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What should happen to this year's Classics?

Let's talk about... Classic conundrum - what should happen to the Guineas and the Derby?

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Thu April 09, 2020 · 5y ago

Jockey Club Racecourses have announced that the Classics will be rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic but what is the best course of action? Ben Linfoot and David Ord have their say and we want you to have yours too.

Ben Linfoot has his say on this subject and now we want your feedback. What do you think should happen to the 2020 Classics? Check out details of how to contact us towards the foot of the article.

Ben Linfoot – The 2020 Classics*

There will come a time when we can justify racing horses again. That time is not now and it doesn’t feel like it will be any time soon, either, but there will be a time. And when it comes racing will face major challenges, like all other sports across the spectrum.

One of them is the scheduling of racing’s marquee events.

The Classics; the Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St Leger have been spread across the calendar, from late April and early May to September, for hundreds of years, positioned as they are to account for certain stages of a three-year-old horse’s maturity.

Shifting these dates, even for one year, is not ideal. But if we want the record books to show we had Classic winners in 2020, something that is crucial to the breed and the industry, then postponing the dates until we can race is a must.

It’s a challenge, as the race planning team at the BHA will not only have to find alternative dates for the Classics, but a revised programme of key trials and, in some cases, different venues, as well.

Epsom, like York, is on land that the public have free access to by law. A behind-closed-doors Derby at Epsom seems impossible so an alternative venue looks the only way forward. At this stage, also, it’s hard to envisage an overseas challenge for either the Guineas or the Derby.

But is it even a Guineas or a Derby if it’s not run on its intended date in the calendar, at its intended venue, and without an Irish challenge?

Is it conceivable to run the Investec Derby or Oaks without the cream of the middle-distance bloodstock world being able to run in it? Could we really crown champions at Epsom (or an alternative venue) if the Aidan O'Brien battalion are reduced to watching on enviously from County Tipperary?

Then again the record books would still have a Derby winner's name in them - and it would work both ways. No British runners in the Irish or French equivalents.

They'd be Classics - but not as we know them.

I think most people would agree that something is better than nothing. Of course, the 2020 Classics will have an asterisk next to their name. But that is a better solution than abandoning them altogether and it’s with hope all parties can come together to ensure a delayed, rather than cancelled, programme.

Send us your views

Send your views on what should happen to the 2020 Classics to racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and if you’ve any ideas for more topics you want covering over the coming days and weeks please let us know.

Feedback from readers

Andrew Pelis: Some interesting points raised already.

The bottom line is nobody is in a privileged position to know what the Government's true projections are for the pandemic so we are all second-guessing. But while hundreds of people a day are dying, racing is not even a secondary thought. We talk of history in the sense of racing but racing's place in history should not be one of damnation for behaving irresponsibly in what is an historic moment people hundreds of years from now will be talking about in the same way we recall the Plague. So this needs to be put into context.

Right now there is no guarantee of when we will be back racing. If we are back racing in June, there is the scope to run the Guineas without too adversely affecting other Group One races.

This raises another argument - are there already too many Group One races in the calendar? Do we compromise any of these to fit in the Guineas? In my opinion, if we reach July before a resumption of racing - then no we don't. We suck it up and accept there will be no Guineas. The last Group One mile races of the year exclusive to three year-olds, take place in late June, at Royal Ascot. Thereafter we are into all-age territory. Do we interfere with that?

The composition of a Guineas field is also vastly different to that of the later Classics and it is not just mile races that would be impacted by a later Guineas but also middle distance races and sprints.

There has to be a question mark regarding overseas runners too. For all money, a Guineas winner in such circumstances, at a later date, arguably on a different course and against a depleted field, is forever going to be discredited I am afraid. So for history's sake, I question the value of running the race if we get to July.

For the Derby and Oaks, there is more flexibility in terms of time, but the issue of venue is important if thee is a ban on the public. The three year-old system is such that the step up in trip comes later in the year and there are lots of middle distance options open after the Derby and Oaks, right through to the end of the season. A July Derby would give plenty of later options to its participants and even an August one.

I have no preference for where the Derby and Oaks should be run if Epsom is ruled out on account of the logistics of preventing the public attending on public land. I do feel it should be on a course with a left-hand bend to replicate as much as possible, so would suggest Lingfield.

In terms of the big races lost, I would like to see some of the sponsorship and prize money drawn down into the lower levels of the sport. That would be a big boost for the majority of owners, trainers and horses who do not compete at Group One level.

It would be a fantastic gesture that will keep yards in business and the announcement of such an arrangement would offer some hope at this time.

Jen From BSE: If the classics are run but not at the correct point in the calendar, they will have to be regarded as substitute races. The timing of the race is arguably more important than the venue. Horses mature at different rates and this has been the cornerstone of the classics in the realms of breeding. Anyone doubting this should read Breeding the Racehorse by Federico Tesio.

As Scoop says without the legions of Ballydoyle and the rest of the Irish entourage it would feel very flat although it is also worth pointing out that AOB did not have a single juvenile Group 1 winner last season. At the very least an asterisk would be needed in the record books.

Roddy Owen: The answer to this problem depends on the resumption date and the BHA are going to have to make a decision that might not be totally popular at the time but in hindsight will be universally accepted.

IF we can resume racing in early May, give or take a week, we can essentially postpone the Classics AND Royal Ascot by about three weeks to one month which would have a negligible effect on the perception of 2020 as a Classic year from a historical standpoint. I see no reason why Irish and French horses cannot participate under stringent safety and quarantine protocols. I suspect there would be less interest from the French because of recent precedents and potentially firmer going.

So, resumption begins at Newmarket with a programme similar to the Craven meeting and the Craven Stakes and Nell Gwyn fields will be large because the normal Newbury trial meeting will have been lost. Then a similar programme to previous years will follow. The first two Classics will follow about three weeks later etc. The Derby will be run at Epsom towards the end of June. It is imperative that Royal Ascot has the flexibility to fit in to this timetable and would therefore take place around mid July. Goodwood will be run around the third week of August and York will fall in mid September. The Leger would be run around early October. Looking towards the end of the season and assuming that the French cooperate, The Arc would be run around the end of October. The first meetings will have to be run behind closed doors but I would be optimistic that Goodwood onwards will welcome racing fans. I think fields will be larger and thus more competitive than we have seen in recent years in all the Classics and a win/win situation for everyone.

There is absolutely no reason why Ireland and France could not do something identical.

This is essentially what I believe Andrew Balding was promoting and I was surprised that other large trainers did not strongly support his idea.

Doug: The racing industry as a whole will just have to recalibrate for one year. It's hard to envisage things like mass travel anytime soon so that will surely lead to racing behind closed doors for a sustained period. That could actually be a blessing as race planners can almost ignore the festival calendar e.g. mid May is Dante meeting, Ascot is June and Newmarket July meeting is early may etc. And crucially, with no tickets to sell these could be 10 race cards to accommodate some lost fixtures. The classics can therefore be moved back as required, with the guineas run at ascot (june), derby and oaks at Newmarket (july) and st leger in its usual spot.

It's important they are run from a breeding and history point of view. If run 6 weeks later than meant then that's not too bad. Think the notion that 2yo types win the guineas is a total myth anyway!

Nick Milne: Clearly difficult to suggest any alternative although my view is this. Should Royal Ascot take place behind closed doors as is a possibility then instead of St James Palace and Coronation Stakes run these as replacements for the 1000 and 2000. If racing resumes in May then some trial races could still be possible.

The Derby and Oaks could follow on after Ascot possibly at Newmarket as part of the July festival or at Goodwood perhaps? Whatever happens some prestigious races will I guess be lost along the way and racing is going to have to accept this.

Robert Torrie: Just like to throw this open... Surely if the classic are not run on the same courses . They are not the proper results. I know best horses can run on any track.I think that we do need them . For blood stock purposes. But what do you do...??

David Parker: I have read this article with great interest, I was 10 years old when the Foot and Mouth out break of 1967 hit the country .

I remember horse racing being shut down with the loss of the Massey Ferguson gold cup and the King George on Boxing Day this must have cost the government a colossal amount of money at the time because of the tax on gambling .

I believe the ban on horse racing lasted for two months in some areas and racing slowly started up again .

With regards to the Classics yes it is a shame to possibly loose them ?

My opinion not really, if the worse scenario happened and we lost all the Flat season surely the people who will loose their jobs should be the main concern of the industry.

What could happen is the Classics from this year could be run in 2021 in conjunction with the Classics of 2020 and for three year olds that have missed this season as two year olds

What a season 2021 would be .

The owners of these potential classic horses would then keep them in training which would keep cash flow going throughout the stables and hopefully keep stable staff in work .

We all hope that the country will get back to normal sooner than later and when it does carry on with the 2020 season as it would happen in a normal season anything that was cancelled just moves over to the following season .

George Goodenough: Perhaps the first question we need to ask is will there be racing in this country this summer? If we don't get back on track til the Autumn, what then? If we try to cram the Guineas and Derby around the Leger, the arc and the QE2 it will give a meaningless set of results which will not help to set the stud fees of the winners. If we get back on track by August then we could cram the Guineas in at the beginning of the month on the July course and use Epsom's Bank holiday meeting for the Derby and Oaks. This would give a compact look to the classics along the lines of the American version. It would not be ideal but would give this season's classic crop a chance to organise the pecking order before going on to the Autumn all age championships in the Britain and Europe with the Breeders Cup after that.

If we lose an entire season then what about running this seasons classics next year for 4yo only, on the same days as the normal classics. It would be a nightmare for the purposes of record keeping but it would give the class of 2020 a chance to establish their place at stud. It's a real headscratcher!

Dave Chapman: I think your last sentence something is better than nothing is very apt, after months without sport and after months of anything but normality it will be great to see sport back it will be even better if nothing is lost to us BUT lets not kid ourselves for all we may have the Classics run in 2020 it just wont be the same. I am not as bothered as some may be on the timings of them, I think we can all agree that The Guineas races are the two that running them later in the year will render them totally different races than is the norm as this will probably take away the advantage early season types may have, and will nullify the skill that the better trainers show year in year out in getting a horse in peak shape so early into the season.

My sadness is in the fact that the English Irish and French prob wont meet after all the great thing about our classics is the fact that often we see the best of the best crossing swords, but hey things are what they are. No my only real disappointment will be if we run The Derby and Oaks away from Epsom, there is no course like Epsom and The Derby has always been seen as the ultimate test of the breed IT HAS TO BE EPSOM FOR ME, I am not as concerned as to where the other 3 classics are run.

I for one do not know how we will get all the best races in though as this looks like being a very short season indeed, that said I think we are going to be inundated with top class sport as my fav sports Racing Football Rugby League and Golf have a bundle of catching up to do, my wife says I watch far to much sport as it is, after the avalanche of sport we are going to get I am expecting a visit to the divorce courts by the end of the year.