ground, geldings, hurdles & grand pardubice.

​On Sunday, at Longchamp, we had the extraordinary state of affairs when Fantastic Moon, the German-trained Arc runner, was to be withdrawn from the race due to ‘unsuitable ground’ and then reinstated soon afterwards when connections discovered it would be cost them a £50,000 fine. I applaud the French stewards for discouraging trainers to withdraw a horse due to a slight variation in ground conditions. ‘A little too much juice in the ground’, often used by a trainer for withdrawing a horse to keep it for a race it might have a better chance of winning later in the week, should be met with a fine as draconian as the one the Longchamp stewards threatened the connections of Fantastic Moon with on Sunday. Not £50,000, obviously, but the value of the race, I would suggest. It is too easy for a trainer to withdraw a horse due to conditions not being absolutely perfect for their runner. Leniency should be kept for extraordinary situations and not dealt out willy-nilly for when the ground has altered a degree or two. A few weeks ago, an owner of Richard Hughes got caught-up in roadworks on his way to the races and realising he would not arrive in time for the race, he instructed the trainer to withdraw his horse. In this instance, I believe, the stewards did not ask enough questions and the horse was withdrawn for what in effect was a dishonest reason, not because the owner was stuck in traffic. No action was taken and no fine of consequence was imposed. Should not have been allowed, though it demonstrates how easy it is for trainers to withdraw a horse. The rules need tightening, that is all I am saying.
 
The sometimes excellent Richard Forristal believes the Arc to be perfect. I would disagree. Perfection is when all the best horses at a particular distance take each other on, geldings included. Everything he said about discouraging connections to geld colts too early in their careers may be correct, though if colts were gelded early perhaps less of them will be exported abroad. He is right, of course, that everything should be done to encourage breeders to breed for stamina and not speed but that is no reason to exclude geldings from a race that in the future might cry out for geldings simply to keep the race competitive as speed, speed, speed is the dominating force in horse racing around the world right now.

I have never liked hurdles and used to express a wish for hurdle racing to be stopped. I saw one too many horses killed due to putting a leg through a hurdle and wanted to see hurdles replaced by French-style mini-fences. I remain of that mind-set, though the new Easyfix hurdles to be introduced in Ireland might help change my mind. Noel Meade and his fellow top trainers approve of them and that is all that needs to be said on the matter. Except this: people praise the way French horses jump, especially when they come over to run in our major chases, so why do we not copy what they do and change their type of hurdle?

On Sunday, in the Czech Republic (Is it still called that?), the next renewal of the Grand Pardubice is to be run. This year, the O’Leary’s grand old warrior Coko Beach is giving it a try, ridden by Keith Donoghue. My fingers are crossed he adapts to this new test as easily as he adapted to the Cross-Country at Cheltenham and Punchestown, and as easy as he makes jumping the Aintree fences; if so, he will near damn win the race. John McConnell also has a go at what is now Europe’s most prestigious steeplechase with Streets of Doyen ridden by Ben Harvey. My hopes are with Coko Beach. Crossed-fingers!