Dave McCarthy on jumps racing

[pete]

OPINION 

Some heat being generated over NZTR assessing future of jumps racing.

There will be no intention to end it in near future as many flag wavers suggest. The October deadline is proof of that to me, a much longer one being likely if support to be withdrawn. Maybe an accelerated season and more moves away from Saturday feature tracks?

There is no question that, Trackside cheerleaders apart, jumps racing has declined to where some action must be taken. 

It's the old racing story of knocking leadership for lack of action then knock them again when they take it .The outcry over the Northerns faded to a whisper in a very short time considering even tho the character of those races has gone with the hill forever for traditionalists.

Let's face it three stables,all Central based, win most of the major events. They are top horsemen in any sphere but can pick and choose a little in that situation.The  traditional wider stable interest (Browne's, Anderton's etc )have gone and not replaced now that time, money and  resources are  essential training measuring rods.They won't be back. 

We still produce top horses but it  is easier  to acclaim champions when maximum and minimum weights are spead over only 6kg and with maiden and 1 win jumpers competing.The other side is that true champions are then being short changed on their achievements being made to look easy.

Media talk,mostly in Central,is  about how spectacular it all is  but its hardly backed up by public interest and especially attendance. The crowd at Riccarton for the Grand National was the smallest I can remember. Once it had a bigger crowd than Cup Day. And it is poor Riccarton who now may face unique challenges with any changes.

The South Island has long abandoned jumps racing for reasons above but  Riccarton has always relied on a rewarding August meeting to bolster the coffers. It was once dominated by jumps races over three days, now there's a handful over two.The Winter Cup is a great betting race and a great watch.It is the punting highlight of the meeting but  additional attractions  are not easy to find on the flat at that time of the southern season, and poly racing and betting is not cutting it. So what happens? 

My guess is that industry leaders may want to move jumps racing away from major Saturday city tracks like Riccarton as  happened at Ellerslie -who had a better cover story . You can hardly blame them. A lot of Saturday turnover comes from Australia and odds-on shots in a 4-6000m jumps race have little appeal. In addition the public   don't really want to see horses maimed, exhausted or dying on a city track in the PC age of animal protection. In older days of rural support those sort of accidents were more acceptable as what happens to animals on farms. No more

An sound argument in favour of retaining jumps racing is that  in large public flat stables where jumps riders or former ones are otherwise employed they are really appreciated.Fair enough. But those stables seem to have limited interest (read hardly any ) in actually sending out jumpers on raceday. Economics and resources 101. 

Once most of the the big flat stables had jumpers and plenty of them with jumps riders attached Many of our horsemen are "imports" temporary and permanent which is a boon to trainers but another reflection of reality rather than a growth in public appeal. The dedication is still strong just not the growth and the two codes are now essentially separate.

Loads of people still like watching the jumps races and they will. What they need to do is bet more on the outcome. That's the bottom line and my pick is it is well in the red compared to the use of financial resources because of the lack of true wider competition. Jumps fans can't expect to get a free ride.

A number of blogs talking about Ireland and England are irrelevant. The infrastructure history there is a long and strong tradition  and standout races like the Grand National attract huge public interest-greater than most flat features. It also caters for the hunter type slower performer as opposed to former flat runners and on a variety of tracks, so its numbers hold up with opportunities especially as there is no flat racing on turf in winter as a rival. But even so the English industry is struggling,public support is down  and its currently dominated by Irish -trained horses and stables as a result. Modern owners,even wealthy ones, chafe at waiting five or six  years for a return. 

The issues to overcome seem to be  1) the end of farmer/fan  supported horse paddocks in favour of economic return  over a long period, so increased costs for professional racing reducing owner and rural appeal 2) the reduction in number and size of fences which has removed the traditional slower hunter type from contention in favour of former/present  flat horses while also removing the "thrill" for those who accept animals being potentially injured. 3) the change in betting trends  especially among younger punters chiefly through preference for sports betting,quicker easier and less pain 4) the always present loss of top horsemen and horses to  Australia.

 We are not going to overcome all of those,maybe none,so can only adapt as best we can. A five month season with limited open grade performers seems one aspect worthy of review. 

The panickers needn't. It will survive.But the present form has not improved the situation and it has not earned the increased funding needed for further development. Hence the NZTR move.

The fact it is necessary tells a good part of the story.

[BarryB]

Who the fuck is Dave McCarthy? & honestly who fucking cares in his opinion.

He is wrong mostly but right in that punters don’t want to back short price jumpers & that rural NZers are more interested in Honda than horse.

Edited Tuesday at 09:23 AM by BarryB

[Freda]

One of the most knowledgeable blokes around, with a long involvement in the game.   Was an office-bearer in the NZTA at a time when it was actually relevant, and achieved much of value . Also a very good former reporter,  and had more understanding of things pre-and post the 2003 Racing Act and the direction that could result from that, than most had any idea of.

You are entitled to disagree with his summation but please, give the guy some respect for his contributions over a long time.

 

[curious]

Racing editor of The Press for decades and a major contributor to the Friday Flash. That, back in the day when racing journalists were independent, asked the hard questions and offered honest opinions even if unpopular. I've probably read more of his commentary on NZ racing than any other writer.

[BarryB]

Never heard of him.

The Friday Flash has been dead for 20yrs.

[curious]

Until very recently he was still doing picks on the TAB site for most NZ meetings.

[pete]

Still selects for the southern meetings in the Herald on Friday.

[curious]

A renowned racing historian too. Both codes. I came across this piece recently on the Purdon Racing site which I thought was a great read.

https://purdonracing.co.nz/memory-lane/