SD's Racing Ramble: Grounds for concern at Uttoxeter and a Grand National farce

Written by: SD Racing Services

Having amassed a loyal following on our Races Now YouTube channel thanks to a combination of outstanding tipping and forthright opinions, the inimitable 'SD' has now signed up for a weekly column right here on OddsNow.com! 

This week's edition hones in issues with the reporting of going conditions at certain courses and why connections of the Gold Cup winner may have made a wrong move in avoiding a Grand National tilt.

Going, Going, Gone

I’m not going to talk about Cheltenham. The most of debriefs seems exponential. It’s futile if I add fuel on the fire.

But praise, at least for Tony Calvin for calling out skullduggery on ground conditions at Uttoxeter last weekend.

I went to Uttoxeter on Saturday. The race going experience was top drawer, but sadly the interpretation of the ground was lacking.

The going, officially given as good to soft, was as soft on the hurdle course and somewhere between soft and heavy on the chase course. This was after a dry week.

I have sympathies most of the time for Clerks of Courses. They face an unenviable job. You can’t please all of the people all of the time cried Abraham Lincoln. This pleased nobody. To have the feature race of the day run on heavy ground, after a dry week is simply not acceptable.

Libby O’Flaherty was clerking on Saturday, interviewed on the borefest that is the Opening Show on Saturday with an impressive collection of watering equipment in the background. It is warranted that her future should be in doubt via an enquiry, instigated by the BHA.

Punters were robbed. Races were run at least 10 seconds slower that the official description. Underfoot conditions are a central part of identifying winners, and when they are called wrong it should not be jettisoned to one side.

I, like many others, backed Joyeaux Machin. It was given to the loyal follows of Races Now as a wager at 9/2. At an SP of 3/1, he took up the running before two out and was collared toward the finish. It is reasonable to surmise that had the race been run at circa 15 seconds faster, as per the going description, he may well have won. The stamina doubt in the ensuing quagmire was a barrier he could not overcome. But the chances of punters in this situation are considerably diminished as a result of wholesale incompetence by the going description.

We still do not know, contrary to BHA guidelines how much water was applied. As we have seen at Sandown this year , though the going stick reading was low, this is open to operator input. Uttoxeter’s regular clerk was not in charge Saturday, so this was largely redundant. I have some time for clerks of the courses when weather makes the call for watering finite, but this was a disgrace. It cannot be swept under the (wet) carpet.

Flawed Thinkin behind Grand National dodge

NOTE - This article was written before the horse was declared a non-runner. A total missed opportunity.

History is important in racing. Golden Miller was a fantastic racehorse 91 years ago. He won five consecutive Gold Cups. Perhaps more pertinently, he remains the only horse to win the Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year.

Inothewayurthinkin won last weeks Gold Cup in tremendous style, probably running to at least a mark of 175, possibly 180. He languishes in the Grand National off a mark of 160.

There are some ifs. If the ground is decent, if the horse is right the surely he should run. Jump racing needs a lift in societal quarters. The prospect of a horse winning the two biggest races of the year over the sticks is a mouthwatering thought.

Back in 1996, Rough Quest was second in the Gold Cup and went on to win the Grand National 16 days later from a mark of 151. It’s roughly the same gimme for Inothewayuethinkin. Opponents from the cheap seats will shout about the gap in between races, if the horse is fine run him.

They will also shout that he’s only 7. Fine. He’s in the form of life, run him. The amount of good horses who are at their peak for one season only is pretty high. 

They will scream welfare, since JP has previous with Syncronised coming to an unfortunate end in this. But the Grand National is a much easier test. I know you will read this JP, so providing the horse is fine and the ground is too, run him. For the public. 

You might win it anyway, but doing so with this chap would be extra special.

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