BHA

Diamond Geezer

Diamond Geezer

Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
May 2, 2003
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As highlighted by Kim Bailey this morning and no doubt lots of other stables.

The BHA announced new Twilight fixtures yesterday and the one of the extra meeting is an extra one at Stratford, all the others are flat meetings.

Nothing wrong with that, but it comes half way through a week when jump racing closes down for a week that was set aside so that jump jockeys could have one last break from racing and holiday before the winter season hits in.

Understandably the jump jockeys are not amused. Another case of the BHA doing something without thinking ?
 
They can be somewhat blinkered. All too often they are fire fighting and loop hole closing rather than leading the way.

And I used to work for them....

Nx
 
For all the isn't Paul Bittar marvellous hype we have had - in the last few weeks it is disaster after disaster

1 The botched Godolphin investigation including allowing Crisford to sit by Bittar at the press conference

2 The total lack of respect for Ladbrokes and Doncaster in not even telling them about the Irish Champions weekend plans

3 The complacent response to the small fields this summer

4 Supporting the July Cup saturday logjam without realising that even Racing for Change ( or whatever they are now called ) and Channel 4 are pissed off about it

5 Allowing Irish Champions weekend through without even a whimper meaning Champions Day is stuck in late October

6 The thoughtless and selfish twlight meeting decision - it is all very well suggesting that the August break is meant to be the real holiday. Tell that to the journeyman jockey or young jockey without a family who has booked a holiday for that week in September because they cannot afford a break in expensive August

Who is running the BHA nowadays Marie Antoinette ?
 
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Re no 5, they could hardly object given all the recent changes to the British calendar. In any case it gives the 10f horses not going to the Arc a better spaced programme of International, Irish Champion and Champion.
 
I think the Sungate debacle could be worse than any of those.

Regarding Point 5 - regardless of how Horse Racing Ireland market it, the Irish Champion, Matron, Irish St Leger and National Stakes have been and will continue to be run in the first 2 weeks of September so any idea that anyone had about moving British Champions Day was always a pipedream.
 
Gareth Flynn said:
I think the Sungate debacle could be worse than any of those.

Regarding Point 5 - regardless of how Horse Racing Ireland market it, the Irish Champion, Matron, Irish St Leger and National Stakes have been and will continue to be run in the first 2 weeks of September so any idea that anyone had about moving British Champions Day was always a pipedream.
Click to expand...

Ah yes Sungate - the fact that a large vets practice refused to co-operate yet can still supply services to licensed trainers beggars belief. The BHA should surely have the power to declare providers of services to licensed trainers as not fit and proper persons to use if they supply steroids and then refused to assist in an investigation.
 
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The Sungate case has sent a clear message to British trainers - if you do something wrong, whatever you do don't own up to it!

Martin
 
Latest classic from the BHA who surprised certain trainers by sending out emails asking them to apply for their training licenses............








Several months early
 
Re. the new Stratford fixture, every trainer and jockey I've spoken to thinks it's ridiculous to have a break in the middle of September, just as the new season is taking off. The jockeys can't get away as they're needed for schooling, etc. at that time of year. Far better for everyone if the August break could be extended to 2.5 or 3 weeks instead.

Maybe, just maybe, the BHA have been listening to the complaints and this is the first step towards rearranging the fixture list along these lines.
 
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We tried to get a decent break in August when I was there, over 10 years ago. It was the trainers who vetoed it. I even had AP yell at me about it but he was stumped when I said it was his boss (pipe at the time) who was against it.

What the situation is now I have no idea, but it's not always easy and straightforward to dothe obvious thing when you are trying to placate and dance around so many partisan and opinionated parties. And the BHA seem even more spineless these days.

Nx
 
The sensible thing would be to break for the weeks of Irish Summer festivals and let more consider Killarney, Galway or Tramore even if they have horses suitable.
Even Ballinrobe had a 23k 4 yr old hurdle last night; how many of those on any Summer programme ? It got just 7 runners last year.
 
The situation now is that there's a 2 week break in August and a 1 week break in September I believe, the issue is that the BHA have brought in these new "Twilight" fixtures (which are generally evening meetings) and one of them is at Stratford during the week in September that there isn't meant to be any jump racing in.

Think a three week break would be better, starting Galway week and then the two weeks that follow. That would see Market Rasen's big meeting in July be pretty much the end of that part of the season and then they can kick on with the racing again towards the middle/end of August when horses are coming back into training for the winter anyway.

As for the good 4yo hurdle at Ballinrobe - despite what the trainers say, prize money has little or no bearing on where they run their horses. If it did more would be racing at Le Touquet in July or Dieppe in August or generally France all year round and in conditions races on the flat.

Martin
 
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