... what would be the most important changes you will make - and why?
We have some superb discussions and hearty debates on here about so much: overproduction of foals, crappy prize money, whip use, bent jockeys, yard coups, dangerous fences, watering, the draw... I think pretty much every detail has been pulled out at some time or other for a good going-over. With YOU in control of racing, the Capo di Capi, the Godfather, The Man (or Woman), what changes do you want to see implemented right away?
I'll kick off with a couple that probably ought to be addressed at some point:
The Best Trip Game: seeing how this is played effectively by a couple of wily trainers, I'd make it a rule that debut horses would have to run at the same distance for the next three races before applying to run at a different length of race. I might therefore be able to cut down on form reading 000 over 6f, with a miraculous 1 in the fourth race - at 10f! The nonsense is always "I'm just trying to find her best trip", as another four weeks in Barbados is funded. You get four races at each level you put the horse into before being allowed to twit about with another.
The As You Like It NH Start: I want to do away with the kind of starts we've seen where a horse has been in the process of turning, a couple having a barging match, or one not yet run up to the field, all being let go, even with jockeys earnestly yelling "No, sir, no!". I wouldn't be fining any of the jockeys - I'd be fining the Starter and, after three strikes for any-old-how starts, he'd be history.
We have some superb discussions and hearty debates on here about so much: overproduction of foals, crappy prize money, whip use, bent jockeys, yard coups, dangerous fences, watering, the draw... I think pretty much every detail has been pulled out at some time or other for a good going-over. With YOU in control of racing, the Capo di Capi, the Godfather, The Man (or Woman), what changes do you want to see implemented right away?
I'll kick off with a couple that probably ought to be addressed at some point:
The Best Trip Game: seeing how this is played effectively by a couple of wily trainers, I'd make it a rule that debut horses would have to run at the same distance for the next three races before applying to run at a different length of race. I might therefore be able to cut down on form reading 000 over 6f, with a miraculous 1 in the fourth race - at 10f! The nonsense is always "I'm just trying to find her best trip", as another four weeks in Barbados is funded. You get four races at each level you put the horse into before being allowed to twit about with another.
The As You Like It NH Start: I want to do away with the kind of starts we've seen where a horse has been in the process of turning, a couple having a barging match, or one not yet run up to the field, all being let go, even with jockeys earnestly yelling "No, sir, no!". I wouldn't be fining any of the jockeys - I'd be fining the Starter and, after three strikes for any-old-how starts, he'd be history.
