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"As water becomes an ever more precious resource, the irrigation of racecourses is going to represent racing with a serious reputational risk."
"The "Environment Agency has estimated that summer rainfall is expected to fall by around 15 per cent in the 2050s in England."
Hey Lee, can't they just seed the clouds to induce rainfall, like they do in Dubai, for example?
We know weather manipulation programmes have been going on for decades (and they're even talking now about dimming the sunlight
), so who knows what they will be up to in the 2050s, or even what they're actually up to now?
"The "Environment Agency has estimated that summer rainfall is expected to fall by around 15 per cent in the 2050s in England."
Hey Lee, can't they just seed the clouds to induce rainfall, like they do in Dubai, for example?
We know weather manipulation programmes have been going on for decades (and they're even talking now about dimming the sunlight
), so who knows what they will be up to in the 2050s, or even what they're actually up to now?
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https://x.com/bobscartoons/status/1916153002416558484/photo/1
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I'm sure those operating in the virtue signalling space really care about whether water being wasted is being dumped on jumps tracks as opposed to flat tracks.
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"One can certainly argue it is necessary and justifiable to heavily irrigate Flat tracks during the height of the Flat season."
Mottershead doesn't elaborate on this. |
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He is just using the water issue to justify getting rid of summer jumps. There is no reason to have it, particularly when you’ve got frequent 3 and 4 horse ‘races’, whereas the have way less meetings in Ireland and frequently trainers can’t even get the horses into races.
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"One can certainly argue it is necessary and justifiable to heavily irrigate Flat tracks during the height of the Flat season."
I noticed that. Not only is there no elaboration, there's no argument whatsoever made in support. Almost as if the word of Mottershead is enough for it to be the case! I like summer jumping but would not dispute that there is too much of it (but then there is too much racing generally!) nor that the close season shouldn't be longer than it currently is. However if "water resource" is the basis of your argument then logically it applies to all racing doesn't it?? |
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if trainers/owners wont run enough horse,s on good to firm ground,theres no need for summer jumping,it wasnt designed to have winter ground in summer
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It's only "winter ground" if natures intervenes!
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The attrition rate for jumps horses is much tougher to defend, than watering tracks. Summer or winter.
And we're seemingly quite happy to send horses to the track who can't even complete the courses in their own time. |
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Seems to me that summer jumps is often lower grade stuff, but the attendances are very strong. Quite possibly pivotal to the tracks' survival in multiple examples.
People like LM seem to be permanently navel gazing about what other people think. People that couldn't care less if horse racing disappeared overnight. Tip of the week, get off social media. |
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A consideration is that several tracks - Worcester, Newton Abbott, Stratford Perth are examples- were actively encouraged (and were pleased to acquiesce given their flooding issues in Winter) to move to a summer season. Those flooding issues have worsened since that move.
Those courses now have a business model predicated on "summer jumping". What happens to them? |
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I have never been a fan of Splottershead
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Some of his output is objective and whether you agree or not is reasonably argued. But equally some seems based on ideology alone. This seems one such.
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if they ran /got enough horses to run on gd/firm ground their wouldnt be a watering problem,it was called summer jumping for a reason
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Without watering it, frequently, wouldn't be Good, Good/Firm it would be Firm or Hard!
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I'm an urban individual, even though my family owns a farm that contains a lake! So it's outside of my wheelhouse, but I would have assumed many tracks can capture their own water to then distribute it over the track when it's most needed. If that's the case, only a nut would feel the need to complain.
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Motters very much a flag bearer for the Woke brigade.
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Newton Abbott today - get their decent crowd because
 of the timing and geography. How would they cope with a 6/8 week summer break? Has Mottershead considered that? |
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Delete the
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Mottershead does acknowledge in his article that summer jump racing is vital for some in terms of employment and the viability of businesses, but that's pretty much it, admitting that he would not lament its passing and claiming that many of the sport's leading trainers (no names given) "feel exactly the same".
He even went on to cite declining foal crops as a reason to examine the future of summer jump racing. The issue I have with his article is, say they do away with summer jumps, what will be next for the chop? Give an inch... |
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The much more visceral issue for jumps racing is regularly seeing horses being killed on the track. Obviously not watering would exacerbate the issue.
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Quite so.
I've no problem with a reduction in the number of summer jump fixtures (but a reduction in all UK fixtures is also needed so that's no surprise) and a longer, say month long, break (which would surely be beneficial for all participants) but the idea that "summer jumping" has no place in the calendar at all is surely flawed. And with increasingly volatile weather patterns it's a moot point as to whether we will get "summer ground" throughout each summer anyway. |
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boy georege finds the conspiracy angle as usual
there were plenty of summer meeting rained off last year. weather patterns no longer form a .. er.. pattern. they are completely random so you cant be sure when you are going to be able to race summer or winter |
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There's no flat racing on the turf between the beginning of November and the end of March. I can see no reason why the National Hunt season can't have a close season between the Whitbread meeting at Sandown in April and the opening Cheltenham meeting in October.
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just another woke mincer of words
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Would it be worth buying a young fast ground jumper now with overwatering ?
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Terrible thing greed,ruination tbh….
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The notion that the amount of water used by racecourses threatens supply is bonkers. Compared the night and day use of irrigators by farmers in dry weather it is a drop in the ocean. Most of the water used is pumped out of local sluices or farm aquifers so they are not reliant on utility companies. They still need permission from to drill and pump.
Plenty of water just better for a lot of people if it is deemed to be scarce. |