimal runners taking their chances to showcase their talent..
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Could you not have asked the question on the DRF thread?
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It is not new.
The big races have always been there. |
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The idea for the DRF came about because Mulins used to take his big festival hopes to Leopardstown every year for their pre festival workouts, they were even televised.
Someone obviously went one step further and thought that we could give these workouts actual race names, spread them out over a couple of days, invite other trainers to take part if they want and make out it was a racing festival.  |
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lol.. all that's wrong with Irish racing. Jumps or Flat, just one trainer dominates. Mrs John Magnier but get sick of seeing her name in the first 6 home in every flat gr. 1 and Mullins's owners must be staring at each other saying.. ''is this it?''..
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I’m surprised they haven’t been asked to change the name as yet…the DRF / Daily Racing Form has been around for 127 years lol
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Last run before you stop medicating.
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My brother takes the question a stage further when asking me what's the point of horse racing , each to their own i guess.
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Taking the "Champion Hurdle" or the Gold cup.... how many champion hurdles and gold cups do you need in a season? Are the ones at Punchestown not enough..
And is it really the case that no-one, absolutely no one, from UK or France want to run in them to try and win them? Baffles me how there are 4/5 Grade one hurdles at 2 to 2 and a half miles and only ever have 5 or six horses running in them. The population of graded hurdlers is probably 20 or 30 across open and novice class. |
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You're talking about a sport that's on a downward spiral here cacique , before it disappears into oblivion there are a million more racing concerns to tackle before the need to look at unwanted festivals.
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i agree its on a downward spiral.... but would be great to see a forward thinking plan by the BHA and/or IHRB that will arrest the decline
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They've had enough time and warning signals to come up with one by now so i've assumed they've got as much of a plan as the Tories have.
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its place in the calendar should definitely be reconsidered.
This weekend has been an utter joke |
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Why would you think it has been a joke?
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Seen a few Cheltenham winners for sure and that's no joke
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Shambles Cheltenham is the main aim the nonsense is pocket money on the way over …
As Ted W would say to pick up the English money…. |
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How long will the other Irish trainers survive when Willie Mullins wins 9 of the most valuable races at the meeting plus most of the place money as well? Even G Elliott only managed a handicap at 28/1.
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That's were the bar's set Sage and informs other mortals of the heights they need to aspire to both in Ireland and England.
Can't expect him to come back to the pack voluntarily. |
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mullins is like hendo all about the money if he wants to has the owners.ammo to buy the best of the elliot horses in the upcoming dispersdal sale and get a complete stranghold on irish/uk racing
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Of course not Hayden but how many will be watching or betting if one trainer has 90% of the placed runners which is where they are heading. It can only be checked by some change in the rules and I can't see that happening until Willie retires.
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Mullins cannot help that the owners send him good horses... but running a festival that is meant to showcase the great and the good of Irish racing that attracts 2 runners for a novice chase with €117k to the winner is not the optics anyone wants.
And I don't think the majority of people that go racing don't care that 2 good horses are racing against each other.... they want a competitive race. tight finish with the chance of backing an 8/1 or 12/1 winner. Switch the races to conditions handicaps and have Stateman give weight away to rivals and you'd see lots of trainer taking him on. Put in entry races with bonus's for winning all of them and the entries should follow. |
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Plenty of choice though for whatever floats your boat for punters not be totally put off , it's a bit like using the remote control and finding what you prefer...
Class runners at Leopardstown Turf handicaps at Musselburgh All weather at Lingfield So still enough to please everyone really whether you're a racing purist or just a general punter , also i suspect the majority of punters won't care or even know which horses are placed as the majority play win only anyway. |
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Small fields
Match race in one of the big talking races of the week Obstacles omitted in home straight |
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cacique
Switch the races to conditions handicaps and have Stateman give weight away to rivals and you'd see lots of trainer taking him on. I'd imagine bookmakers would wholeheartedly support that idea mate , thought we had enough races favouring the layers currently without generating more. Not in favour personally of penalising something just because it happens to be a lot better than the rest or are you in favour of doing something in the champion hurdle to bring Chill and State Man closer together. |
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Well we know that the export of horses to Australia and more lately and more detrimental for NH racing especially for the hurdles to the middle east is having a serious effect on the number of quality horses available.But also the rise of AW racing is now giving the 80ish rated horses a reason for staying in that disicpline for most of the winter thus further reducing the supply.
Trainers are now buying more French horses from the flat which for the last few years in my opinion have not kept up the quality of UK/Irish flat breds although that could be about to change as our horses are exported abroad. Cant see anything changing anytime soon. |
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Should Cheltenham also make their grade 1s handicaps to put an end to small field, uncompetitive races?
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on the champion hurdle throughout the year... yes. maybe not at Cheltenham or Aintree, but pick one meeting and decide that that is the Grade 1 championship race.
I don't see the point in the Morgiana/Hattons Grace/Matheson/Leop CH/Punch CH all being Grade 1 level weight races to decide between a handful of horses who is the best. There are always multiple repeat winners Similar in UK Fight Fifth/Elite//Christmas/Relkeel/International/Kingwell/Cheltenham/Aintree to decide between limited number of horses who is the best. If Constitution Hill can beat them at levels in November then I'll assume he can beat them again at Kempton and again at Cheltenham. but let him give weight away and beat 20 battle hardened handicappers giving them 2 stone...... give him the opportunity to prove his worth. Other sports have their pinnacle event (World Cup/Champions League/Stanley Cup/Vince Lombardi/Olympics/ashes/Wimbledon/Masters Golf/Crucible) NH Racing should gear their season to have a focal point..... which is already there.... Cheltenham in March. |
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If the BHA are thinking long term and are concerned about becoming a nursery for producing horses to race in Australia/Dubai/Hong Kong... then why don't they support a national hunt breeding programme? The big outfits will produce the flat horses anyway... Juddmonte/Shadwell/Darley/Coolmore
The mares races being introduced was an idea, but if the mares are racing, they are not producing! maybe go down the French route and have colts hurdling/chasing. Saint De Saint and Blue Bresil spring to mind incentives to race entire's and then put them to stud with the idea of producing national hunt horses... |
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What's going on here is sad. The participants in UK racing are killing the industry from bookies (reluctance to accept bets = reduced levy = prize money); trainers (uncompetitive/non-entrepreneurial race planning); big owners (narrow/selective patronage of trainers).
The most critical and significant impediment to UK Racing is the bookies eg their reluctance to accept bets --> reduced levy --> reduced prize money --> reduced quality horses --> reduced quality racing. If Coolmore downsizes (however unlikely to pack it in) or relocates AOB or Ballymore overseas (not UK) UK horseracing could be extinct. I'm beginning "warm" towards DRF. If UK NH trainers still believe their horses ultimate goal is Cheltenham they are short-sighted and too insular, and I wish them luck. I also hope their horses make Cheltenham, and not succumb to any unplanned natural event. |
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Thing is i can only think of a handful of Enlgish runners at most that would have been competative if they had come over, when you look at the antepost lists its only C/hill, Stayawafay,GreyDawning, Sir gino and maybe Ginnys destiny that could have come and 3 of thoes ran last week, so its only h'cappers thats left.
That to me shows the dire straits that English NH racing is in. |
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about 8 grade 1 races this weekend where in honesty no more than gallops, to think that Royal ascot only had 2 group1 up to the 90s, group1 should be special races now its a bloddy joke
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If you do not enter you cannot win. Look at the shorties that were turned-over this afternoon at Leopardstown. I believe the 2 top NH trainers in the UK are insular lazy, and with self-interests only eg easy/easier pickings in the UK ie exploiting their UK dominance eg deep-pocket owners/best horses against their own. They also seem to have forgotten to win overseas even against the same horses has more kudos than winning in one's own backyard only.
I like DRF because the Group 1's are confined to only 2 days, unlike Cheltenham (4/soon to be 5) where commercialisation (skinning the racegoers/punters) is their no 1 objective despite the lack of quality horses/races to support it. |
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When you've a child you'd try to send the child to the best school. If constrained by finance you'd try to get your child into a better school eg enter your child to sit an entrance/qualifying exam/assessment ie pitch your child against children from other schools, not just within your child's own school.
Similarly, PLC have tended to bring in a fresh broom and not promote from within if specific expertise is required to ensure success. |
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TOM SCU thought he was been clever today nut inadvertently give the game away, derham muted something similar on lucky,
he was asking where are these so called battles we,re missing out doesnt think their there but if TOME SCU doesnt rate races against/between top 3 rated horses as battles,whats left tunes in with what chappers was saying so called grade ones throughout season are just exercise gallops for connections to collect money/pot hunt avoid horses rated around them for a showdown at chelt but TOM SCU thinks their one sided showdowns ,and it suits everyone to hide that from public till chelt |
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Does anyone actually enjoy the kind of racing we've had at Leopardstown? I can't believe how the Mullins juggernaut can be hyped-up to be appealing to a true racing fan. Good luck to you Willie and give us a wave on the way to the bank.
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DRF is merely a betting info exercise. I'd have enjoyed it more had Constitution Hill had shown his face; Bravemansgame did at the backend of last season when he got chinned by Fastorslow.
But, DRF has confirmed to me El Fabiola will run Jonbon rugged unless Nico is enterprising. |
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I really can't believe what I am reading here, so the DRF shouldn't exist according to some its not a racing festival say others, yet the BRITISH champion Chase winner won and beat the Irish Champion Chases winner . The 2nd in the British Champion hurdle has just won again today..Oh I nearly forgot a certain horse in Lambourn stayed tucked up safely in his box , the Irish understand the word RACE hoses unlike their cousins across the Irish Sea who seem to think that winning at 1/14 at Kelso remember that horse anyone ,is the way forward..That's why come Cheltenham once again the Irish will dominate ...
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I meant Gold Cup Winners, the Champion Chase winner is injured otherwise he'd have been strutting his stuff for good measure...
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For those who get of there arse and do things in life there’s a lot of point to the Dublin festival
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Totally agree with Workrider apart from the 2 horse race yesterday which really was just a victim of circumstances i have realy enjoyed it.
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