Cheltenham - What would you Introduce?

Euronymous

Euronymous

Senior Jockey
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From an innovation point of view what ideas do you have to make the Festival better.

The William Hill Trophy on the first day always has a number of Grand National entries in it. To try and get some more I would increse the distance to 3m2f (I know Timeform advocate a 4m handicap but I think that may be too far so near to Aintree) and this is the clever bit - any horse finishing in the first four in the race would get a 2lb weight allowance for Aintree.
 
A ten-furlong flat race? Sorry i couldn't resist...

It has always struck me as odd that there is no hurdle equivalent of the Ryanair.
 
I know I will be in a small minority but on the basis that the Festival should be about quality and potential I would ditch the Cross Country race and move the Foxhunters to the all hunter chase card. I would introduce a veterans chase (which would make it easier for more progressive horses to get a run in the other handicaps), a mares bumper and a point-to-point bumper for 4-6 YO's. I would expect there to be no problem in getting entries for all three.
 
Bar two races yesterday - I could easily have not watched all the other races yesterday without too much concern. I could never have said that on the 3 day festival.
 
Handicaps are part of the fabric of all great Festivals. That's why Ascot and Goodwood will always be better than the Breeders Cup.
 
Back to three days - but as long as four are commercial, it won't happen. I absolutely would NOT ditch the cross-country. It's a reminder of mere 'jumps' racing's roots and I think you need to celebrate its heritage, not bury it.

Hot air balloon flights over the course, free entry to anyone with a second head, all trainers to be face-painted, and anyone who's brought racing into disrepute in the last three years to be pilloried (rotten eggs provided) in the centre course. Apart from that, I think it's a jolly enough show.
 
treetangle said:
I know I will be in a small minority but on the basis that the Festival should be about quality and potential I would ditch the Cross Country race and move the Foxhunters to the all hunter chase card. I would introduce a veterans chase (which would make it easier for more progressive horses to get a run in the other handicaps), a mares bumper and a point-to-point bumper for 4-6 YO's. I would expect there to be no problem in getting entries for all three.
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If you're ditching races though, there are plenty of others to go....like the fred winter. I might be in the minority, but I think the X Country is a good race and if the english took it seriously I think it would be a great contest. Maybe they should double the pot and see what Nicholls would run in it then. Surely, there is no place for a veterans race at the Festival if the current races need to be culled. Restricting the Festival by age would just be wrong surely and Mister McGoldrick would prob sluice up anyway. There isn't any need for a mares bumper either as the quality would be reasonably poor (look at the €50k mares bumpers in Ireland that attract small, poor, fields) and point-to-point bumpers tend to be for slower types and if they were good enough they should be heading for either the bumper or one of the hurdle races.
 
Well, I'm English, and I take the x-country seriously! I'm fed up with people thinking it's some dumb novelty race, when it's exactly what horses like KAUTO STAR would be jumping at Auteuil - and why so many French horses make mincemeat of our two styles of jumps. It's far more skilful than plain chasing (cue Shadow Leader saying I'm slagging off NH), and I wish more courses would introduce it. It reminds us of what STEEPLE chasing was like, what 'jumps' racing's heritage once involved - its hunting pedigree and typical hunt day's obstacles. Hell's teeth, we've dumbed-down most courses to where even the water jumps have been demolished - let's start putting back the guts, not taking what little's left out!

There are plenty of novelty races, like veterans' chases, elsewhere throughout the season. I think Cheltenham should concentrate on showpiecing the x-country as NH's heritage race, and refining the others. I still think the Festival was fine over three days - but I wouldn't put it past the mad mullahs to look to go to five, and then you probably will want to fill the time with mares only, chestnuts only, or other rather silly additions.
 
krizon said:
Well, I'm English, and I take the x-country seriously! .
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But it' the trainers that need to enter the horses. I think the winner picked up £20k for the X Country so no real incentive to run a horse in it if there are other races at the Festival to go for. Increase that to £50k and some might think it the easier option that one of the longer distance chases.
 
Ah, see what you mean, and yes, completely agree. It comes to something when you're snotty about £20K, though, considering that most NH (and ordinary Flat) prize money throughout the year amounts to a table for four in a Harvester!
 
Cantoris said:
If you're ditching races though, there are plenty of others to go....like the fred winter. I might be in the minority, but I think the X Country is a good race and if the english took it seriously I think it would be a great contest. Maybe they should double the pot and see what Nicholls would run in it then. Surely, there is no place for a veterans race at the Festival if the current races need to be culled. Restricting the Festival by age would just be wrong surely and Mister McGoldrick would prob sluice up anyway. There isn't any need for a mares bumper either as the quality would be reasonably poor (look at the €50k mares bumpers in Ireland that attract small, poor, fields) and point-to-point bumpers tend to be for slower types and if they were good enough they should be heading for either the bumper or one of the hurdle races.
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The races I have suggested in terms of quality would be light years ahead of the cross country race. If I remember it attracted 34 entries of which seven had won in their last four starts - several of those coming in this sphere. In terms of quality it is an absolute joke. Doubling the pot for the worse race of the Festival would be ludicrous. It really has been little more than a JP benefit and will never be a great contest.

The Aintree mares bumper usually attracts a decent sized field and a Cheltenham equivalent would attract more Irish entries. The point-to-point bumper would be a race aimed at future stars who would probably find the Champion Bumper too much for them at that stage of their career. No different in its way to a young horse running the Supreme rather than the Champion Hurdle.
 
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treetangle said:
I know I will be in a small minority but on the basis that the Festival should be about quality and potential I would ditch the Cross Country race and move the Foxhunters to the all hunter chase card. I would introduce a veterans chase (which would make it easier for more progressive horses to get a run in the other handicaps), a mares bumper and a point-to-point bumper for 4-6 YO's. I would expect there to be no problem in getting entries for all three.
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I agree about moving the foxhunters and the Veterans chase - not as much about the mares bumper - I can only imagine this would be a very very poor field - look at the mares hurdle even.
 
Nope - Im in the same camp - the XC is good for racing, and I completely agree that they should up the prizemoney, or at least do SOMETHING to make it more appealing...
Id have it back to 3 days - make it a 7 race card each day to accomodate a few of the races, but have it back to the three... (though Im getting used to the 4 day meeting now!)
 
I don't get why everyone bashes the X country. What's wrong with it? I know some people find it hard to find a winner in etc, but it has a lot of quality horses, and alos gives bored horses something fresh to do.

I;m not sure about the Albert Bartlett, just because 3m novice hurdling isn't really a big area of racing, maybe replace it with a novice handicap chase?
 
Don't disguise your insecurities about not knowing where to start trying to find the winner!! Lol.
 
trudij said:
Nope - Im in the same camp - the XC is good for racing, and I completely agree that they should up the prizemoney, or at least do SOMETHING to make it more appealing...
Id have it back to 3 days - make it a 7 race card each day to accomodate a few of the races, but have it back to the three... (though Im getting used to the 4 day meeting now!)
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It aint good for your ticker though,and that's not just the race itself!!
 
Scrap the shite conditional jockeys hurdle

Make the Kim Muir a conditionals race

Make the NH Chase open to pro jocks

Bring back the Cathcart as a novice chase ( the Jewson gets enough balloted out and the quality 2m 5f horses will not either have to run in the Arkle or RSA)

Move the big race back to race 3 - day 1 and 4 have a quality lull and the NH Chase is not a good enough opener

Balance the cards properly - 2 3 mile hurdles and 3 2m 4f chases on one day !

Make the stand non-smoking especially on Friday

Put the County back to being the last race
 
Get rid of the clothing shops and create more resting and meeting areas with seats. More public refreshment areas rather than people poncing around "Do I look good in this or is the pink one better".

The touts going in and the hundreds rattling 'charity' buckets coming out slow down entry and exit. Control their numbers.

Paddy Power's sign was naff in the extreme. Don't spoil the best backdrop in sport.
 
Move the meeting 1 day later & finish on the Saturday; then the rest of us have a chance to enjoy that day on TV at least.
I tend to agree that the current set of races is of mixed quality, so examining some of the lower fare with a view to replacing some with fresh types of races sounds a good idea (as posted by others above.)
 
Tout Seul said:
Get rid of the clothing shops and create more resting and meeting areas with seats. More public refreshment areas rather than people poncing around "Do I look good in this or is the pink one better".


Paddy Power's sign was naff in the extreme. Don't spoil the best backdrop in sport.
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agree with both of these too (took out the bucket shakers cos I didnt see any - but bucket shakers in car parks really piss me off, so I should have left it in !!

and more toilets - its ridiculous that they expect so many people to still only use the same amount of facilities - there was a HUGE que for the ladies by the horsewalk when I went past it - its almost worth the £5 to go in the guiness stand, just to have access to those ones !!
 
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