Would be very much appreciated if someone could please DM me this (work-related) RP premium article:
https://www.racingpost.com/news/opin...-aMEJ63r3cTSf/
Managing extreme weather is getting worse - but dressage could have the answer
Catherine MacraeReporter
Racing could take a leaf out of dressage's book about how to react to increasing weather extremesCredit: Zuzanna Lupa
Racing can learn plenty from dressage – and not just the advantages of precision, understanding of rhythm and knowledge of which film soundtracks go perfectly with an extended trot.
Dressage has also shown that the best way to manage extreme weather is to adopt a coordinated approach. Following a July heatwave that brought a halt to several meetings across Britain, this jumps season has been plagued by an increasingly erratic climate. Heavy rainfall took out fixtures throughout November before a cold snap arrived in December and then returned with a vengeance a month later.
Just when we thought we were over the latest spell of weather woes, it seems more trouble lies ahead. The lack of rain this month has led to challenging conditions at Cheltenham and watering has already begun in the run-up to the festival. There are just three weeks until the opening day and the dry spell shows no major signs of coming to an end, with Fakenham’s meeting last Friday already falling victim to hard ground.
Too often of late, last-minute calls over abandonments have been met with frustration. This occurred recently at
Sedgefield, while
discrepancies between clerks and trainers over going readings also showcase the battle officials face to stage meetings in the light of unpredictable forecasts.
So where does dressage come into it? Last month the sport's governing body British Dressage announced new rules outlining specific protocols to be followed during yellow, amber and red Met Office warnings.
Each category comes with requirements for when events should produce mitigation strategies and review the situation with the organisation, with events automatically cancelled in red warnings barring extenuating circumstances.
The regulations, which include a 48-hour deadline for cancellations, provide a vital set of guidelines that remove confusion over how an event will handle extreme weather. The breakdown is both simple and predictable, and racing could do with more of that.
The task of clerks is never easy in difficult weather but the current every-man-for-themselves approach among courses seems to spark nothing but irritation among jockeys, trainers and racegoers. Will a meeting be called off 24 hours in advance or 24 minutes? It is often hard to predict, and a formal framework could ease the tensions.
Racing is very different to dressage, but there is no reason the BHA could not develop its own uniform regulations clarifying when inspections and ultimately cancellations should be called.
After all, heatwaves and cold snaps are not going away. Racing may not have the power to avoid these extremes, but it could certainly be better equipped to tackle them.
