NATIONAL Hunt trainers will tell you fast ground is a ‘welfare issue’ for jumps horses. Who am I to argue against them?
It’s a very dangerous claim, though, and many racing TV presenters and journalists are happy just to repeat the assertion without backing it up with any facts.
PACaptain Teague won a walkover last week after his rivals were withdrawn because of ‘quick’ ground[/caption]
Added to all that, it’s not just fast ground we are talking about. Many are suggesting anything faster than good to soft is a welfare issue. Wow.
The ground at Exeter last Friday, where we ended up with an embarrassing walkover for Captain Teague, was ‘good’. The times were slow. Yet horses were pulled out left, right and centre and “welfare” was given as the reason for what ended up a desperate card.
The main issue here is if you say “welfare” any trainer who runs their horse on ground quicker than on the easy side is presumably one that doesn’t care about their horses. People, you have to think about what you are saying. Just say your horse needs soft ground.
Maybe people think they will avoid fines for not running horses if they use the “welfare” line.
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It got me thinking about what some call the good old days, although again I can’t prove they were good. Maybe back in the day people just commented less.
Let’s think about an extreme case in Mr Frisk, the fastest Grand National winner of all time. Kim Bailey’s star landed the Aintree showpiece in 1999 under excellent amateur Marcus Armytage.
The race was run on firm ground and 20 horses happily finished. No one seemed concerned about fast ground over fences which, back then, were proper fences, not like the pathetic obstacles raced over in the Sefton at the weekend, which are easier to jump than hurdles and, to be quite honest, an embarrassment.
Prior to his National success some of Mr Frisk’s successes including a win on good to firm at Exeter, firm at Carlisle, good to firm at Doncaster (twice), good to firm at Ascot (twice) and Sandown, in the then classy Anthony Mildmay, Peter Cazalet Chase. After the National he banged in the Whitbread on good to firm.
Now, of course, some of you will immediately say that’s an extreme example. But even with that view, the fast ground was no welfare issue for Mr Frisk.
Just in case you think Mr Frisk was alone, let’s dig deeper into some of the best jumps horses we have seen.
David Elsworth’s Desert Orchid its not an extreme example. He won the Gold Cup in horrible mud and was one of the most popular jumps horses of all time.
‘Dessie’ won many races on firm ground, and it was good to firm when he landed the 1988 Whitbread and King George. It did him no harm at all.
Another chaser you may remember from that period was John Spearing’s Run And Skip. Lots of form on good to firm.
Even the ‘Duke’ David Nicholson scored with the quality Very Promising on good to firm at Cheltenham in 1986, and Josh Gifford’s legend Deep Sensation was often at his best on fast ground.
He finished up at Aintree on good to firm in 1995, when second to Viking Flagship in one of the best Melling Chase’s of all time. They all survived the experience.
Deep Sensation had no issue winning at Cheltenham and Aintree on good to firm in 1993, and at Ascot on the same surface in 1992. He was second at Cheltenham in 1989 on firm and ninth on good to firm in the 1990 Champion Hurdle won by Kribensis.
Behind the scenes in the 1970s, 80s and 90s were horses being lost all over the place because of fast ground? I can’t tell you. But it at least must get people to question what’s different now, and is it anything to do with welfare?
According to Sandown supremo and clerk of the course Andrew Cooper, racecourses have been watering since the 1960s and more intensely than ever now under strict directives from the BHA.
Have we just created a weakened breed? Quite possibly.
Did trainers back in the day have hardened horses used to galloping up fast turf gallops rather than artificial ones? Quite possibly.
Is fast ground a welfare issue? History says not.
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