Not looking good across the water

Cantoris said:
hallelujah
Click to expand...

Cantoris besides excluding all horses from racing except the ones you bought or are associated with (I jest) what would you like Hri do for customers who are involved in ownership of some form or other. With decreasing prizemoney and limited opportunities is there anything Hri can do for us ?
 
Sheikh said:
Cantoris besides excluding all horses from racing except the ones you bought or are associated with (I jest) what would you like Hri do for customers who are involved in ownership of some form or other. With decreasing prizemoney and limited opportunities is there anything Hri can do for us ?
Click to expand...

Good question.
 
Sheikh said:
Cantoris besides excluding all horses from racing except the ones you bought or are associated with (I jest) what would you like Hri do for customers who are involved in ownership of some form or other. With decreasing prizemoney and limited opportunities is there anything Hri can do for us ?
Click to expand...

Well what do owners want.

Low costs which means HRI needs to reconsider the cost of entering horses and also the deductions that are made from prizemoney. The latter is a difficult one as it means adjustment to jockey fee and also the twenty five other lines that come out of gross prizemoney. The new insurance scheme which the Owners Association runs was originally to be run by HRI at a cost to owners so good that it is with Owners Association.

When my horses run, I used to be able to see the point of offering only four entry badges as entry is €15 a head so a real loss here to the course. however, if entry fees are going to come down then I think they should up this, particularly syndicates (well I gotta stand up for myself here!!). Also, syndicates are open to spending a few bob on track if they can get a meal and have a few pints in comfort, say at the €30 a head level. Some courses offer this.

I'm surprised no-one has embraced the advertising which owners are allowed. From talking to the Turf Club there are only eight owners taking advantage of that and I think HRI could get involved in doing a global advertising scheme with a bookie (prohibited by the Turf Club) or the likes of Vodafone/O2 etc etc.

There are a few other areas where HRI could make some changes to help owners. I'm on the owners association and we regularly discuss these so any suggestions, let me know.
 
Interesting stuff Cantoris, just in between having a shower, dinner and a couple of sneaky ones, will digest and come back to you.
 
2010 Fixture List Announced​

Total Number of Fixtures Reduced by 7​

The 2010 Fixture List has been released today (Tuesday 28th July 2009) by Horse Racing Ireland. The key points in relation to the 2010 Fixture List are as follows:-

·The total number of fixtures has been reduced by 7 from 352 to 345
·The Flat season will start at Dundalk on Friday 26th February and end on Friday 10th December
·The Punchestown Festival will be run from 20th – 24th April, a week earlier than this year
·There will be a blank weekend before the Galway Festival

1.Total Number of Fixtures

Given the falling horse population (down 4% at half year point) and the reduced levels of runners and eliminations (down 8% and 6% respectively for January-June 2009), for the first time in many years a reduction in the total number of fixtures has been approved by the HRI Board.

2.Start/End of the Seasons

Flat – The Flat season will start at Dundalk on Friday evening 26th February, although the races on this mixed card will be aimed at national hunt and dual purpose horses (including three bumpers). There will then be a two week gap before the first all flat card on Friday evening 12th March. The flat season has been extended by two weeks through the movement of two of Dundalk’s three November Wednesday evenings into Fridays in December. The flat season will therefore conclude on Friday evening 10th December.

National Hunt – The Punchestown Festival will have a relatively early date (20th-24th April) in 2010 at the request of the racecourse, with the result that next year the National Hunt season will end on Saturday 24th April, the same date as in Britain.

3.Saturday Evenings

The total number of Saturday evenings has been left at nine, with the one change of date being that the Curragh will now race on the Saturday evening of their two-day Oaks meeting in mid-July. The Curragh’s Saturday evening meeting in June has consequently been moved to a Friday evening.

4.Mixed Meetings

The number of Mixed meetings has been reduced from 76 to 44. There are significant benefits of single code meetings from a cost perspective.
In terms of the distribution of opportunities between the two codes, 2010 will see the same overall balance of Flat/National Hunt races (40%:60%).

5.Gaps during the Summer Months

There remains 12 blank days during the summer months as per 2009, but this will include an extra blank day in July, with no racing being programmed for the weekend before Galway (24th – 25th July). There will be a four-day break for jump racing at the conclusion of the National Hunt season in April, while the summer break in the National Hunt season has been extended by one day (from 10 to 11 days) to run from Tuesday 22nd June to Friday 2nd July (inclusive). This has been achieved as a result of Bellewstown moving their Summer Festival a day later so that it will now run over Friday evening, Saturday evening and, in a first for Bellewstown, Sunday afternoon during the first week in July.

6.Galway Fixture on September 1st 2009 moved to Roscommon on September 8th 2009

Galway requested to forego the fourth day of their late August/early September meeting in 2009 (their fixture on Tuesday evening 1st September 2009) given that it is a new date for this year which will be removed for 2010. Galway wishes to promote their newly located late summer festival as a three-day meeting from the outset so as to offer a consistent fixture going forward. HRI has agreed to this request and has switched the meeting to Roscommon on Tuesday evening 8th September 2009, to form a two-day meeting as they already race on 7th September.

Commenting on the 2010 Fixture List, Jason Morris, HRI Director of Racing, said: “HRI has progressively grown the fixture list over recent years to accommodate the requirements of the expanding horse population. Now that we are seeing a gradual decline in the number of horses in training and runners, HRI has reacted accordingly by reducing the overall fixture list, with seven fewer meetings to be held in 2010. We have continued to place an emphasis on staging quality racing at times and venues that will best suit the racegoing public.”
 
If the weekend before Galway is blank next year, when will the Phoenix Stakes be run? I would bring it into the Oaks meeting, which doesn't have enough quality at present to sustain two days' worth of racing.
 
Galileo said:
4.Mixed Meetings

The number of Mixed meetings has been reduced from 76 to 44. There are significant benefits of single code meetings from a cost perspective.
In terms of the distribution of opportunities between the two codes, 2010 will see the same overall balance of Flat/National Hunt races (40%:60%).
Click to expand...

I understand why but if the recent meetings are anything to go by, this is going to make a huge difference with former mixed cards which become national hunt being well supported and flat being poorly supported.
 
Natural High must be the first runner for Moyglare in a bumper and surely a sign of the times that Sinclair/Smurfit or others were not willing to buy him.
 
The weather would have made some difference to the crowds. Can we look at the crowds on the three best weather days as the guideline? I think Monday was ok weather wise.
 
On a different note, are there (in the opinion of Hri) still too many horses in training. When will we see a policy where they are trying to retain horses in training.

I had a 4 yr old gelding dropped in the handicap before running. I can understand this with fillies as they tend to start thinking about settling down and having the family earlier but it's a widely held belief that colts and geldings on the flat will peak at 4 or 5.It's nonsensical and seems gratuitous to drop a colt or gelding in the handicap before running from 3-4-5 .
 
Sheikh said:
On a different note, are there (in the opinion of Hri) still too many horses in training.
Click to expand...

I think everyone would agree that there are prob still too many horses in racing. The number of horses in training in the first six months of the year didn't really change that much if I recall correctly. But it takes time to change and it will be interesting how many of those unsold at the Summer/Autumn sales go into training. Last year plenty would have gone into training to see if they could win a race and sell on but this year might be different.
 
Colm was telling me at the weekend that he'd normally have a rake of you horses coming through the door for the winter but it's not happening. He has a bunch from his regular owners (like ourselves) but his pre-trainers are pretty quiet. He has a lot more handicappers and the likes as people move from other trainers to him to get a run.

I wonder is this the start of the culling. Vendors who held onto their horses are just not willing to send them into training. God knows how some of the lower profile trainers are doing.
 
Yes, I was a little surprised at your post on the 2nd August. The cull is well and truely on .Horses that are put into training are on a tight schedule too !
 
Sheikh said:
Yes, I was a little surprised at your post on the 2nd August. The cull is well and truely on .Horses that are put into training are on a tight schedule too !
Click to expand...

My post on 2nd August was based on HRIs press release of their six month numbers. I recall Gal put up a link and think it said there hadn't been that big a change in horses in training in 2009. Be interesting to see what happens come year end.
 
Fairyhouse racecourse has announced reductions to admission prices for the remaining meetings at the Co. Meath track in 2009.


Admission to the Winter Festival will be €15 on Saturday 28th November and €20 on Sunday 29th November, representing a saving of almost 20% on 2008 prices.

Mid-week fixtures will also drop in price from €15 to €10 for adults (Wednesday 2nd Nov and Wednesday 2nd Dec). OAP and Student rates remain at €10 for all meetings while under 16s are free.

General Manager Caroline Gray said: " we are delighted to announce the price cuts which represent almost 20% savings on 2008 levels.We hope that this measure will in some way recognize and reward the loyalty of our customers, and equally, we hope the new reduced prices will encourage new customers to experience the thrill of National Hunt racing at Fairyhouse."
Customers who book their tickets online with Fairyhouse will receive a further 20% reduction on their admission.
Click to expand...
 
"Customers who book their tickets online with Fairyhouse will receive a further 20% reduction on their admission"

Oh no they won't!! What's the betting the dreaded hidden charge will reduce this to 5-10% saving for a couple.
 
Just checked the Fairyhouse website. Two €20 tickets which would have cost €40 will cost €32 + €3 booking fee = €35 so 12% reduction for a couple and €1 saving (5%) for a single purchase. False advertising in my eyes.
 
Way ahead of them. Waiting for a response. Am I right in thinking credit card companies charge 2/3%?? My next port of call will be a letter to editors of the Field and RP. I asked the same question of Leopardstown and The Curragh and got no response so might as well highlight it. It has to be false advertising. What is really stupid is that I would have gone to the day at The Curragh if I was getting 20% off so they lost out on €16.
 
Back
Top