Non-standard race times to be trialled in February 2020

[Derek27]

I'm sure it would work if they made more of an effort to get races off on time, more staff, better communications and somebody charged with organising the start, if not the starter. There just doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency.

[firlandsfarm]

I'm sure it would work if they made more of an effort to get races off on time, more staff, better communications and somebody charged with organising the start, if not the starter. There just doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency.

That has always been my point Derek ... it's a typical case of those that make the rules and those that apply the rules not talking to each other!

[ANGELS15]

I'm sure it would work if they made more of an effort to get races off on time, more staff, better communications and somebody charged with organising the start, if not the starter. There just doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency.

That has always been my point Derek ... it's a typical case of those that make the rules and those that apply the rules not talking to each other!

How is it they always seem to go off to time in Australia? Or at least the vast majority of them do.

[Naffman]

I'm sure it would work if they made more of an effort to get races off on time, more staff, better communications and somebody charged with organising the start, if not the starter. There just doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency.

That has always been my point Derek ... it's a typical case of those that make the rules and those that apply the rules not talking to each other!

How is it they always seem to go off to time in Australia? Or at least the vast majority of them do.

They start loading into the barriers about 60-90 seconds before the scheduled start, plus it seems horses go into the stalls a lot easier

[Derek27]

I'm sure it would work if they made more of an effort to get races off on time, more staff, better communications and somebody charged with organising the start, if not the starter. There just doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency.

That has always been my point Derek ... it's a typical case of those that make the rules and those that apply the rules not talking to each other!

How is it they always seem to go off to time in Australia? Or at least the vast majority of them do.

When I was late for work I'd come up with all sorts of excuses for it but my boss would say, just get up earlier!

[firlandsfarm]

How much do they pay these people who organise meeting cards? Today we had non-standard race times of 15:35, 15:39, 15:43, 15:50 when 15:35, 15:40, 15:45, 15:50 would have been the "standard" race times!! Yeah, they were non-standard because they didn't spread the race time out evenly

[Naffman]

It's incredibly poorly run

[dt888]

Today we have just the one race as non standard, the 15.52 at Warwick. All the other 5 minute gaps seem to be acceptable today, but not that one.. I think changing that single race time though is a stroke of genius and will obviously allow the afternoon to run without a hitch!

[arbitrage16]

Been really happy with these non-standard times, not always perfect but having a 7 minute gap is far better, especially on the jumps.

[firlandsfarm]

Been really happy with these non-standard times, not always perfect but having a 7 minute gap is far better, especially on the jumps.

But we have always had non-standard race times, it's nothing new ... when was the last time you saw races going 'off' on time?!

[MAGTRADEUK]

dont think it will work any better,. horses dont wear watches.

[arbitrage16]

Been really happy with these non-standard times, not always perfect but having a 7 minute gap is far better, especially on the jumps.

But we have always had non-standard race times, it's nothing new ... when was the last time you saw races going 'off' on time?!

Yep, so with 7 minutes instead of 5 between races, it's fairly clear which approach is better at avoiding clashes

[firlandsfarm]

Yep, so with 7 minutes instead of 5 between races, it's fairly clear which approach is better at avoiding clashes

Sorry, can't agree ... it all depends on what time a race actually starts and finishes ... the scheduled time is irrelevant unless it coincidentally is the same as the start time. A two minute difference in the gap between races is useless if the race starts 3 minutes late ... unless all races start 3 minutes late!

[dt888]

The whole thing just seems bizarre the way they have gone about it. Surely the first step should have been to get races off on time before introducing any other changes. Then these changes could have been looked at if step one was successful.

It seems a lazy way to try and address the problem. Then you get these strange instances of just one race being a non standard time today, or the other day when leaving it at the normal time would have been a 5 minute gap and the non standard time made it a 2 minute gap!

[arbitrage16]

Yep, so with 7 minutes instead of 5 between races, it's fairly clear which approach is better at avoiding clashes

Sorry, can't agree ... it all depends on what time a race actually starts and finishes ... the scheduled time is irrelevant unless it coincidentally is the same as the start time. A two minute difference in the gap between races is useless if the race starts 3 minutes late ... unless all races start 3 minutes late!

So by your logic it's better to have less time between races to avoid clashes. Riiight. You've just cherry picked a random example to make your point which is a terribly flawed method of argumentation. All courses try to get their races off on time. Indeed, they have a competition to find who is the best at it. Giving them more time between races is obviously helpful in avoiding clashes.

No wonder you can't tell which way the market is going.