(BIG FIELDS, CHAOS)

Aintree, 2012

Thursday.

 I watched the Foxhunters, a big field, with I think two false starts. Amateur riders, and I am sure management will claim that everything that went wrong was the riders’ fault. Management chooses to ignore the fact that at Cheltenham the best start of the week (with a big field) was in the National Hunt Chase (amateur riders).

The problem with the start of the Foxhunters was this wretched requirement that the field should form up in fives and sixes and trot round in tight circles. That is the best way of encouraging horses to kick each other and the best way of getting them over-excited.

Why Britain’s horsemen do not raise their voices and tell the authorities, who are clearly not horsemen, that their method has disaster written all over it, I do not know. You can blame the authorities for not knowing, but you must double-blame the horsemen who will not educate them.

Before the start, you want your runners to be as relaxed as possible. That means WALKING. Not just walking, but walking nose to tail in single file, a safe distance apart, as was done down at the start for two hundred years before the lunatics took over the asylum.

If I were to tell you that a field of 25 horses, walking as described above, are much easier to control than 25 horses formed up in fives and sixes and trotting, you would say “That’s obvious.” How come our starting authorities cannot see it?

The current practice also revs up the jockeys. If a field of 25 is going to approach  the tapes in five ranks of five, all trotting, there is probably going to be ten/fifteen  lengths between the first rank and the fifth. Very few jockeys want to be that far back, so they are on edge, frightened of losing the race before it has even started.

And let us not forget that those 25 horses, revved up and trotting and ridden by revved up jockeys, are very difficult for a starter to control. It’s not rocket science! Whereas if they were walking, and had been walking in one big oval circuit behind the start, the starter would only have to call to the jockeys to walk up towards the tapes, and the oval circuit would turn into a ragged line, allowing the jockeys to choose, as they walked, whether they wanted to start quickly and be in front, or more slowly and take a position towards the rear. Trainers! Owners! Jockeys! You all have your representative bodies. Do they never talk to the BHA about this disgraceful situation which could be put right in five minutes?

Which brings us to Friday’s Topham. Another big field. This was interesting. The revved-up field tried to false start, but the starter stopped them. They then milled around fairly innocuously, quite close to the tapes, not knowing quite what to do, through lack of practice and fear of getting left, I imagine. Eventually they were more or less all facing the right way and he let them go. Which just goes to show that walking and/or stationary horses are much easier to control than those which are in a crowd and trotting.

It was interesting to see how the jockeys showed no inclination to take a big turn well back from the tapes. That habit has gone out of fashion on the racecourse because the starting system discourages it. At home on the gallops those jockeys know exactly what to do, because taking a turn is a feature of every “lot” that goes out of every racing yard in the country.

This brings us to Saturday’s Grand National. As you know there was a lot of delay at the start, a lot more than usual, and most of this time the field was “revving” in little groups. Hence two false starts. End of story. I wonder whether that had any influence on the number of fallers. It would be interesting to hear what John Francome has to say on that subject.

Andrew Simpson

PS.

Ayr, 14th April 2012

Scottish Grand National

24 ruinners.

Interesting. The revved-up charge towards the tapes was about to reach the tape before the rearguard had got onto the track (something that is always likely to happen when a big field coincides with a short distance between the access point on to the course and the tapes. That’s one of the reasons why the “system” is such a disaster.

The starter stopped the charge before the tapes were broken – well done the starter (As happened before the Topham).

The field ground to a halt, milled about a bit, were asked to take a turn, which nowadays is something that they find difficult. So they all moved away from the tapes and after retiring ten yards they all turned back towards the tapes. There they stood and the matter was no doubt the subject of intelligent conversation between starter and jockeys. Eventually some force of nature persuaded the horses to form a most unlikely line and the starter sent them on their way. It was a bad start, but infinitely better than some we have seen lately. 

This incident was another timely reminder that if horses are walking, it is possible to for riders and starters to control what happens.