CHELTENHAM FINAL THOUGHTS-:

 

A lot of moans and groans about the reduced attendances although those who went who we've spoken to or heard from all welcomed the slightly less manic atmosphere.

 

Rip Off prices on Course but more relevantly in the Town and surrounds, particularly with accommodation and food prices a recurring theme and a trend that I think will only drive more and more away.

 

The fact Mullins won more races than the home contingent combined and the continued Irish domination continues to peev some, but as we've discussed earlier, the solution to that very much lies with the home side to resolve. Not necessarily the Trainers but more the BHA in terms of understanding what the UK sport needs in terms of QUALITY over quantity.

 

My main rant, and it's not a new one bearing in mind the points raised is that 4 days is a Day too long. There are 3-4 races, the X-Country the NH Flat racing and possibly one of the Novice / Maiden races that could be removed from the 4 day Festival and be rescheduled with for the TRIALS meeting, which carries less and less significance, or the  APRIL Meeting, possibly the most enjoyable of the season in terms of Crowd numbers but one that does not dovetail well with Irish Fixtures. 

 

My question is this, would 3 days - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday as it used to be or Wednesday - Thursday - Friday as it could be;  not be a better option? and would moving 3-4 of the races to the TRIALS Meeting not also enhance that markedly. The increasing evidence too that many of the Irish racegoers are now coming for 2-3 days not 4, or even flying in and out on the same day lends itself to a very serious question in favour of stepping back and having 3 days of TOP QUALITY rather than stretching it out.

 

I also think that they need to have another look at race scheduling, moving the Henderson race to Tuesday works well but to have 4 handicaps and the Ryanair on Thursday really did overload that day in my opinion. 

 

As always we'd value your thoughts and opinions and we'll have a final revisit of Cheltenham in an NH season review after Aintree and around the time of the final day at Kempton in late April.