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Thread: Kempton Park under threat

  1. #21
    Senior Member Grey's Avatar
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    Actually this proposal is a disgrace. Most of you are being too nice, there should be outrage.

    The King George is usually the most exciting chase to watch all season, bar none. Desert Orchid and Kauto Star made their hall of fame reputations there. There have been many other epic performances from the likes of Captain Christy, Harchibald, Long Run. It is a track that brings out the best in horses and produces great racing.

    The track is owned by the very body which is supposed to care most about such things.

  2. #22
    Senior Member granger's Avatar
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    It is never good to see a big racecourse go under - in years to come money will be gone (wasted to a high %) and only memories will live

    Losing the Phoenix Park racecourse was a shame too
    Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done

  3. #23
    Senior Member an capall's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by granger View Post
    Losing the Phoenix Park racecourse was a shame too
    Too soon, Granger. Too soon.
    "And still they gazed and still the wonder grew. That one small head could carry all he knew.

    And that small head knew that Impaire Et Passe would win the Champion Hurdle."

  4. #24
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    The only people to benefit are those in Newmarket. Everyone else loses, and in my opinion, racing loses too despite what's being claimed. Great Leighs is down the road so the region doesn't need another AW course.

    I'd imagine very few outside of Newmarket, with connections to Newmarket, or have a financial interest in this would be supporters.

    Other things to consider are its not simply a case of shifting the jumps fixtures to Sandown. The ground at Sandown will only take so much racing if they are to keep their reputation, and simply it could not take the extra fixtures and remain fit for purpose.

    Also the catchment for both courses is roughly forty percent of the population so it can hardly be claimed that the area is overly populated with racecourses despite them only being a few miles apart. Anyway that's irrelevant given they are such different tests.

    I'm with Grey, they should be feeling some backlash over this rather than getting away with the very obvious spin they're putting on it.
    Last edited by Maruco; 10th January 2017 at 6:40 PM.

  5. #25
    Senior Member Euronymous's Avatar
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    Am I right in thinking they use the hurdles course at Sandown for the flat also, so it's always softer? If that's the case they should have the Xmas Hurdle and good novice events elsewhere.

  6. #26
    Super Moderator Diamond Geezer's Avatar
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    Clever cartoon by Darren Bird


  7. #27
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    It's like when generations sell stately homes to cash in. You can see why they do it.

  8. #28
    Senior Member Bonjers's Avatar
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    You've already got district councillors coming out saying they have no intention of working alongside the JC and Redrow. This'll run for a long time before anything actually worthwhile comes out.

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lard View Post
    It's like when generations sell stately homes to cash in. You can see why they do it.
    Must admit, the words 'Kempton' and 'stately home' was a combination I never expected to see.

    I think some of this possibly has its roots in the commercial success of Premiership football, in so far as we're seeing a whole generation of sports adminsitrators seemingly operating in the belief that they too can bring untold riches to their sport if they could just release a few lucrative deals and then back themselves to reinvest this in some slightly nebulous thing called "development". Most usually of course we see it with selling terrestrial television rights to satelitte broadcasters, but racing has alreayd proved they can't turn that particular oil tanker round. They seem to have gone to the next stage now of selling off courses. It's perhaps worth noting that both Cheltenham, and more recently of course Newbury, have both seen off such interest in the past. I wouldn't be so confident that Kempton will
    Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly. _ Harry Limes

  10. #30
    Senior Member Tanlic's Avatar
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    A real shock that the course that hosts one of national hunts most prestiges chases might and probably will be closed and the King George to be moved to Sandown.

    The last time I went to Sandown in 1999 I got the shock of my life. I always loved watching racing there on TV but seeing the place in the flesh was a shock to the system

    The place was a dump and I could only describe it as huge and ugly and in my opinion a disgrace to NH racing. The course itself is fantastic but the facilities were shocking

    The good news for them and the racing public is they are going to give the place a facelift. The bad news is it's the wrong place to be running a King George

    I know Kempton is not an easy 3 miles but it's not as stiff as Sandown which takes some getting when there is cut in the ground.

    The Pendil's and the Wayward Lad's will be replaced by the real staying types and it could become more like a second Gold Cup than a King George.

    I assume that Sandown and Kempton are under the same umbrella and they have some sort of rights to host the King George?

    If it were up to me it would be run at Aintree which would suit the speedy 3 milers much better than Sandown.
    Formely Fist of Fury

  11. #31
    Senior Member Grey's Avatar
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    Kempton and Sandown are owned by Jockey Club Racecourses, but so is Aintree. They own 14 tracks in all:

    http://www.jockeyclubracecourses.com/

  12. #32
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    The leader of Spelthorne BC has come out strongly against the plans for development . It is green belt land and they will have one hell of a struggle to get these plans through . Is it too cynical of me to believe that they have put this in in the tradition of threatening to cut a leg off so that when you lose an arm it is a relief - namely they want to build on the parts of the park no longer in use for racing like the Jubilee course and this will be presented as a splendid compromise saving KP .

    It seems that they may also have been unprepared for the backlash especially from the NH fraternity . Nicky Henderson already reminding JC that
    RHT was set up by his father to save racecourses not to sell them off . Its whole purpose was to save racecourses after the closure of Hurst Park just over the river from Kempton.
    Last edited by Ardross; 10th January 2017 at 10:53 PM.

  13. #33
    Senior Member Bonjers's Avatar
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    The proposals will have virtually no chance of success unless the District Council buy into it and incorporate it within their Local Plan. An application without that allocation would be foolhardy.

    Selling off an asset to supposedly sustain the remaining assets under their ownership is not a material planning consideration.

  14. #34
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    Moreover, Kempton has been laid out as a park since the 12th century , one of the reservoirs is an SSSI - lots of hurdles ! Ahead .

  15. #35
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    I agree with all the negative comments about the decision but if the worst was to happen why let them open an all weather track at Newmarket? Nearly everyone agrees there is too much racing, it would be a perfect opportunity to prune the fixture list with no track losing out apart from Kempton. I would expect Rust & Co to cave in though like they did regards Newcastle.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dante View Post
    I agree with all the negative comments about the decision but if the worst was to happen why let them open an all weather track at Newmarket? Nearly everyone agrees there is too much racing, it would be a perfect opportunity to prune the fixture list with no track losing out apart from Kempton. I would expect Rust & Co to cave in though like they did regards Newcastle.
    What will be pruned is NH racing fixtures...with more and more horrible shitty camel racing in its place. Anything to get the turnaround in races, in between everyone slamming £100 a spin into a roulette machine! Its just a matter of how long NH can survive now.

  17. #37
    Senior Member Grasshopper's Avatar
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    You're as big a drama queen as Nicky Henderson is, you flamer.
    "Beat the price and lose. It's what we do".

    SlimChance, March 2018

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grasshopper View Post
    You're as big a drama queen as Nicky Henderson is, you flamer.
    Musselburgh is the only track in the North thats doing well. The rest are dying on their arse. Tracks can't survive on a couple of hundred people turning up to watch 6 Class 5 races. The ruling body simply don't care about NH racing.

  19. #39
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    Wouldn't be the biggest fan of Hendo, but he's absolutely spot on about this.

  20. #40
    Senior Member Grasshopper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digger View Post
    Musselburgh is the only track in the North thats doing well. The rest are dying on their arse. Tracks can't survive on a couple of hundred people turning up to watch 6 Class 5 races. The ruling body simply don't care about NH racing.
    I'm struggling to see what this has to do with Kempton closing?

    I'd rather the status quo was kept, but if they do go ahead with this, an AW track at Newmarket to replace Kempton, will not sound the death-toll for Jumps racing. Anyone who thinks it does, is being unneccessarily pessimistic.

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