Why is Ludlow even on

so I can cross the lot in a placepot

Summer jumps is here to stay and that’s fair enough it suits some horses/ trainers /racecourses but it needs slimming down to say max 3 meetings a week ,what we are seeing is poor to say the least.

Driest April/May for 69 years but courses need to either have watering available or cancel at the 5 day stage. Should rain in most places tomorrow.

nice to see jumping on quick ground imo
but there is too much of it for sure

May is not summer jumping as before Sandown became the end of the season jumping officially ended around the first week of June

I can recall balloting out, race division and so on in May as trainers belatedly decided that they had to give poor horses a run before the owner moved them elsewhere. With so few jumpers in training and so many races, that is a distant memory. I have noticed a surprising number of Henderson runners recently as he tries to win something with a horse that has been wrapped in cotton wool for 9 months. One of them even managed to be outsider of 2 runners but still won.

Decent size fields, by comparison, at Worcester tomorrow
They don't have the word "firm" in the going

It will be interesting to see if the problem is self-correcting. In other words, if connections see there is prize-money going begging in 3- or 5-runner races, they might be more inclined to enter their horses.

Depends on the class of race. Class 5 handicap hurdles will get good fields but class 3 novice chases will not unless it is good/soft. The rain promised where I live from 3am this morning until 10pm tonight has yet to appear! It could still be very wet but I can't see the 2 inches they warned about coming. More like 2mm I suspect.

Too much racing compounded by too many racecourses all desperate for fixtures.

And so inefficient. Trainers, jockeys, stall handlers, Tote staff and bookmakers having to go somewhere different nearly every day when in some countries they race on a course for a month and horses are housed and trained on the track. Must save a fortune in costs. At the very least, they should divide the country into 5 or 6 areas and have one card in each of them when possible on Friday and Saturday and allow professionals to stick to one area rather than driving 300 miles from Lambourn to Kelso or similar.

Well I certainly wouldn’t want to race at the same place for a month and quite enjoy the way things are I do think we have to much racing surely it wouldn’t take an awful lot to make the fixture list more suitable ,a start would be for all parties concerned starting employing people who understood the sport properly as oppose the those well educated and coming from high profile roles in other areas most of whom failed in there previous posts.

Even a few more 2 and 3 day meetings (and not just the major ones) would help jimnast. Chepstow, Bath, Salisbury and Newbury this week. Newbury is a 2 day meeting but why not have the Thursday card there as well? I know there will be Salisbury fans who would object but give them a 2 day meeting on 23rd and 24th to maintain the number of meetings there. seems common sense to me.

Yes sageform that would be great and I’m sure would encourage racegoers to stay over and put money into the local economy,however I remember Newton abbot use to have a Saturday Sunday fixture late summer in fact the handicap chase was once won by a horse that ended up finishing 2nd in the gold cup can’t remember the name but wore yellow colours.

Anyway Newton abbot stopped it as the cost of overnight stable accommodation and the catering problems made it unviable so if we did attempt to do your good suggestion then somewhere along the line the smaller tracks would need some financial help.

I’m surprised Newcastle and Wolverhampton who both have onsite hotels don’t do a week long fixture in the winter,I know lingfield has one but doesn’t have floodlights.

I understand the premise of all weather racing - I struggle with the logic of how much Summer jump racing and run of the mill flat meetings there are.  Last Saturday there was a meeting at Leicester and Nottingham....

Historic

From a racing catchment point you can add Warwick to those two.

Ludlow should not be allowed to race in May. It dries out very quickly and is regarded as a course for top of the ground beasts in mid winter when it attracts decent fields as a result.

Taunton, Exeter and Wincanton are other courses that dry out quickly and are at the mercy of the elements both early and late in the season.

May 13, 2025 -- 5:02PM, jimnast wrote:

Historic From a racing catchment point you can add Warwick to those two.

Tend to ignore my local track - won't go unless an esteemed poster on here takes me on a freebie, mentioning no names...

^
Yep, there’s some good sorts on here…..just they can be hard to find!