Time to phase out the mixed cards

Roscommon hosted a two-day fixture this week featuring the listed Lenebane Stakes over a mile and a half on Monday and while the torrential rain left the action clouded in some doubt, perhaps it would be better for trainers and jockeys especially, if mixed meetings like this were phased out. Currently, the format of three flat races and four national hunt races does not make sense and it doesn"t do much for the ground either, especially when the weather is unpredictable. As I have said in the past, I think the day for having mixed cards is gone and of no benefit to any of us. If all the flat racing was on one day and an all jumping on the other, then it would make much more economic sense for all the professionals taking part, not to mention the benefit we would attain from having a dedicated track for each code. Racecourse executives will tell you that they need to have mixed meetings as they are the most profitable, but I disagree. I think that day is gone, especially since At The Races have beamed the action to our screens in recent years. In this particular case when the weather looked like playing a big part in proceedings, a full flat card on Monday would have left the Tuesday free for jumping and they would have been better able to cope with the predominantly NH conditions that could have called for an abandonment in flat racing. Roscommon did their utmost to race on Monday to avoid any possibility of losing the valuable Listed race that is their biggest flat race of the season. This time last year we had the very same scenario and you have to have sympathy for the Roscommon Executive with the way the weather has turned out again. Looking forward to an excting week ahead, all the focus will be on Newmarket for the famous July meeting from Wednesday to Friday. Wednesday will feature the UAE Hydra Properties Falmouth Stakes (Group 1) for fillies and mares over one mile with the Darley July Cup (Group 1) over six furlongs the hightlight on Friday. The backup card for the meeting is very attractive with some great prizes to run for and, at the moment, I intend to have a runner on Wednesday and Thursday. Dohasa has been declared to run on Wednesday in the six-furlong Toteswinger Stakes handicap worth £100,000 for three-year-olds. A prize like this is not to be sneezed at for the money, but more importantly as it is confined to three-year-olds. Here in Ireland we just do not have races for this type of horse as we do not have a good sprint programme. We have sprints for older horses, but there are none solely for three-year-olds and it is very hard for horses like Dohasa to take on older horses at this stage of their career. Yet, it is imperative that a three-year-old learns how to sprint, so the only way for horses rated as high as Dohasa to improve is to travel to the UK and hope that they can be competitive. Dohasa has a hard task off top weight and is drawn 16, but he is very well and I would hope that he can finish in the money. Both Johnny Murtagh and myself feel that sprinters are a bit lost at three, but they need as much experience as possible so that at four they can compete with the British horses that invariably come over and raid our big pots! On Thursday I hope to run Fiery Lad in the Bahrain Trophy Stakes (Listed) over one mile and five furlongs, agin for three-year-olds only. Fiery Lad has been a revelation this season in the way that he has improved and we were all very impressed with the way he quickened up to win his last race at Navan. Unfortunately, the handicapper was equally, if not more, impressed and he duly raised him 14 pounds for his efforts. Thursday"s contest represents a huge jump up in class for Fiery Lad, but the fact that it is a three-year-old only event attracted me, otherwise he would have been running at Naas conceding weight all round. There are two or three horses in this race that we are wrong at the weights with, but I feel the conditions will suit us. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by running. Looking at this race over the last 10 years tells me that I am very much up against it as only two horses rated in the 90s have won. Back in 2006 Youmzain won off a rating of 113 and he has since finished second in the Arc behind Dylan Thomas and also won a Group 1 event in France last week. The Falmouth is the main race on Wednesday and 12 have been declared for this Group 1 including the Jim Bolger-trained Finsceal Beo. This fantastic mare ran way below par last time out at the Curragh in the Pretty Polly Stakes when she was reported to have been clinically abnormal post-race. Before that race I was worried that she had endured a couple of very hard races and that maybe she would hit the wall. I believe it was as simple as that, however the fact that her trainer is pulling her out again so soon suggest that she must have recovered well and is back firing on all cylinders. But for me, she has had a very busy season and I would leave her alone here. My call would be that Darjina from France could win as the form of her Queen Anne (Group 1) run at Royal Ascot is working out favourably as Mount Nelson won the Eclipse Stakes (Group 1) last Saturday after finishing behind her previously. Sir Michael Stoute"s Heaven Sent will enjoy the stiff mile here and was second in the Windsor Forest Stakes (Group 2) when just caught on the line by Sabana Perdida at Royal Ascot. However, Heaven Sent will need to improve to beat the French horse, but won"t be far away. The Darley July Cup (Friday) features all the big guns, but, if by some freak it rains and turns soft, then Richard Fahey"s Utmost Respect is reputed to be flying and is regarded as a genuine Group 1 performer on soft ground. If the ground is fast then whatever beats Kingsgate Native will win. This Mujadil colt won a Group 1 as a juvenile at York and last month won the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot beating most of his likely opposition later this week in the process. Racing at home this weekend is at the Curragh where the Darley Irish Oaks (Group 1) takes centre stage with a good supporting card. There are two Group 3 races on Saturday and one on Sunday along with a Listed race and €120,000 handicap. At the moment the ground is soft and unless we have a dramatic change in the weather I don"t expect it to get any better. There is also racing at Dundalk on Saturday and this is a very unfortunate clash of meetings. There are enough flat jockeys to cover one flat meeting, but we are always badly stretched when there is a double meeting although the authorities will claim that it is a good opportunity for the 'lesser" riders to have a full book while owners and trainers will claim that it is expensive enough to train a horse without taking unnecessary risks on the day of the race! For what its worth, I think these clashes are unnecessary and avoidable at the programming stage and should be avoided if at all possible. Visit the Ger Lyons website: www.gerlyons.ie