Cheltenham Move Fence

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Absolutely delighted with this....not particularly on safety grounds alone but also I always thought the fence was simply unfair to the horse who jumped it well but still got caught out with the landing. Ruined many a good finish.

By Andrew Scutts and Robert Smith 5:04PM 25 JUL 2010
THE notoriously tricky second-last fence on the old course at Cheltenham is to be moved to a new position in the home straight, the track's managing director Edward Gillespie said on Sunday.
Safety concerns have prompted Cheltenham to act, with the move welcomed by trainers and jockeys.
The second-last has claimed several lives over the years, including Granit Jack and Citizen Vic, while also ruining the chances of horses who jump the fence well, only for their momentum to get the better of them on the landing side.
Gillespie said: "Safety of the horses is the important thing for us, and the key with that fence was that horses were falling without making mistakes.
"Many appeared to jump the fence well, only to knuckle on landing, with their backend going faster than their front end.
"It tended to be horses in contention who fell, rather than those dropping back, and that's what really got us asking, ‘Is there an alternative location?' Last autumn we came up with this new position in the straight."
He added: "Swinging in, the new fence is about 80-100 yards off the bend. Moving the fencewill improve the spectacle, as well as safety."
Granit Jack's trainer, Paul Nicholls, said: "I've never been against the fence, and it is part of the challenge of Cheltenham, but anything that can be done to improve safety has to be a good thing. I think it could well improve the excitement of the finish too."
 
Will never forget Vinnie Keane beating the ground in frustration after Latolomne fell at it for the second time in a Champion Chase.
 
So the Old and New Courses will both have two fences in the home straight - seems very sensible . Only dyed in the wool traditionalists will weep for the loss of that nasty trap of a fence.
 
I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, so don't jump down my throat - I just want chasing fans' opinions as attitudes seem to have changed a great deal in the last couple of decades.

Certainly safety must be a priority but isn't Cheltenham supposed to be a challenge of jumping skills for horse and jockey?

What's the point of making it a championship-grade track if you are going to "dumb down" one of the main challenges?
 
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LUKE said:
Will never forget Vinnie Keane beating the ground in frustration after Latolomne fell at it for the second time in a Champion Chase.
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I have a similar memory of Ruby after Twist Magic's fall in the Arkle a few years ago. Bensalem got caught out when tanking in the William Hill last year....Ouch (thats my wallet moaning)
 
redhead said:
Certainly safety must be a priority but isn't Cheltenham supposed to be a challenge of jumping skills for horse and jockey?
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I have no problem with horses falling at that fence after a poor jump - but it was catching horses out, even those that did not make a semblence of a mistake. Fence has never sat right with me.
 
Galileo said:
I have no problem with horses falling at that fence after a poor jump - but it was catching horses out, even those that did not make a semblence of a mistake. Fence has never sat right with me.
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Agreed, hate to see horses caught out after jumping well, plenty of races have been ruined too.
 
Also adding a 2m 4f Novice Chase to the program - probably followed next year by a 2m 4f Hurdle race, don't see what the problem is with just making the Manifesto Novices a Grade 1.

Racing needs to realise that not everything over jumps needs to be Cheltenham orientated!
 
Irish Stamp said:
Also adding a 2m 4f Novice Chase to the program - probably followed next year by a 2m 4f Hurdle race, don't see what the problem is with just making the Manifesto Novices a Grade 1.

Racing needs to realise that not everything over jumps needs to be Cheltenham orientated!
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Do you mean to the festival?

When you are in the middle of the flat season, you realise exactly how bad Cheltenham is for jump racing.

Why people prefer to go there, when you can't see 1 race properly, as opposed to something like the Arc, where you can have an enjoyable day with a great atmosphere yet plenty of room to move around and see all of every race is beyond me.
 
Completely agree about moving that fence - it was unfair, and brought about a number of deaths that had little to do with bad jumping - the Granit Jack fall was one of the worst moments of racing for me in recent years.
 
Yeah - the Festival has far too much importance. Nothing wrong with staging the top 2m and top 3m races but if they want 2 1/2m Championships there's already a 2m 4f G1 open chase and hurdle at Aintree and a 2m 4f Novice Chase they could up to Grade 1 if they really want to, it comes 3 or so weeks after Cheltenham so would attract runners from both the Arkle and the RSA.
 
Would they get any support from the Irish trainers though?

If so, the Powers Gold Cup would be dead in the water, which would be a real shame.
 
Thursday or Tuesday according to the Racing Post Hamm - they're the two days which have only 6 races on them. The Ladies Charity race was a great success on the Thursday this year apparently so it looks like that would be the chosen day.
 
If they get the go-ahead for a 5-day Festival, they may cut each day's cards to 6 days in order to fill the 5 days.

If he wants a Saturday Gold Cup, why not just start the Festival on a Wednesday?

Why go to the bother of inventing new races to pad out an extra day?
 
It is the return of an old race - the Cathcart (albeit for first season rather than first and second season novices ) is it not ?
 
Hamm said:
Why people prefer to go there, when you can't see 1 race properly, as opposed to something like the Arc, where you can have an enjoyable day with a great atmosphere yet plenty of room to move around and see all of every race is beyond me.
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:confused:

I've been going to Cheltenham since 2000 and have been to two Arc meetings. I've no idea how you can say you can't see anything in the theatre that is Cheltenham. You can stand on the lawn and see the whole race. You can't see a bloody thing 4 furlongs out at Longchamp.....and that's from the stands, let alone on the ground!! I've no problems with the crowds at Longchamp or cheltenham. I've never missed a race I've wanted to see from the stands at either.
 
I prefer the November meeting at Cheltenham-March is too important financially.Friends of mine were arguing the case for going next March during this years festival -when it was pointed out they would have missed the 40s on Pigeon ISland their attitudes change.I'm not saying people are wrong to go but from a gambling perspective the Irish bookmakers offer incredible value.
 
Most of the meetings in cheltenham are very pleasant. The problem is that the quality of racing at the Paddy Power or Bula meeting isn't the same as the Festival. Yes, plenty of competitive racing but winners hurdles and chases with a few graded races. What I like about the Festival (particularly when it was a three day meet) is that you only ever have to wait one race for a decent race to arrive.

For first timers I think you can't beat the Tues/Wed. The roar of the crowd on day one without the crowds of Friday.
 
Next year will be my 30th consecutive attendance at the Festival, and my 33rd in all. (I started young.)

I agree with Cantoris, the roar of the crowd as the tapes go up for the first race of the meeting is something else. It still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

That is what got me into bunking off school to go (security was pretty lax back then). We used to be able to hear that roar and the cheering for the Gold Cup at the school I attended - and the crowds were not so big, then.

Hamm, there are places where you can get a good view and, if you work out a "beat" you can get around fairly quickly to where you want. It's just in the areas closest to the stands that the crowd is thickest.

My only gripe these days would be why do men of 6 feet+ insist on standing in front of someone who is only 5 feet 1 inch tall? It's not as if I would be obscuring their view (my ex used to quite like the view if he stood behind me.:whistle:)
 
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