Channel 4 Racing

I thought that Saturday's programme continued along the theme of improvement, but noticed that the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards had their annual ceremony, with prize money totalling a staggering £120,000. Am I being churlish in the face of such generosity, to suggest that being such a benefactor doesn't give anyone the right to disregard the rules and regulations which most of us seem to live by?

Furthermore, it now seems that Crisford, the Godolphin racing manager has resigned, and along with him, and curiously worded, were "3 members of the Veterinary Staff". Were these 3 people qualified Vets, and if they were, are they remaining in practice? Were those who were dismissed employed by outside Veterinary Practices? Why have neither Stevens, or the BHA released the names of those who were dismissed?

The problem with anything which Godolphin touches, it seems to me, ends up posing ever more questions, and without offering up any acceptable answers. When are the BHA going to step up and face the problems, rather than defending a constant rearguard action? When?

Alec.
 
This link might give you a clue as to the Godolphin Three! ;)

http://www.britishhorseracing.presscentre.com/imagelibrary/downloadMedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=236

Vets mentioned are Rob Pilsworth (Veterinary Surgeon based primarily at the Snailwell Road yard of Saeed Bin Suroor, but also providing occasional cover at Moulton Paddocks); and
Chris Osborne (Veterinary Surgeon based primarily at the Snailwell Road yard of Saeed Bin Suroor, but also providing occasional cover at Moulton Paddocks);Veterinary Surgeon Dr Fred Van Der Linde.
 
Well, its a nightmare.
I am reading Dave Walsh ' s book on the drugs culture in cycling, where it was quite evident from the times that drugs were being used year on year. It seems that of the hundreds of reporters, only one or two wanted to stand apart from the drugs culture, and some even joined in!
Same thing when senior athletes start to break personal best times, it must have been obvious to journalists what was going on.
It is not so easy with racing, where there are more on track and training variables and new horses coming in to training every year.
The people involved tend to be arrogant, saying, well we are the best anyway, so what is the difference between taking a legal drink and a stimulant, the rules are not there to help us but something to get round.
 
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Judgemental said:
There are three words that encapsulate the issue:

DOMINANT FINANCIAL POSITION
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But they already have it, they are constantly buying up all the top horses, having discovered that breeding does not guarantee success.
It can only be arrogance, using drugs on a routine yet illegal basis can only lead to destruction of the industry, loss of faith, disinterest and disgust. That's what happens when there are two streams, the doped and the undoped.
 
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2014/03/03/cuckson-formal-protest-endurance-race-bahrain/#ixzz2uun3GdZm

Excellent piece as ever.

IMHO I'm rather worried by the position being taken of gb fei riders, of we are going to enter windsor to beat them clean, after an 'inspirational' speech by a swimmer who did that given at the international conference. That person was a human, who made the choice to train hard enough to beat dirty swimmers as he wanted to win the race so much. Horses can't make that choice, & have no knowledge of why they are working. That riders (who are also usually the trainers in the uk), are willing to train their horses at least as hard as those training on steroids/painkillers makes me question if this is an ethical idea. The horse can't decide it wants to train at that level to win a race. Also will it increase the incidence of injuries mainly seen in the dirty countries at present such as stress fractures as they try to work the horses harder / faster in order to win? Personally I'm not comfortable with the desperate to win at any cost to prove a point which seems to be coming through. The swimmer made a choice about himself, the horses don't get the choice. Surely it is far better for the fei to clean itself up & grow balls, refuse the oil dollar & only allow nations that can show good testing in & out of competition whoever owns the horse to compete.
 
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I see that A.P.McCoy wont be riding for a day or two, as his young son Archie is now having cardiac surgery, and understandably, his mind will be with his boy.

I'm sure that everyone will join with in wishing the youthful Master McCoy a speedy recovery, and also join with me in reminding the young man, that he has colossal boots to fill!

Praying for your return to full health, young man.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
I see that A.P.McCoy wont be riding for a day or two, as his young son Archie is now having cardiac surgery, and understandably, his mind will be with his boy.

I'm sure that everyone will join with in wishing the youthful Master McCoy a speedy recovery, and also join with me in reminding the young man, that he has colossal boots to fill!

Praying for your return to full health, young man.

Alec.
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I expect AP will suggest the becomes an accountant if he has any sense
 
Caledonia said:
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http://www.britishhorseracing.presscentre.com/imagelibrary/downloadMedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=236

Vets mentioned are Rob Pilsworth (Veterinary Surgeon based primarily at the Snailwell Road yard of Saeed Bin Suroor, but also providing occasional cover at Moulton Paddocks); and
Chris Osborne (Veterinary Surgeon based primarily at the Snailwell Road yard of Saeed Bin Suroor, but also providing occasional cover at Moulton Paddocks);Veterinary Surgeon Dr Fred Van Der Linde.
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Having read the report, and thank you for that, am I the only one who comes away with the feeling that the investigating body bent over backwards to give a report which would exonerate all those who were responsible, and lay the blame at the doors of those who weren't? It would seem that none of the Vets, OR the Head Lads knew what was going on, those being responsible for the administration of illegal drugs being the 'unsupervised' junior staff. Really? And that's a report from the BHA? Where, I'm wondering does this corruption of the truth end?

Were those vets who were apparently oblivious to the goings-on, employed directly by Godolphin, or were they employed within outside practices and on secondment to Godolphin? If they were employed directly by Godolphin then any future vet who accepts employment, and within that organisation will be fully aware of the requests which will be made of them, and will presumably be prepared to be struck off, following further investigations.

Alec.

Ets, and having just done a bit of modest research, I find that Rob Pilsworth is in the employment of The NEH.
 
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My issue with C4 Racing, and particularly with the Morning Line (which I've virtually stopped watching) is that alone of all sports, it feels the need to dumb down in the fruitless quest for non-racing viewers. All the other sports I watch - football, F1, snooker, occasionally rugby - seem to trust their fans to appreciate sensible, detailed previews and analysis and to be able to put the match / race in some sort of context. I'm not sure why the C4 Racing production team can't do the same.

Concentrate on the horses, show the betting but don't let it dominate, recruit articulate presenters who know and love the sport inside out (more Richard Hoiles would be a good start), show the action clearly and keep the arty shots for the replays. It's not rocket science.
 
Generally the coverage at Cheltenham is good and the production team are meeting our expectations in terms of focusing on horses in the paddock and on the course.

However I am bored beyond measure of all these people, sitting about in arm chairs pontificating on the finer points of horses or jockeys etc.

Frankly I am not interested, I am quite capable of making my own judgment and it's not as if there is anything in terms of amusement.

Everybody who has anything to do with racing and horses, seems to lack any sort of sense of humor, most of all the commentators!

Claire go on make my day and crack a really good joke?

Even the interviews in the paddock and elsewhere are getting pretty tedious.

Yes interviews in moderation but there is too much grandstanding by the same old faces.

But as in school reports, "we have seen a much better term, tries hard but could do better"
 
Saturday's Morning Line and Channel Four Racing surpassed all expectations, along with the excellent reports and coverage of the Dubai Gold Cup.

However as I have said before we need some levity, a few good one liners, puns, double entendres and witty jocular comments.

It all so serious. Come on guys, add some colour and badinage.

Good reporting from the paddock which is much improved.

Not too sure about the very young lady interviewing the winning jockeys – didn’t catch the name. She needs to up her game and do something about all that hair.

Which brings me to Dubai, didn’t Emma do well and she smiles all the time she is talking and looking at the interviewee. A positive ray of sunshine.

What I did like and that is the mounted interviewer of the winning jockey as happens in the States. Very smart and wholly appropriate.

Why can't that be facilitated with Channel Four. I always feel that somebody flapping, with a microphone on a stick, alongside the winning jockey and horse, half obscured by the groom leading the horse and/or excited owner or trainer getting in the way, lowers the tone of that type of reporting and interview.

Can't Channel Four afford a decent hack to put these interviewers on. I assume they can all ride? Hack! Get it, perhaps I should write their equine one liners for them?
 
Echo Bravo said:
And what is wrong in the groom and owner getting some of the glory as one looks after it and the other owns and pays the bills what ever happens.
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None whatsoever but it detracts from what the jockey is saying. Generally the groom and owner receive sufficent applause in the winners circle.

I am certain that if Calire Balding were properly mounted she would bring a whole new dimension to her interviewing technics and her presentation.
 
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I can't think of anything worse than to import the totally naff concept of mounted interviews. The thought of Claire Balding, Richi Persad etc. conducting interviews while trying to control a horse they probably don't know could be quite entertaining but would contribute nothing to professional racing coverage.
The spotlight should rightly be on the horse and jockey, and their connections.
In fact, I'd happily dispense with the after race interviews altogether. They rarely contribute much, half the time you can't understand what the jockey is saying and you can almost see the jockey gritting his teeth when he sees that microphone come towards him. Choc Thornton has the right idea and refuses to give instant interviews, his view being that his first duty is to horse, trainer and owners and to give them his verdict, rather than a hasty and ill thought out answer to an inane question to the audience. A view I totally agree with.

However, I do like seeing Alice Plunkett interviewing the groom and owners, who very definitely deserve their moment in the sun. She has such a natural raport with them all.

Lesley Graham couldn't conduct an interview on her own feet, there was no way she'd manage on a horse.
 
Haha Daffodil, I so agree with all of your post. I was never a fan of Lesley but was trying to not say too much. She rode a cob, most of the time the poor horse who had just won the race didn't want to get anywhere near the cob, there was still the waving microphone and a lot of heavy breathing!
I also don't agree with the instant interviews, Choc has the right idea.
 
I watched the first day of Channel 4's Aintree coverage today. I was very happy with it because they had a good mix of everything and the horses were given a lot of coverage. Undoubtedly the best bit was Alistair Down's piece on families involved in the Grand National. Something about that man's delivery that always gets me emotional.
 
claracanter said:
I watched the first day of Channel 4's Aintree coverage today. I was very happy with it because they had a good mix of everything and the horses were given a lot of coverage. Undoubtedly the best bit was Alistair Down's piece on families involved in the Grand National. Something about that man's delivery that always gets me emotional.
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I agree. I am sure Alistair will in the fulness of time, rank with 'the greats' of racing commentary such as Peter O'Sullivan.

Thought the Foxhunters was an outstanding race.

Do I put money on Long Run and Sam Whaley-Cohen on Saturday...........thinks.............?
 
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