I’m not feeling it....

jinnyj

jinnyj

Senior Jockey
Joined
Jan 8, 2004
Messages
4,463
And I’m not sure why? I’m on about Cheltenham. I’m just not excited as usual.

I guess I made a decision yesterday that I didn’t think I’d go as friend I normally go with with I have finally let loose from my life. Despite the nice freebie ticket, the issues around the alcoholism just got too much and I decided enough was enough. And then I asked a couple of others and neither could/would go and I stopped and thought about it....it’s a lot of money and always a huge effort to get up extra early, do the horses and leave everything ready (and arrange for someone to get them in in afternoon), drive up there (hour and a half on a clear run but M5 can be a pig - had hoped to stay with friend only half an hour away but he doesn’t want to go.....:mad:)

Theres the expense of the ticket (now a whopping £112 as I only do Club) which I begrudge paying. If I’d held a trainers licence for 15 years instead of 8, I would have a lifetime one which is pretty galling. The expense of food (yes I could take food but...), drink, racecard etc. And getting out at the end of the day....although did park in a private drive and got out very quickly last year to be fair.

So no friend and wildly expensive are two factors.

And the third is....well I’m struggling to get excited about the racing at the moment. Last year with CH in the CH plus Honeysuckle, it was a fantastic day. I’ve had some incredible days there but I’ve anticipated them too. This year, I’m just a bit.....meh! Or am I missing something?
 
Just sit at home in the warm Jin,you can put extra on the horses and lose it that way:lol:

And you can watch them go round the parade ring and then tell us what you think,especially for ones like me that hasn't a clue.
They all look the same to me.
 
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Outsider said:
Just sit at home in the warm Jin,you can put extra on the horses and lose it that way:lol:

And you can watch them go round the parade ring and then tell us what you think, especially for ones like me that haven't a clue.
They all look the same to me.
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Guinness Zero...Amazing taste without the alcoholism....
 
My issue with it this year is the lack of competitiveness in many of the races.

Not quite on the scale of the DRF yet but still enough to temper my enthusiasm.
 
I don't think the cost is prohibitive either, a friend of mine has paid £120 to go on the Thursday to Aintree.
6 nations and concert tickets are more expensive (I very briefly looked at the cost of taking my daughter to see Taylor Swift at Wembley!).
Also before the pandemic friends went to watch the Baseball in London, £10 a pint!
 
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I always (and this year is no exception) feel a bit like Billy Bunter surveying the menu at The Connaught - I want to order everything. My notebook is generally pretty useless because there are too many of them running against each other.

I only hold paper for Jonbon (4/1) Champion Chase and JPR One (12/1 ew) Arkle - (Gaelic Warrior - wrong race - and Queens Gamble have bitten the dust). I’ll wait ‘til raceday for the rest.
 
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No Denman V Kauto Star.,.no can Sprinter make a comeback..with the possibility of CH missing what is there to get excited about....only race I am looking forward to is Shishlin V Gallopin which if it ends up both are in with a chance jumping the last it could be a classic.
 
Incidentally despite everyone was expctine Constitution Hill to hack up the thread still attracted 22,000 views... the only year it didn't top the bill was Kauto V Denman.
 
It depends what you’re looking for from Cheltenham, I suppose. For me, it’s a week off work; three days in the pub (I need to rest for one day!); and one long, continuous betting bonanza. I’ve also thrown myself into the ante-post market this year, so that adds to the thrill a little bit. Of course, I love the big races and the history attached to them, but increasingly I see Cheltenham as my Christmas and a holiday rolled into one. I’m entitled to go a bit mad with my punting strategy, because, inevitably, some of those swings will land.
 
Len Madeiros said:
It depends what you’re looking for from Cheltenham, I suppose. For me, it’s a week off work; three days in the pub (I need to rest for one day!); and one long, continuous betting bonanza. I’ve also thrown myself into the ante-post market this year, so that adds to the thrill a little bit. Of course, I love the big races and the history attached to them, but increasingly I see Cheltenham as my Christmas and a holiday rolled into one. I’m entitled to go a bit mad with my punting strategy, because, inevitably, some of those swings will land.
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Totally agree with this - even my missus takes the week off these days. I have a lodger for the week and we sit and drink beer from 1 till 1 every day. Great racing, great food, hopefully some winners. I do need a rest at the end of it.
 
After attending probably 80+% of the meetings between 1994 and 2022, this is the second year in a row that I'm heading out to Spain for golf/racing with three pals (two of them regular Festival attendees themselves), rather than go to Cheltenham.

It's a decision that hasn't caused me a second's regret.
 
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tiggers1972 said:
I don't think the cost is prohibitive either, a friend of mine has paid £120 to go on the Thursday to Aintree.
6 nations and concert tickets are more expensive (I very briefly looked at the cost of taking my daughter to see Taylor Swift at Wembley!).
Also before the pandemic friends went to watch the Baseball in London, £10 a pint!
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The cost is probably manageable if you're a day-tripper from the South Coast, Darren.......but if you're from the frozen North and there for the week, you will easily shoot-out more than a grand between travel, digs and entry to the racecourse, before you've had a bet, a drink or a bite to eat.
 
Appreciate that Nick, accommodation is where the cost shoots up.
I was trying to make the point that the ticket/food and drink prices even though expensive aren't exclusively expensive to the festival if you compare with other live events.
 
And now they have shelved the £350/night containers that they were promoting! Because they weren’t getting booked which is incredible when you think what great value that is.....not! :whistle:

I used to get ridiculously excited about the racing, both the thought of going and the racing itself. I’m sure there will be some exciting races over the week but right now, for me personally, there’s no one race that I can’t wait to watch. And I never thought I’d hear myself saying that! I used to live and breathe this meeting. I was born in Cheltenham and lived in Prestbury which regular outings to the course in my pram. My dad was one of the on course vets there and I was allowed special time off school to attend for one day a year.

I just think the Jockey Club have ruined the magic through greed. And it very much is greed. They don’t want the enthusiasts anymore, they just want the maximum money. And this is their motive at every racecourse. Let’s hike up th prices of everything......food, drink, tickets, parking. Because they need to draw in those with “stupid” money, they have to put on other forms of entertainment too hence the music after racing....in fact that is often a bigger promotional item for some days than the actual racing. I emailed them last year about the horrendous loud music that they play throughout the day. Their reply was that the public like to have something to listen to between races!?!? It’s completely unnecessary and really spoilt it for me last year. No doubt it will be back.

They are not listening to those that are involved or who have supported the sport over the decades but are instead making sure they cream as much money as possible out of anyone.
 
I’m feeling the same. I listened to a Cheltenham preview last night and I didn’t recognise a lot of the horses mentioned because they were mostly Irish. I know I’m a pessimist but I’ve felt all season that something might stop Constitution Hill from running. We’re going to Kelso on Saturday for Morebattle Hurdle day and I’m far more excited about that. For a £10 early bird ticket we’re going to see some smashing racing and, if we wanted to buy food there it wouldn’t cost much. We can take the dog, too!
 
I don't have the time to have a good knowledge of Irish racing as well as English and so find it difficult to evaluate Irish form. As for its merits against English form, I don't have a clue. so many of the handicaps especially will have Irish runners that have been laid out for these Cheltenham handicap races. Consequently, I'm being asked to assess Irish form where many of the horses are not really running on their merits. I mean, blimey, I've not no chance really so I shall be restricting my involvement to very little.
 
Yes, I mentioned before, on one of my old February solo jaunts to Benidorm I got talking to some rugby fans in a sports bar. They were all bedecked in the Welsh team's rugby kit so I naively asked them if Wales had a match in the locality that weekend.

They politely explained that it was cheaper for them to have a long weekend in Benidorm indulging to their hearts' content than shelling out for a day at the rugby (Six Nations was on).

And they had the chance of a bit of sunshine (if they happened to step outside the bar).

It would be no contest for me either.

To be honest, if Mrs O let me off the leash to allow me to spend Cheltenham week in a Spanish resort studying and punting from there I'd be off like a shot.
 
I stopped going in 2000 (was planning to go in 2001 until foot & mouth intervened)

Then a company I work with decided to take a couple of tables in the area behind the Guinness Village for the Thursday and I went every year with them until 2019. My employer stopped me joining them in 2020 (much to my wife’s relief) and they’ve decided to spend their money elsewhere now as the cost had become exorbitant.

I decided long ago I wouldn’t pay for my own ticket or drinks so am very grateful I got to experience some days at the festival for free.

We usually go to Trials day as a family and that’s expensive enough at £30 a ticket so seeing £112 made me wince

So I’ll be watching at home as I have done the last couple of years but I agree with tiggers that the lack of serious competition in so many of the graded races means I’m less excited about the week than usual


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My SIL is going via corporate hospitality ( is that the right term?).He isn’t remotely interested in racing and doesn’t really want to go. I’ve warned him that he won’t get a seat on the train coming back.
 
Grasshopper said:
After attending probably 80+% of the meetings between 1994 and 2022, this is the second year in a row that I'm heading out to Spain for golf/racing with three pals (two of them regular Festival attendees themselves), rather than go to Cheltenham.

It's a decision that hasn't caused me a second's regret.
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I’m doing exactly the same this year but 10 of us in Benalmadena Mon-Sat. Where you staying Grass ?
 
2 years ago 6 of us flew in from Surrey by private helicopter that picked us up on a grassy area right outside the house into the course followed by 2 x Bentley transfer into the Horse & Groom (great hospitality spot) then return flight that took 35 minutes as opposed to 4.5 hours by train. Cost the price of a small island but one of the best days of my life but I’d need the placepot all 4 days to do it again.
 
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