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Which race will we lose next year ?

The King Pimm said:
Too answer your question I would limit novice chases to 3 mile. That won’t suit all horses but I think 3 mile for novices is long enough.
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We wouldn't have had Coneygree win the Gold Cup if this was the case and Long Run won a King George and Gold Cup at 6.

The qualifying rules that have been put in place will stop unsuitable horses running in the race and that is fair enough to me.

The only issue I have is that you are calling the race cruel. If it is cruel, then the whole sport is cruel.
 
I wouldn't blink if they binned the Grand Annual, detest it, such an unedifying spectacle. Actually annoyed they moved the Martin Pipe to after it as I could always end my festival early but now I have to still endure it
 
Personally I would get rid of the bumper. Nobody is really going to care too much if we lose the one flat race at the home of jump racing, and there are plenty of bumpers elsewhere at the DRF, Aintree and Punchestown for owners/trainers to get stuck in.

The one thing I would be strongly against is scrapping a race where there's an inference that said race is viewed/deemed/perceived as more dangerous/negative than others. It's a slippery slope that.
 
completely echo FM's thoughts here, binning the NH chase would be going down the wrong road completely. i didnt understand the decision to move it to the last race on the first day, when the ground has been churned up. think they'd be better off moving it back to where it was
 
If I was racing's dictator, I'd ban 2yo races on the flat and 3yo races over obstacles. It follows on from that that there would be no Fred Winter. However, in the real world, the Fred Winter was introduced to make the Triumph a little less like a game of chance from the cavalry charge that it used to be. I've seen no such excuse for the Close Bros and see no reason for its existence.
 
archie said:
If I was racing's dictator, I'd ban 2yo races on the flat and 3yo races over obstacles. It follows on from that that there would be no Fred Winter. However, in the real world, the Fred Winter was introduced to make the Triumph a little less like a game of chance from the cavalry charge that it used to be. I've seen no such excuse for the Close Bros and see no reason for its existence.
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We really should have an 'If I was racing's dictator' thread :highly_amused:
 
So collating all this data, what we really want is a 3 day festival
 
Kevloaf said:
So collating all this data, what we really want is a 3 day festival
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Loved the 3 day festival Kev
Can just about handle the 4 days
But 5 days, please noooooooo

Some people would watch anything
Mares chase,mares bumper,2.5 mile hurdle
Junior x country,veterans race
Veterans races start at 10 yrs which would mean this year some of the veteran horses would be 2 yrs younger than a horse running in a novice chase

What next ?
A handicap for handicapped horses
A race for gay,transgender and gender neutral horses

Does any of these people go to the festival for the 4 days ?
Personally I come out on the Friday limping ( from both legs )
Arse like a baboon from 4 days of worthingtons in the Istabraq bar
And they want me to do a 5th day

Please STOP

Rant over
 
Personally I dislike the pertemps final. The whole qualifying system stinks. They’d never lose it though as there are too many qualifying races.
 
Can't they get rid of the Champion Hurdle this year please ? At least Honeysuckle would then be 100% certain to run in the Mares !!
 
One of those that I enjoy least is the Grand Annual, but with a tweak or two it could be much better.

It used to be a nightmare with so many entered at 5-day decs in case they fell in earlier Festival races and wanted another crack at a race. I think the changes to declaring only for one race now restricts this more.

I would put the race on QM Champion Chase day and make it a double 2M Chase day, increase the prize money and no more than 18 runners, and really look to make it the quality 2M handicap of the season, not some cavalry charge at the fag end of the last day.
 
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Lobos said:
Can't they get rid of the Champion Hurdle this year please ? At least Honeysuckle would then be 100% certain to run in the Mares !!
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:highly_amused:

Are you the same Lobos that was actively suggesting BDD May go down the Stayers route?

Personally I strongly disagree with extending the Festival to 5 days .

There’s only one race to cull IMO and that’s the Bumper
 
Saxon Warrior said:
One of those that I enjoy least is the Grand Annual, but with a tweak or two it could be much better.

It used to be a nightmare with so many entered at 5-day decs in case they fell in earlier Festival races and wanted another crack at a race. I think the changes to declaring only for one race now restricts this more.

I would put the race on QM Chanpion a Chase day and make it a double 2M Chase day, increase the prize money and no more than 18 runners, and really look to make it the quality 2M handicap of the season, not some cavalry charge at the fag end of the last day.
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I like that idea SW, hopefully would tidy up the race and limit the carnage that it can create
 
Have everyone seen their announcement of some weird "park" zone for partying? The people running racing don't have a clue do they. I've done some work in the sphere and all the evidence points to connecting racing back to ordinary families, curbing ASB and elevating the status of the sport itself, and yet they keep chasing the Peaky Blinder cosplayers.

Maybe we're all in the wrong game. We chase the antepost prices but the easiest money to be made is to be selling bugle in the the cotsworlds in March these days
 
Interesting points re Grand Annual.
As the oldest race at the festival it needs to be retained and I don't believe there are any calls for it to be culled, but I do accept that the field size makes this a cavalry charge, the race has now been reduced to 20 as I'm sure many will know.
What I don't understand is why the final race can't be the County which for many years was the last.
I assume they don't want a chase earlier in the card so the Gold Cup is run on fresh ground though they don't do this for the Champion Chase or Ryanair so not sure why this is a requirement for Friday...
 
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