I had a great weekend at Leopardstown with ideal company. Service in the 1888 restaurant was a bit dodgy on Saturday but great on Sunday and, of course, the highlight was racing of the highest order. Having arrived at the Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge (of which more later and which, for those who remember it, is the “Burlo” in all but name) I reminded myself of some of the greatest days I have had at the races (lower case).
On the way to Ireland I picked up on Twitter the news that Irish racing is on its way to Racing UK from 1 January 2019. The social media backlash to this decision has been remarkable. The reality is that if you’re into racing and, like me, in particular NH racing, you either rely on terrestrial coverage (ITV in GB and RTE in Ireland) or you choose to watch all the big races and the early part of the cards on RUK. I made the decision about four years ago to spend money on Racing UK. No matter what others might say, it was a shadow over the weekend that all Irish racing was on its way to RUK.
I think that this is a load of nonsense. It’s long been a major irritation that ATR has broadcast in SD (standard definition) so that blurry pictures of Grade 1 races have been the norm. Not good enough. The presenters have done their best but the coverage has not been good enough. It makes you think that Irish racing is substandard. There have been reports that it would be improved with ATR being rebranded as Sky Sports Racing but presumably that will not now happen. I kept on searching for news on Google about ATR HD but nothing was coming.
As for people who think that the RUK presenters are “boring”, I’m with you when it comes to some extent. (I was going to name several people at this moment but decided that wasn’t fair given the material they have to work with.) When it comes to major meetings and their analysis let’s not in any way criticise people such as Lydia Hislop, Jonathan Neesom, Steve Mellish and Claude Charlet who are utterly on top of their game. It is inconceivable that RUK will not take on the peerless Gary O’Brien as part of their team.
After racing on Saturday I walked up to the main road. I couldn’t get a taxi and had a meltdown for about two and a half hours. I ended up in the Clayton Leopardstown and tried to tell them that it was their fault that I’d ended up there. I did the decent thing and didn’t take their free taxi. On Sunday I followed Harry Fry and got a taxi very quickly (wish I’d been sensible the previous day).
So, at last, on to the racing!
We missed the first race and I was happy to do so with a 25/1 winner. I was not surprised by Min’s win in the next but I was I was delighted to be there to see just how how good Footpad was in the Irish Arkle. What a good horse and, for me, nailed on for the Cheltenham equivalent.
The others that makes me excited were Off You Go (off 9st 10lb never again) in the Coral Hurdle and highlight of the day, Blackbow, at a very profitable 11/4!
On Sunday Espoir d’Allen was very disappointing. However, Alletrix delivered for my friend Gerry Rooney, Samcro was superb, Total Recall lived up to his name and Monalee proved that he is a tough campaigner and, therefore, worthy of support at Cheltenham, wherever he turns up.
For God’s sake, RUK costs as much as a couple of silly bets on the flat. Get over it and enjoy the best racing coverage that there has ever been.
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