TONY CALVIN: Grounds for concern aired once again

I appreciate that some – quite a few actually – view my constant focus on the going, weather reports and watering as bordering on an unnecessary and unwelcome obsession.

Indeed, one that invites ridicule.

And delivers it.

But I simply happen to be of the opinion that accuracy and detailed information is important in horse racing – piss-taking aside, does anyone seriously think otherwise? – and the story below underlines just why.

And do you think this tale is an isolated incident?

Not on your nelly. I imagine it is a weekly, if not daily, occurrence for trainers and owners.

The two-day Newbury Hungerford Stakes meeting on August 16th and 17th was a recent example of a Group 1 course setting a very low bar in this regard.

They didn’t provide any details of the amounts of watering in the lead-up to the fixture, and they didn’t supply going-stick readings for either of the two days.

And that really isn’t on for what was the main meeting that Saturday.

The BHA should have insisted that Newbury provided full details of the watering, and told them to borrow a going stick if theirs was broken.

Anyway, what prompted this small piece is to relay the experience of an exasperated Darren Hughes, who got in touch with me via DM on X on Sunday.

Hughes is a part-owner of The Truant, a 7yo who ran at Kilbeggan on Friday, in the colours of the Thirteen Apostles racing syndicate

I’ll let him to tell you his story, in his own words.

To me, it underlines exactly why communication, at the very least, is so important for all participants in the sport.

From owners to punters, to everyone in between, the latter being the lowest rung of importance, obviously…..

The sport certainly cannot afford to alienate or lose any owners at the moment, when it is entirely avoidable.

Anyway, over to Hughes:

 “Admittedly, I’m coming at this from a biased perspective as it affected me directly. But it just pissed me off properly.

“Basically, I own a horse, The Truant, with a few mates, that was declared to run in Kilbeggan on Friday evening.

“I live just under an hour from the track myself, and we had fairly heavy rain on Thursday night. Around 15-20mm.

“We’re close to giving him his winter break, so we agreed that we’d keep him to nicer ground.

“The horse’s welfare always comes first to us.

“After the rain around my place on Thursday night, I phoned Kilbeggan, as they had posted a going update that the ground was good, good to yielding in places at 8.08am on Friday morning.

“I thought this had to be a mistake.

“I was told in no uncertain terms that the ground remained quick and, in fact, they were out watering as we spoke.

“I asked the lady on the phone to repeat this, as I couldn’t believe it. She confirmed they were watering to produce genuine safe, good summer ground.

“Probably naively, I took them at their word. There was no further rain whatsoever that day, and it was bright and gusty. In any case, we got up there just before our horse ran at 5.55pm.

“He ran a brilliant race to finish seventh, but the ground took its toll late on and he was brought home gently.

“All the riders came back in covered in muck, and our rider informed us that it was worse than yielding, and in fact genuine soft in the parts that had been watered. The official going was kept at good, good to yielding.

“At no point did Kilbeggan publicise that they had watered. Not that I am aware of, anyway. And I’d be 99pc sure of that.

“Their press release from the morning of racing said they were monitoring watering, but no further mention came.”

Now, for the sake of balance, Timeform called the going good to soft, so we are not dealing with grossly misleading information from Kilbeggan.

I imagine every owner has had a similar experience at other tracks, so we are not singling Kilbeggan out here. It just happens to be the recent experience of Hughes.

And the horse did finish second at Sligo 15 days previously on officially soft ground (a description Timeform agreed with), though to be fair he did look like winning there – he apparently traded at 2-9 to pennies, according to Hughes, though he barely traded below his pre-race price for meaningful sums – for a while.

And, furthermore. I am sure Kilbeggan were doing what they believed were in the best interests of all runners on the card.

But that misses the point.

The main take-out from my point of view is what were Kilbeggan watering for in the first place, in the height of summer, to turn the ground to an official “good, good to yielding”?

And if they were watering they should have told the public and participants just how much they had put on, in addition to the amounts of rain they may have had the previous evening.

Hughes shouldn’t have needed to have rung the course to seek out this information.

Now, I appreciate this isn’t an extreme – or indeed, rare – case (and you may say that Hughes is making a mountain out of a molehill, though the issue here is clearly a wider one). and it is largely a personal tale, but for me it highlights just how racecourses, and the sport itself, need to be as professional and as open as possible.

Or they could just lose owners like Hughes when they can’t afford to.

Accuracy and information matter in this sport, and we shouldn’t be ridiculed, or lambasted, for expecting, and demanding, the highest standards. There is plenty the sport itself cannot control, but much it can, too.

I am not suggesting for one moment this is a scandalous example.

However, little things can make a big difference, and they are easily delivered.

Weekend ante-post thoughts, double-entry information and going/weather latest

Given the disappointing five-day entry numbers for ITV’s eight races on Saturday (see below), the current prices and the likelihood of most of the fields standing up well, I don’t see any need to get involved ante-post at the moment.

If that changes, I will post a fresh article on the site on Wednesday.

It is not a great weekend of racing to be honest.

I certainly am not having a bet at this stage, though AKBets have priced up all eight contests if you want to have a dabble.

I strongly suspect you will get similar, if not better, odds come the weekend, without the worry of a no-show beforehand, which obviously means you have done your cash in cold blood.

But I have included the all-important double-entered horses below and the latest going and weather reports for all three ITV Saturday tracks.

Four of the eight races don’t have any double-entered horses, and the others have very few, so the fields could well stand up.

They will need to, as six of the eight races are already below their maximum-field size.

And, as we all know, the draw at Chester and Beverley (though not for the reasons you probably suspect, eh, Mike Quigley?) can be crucial, and the same applies to Sandown to a certain extent, too.

I am happy to wait until Friday morning when I am in possession of the full facts. If that changes, I will tweet and post accordingly.

Good luck.

WEEKEND GOING/WEATHER DETAILS

BEVERLEY

GOING: Good to firm, good in places

WATERING: “Irrigating overnight to replace moisture lost through the day”

WEATHER:  Light showers Tuesday and Wednesday, then dry

SANDOWN (two-day meeting, starting Friday)

GOING – Round: Good, good to soft in places: Straight: good to soft

WEATHER:  Dry until showers on Saturday

CHESTER

GOING: Good to firm, good in places

WATERING: “Will water if necessary”

WEATHER:  Maybe 8mm Tuesday/Wednesday then largely dry

DOUBLE ENTRIES FOR SATURDAY’S ITV RACES

1.30pm Beverley (only seven entries for a maximum possible field of 12): None

2.05pm Beverley (11 entries; 17 maximum field): None

1.50pm Sandown: Cuban Tiger, Documenting, Glenfinnan, Yanifer

2.25pm Sandown (15 entries; 17 maximum field): Bright Thunder, Empress Of Beauty (Tipperary, Sunday)

3pm Sandown (15 entries; 17 maximum field): None

3.35pm Sandown (15 entries; 16 maximum field): Angel Hunter

2.40pm Chester:  Boardman, Spirit Genie, Yanifer

3.15pm Chester (13 entries; 14 maximum field): None