October
JanuarySafe option
Why does Racing Victoria object to Melbourne Racing Club holding the Grand Nationals at Caulfield?
If it is on safety grounds they are barking up the wrong tree.
From 1958 until they ceased having them, I hardly missed a jumps race at Caulfield and saw no horses badly injured.
Caulfield was by far the safest course in Melbourne, rivalled in Victoria only by Casterton.
I believe this was due mainly to the even placement of the jumps, made possible by the configuration of the course, which made it easier for the horses to get into a rhythm. The relatively flat terrain also helped.
Although a lot of jumps racing enthusiasts seem to like hills on jumps courses, I strongly believe they have casued nearly as many deaths as the actual jumps. The percentage of horses that have injured forelegs on downhill sections of track would seem to confirm this.
However, I do believe the problem would not be as bad if horses were subjected to far more stringent veterinary checks before being allowed to race over jumps.
Many jumpers are carrying a lot of wear and tear caused in their early careers on the flat.
By his reply to an interviewer on Sport 927 last season, when asked why Some Are Bent and Black And Bent started jumping as three-year-olds, Robert Smerdon obviously agrees.
Frankston (Vic)