11am Street not surprised by Flat jockeys’ championship criticism
Tony Paley: Rod Street, chief executive of Great British Racing, admitted he has not been surprised the change to the British Flat jockeys’ championship has come in for a lot of criticism.
The new campaign will begin on Qipco 2,000 Guineas day at Newmarket on May 2 and end on Champions’ Day at Ascot on October 17 and the news has split racing professionals.
“We were expecting there to be some strong opinions about it,” Street told At The Races. “We’ve been in discussion with the jockeys for over a year and with the Horsemen and the racecourses [about] how we can better promote the sport and how we can recognise changing times.
“We think the initiative will be good. It will take time and a lot of effort and energy, but the benefits will be really good for the sport. It’s a big and a broad decision. Crucially, this is the jockeys’ championship and we are doing it with their support. It reflects just how much racing has changed in the last few decades and how the fixture list has grown so enormously.
“The seasons have become less relevant, so what we are looking toward is to look at the championships in a clearer way, launch them on a bigger day, at Newmarket for the first Classic of the season, and crown the champions on a day that is rather helpfully called Champions’ Day when you’ve got the nation’s eyes, if not the world’s eyes, on a great day’s racing.
“We want to get jockeys over to a larger audience and we’ve got lots of ideas on how we are going to do that and make more of our stars. For years we’ve had people bemoan what a damp squib the start of the season can be with the Lincoln taking place before the Grand National, but it makes little difference to the racegoer’s experience.
“What we will have is more focus on the jockeys on the big occasion and hopefully make more of them. We do hope that over time it will encourage participation. Some leading jockeys have ruled themselves out of the Flat championship because of the extremely arduous nature, racing up and down the motorways and chasing all-weather meetings from March until November.
“Over time with this better promoted system and more of a focus on it, it might get more jockeys to participate and make it tighter and more interesting. When you’ve got a championship that has its riders regularly rule themselves out of it, it can’t be fit for purpose.
“To win the Flat jockeys’ championship you’ve still got to go to a lot of meetings. By doing what we’re doing, we are shaving off the two ends of the season and promoting it through a better launch pad and a real finale.”
Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
Identifying the unlucky loser of the Cheltenham Festival is always good sport. I see a case for Monetaire, who was very slow off the blocks from a standing start in a race in which the first and third raced prominently. He moved well through the field but, on the fastest ground of the week, couldn’t reel in a 33-1 shot who’d had a wind op since his last run.
Perhaps ‘unlucky’ is stretching matters but you could say this was a horse with a winning chance who found circumstances conspiring against him. I’d sooner accept him as unlucky than a horse who fell (Annie Power) or made a mistake at a critical stage (Zarkandar).
On the subject of that Annie Power fall, much has been made of the possibility that she took off early because of the way the sun was hitting the final hurdle, causing a shadow to lie on the ground on the take-off side. From Racing UK’s angle on the take-off side, it really does look as though she tried to jump both shadow and hurdle and didn’t quite make it.
What tends to convince me on the subject is that, on the footage I saw on RUK yesterday, Glens Melody also took off before the shadow and somehow managed to make the leap that her stablemate could not. You can see from the picture on this page the odd shape that Glens Melody is making over the hurdle, as if trying to clear a much bigger obstacle.
Anyway, we mustn’t live in the past when there is a good card at Exeter to consider. Possibly the most interesting horse of the day is Carraig Mor (3.55), backable at 11-8 for a novice chase. Alan King’s horse looked one of the most promising novices of the season back in November when beating Southfield Theatre over three miles at Newbury but things have not worked out for him.
He was one of Coneygree’s victims in the Feltham over Christmas, lying up alongside that one at the head of affairs until unseating Noel Fehily with a circuit to go. He then appeared to hate heavy going at Haydock.
He gets better ground today, has had two months to recover and ought to have the talent to cope with this step back in trip on such a galloping circuit. He’s just better than Leo Luna or Lysino. Dunraven Storm would be a threat on early season form but he looked a long way from that when dropping out tamely in the Arkle last week.
Even at a shade of odds-on, Jay Are (3.20) appeals under a penalty for a facile success at Plumpton last week, his handicap debut.
Pick of the Wetherby card may be Lowcarr Motion (2.55) at 9-2, from the in-form Micky Hammond yard. He improved for his handicap debut at Catterick last month, finishing strongly for third, and has shown a past liking for the dry surface he’ll get here.
Tipping competition, day two
Our winners so far:
Monday
Pagham Belle 14-1
Oriental Relation 11-4
Gunna Be A Devil 11-2
And our leader is …
JahLion +15.75
... who had the first two winners. Other good scores: Fixxxer +12, Mulldog +12, chris1623 +7.25.
Today, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 3.30 Wetherby, 4.30 Exeter, 5.05 Exeter.
This week’s prize is a copy of ‘How To Find The Crabbies Grand National Winner’, a 32-page guide by Paul Jones, to be published by Aintree at the end of next week. It will be largely trends-based but will also included profiles and interviews aimed at illuminating the famous race on 11 April.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today, but you will start on -3.
In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day.
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
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