Foxhunters Chase

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Ardross

Senior Jockey
Joined
Aug 8, 2007
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Horrible race to watch - idiotic riding at silly speeds of too many past it horses.

Mel in Blue breaks his neck at Bechers in a hideous fall reminiscent of Alverton all those years ago and how that poor animal that was ridden like a lunatic at the Chair got up amazes me . What the hell was the rider of Take the Stand doing haring along like that ?

Time for a review of the conditions of this race .
 
slagging off the amatuers once again....:rolleyes:.....

Just have to see the look on Tom and his dads face, it means everything to them, he spends a fortune on horses for his boys and its nice for them to have a big day out. Have a day out at a point and see all the hard work that goes into training one to take £150 (max) prizemoney for a win, its their National.

2/3s of the horses got round,10 were in with a chance at the last bend, not such a bad percentage and on quick gound there is bound to be occaisional accidents. Maybe wait until after the Topham to see how the pro's do before making comments about our race.
 
You'll see plenty of pro's doing the same thing ie. hurtling along at the first few fences in the National and probably the Topham too.
 
Quite so. A lot of those Amateurs are much better rider than some of the run of the mill jocks, and esp the Conditionals. The likes of Nina, Tom Greenall and Sam W-C are as good as any pro. I love the Foxhunters, neither Cheltenham nor Aintree would be the same without them

Mel In Blue was a pretty good horse with the Waley-Cohens and gave them lots of fun.
 
It seems like none of you three have read my post .

I should like to read any sort of justification for the riding of the idiot who rode the leader that fell at the third .

It is not a suggestion that there should not be any amateur race but that it should be experienced riders on horses that are up to it .
 
Ardross said:
Horrible race to watch - idiotic riding at silly speeds of too many past it horses.

Mel in Blue breaks his neck at Bechers in a hideous fall reminiscent of Alverton all those years ago and how that poor animal that was ridden like a lunatic at the Chair got up amazes me . What the hell was the rider of Take the Stand doing haring along like that ?

Time for a review of the conditions of this race .
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totally agree with you just watched the race on video earlier this evening as working today seeing Mel in blue after his fall and other horses landing on top of him while he lay there made me feel really ill, awful to watch shouldnt ride horses like that, a miracle only one fatality
 
Gordon Gallagher should not be allowed near horses. The horse itself had a small chance, but that jerk is a two stone penalty to any animal.
 
Here is what the RP analysis had to say about last year's Topham Chase:

This is usually a great spectacle, but it made uncomfortable viewing, with only 12 of these experienced chasers standing at the end of an incident-packed affair run at a relentless pace on drying ground. Plenty of the more fancied runners fell, among them Natal, Nacarat, Kenzo and Pak Jack, who were all prominent at the time of their departures, and one must hope that what happened is not a portent for the National itself.
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These shorter races over the National course seem to be more dangerous than the National itself, regardless of whether the horses are high or low quality and the riders pro or amateur. Perhaps there should be a minimum trip for such races of at least 3 miles and the ground should not be allowed to dry out.
 
Good point Grey. They do go slower in the GN of course, except to the first where there are so often casualites. The speed some inexperienced jocks rode at Bechers, you wonder if they have walked the course. That should certainly be obligatory - it might slow them down a bit
 
There were the same number of fallers in the Topham, I imagine that would be similar most years. Generally speaking the better horses in this class would be "safer" rides than your average handicapper which is countered by being ridden by those of less skill.

To an extent I agree with the point made, but it is one of many examples where horses are put at greater risk than need be the case.
 
Title certainly doesn't reflect what is, in my opinion, a well-written and balanced piece. Over-zealous sub-editors strike again?
 
Quite right T 528. Decent article putting over some valid points. Doesn`t deserve a title to make the antis get a turn on
 
Interesting article by Greg Wood, but I'm not sure that it's wise to draw too many dramatic conclusions from one running of the Fox Hunters'. Looking back over the last few runnings, the Topham has had at least as bad an attrition rate, and more fatalities, than the Fox Hunters'. Greg Wood mentions that runners in the latter may well be "the son or daughter of the trainer riding the family pet". Are they really going to take more risks than a seasoned pro who has ridden over the National fences several times, and may just treat it as a shorter warm-up for the real thing? Why not just have the stewards talk to all the riders before the race, warn them to take it sensibly, and perhaps have some system in place whereby anyone that hares off at an irresponsible place doesn't get another go next year?
 
It's all so easy to blame the amateurs though, isn't it? Or the conditionals, come to that. Jockeys don't emerge fully fledged professionals with 100 winners under their belt by not getting the opportunity to ride in some races; the very races the same old faces are howling shouldn't be there or should be open to professionals only.

I'll agree that all amateurs aren't great in the saddle (as has been said, Gordon Gallagher shouldn't be allowed near a rocking horse) but that also applies to plenty of conditionals and professionals, also old timers. They have to learn somehow and shoving them under the carpet as they 'shouldn't be seen' is unfair and daft.
 
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