Fairyhouse puts on great show

Sir, – Last weekend’s Winter Festival at Fairyhouse included some top-class racing. I would like to compliment At The Races on their excellent coverage of Sunday’s card.

Gary O’Brien and Kevin Blake are two top-class presenters. Both were ably assisted by Mick Fitzgerald in the parade ring doing pre- and post-race interviews.

What a pity that RTE has chosen in its wisdom to drop this particular meeting from its schedule.

Perhaps if Fairyhouse chose to play some rugby in the parade ring during races we might get the meeting back on terrestrial television. – Yours etc.,

DECLAN O’CONNELL,

Lakeside Park,

Newbridge,

Co Kildare.

Blowing in the wind

Sir, – I was pleased to read the report of Mark Costello about the imminent introduction of the new GPS system that will “provide the racing public and professionals with a wealth of information on track performances including speed attained, distance covered and sectional times” (The Irish Field, November 26th, page A4).

However, there is a vital piece missing from this new technological package. On a windy day, most of the data will be rendered irrelevant without the addition of a wind gauge.

A wind gauge is a simple, inexpensive tube that measures the wind speed in metres per second. These devices have been in widespread use in athletics for decades.

The significant figure with a wind gauge is a positive reading of two metres or more per second, and with such readings athletic records are not deemed valid for straight sprint races, long jump, et cetera.

If logic were to apply, a similar rule should be adopted in horse racing for straight sprint races. It’s fair to suspect that many of the sprint record times in racing were wind-assisted.

Had I written this letter a year ago, I would have suggested that a wind gauge would only have relevance for straight races. However, with the imminent introduction of sectional times, the wind gauge will be important for all races, as it could explain a particularly fast or slow early part of a race. (No need for two devices: if the reading is +2 on the finishing straight, it must be -2 on the back straight).

I honestly cannot understand how wind gauges can be such an integral part of athletics and, yet, are not in use in horse racing.

Those who administer racing are accustomed to dealing with weighty, complex matters. Perhaps they have some difficulty in understanding and adopting a simple idea. - Yours etc.,

RICHARD BRABAZON

Rangers Lodge

The Curragh

Co Kildare

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