Balloting

The new measures look a sensible step to me. I would expect, as others have said, a natural cull in poor horses due to the recession we are currently in the midst of. Like the price of houses, the number of horses bred in Ireland over the past few years has been completely unsustainable.

Where the horses running around Ballinrobe and Sligo off 40 go after being culled is something that should be adressed.
 
Yes, Irish racing might need some re-training facilities very soon, like HEROS, Greatwood et al. I'm in two minds about making it harder for the lower rated horses to be culled from racing - having had a part-share in a few lower rated horses myself. All three had talent on the gallops - it's very hard to be categorical about these things. You also need lower rated races for eg apprentices etc.

On the whole I'd rather see the market take of the problem. I don't think anyone except a few purists cares about the racing of lower rated horses 'bringing racing into disrepute' - as I've said before, imo the top and bottom levels are almost different sports and serve different purposes. The general public takes most notice of the top end, which is as it should be.
 
Name that 2yr old career.

35 starts, 5 wins, 7 places, 5 shows, $12,510

4th, 2nd, 6th, 8 4 2 8 3 3 4 2 6 3 4 2 3 2 1 1 5 4 2 4 9 6 6 3 1 4 9 10 1 1 2 6.
 
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No unraced at two , didn't want to give too much away first as some of you are pretty smart. The son of a Sailor perhaps.

Not trying to make any particular point by the way, just thought it was astounding.
 
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Believe me, Sheikh, you're wrong!

The stats you quote comprise the horse's 2-y-o record, not his 3-y-o one where he "only" had 23 outings.
 
29 races in Ireland this weekend….only 6 of which have needed to be balloted.


http://info.hri-racing.ie/raceseq.asp
 
Looking at the RP tonight, there might be some interesting reading regarding the situation in the UK. Hard to make out, but tomorrows front pages suggests the BHA are taking some measures.
 
It's a nice move forward, that they aren't totalling banning the modest, but giving those 46 - 50 horses alot more opportunities.

Under 45's will now virtuallly struggle to get in a race.
 
chrisbeekracing said:
It's a nice move forward, that they aren't totalling banning the modest, but giving those 46 - 50 horses alot more opportunities.

Under 45's will now virtuallly struggle to get in a race.
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Whats the point of keeping under 45s going then? You're only going to have owners paying training fees for horses that will struggle to get a run.
 
Galileo said:
Whats the point of keeping under 45s going then? You're only going to have owners paying training fees for horses that will struggle to get a run.
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Tell that to a number of trainers who make a living from the said above horses.

My only problem with the new system is they say 46 - 50 handicap, so basically under 45s have little chance of getting in, but actually these races are full of 48,49 and 50. If your under 48 you won't be running. It's in a way a poor effort by the BHA. I agree these horses shouldn't have had a cut off point but I don't think they have looked into these races properly and seen how competitive they are. Milton Bradley's piece is very true and something I agree with.
 
I agree with Chris, it's pretty high-handed, and will put a lot of owners and smaller trainers in a very difficult position. it also won't give any chance to those backward horses which don't perform well early in their careers - some for physical reasons, others because it takes a long time for the penny to drop
 
Headstrong said:
I agree with Chris, it's pretty high-handed, and will put a lot of owners and smaller trainers in a very difficult position. it also won't give any chance to those backward horses which don't perform well early in their careers - some for physical reasons, others because it takes a long time for the penny to drop
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Can't agree with that at all, especially with regard to "backward" horses. Those horses are perfectly capable of running in maidens until they prove themselves worthy of a mark. Smaller trainers aren't confined to having useless horses with no scope to either stay a trip or jump a hurdle btw ~ the fact that many yards are full of such horses tends to be because they were trying to take advantage of the surfeit of races laid on for such horses in recent years. That situation was ill conceived and must, by rights, be rectified.
 
Good to see this on the RP online tonight - a great idea in the first place and I'm really pleased that ARO are talking about expanding on it.

ARO rescue low-rated thoroughbreds


Pete Scargill​


THE poorest performers on the Flat and over jumps may be spared the scrap heap after the Arabian Racing Organisation threw them a further lifeline by intimating that they may increase the number of races open to thoroughbreds.

Since the BHA allowed Flat horses rated 42 and below and jumpers rated 72 and less to run at ARO meetings in 2006, there has been a steady increase in thoroughbreds appearing at these race meetings.

With the BHA announcing last week that fewer opportunities would be available to the lowest rated horses, the ARO's racing secretary Sulekha Varma said on Sunday that her organisation would be open to finding more races for them.
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Dundalk needs to be on at least once every week from now. With the no. of meetings being cancelled due to the the weather,the no. of entries is snow balling.......pissed off.
 
Sheikh said:
Dundalk needs to be on at least once every week from now. With the no. of meetings being cancelled due to the the weather,the no. of entries is snow balling.......pissed off.
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8 races at Galway tomorrow…and only one race has had to be balloted.
 
With the way the weather is, there are a lot of summer horses not running on the bad ground and a lot of the winter horses aren't ready yet. It will be back to its usual carnage soon enough.
 
Cantoris said:
With the way the weather is, there are a lot of summer horses not running on the bad ground and a lot of the winter horses aren't ready yet. It will be back to its usual carnage soon enough.
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If you have a summer horse, your going to have to run it now or not at all until next year. You can hardly expect it to dry out into October/November.
 
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