Low sun

usual cobblers from jump racing - jump a bit, slalom a bit, flat race a bit - yeh, it's such a great sport...

Perhaps you would like to ride half a ton of horse into a hurdle without being able to see it?

hello again old friend

20 now 12

can remember when see more business won the pillar years ago was brilliant bright sunshine no problems jumping

but a different era now

Who signed off on knocking the old tote stand down,they didn’t build that silly positioned stand for nothing.
It blocked the sun.

But replaced by a food court.

Progress.

Cant understand it, we have more French breds racing over here than ever before but they seem to manage without missing any fences out in france where the have more sun in that country.

They might of built the courses to avoid this,like chelt built a stand.

But then accountants worked out ,if they knock the stand down,they could squeeze more people in on gold cup day.

My first thought when I saw the pics from Cheltenham b4 the first race - gonna be a "fences.hurdles omitted" day.

this again

kendal cavalier welsh national year the brightest sunny day imaginable no problems whatsoever

1 mile on the flat.

its a load of nonsense ash

were no problems in the 1st race

Looking at the shadows there, it was only the last furlong and a bit that the sun was head on.
Most of the home straight they were at a side angle

leopardstown similar
can you ever remember a faller at the final fence on a sunny day I cant

Dec 27, 2025 -- 12:41PM, Poppydog. wrote:

Looking at the shadows there, it was only the last furlong and a bit that the sun was head on. Most of the home straight they were at a side angle

its a default position now pd if the sun comes out obstacles aren't jumped

clearly no issues whatsoever jumping them as proved in the 1st race

apparently this rubbish started around 2015, but wasn't a problem for all the years before that time...yep, makes sense. Not.

I partly get an extremely low sun if it's pointing directly at runners in line with a jump. But all the 'there's a shadow' rubbish - that should just do one. Did all the runners and riders complain about a 'shadow' for so many years before 2015 - simple answer no, because there's no proof it means anything at all!

Folly! Utter folly. If the jockey sees sunlight in his eyes, he just swerves round the jump and carries on. What a nutcase post.

Oct 25, 2025 -- 4:26PM, CROPSICK wrote:

Cant understand it, we have more French breds racing over here than ever before but they seem to manage without missing any fences out in france where the have more sun in that country.

dipstick, the sun is lower in England. What a moron.

Dec 27, 2025 -- 1:21PM, stu wrote:

apparently this rubbish started around 2015, but wasn't a problem for all the years before that time...yep, makes sense. Not.I partly get an extremely low sun if it's pointing directly at runners in line with a jump. But all the 'there's a shadow' rubbish - that should just do one. Did all the runners and riders complain about a 'shadow' for so many years before 2015 - simple answer no, because there's no proof it means anything at all!

earlier than that stu
earliest I can recall it is the old mildmay cazalet memorial chase in 2000

but the pathetic bypass for safety culture has defo ramped up a lot in the last 5-10 years
and not just regarding "low" sun

Was it that far back, must have missed that - I saw an article that said it wasn't a regular issue until around 2015, but perhaps a few one offs like you say before then. Either way, 0 logic applied to it all.

I think in the early days there was the occasional fence bypassed when the sun was genuinely low & blinding
which I can understand bypassing in those circumstances

nowadays as soon as the sun comes out fences are bypassed as standard protocol
doesn't have to be low or blinding, just sunny...such as the 2nd race @ chepstow today

there was a boys race @ warwick 1-2 months back similar

Yep, exactly as you describe

How many of the critics have ever schooled a race horse over fences?

irons, why do you think historically they never gave a sh1t about it, other than in extreme cases? Did riding a horse change or something?

irons, out of interest do you think riding horses has changed or something, or the sun changed... - or why else did this issue change over time...?

Health & safety issues with the Courses protecting themselves against possible claims,Stu.

Possibly a part of it yes - but riding jumps is a dangerous game, low sun or not. I'm not quite sure why they picked on this issue in particular.

There are still plenty horses injured every year, and sometimes jocks. Not sure I've see any course getting sued for it, which they could (jump was too harshly built etc).

I would never believe anyone would win a case for 'some shadow being there', given the above.

I can never remember having sun issues in the Summer when schooling.
The Sun sits lower in the sky in the Winter and whilst the rider can wear tinted goggles,the horse cannot

can you explain why during bright sunshine for the 12pm & 1.05pm races all obstacles were jumped but for the 12.30pm race in between they bypassed the hurdles in the home str?

No

me neither

they are making it up as they go along imo

wondersobright • December 27, 2025 2:36 PM GMT
nowadays as soon as the sun comes out fences are bypassed as standard protocol
doesn't have to be low or blinding, just sunny...such as the 2nd race @ chepstow today