Cheltenham Receptions

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Maybe it is not coming over on the TV, but apart from Cooldine's victory does the reception in the winner's enclosure seem a bit muted?
 
At least the jockeys were celebrating - total joy on Aidan Coleman and Paddy Brennan's faces when they rode in, lovely to see. I agree on the whole though - although having seen Forpadydeplasterer's reception and pics in the papers I wouldn't have described it as particularly "muted".
 
On a related subject, James Willoughby wrote the following on his blog:

http://www.racingpost.com/blog/horse-racing/james-willoughby/cheltenham-live-blog-thursday/169079/

The racing has been tremendous this week, but I think it is fair to say the atmosphere isn't quite what it was.

Don't get me wrong: the Cheltenham roar is still very much intact, but the place doesn't quite have thebuzz it used to. I could be wrong because this is a circumstantial argument, but, if I'm right, we all know the reason.

These are troubled times economically. During the preceding years of overspend, people developed a disconnect withtheir money. But man has an uneasy relationship with his money; at once, it is both his master and servant.

Last night, I was talking to a friend of mine who was similarly exhausted after spending the best part of the day hunched overa laptop. But we made the point that having a job at all in the current climate is a true blessing.

We met a couple of guys who had come over from Ireland for the week. They detailed how much it had cost them and how they didn't really have the money to be spending such a large amount for just four days of entertainment.

I found the whole thing really moving. I mean, people love racing so much, particularly in Ireland, and deep down they know that justifying the expense involved in the annual pilgrimmage to Cheltenham is hard to do.

I'll be honest now: I started to get a bit angry on their behalf about the whole four-day thing. I really did.

I don't want to upset anyone at Cheltenham, as the decision to switch the Festival to four days is one which can be easily justified from their standpoint. If I were on their race committee, I might have voted in favour too.

But those were different times. Look, you can say that the four days creates 33% more jobs for the army of casual workers employed in and around the Festival. I understand that.

And people don't have to come for all four days. They can still come for three.

But that is only my logic speaking. My experience tells me that people will come for four because they don't want to miss out. If you are going to spend thousands of euros travelling from Ireland, you want the hollistic experience of the Festival; you don't want to tell people you went to Cheltenham and missed the Champion Hurdle.

And this would have been a significant factor in the minds of the people who made the decision to go to a four-day Festival.

They knew the bond between racing fans and the meeting. But they may have been mistaken how strong those bonds would be in different times. Times like these, in fact.

The crowd figures are down by 5% this year which isn't a bad figure at all considering. Indeed, it says a lot about the appeal of the Festival and how well it has been run and promoted.

But I believe there is a chance that the drop-off could be exponential. In other words, though only slightly fewer people go, I believe their decision will affect the thinking of far more when it comes to attending again next year.

In summation, I believe the decision to attend a future Cheltenham Festival for those who find the expense not inconsiderable will be modulated by two factors:

a) Everyone begins to know someone who decided not to go to the 2009 Festival on economic grounds. This makes them think harder about their own decision in 2010.

b) People begin to perceive that the event isn't quite so crucial as had been previously perceived. This makes them think about the decision for the first time; previously they had attended almost through hard-wiring, the herd instinct with which human behaviour is profoundly influenced. And this makes them consider whether they can truly justify the expense to themselves and their family.

I certainly hope that the above is invalid; it is conjecture on my part and I am always open to the other side of the argument.

But this alone I will never change my mind about, particularly after meeting thoe two guys:

The Festival would certainly be no worse, if it were conducted over three days. And it is likely that it would be somewhat better.

Given that it would certainly be cheaper for the thousands upon whose genuine love it depends, it should go back to three days.

As I say, I would certainly be interested to hear your views on this matter, particularly in the counter argument.
Click to expand...
 
I've got to disagree with the receptions. I was there on Tuesday and Wednesday and while the crowd was down (there was a time you couldn't get near the winners enclosure but quite comfortable this year) they gave the winners a great reception. Even the likes of Carruthers got a good round of applause. We now have real racing people going rather than the mobs which is what racing should be about. There was planty of decent sppreciation for brave horses and jockeys.

As for the numbers in the parade ring, there were plenty of people still in winners enclosure when runners for next race were coming in, plus there are big fields for some of the championship races this week and full fields for the novice hurdles and chases. So just volume of runners I think.
 
There is Galileo, and whatever they are claiming, the crowds are massively down. There was a time when as a photographer you could not get back from the last fence to the winners enclosure without setting off as soon as they jumped it and fighting through the crowds to make the steppings in time.

This week, you can do the second last fence, walk to the canterdown to photograph the winning horse in front of the stands, then JOG through the enclosures to the winners circle with plenty of time. This could not even be dreamed of in past years to break into a jog, you would not have room.

The crowds are hugely down and the receptions I have found, certain Irish winners apart, are nowhere near as vociferous, in fact the festival atmosphere in general is missing, certain aspects of which is a good thing.

Its no more than a paddy power / open / thomas pink / mackeson meeting at the moment.
 
The smaller crowd at least meant I could get my hog roast and coffee without having to queue. The first time ever!!
 
I think many people are now doing two days - usually the final two - as they can't handle four either because of cost or of lack of energy! The crowd today was certainly much bigger than Tuesday which really was quite like the Saturday PPm meeting.
 
The Irish are the best, a group of 15 Irishmen made more noise than 15,000 Englishmen

The recession............
 
Although the roar when Kauto Star approached the top of the walkway and walked back on front of the stands after winning the Gold Cup was huge, I didn't think that the roar when he entered the winners enclosure was quite what it was last year when Denman entered - it literally erupted then.
 
Maybe a lot of people, like myself, didn't try to get to the steppings to clap many of the winners back in. I was just too difficult to get a pitch esp Friday.
Apparently there was a capacity / sell out crowd of 64,000 on the Friday. Maybe more people stayed in their marquees as it was grey and chilly?
 
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I think you would have to have been there to give a fair assesment you know what technology is like these days, one little clip half out and it makes it sound like White Hart Lane.

Has anyone who was in the winning enclosure got anything to add please?
 
I wasn't in it, but beside it - it sounded pretty loud to me! but then it was my first GC, so I have nothign to compare it to.
The steppings were packed. And Her Maj was smiling broadly, looking down on it all. Not sure what she made of the drifting smell of the hog-roast though
 
AS someone who was there I don't think there was any significant difference comparatively. I think though that Denman's ovation this year was significantly louder than several of this year's winners.
 
Having spent the entire week in the parade ring, I was pretty impressed by the reception given to all but one of the winners (virtually nobody hung around after the Kim Muir); it may not have been a palpable roar, but the crowd gave the winners and many of the placed horses, notably Well Chief and Denman, a genuinely warm welcome. Sometimes the latter is better for the purist.
 
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