Going to start??

I am sure i have asked this question before .

Why do eg horses in SA and Kranji etc go down to the start about 15 mins before the race and spend 10 mins behind the pens walking in circles before being loaded

Vs

Uk where they leave parade ring with 5 mins to go , get to front of pens then go behind and load

Any reason or difference for the horses

Maybe just traditional....or it gives the punters a chance to bet on the horses based on the way they go down. The old days there was a jockey who used to phone his punters while they were ringing behind the stalls, maybe it was to give him time...

I don't think the amount of time before loading is as critical as the time taken to load that needs to be looked at. Week in and week out you see jocks having a go at the handlers at the start....the order in which they are loading, the amount of time standing and waiting for a horse to load.... to me it looks like general incompetence.

Should be three tries with a horse and by that i do not mean 10 people trying to get it into a gate and then scratch the horse and fine the trainer R5000. Any problems with loading the wrong horses first etc. fine the Starter and handlers R5000. Problem with the false rail fine the responsible stipe on the day R40 000

If a trainer knows their horse is troublesome then send the horses groom down to the start..... but wait what am i saying? That there is one micro-gram of forward thinking in racing in SA......nope

... and the pace of the UK horses going to the pens is as fast as the pace of the Cape Crawl.

Mac wrote: ... and the pace of the UK horses going to the pens is as fast as the pace of the Cape Crawl.

Correct Mac....but that is because it is so bloody cold there they REALLY need to warm the horses up.