Berri 2,131 Report post Posted May 2, 2022 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disillusioned 389 Report post Posted May 2, 2022 Impossible, Berri... TAB Trackside Presenter: What a race, eh? But now its Race 27 from the Gundagai Dogs... Huey, mckenzie and Memphis3 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneMcAlister 1,425 Report post Posted May 2, 2022 You are never replicating this anywhere else in the world. Cheltenham is a different beast. People live and breath the festival, no bands needed, no free entry, no fashion parades just the horses and the betting. The crowds line the walk back to the winners enclosure to cheer the horses, they love the horses and the participants. Jump racing has a different breed of supporters to the flat. Ascot is great but it is not pure like Cheltenham. JJ Flash, Pam Robson, We're Doomed and 2 others 3 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobysnacks 386 Report post Posted May 2, 2022 NZ's binge drinking culture makes this impossible. 90% of people at the big NZ meetings don't even know how many legs a horse has. They're not there for the horse, or even for the punt. They're there for the booze, so this will never happen in New Zealand... ever. Huey 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloke 1,232 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 The English are the greatest supporters. Try going to an English Football Game. The first time I went to Elland Road to see my beloved Leeds United my wife summed up the atmosphere. She said that if she wanted to talk to me during the first 10 minutes of the game I would not have been able to hear her due to the crowd singing and chanting. When we got back to London we went to a West End show, Muma Mia and the audience (90% women) went crazy right from the opening curtain. I am not an Abba fan but what an amazing experience. If you go to an All Blacks game it takes about 70 minutes before they chant ever so quietly "All Blacks, All Blacks" mckenzie and Breeder 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby3051 10,964 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 Never gonna happen here jumping is on its last legs..Its only popular in UK now days...but for how long ...the PC brigade will get it closed down eventually. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Bidlake 760 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 2 hours ago, NextPlease said: NZ's binge drinking culture makes this impossible. 90% of people at the big NZ meetings don't even know how many legs a horse has. They're not there for the horse, or even for the punt. They're there for the booze, so this will never happen in New Zealand... ever. And that is only going to get worse as they take racing away from the rural areas and centralize it. Huey, Pam Robson, Tauhei Notts and 5 others 6 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breeder 609 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 While I agree with the above comments, I think this is a great example of how population has a huge impact. If you took the crowd at Cheltenham as a percentage of even the just England's population (as opposed to the total UK) then I think we probably have race meetings in NZ which would reflect a similar percentage of real horse/racing enthusiasts. But I think bloke's point is very valid --the English really know how to show their pride and enthusiasm. It is something we in NZ seem to have lost in the last 20 odd years. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneMcAlister 1,425 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 1 hour ago, scooby3051 said: Never gonna happen here jumping is on its last legs..Its only popular in UK now days...but for how long ...the PC brigade will get it closed down eventually. They do a bit of it in Ireland and France too.... Pam Robson 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckenzie 608 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 That's what great champions can do. Unfortunately it's been a long time since we've seen a real champion here that can bring crowds to the races and capture their imagination. shaneMcAlister 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stodge 1,950 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 I don't think jump racing is under any real threat over here - the sport must continue to be at the forefront of best welfare practice and while no one ever wants to see a horse lose its life, it happens though much less than was the case years ago. Cheltenham is unique - it's the jumping equivalent of Ascot but is far more for the racing purist in terms of not being so much a social occasion. That's been built up over 50 years or more - you can't just create it from nothing whether you have a champion or not. In jump racing, the horses come back season after season whereas on the flat it's two or three at most - FRANKEL was our last flat superstar but we are also so fortunate to have Frankie Dettori who, though mercurial at times, is on his day a fantastic ambassador for the sport in a way Lester Piggott wasn't. Dettori has taken himself and racing out of its niche and into the mainstream - we get 3 hours live overage on a Saturday afternoon on the main free-to-air channel so watched by millions (potentially). I wouldn't however want to suggest all in the UK racing garden is rosy - today, for example, we've had complaints about the food served to grooms at Windsor last evening and a plan to cut 300 races (roughly 50 meetings out of 1,500) has provoked a storm yet we are daily grappling with small fields over both codes. Today's not too bad - Sedgefield had 41 runners in 7 races and Fakenham 46 for 6 races. The north has had some rain and Wetherby had 63 for its 7 races and Ayr the same for 8 races. There are, to be blunt, too few quality horses and too many races for the population - the solution, if you want competitive and punter/bookmaker friendly action (which brings money into the sport via the Levy) is to have more lower quality races. shaneMcAlister 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneMcAlister 1,425 Report post Posted May 3, 2022 In my humble opinion, jump racing is better for horse welfare than the emphasis on 2yo racing. In Ireland you buy store horses, unbroken 4yo's for a career at jumps. They will race generally between 5-10 years old. Very often 2yo racing can be the end of a horses career. Breeder, Berri, Aaron Bidlake and 3 others 4 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,551 Report post Posted May 4, 2022 6 hours ago, stodge said: I don't think jump racing is under any real threat over here - the sport must continue to be at the forefront of best welfare practice and while no one ever wants to see a horse lose its life, it happens though much less than was the case years ago. Cheltenham is unique - it's the jumping equivalent of Ascot but is far more for the racing purist in terms of not being so much a social occasion. That's been built up over 50 years or more - you can't just create it from nothing whether you have a champion or not. In jump racing, the horses come back season after season whereas on the flat it's two or three at most - FRANKEL was our last flat superstar but we are also so fortunate to have Frankie Dettori who, though mercurial at times, is on his day a fantastic ambassador for the sport in a way Lester Piggott wasn't. Dettori has taken himself and racing out of its niche and into the mainstream - we get 3 hours live overage on a Saturday afternoon on the main free-to-air channel so watched by millions (potentially). I wouldn't however want to suggest all in the UK racing garden is rosy - today, for example, we've had complaints about the food served to grooms at Windsor last evening and a plan to cut 300 races (roughly 50 meetings out of 1,500) has provoked a storm yet we are daily grappling with small fields over both codes. Today's not too bad - Sedgefield had 41 runners in 7 races and Fakenham 46 for 6 races. The north has had some rain and Wetherby had 63 for its 7 races and Ayr the same for 8 races. There are, to be blunt, too few quality horses and too many races for the population - the solution, if you want competitive and punter/bookmaker friendly action (which brings money into the sport via the Levy) is to have more lower quality races. Food served to grooms? Do you mean, other than a hot dog or chips from a cart ? We've tried the plenty-of-lower-quality-races option, not sure that's working either. shaneMcAlister 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stodge 1,950 Report post Posted May 4, 2022 16 hours ago, Pam Robson said: Food served to grooms? Do you mean, other than a hot dog or chips from a cart ? We've tried the plenty-of-lower-quality-races option, not sure that's working either. Yes, all courses are supposed to provide free food and accommodation for travelling staff (the distances here mean sometimes horses travel and overnight at racecourse stables before running). The complaint from Windsor was from a groom who had been up since 5.30 and had done a five hour journey to the course for the Monday afternoon card. The food didn't look appetising I must admit. There was a big campaign pre-pandemic to improve the facilities for travelling staff - needless to say, the top courses do the best so go to Ascot, York, Cheltenham or Goodwood and the food selection is always varied and available and the hostel accommodation not far off a hotel. Some of the smaller courses aren't so well off but all should undergo regular inspections. As for the second point, the problem is there aren't the number of horses at the higher levels for the number of races programmed so you either artificially raise marks to bring more horses in or accept there is a greater need for races for slower horses (I've attended many bottom-level meetings and as a punter a 4/1 winner pays as much as it does at Group 1 level but seeing the industry compete for a pittance isn't very inspiring). Pam Robson and shaneMcAlister 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,551 Report post Posted May 4, 2022 Free food AND accommodation...gee... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby3051 10,964 Report post Posted May 5, 2022 It will never happen here...jumps racing is soon to be a thing of the past...look at the hurdle Saturday 8 runners...sorry but soon it will be all finished...end of story....no point dreaming of anything like Cheltenham...it will never happen anywhere else in the world.. Pam Robson, tasman man and Insider 1 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breeder 609 Report post Posted May 5, 2022 May not be Cheltenham but Warrambool across the ditch is a very good carnival. shaneMcAlister and Aaron Bidlake 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneMcAlister 1,425 Report post Posted May 5, 2022 7 hours ago, scooby3051 said: It will never happen here...jumps racing is soon to be a thing of the past...look at the hurdle Saturday 8 runners...sorry but soon it will be all finished...end of story....no point dreaming of anything like Cheltenham...it will never happen anywhere else in the world.. I hope this is proved incorrect. Jump racing offers so much to racing and those that particiapate in jump racing. Aaron Bidlake, Pam Robson and Tauhei Notts 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby3051 10,964 Report post Posted May 5, 2022 Each to their own but unfortunately the ones who participate are becoming smaller and smaller...and the animal rights Wallys are making more and more noise too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...