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General Chat

Very little set to change with the novice hurdles, other than penalty situation for the MNH. Apparently there was never any real interest from the industry bods of changing the novice hurdle setup from the outset.
 
I’m firmly in the thumbs up camp for these changes.
My only concern now would be the mares races and the hurdle handicaps.
id have expected the pipe to become novices only. Otherwise we have 5 handicap hurdles to fill.
but I’ll wait and see the official announcement
 
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JackieMoon33 said:
The problem with ditching the AB is that it won't cause a whole bunch of horses to run in the Gallaghers instead. The real 'dodging' happens between the Supreme and the Gallaghers as horses that are competitive in those races, would be in the other race too. The horses that do well in the AB would have no chance in the Gallaghers so you're not going to increase the quality or numbers by ditching the AB. The AB is the one novice hurdle that consistently has a big field and an open betting market, even on the day. And the way the breeding industry is going in UK/IRE, we're likely to have more stayers in the horse population in the coming years.
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I think it's been mentioned elsewhere on here, but I really like the idea of altering the distance of the Gallaghers to align with the DRF (2m 6f).
 
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I’d like to know what benefit comes from allowing pro jockeys in the oldest race at the festival.

But agree the changes are largely positive.
Benjy23 hit on the appropriate word, dilution, which was always going to be a consequence of going from 18 races to 28….
 
Benjy23 said:
Agree with most of the this. The difficulty is a lot of racing purists are antepost punters. And it becomes difficult for many to see past this...

The changes are largely positive for sure. The problem they've made for themselves is they want it to last four days but want to make it more competitive. The only way of doing that is diluting the average race quality... Which is exactly what they've done really.

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They'll improve the quality of the novice chases. For example, we aren't going to get future Gold Cup horses running in the NH Chase going forward.

Have the changes not helped with ante post? There's surely less uncertainty around where a horse will run as the graded novice chasers will only really be able to run in two races.
 
And I actually think it’s now better for antepost punters.
The arkle and RSA will hopefully become more solid races to attack long term just like the 4/5 championship races are.
In theory and past experience it should mean more value in the markets- however, times have changed since the last time it was like this. So we’ll see.
 
Istabraq said:
I’d like to know what benefit comes from allowing pro jockeys in the oldest race at the festival.

But agree the changes are largely positive.
Benjy23 hit on the appropriate word, dilution, which was always going to be a consequence of going from 18 races to 28….
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The disparity in the quality of Amateur jockey's is too great in my opinion. It would actually mean that a smaller yard with a genuine contender, would have access to a better jockey that would enable them to compete better with the big guns. At the moment the best yards have the best amateurs riding for them and it compounds the problem.
 
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Making targets easier to identify is of course one side of it, the flip side is there was something in it if you took a strong view and races like the Turners helped the price to a degree by muddying the waters. Other flipsides remain to be seen, but more skipping altogether for Aintree is an obvious one and it remains to be seen if WH's pricing is just them embarrassing themselves or the shape of things to come.
 
Ballybeen said:
The sun racing have tweeted a pic of apparent changes.

NH chase now a 0-145 novice handicap with pro jockeys allowed.
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So ... does this mean all my N.H.Chase bet's are next to be refunded . ??.
 
BigChaang said:
So ... does this mean all my N.H.Chase bet's are next to be refunded . ??.
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I'd imagine so yes


.......also means Dancing City almost certainly will target the BANC now
 
Lobos said:
I'd imagine so yes


.......also means Dancing City almost certainly will target the BANC now
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Well that's good news ( Dancing City ) at least , for Me . :cheerful: .
 
Can’t help but feel the BHA have moved from 0-60 here way too quickly.
by all means ban novices / increase number of qualifying runs in handicaps.
Why wouldn’t you try that first.
Then if that doesn’t work, then by all means consider less graded races but at least try that first.
Madness.
 
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With the change to the Turners likely to push Ballyburn to the Arkle plus the very positive news from Nicky's yard about Constitution Hill possibly pushing Lossiemouth back to the Mares I am thinking this presents a very nice Day One treble of Ballyburn (Arkle), Constitution Hill (Champion Hurdle) and Lossiemouth (Mares Hurdle). Risks involved for sure but feels like the latest news are making these races more likely for each of them.
 
BuckingThe Trend said:
With the change to the Turners likely to push Ballyburn to the Arkle plus the very positive news from Nicky's yard about Constitution Hill possibly pushing Lossiemouth back to the Mares I am thinking this presents a very nice Day One treble of Ballyburn (Arkle), Constitution Hill (Champion Hurdle) and Lossiemouth (Mares Hurdle). Risks involved for sure but feels like the latest news are making these races more likely for each of them.
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Every possibility
 
Kautostar said:
Do we really need a 0-145 NHC handicap as well as the Kim muir?
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I think this is why they've gone professionals NHC isn't it. Make them a little different. And novices of course.

Would five races a day go down lack a sack of shit?
 
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The NHC has in my opinion suffered from confused thinking in recent years. The need to make it safer led to not only a reduced distance, changes to qualifying rules for the entries and changes to the number of races amateurs need to qualify. What Jackie Moon said about big stables having a monopoly on the best amateurs is true but is in my opinion only part of the story. The number of riders eligible to ride has dropped significantly and has in part led to the race becoming uncompetitive. As the oldest race at Cheltenham it’s such a shame that rather than address the issues caused by the authorities they have dodged them and opened it to professionals. Putting aside my betting hat for a moment, I for one regret what is happening.
 
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