Racecourse Gallops

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Maruco

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Isn't it about time these were banned?

I was posting on the Champion Hurdle thread that unusually we've got three of possibly the first five home in the Champion Hurdle running at Kempton, and these days that's virtually unheard of. Why? Because trainers get to race their horses alone and away from the public glare.

Too often we hear about Willie giving his a racecourse gallop, and now we constantly hear Henderson is swerving races with Sprinter Sacre and Simonsig in favour of doing the same.

Then to add insult to injury to the racing fan, Henderson in particular complains about not being able to find races for his horses, bemoans prizemoney, and is happy to skip obvious entries in 3-5 runner graded chases!

Those are the same 3-5 runner graded races which are being swerved because the top trainers want to wrap horses up in cotton wool and keep to 2 or 3 race campaigns and are causing the BHA to look at the programme because of the horse population!!!

Blaming the horse population is untrue because numbers are rising again. So maybe they should produce some data on the average number of times horses run and compare it year on year. And when I say that I mean specifically those horses that contest graded races. That way they might sort out what is an obvious problem.

OK, racecourse gallops aren't all to blame, but they certainly contribute to the problem when certain trainers are given preferential treatment. So in my opinion private racecourse gallops must be banned once and for all.

Alternatively lets open them up to all trainers and horses, rather than the privileged few. That way we can also get handicaps down to 3-5 runners and I might be able to find a few bad priced winners!
 
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I suspect the route back to it has become the ever growing importance of the Cheltenham Festival Paul. Jumps trainers aren't asked how many winners they have in a season any longer, but how many festival winners they have instead (and that means staying injury free and well handicapped in other cases). Delivering a festival winner is what owners want, and the more of these you can serve up the more owners you attract.

There is also the issue of the relationship between the powerful yard and the course(s). If you were Newbury for instance and received a request from Henderson to work his horses on the course and you knew it would cause you no issues how would you respond? He's been a good supporter of your course down the years and at lesser meetings you might want to pick the phone up in the future and say "look Nicky you owe us a few. Can you send some horses down please to flush our card out a bit"
 
Warbler said:
I suspect the route back to it has become the ever growing importance of the Cheltenham Festival Paul. Jumps trainers aren't asked how many winners they have in a season any longer, but how many festival winners they have instead (and that means staying injury free and well handicapped in other cases). Delivering a festival winner is what owners want, and the more of these you can serve up the more owners you attract.

There is also the issue of the relationship between the powerful yard and the course(s). If you were Newbury for instance and received a request from Henderson to work his horses on the course and you knew it would cause you no issues how would you respond? He's been a good supporter of your course down the years and at lesser meetings you might want to pick the phone up in the future and say "look Nicky you owe us a few. Can you send some horses down please to flush our card out a bit"
Click to expand...

Absolutley, but that doesn't make it right Alun, and the BHA have the power to intervene.
 
Or to increase the standing of other fixtures? (easier said then done) could we not have a 3 days winter festival held at Ascot?

I've never been keen on it, but there's certainly enough races run in December in the London area on right handed tracks to bring them all together. I'm not convinced it would work myself, but who knows
 
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They race for two at Kempton, and Ascot is better maintained with more up to date drainage. They also 5 days at Leopardstown as well
 
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I can assure the OP that racecourse gallops are not solely the preserve of high-profile trainers and high-profile horses. In fact it's fairly commonplace. Two of the yards I'm involved with will from time to time take a batch of horses to work on a racecourse, not necessarily to put an edge on their fitness but to give them a change of scenery and a break from the day-to-day routine. It's particularly useful for a horse that's never raced, or one coming back after a long break, as it can take the "fizziness" out of them.

I very much hope and expect that this option will remain open to trainers. Everyone benefits, including the racecourse for which it's an additional source of income.
 
Racecourse gallops aren't the problem; too many Graded options and trainers having no balls are the problem.
 
Add to that the fact that a lot of trainers do not have grass gallop facilities and horses need to gallop on grass to be race fit.
WP Mullins string had a full on work out on the grass inside the all weather training ground at Cheltenham Tuesday morning last Spring ,most likely to acclimatise the horses to the faster going .Some sight I can tell you.
 
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