The Lemon Fool

Although I wouldn’t describe myself as a racing enthusiast I do enjoy the odd flutter now and then. But whilst the times of horse races always used to be to the nearest five minutes – e.g. 1:45, 2:30 and so on, many of them are now peculiarly precise. For example, this afternoon there is the 1:42 at Kelso and the 3:32 at Newbury.

The races I watch hardly ever set off on time, and are often several minutes late, so DAK what’s the purpose of issuing such precise start times?

To fit better with Sky or other broadcasters?

It's certainly the case with soccer; I believe the ref will often wait for a nod from a producer before blowing for kick off.

It could also account for the race not starting on time if there happened to be an ad break which the broadcaster wants to finish before cutting to the race.

Clitheroekid wrote:Although I wouldn’t describe myself as a racing enthusiast I do enjoy the odd flutter now and then. But whilst the times of horse races always used to be to the nearest five minutes – e.g. 1:45, 2:30 and so on, many of them are now peculiarly precise. For example, this afternoon there is the 1:42 at Kelso and the 3:32 at Newbury.

The races I watch hardly ever set off on time, and are often several minutes late, so DAK what’s the purpose of issuing such precise start times?

Purely speculation here: could it be that a race's time/venue combo, as a race identifier, is similar to name/surname? In which case having more "names" would reduce confusion, like you would have if you had a class full of schoolmates where the kids shared only five names? Just a thought. C.

The reason for having start times that are not multiples of five minutes is that it makes it less likely that races at different courses will clash with each other. The "industry", particularly the bookmakers, prefers it if there is only one live race showing at a time. On some Saturdays there would be as many as six race meetings in the UK and two in Ireland, combine this with the all too frequent late starts to races it leads to even further delays (which cascades throughout the day's meetings).

Non-standard times were introduced in October 2020. From the British Horseracing Authority's website:

"The decision aims to provide more flexibility through periods of congestion and avoid clashes and delayed races. Non-standard race times also minimise the need for on-the-day changes, giving more clarity for broadcasters and racing’s customers."

https://www.britishhorseracing.com/press_releases/non-standard-race-times-to-be-introduced-permanently-from-1-october-2020/

The big meetings will still start on multiples of five minutes, it's the smaller meetings where you see this more often.

Thanks in particular to Salvor Hardin for the perfect answer to my question. I’d obviously tried googling for the answer, but without success, so it’s always gratifying to discover that individual knowledge can still trump a search engine!

Clitheroekid wrote:Thanks in particular to Salvor Hardin for the perfect answer to my question. I’d obviously tried googling for the answer, but without success, so it’s always gratifying to discover that individual knowledge can still trump a search engine!

A case of misspent youth. Instead of studying hard and reading The Racing Post in my teenage years, I should have been practicing my darts and snooker.

Funnily enough I had an interest in the 1.42 at Kelso today, as I own shares in Pentland Hills who was running in that race. He pulled up. It's a mugs game

In addition to SH's response, there are many further factors that can affect whether races actually start 'on time'. Firstly horses are unpredictable and delays may occur during the parading of the horses prior to the race and during the horses cantering to the start. Delays can occur because a horse gets 'upset' and/or 'plays up'. Horses may well 'take charge' of the jockey and become impossible to control. Horses buck and on occasions decant the jockey both in the parade ring, on the way to the start and finally at the start. Also, a horse may lose a shoe and need to be replated by a farrier, a stirrup may snap etc. Also in flat races some horses become fractious during the process of loading the stalls - in particular with young horses (2 year olds) that are racing for the first time at a racecourse. There are various other factors but CK I am sure you get the drift - horses are half a ton of horseflesh with a small gal/guy on top.

This is a very recent policy change brought in by the British Horseracing Authority in 2020. It is a measure to squeeze in as many races as possible - particularly on Saturday whilst at the same time attempting to minimise the overlapping of races - with the express intent of betting turnover maximisation. Since 1/1/24 the concept of premierisation has been introduced in order to reduce the number of races run during the key tv viewing period of 14.00 to 16.00 - this will have further ramifications to race start times. I will stop there as I can feel that some Fools are nodding off to sleep.

T7

SalvorHardin wrote:

Clitheroekid wrote:Thanks in particular to Salvor Hardin for the perfect answer to my question. I’d obviously tried googling for the answer, but without success, so it’s always gratifying to discover that individual knowledge can still trump a search engine!

A case of misspent youth. Instead of studying hard and reading The Racing Post in my teenage years, I should have been practicing my darts and snooker.

Funnily enough I had an interest in the 1.42 at Kelso today, as I own shares in Pentland Hills who was running in that race. He pulled up. It's a mugs game

Stable largely out of form and PH possibly not fully fit.
T7

SalvorHardin wrote:Funnily enough I had an interest in the 1.42 at Kelso today, as I own shares in Pentland Hills who was running in that race. He pulled up. It's a mugs game

If it's any consolation I had a bet on Brucio in the precisely timed 14:17 at Kelso. I had high hopes, but he (literally) fell at the first hurdle, so I can only agree with your assessment!

Aged 18 I worked for a year of so in a betting shop.

It taught me loads, in particular not to bet on the horses, let alone on the dogs!