The effect of no crowd in March

[Penzance]

Rather than this being a form thread this is more of a psychological thread. I have been thinking about this a lot recently and having a (little) bit of professional knowledge into sports psychology have formed my own thoughts.

As we know down the years there have bee horses that have not liked the big occasion and you’ve had a sense before the race starts you’ve done your money. Also there are the horses that absolutely love it the show offs.

My interest though is more in the jockeys and the effect that the roar and the cheer as the horses come up the hill will have. Will that adrenaline be the same? It won’t be far off but may dip 5-10% subconsciously and will lead to fewer mistakes going round. The races will be raced with slightly less emotion subconsciously.

So what does this mean? For me I think it will mean more of the supposed bomb proof horses winning. I suppose the biggest example to me would be that I don’t think Annie Power would’ve fell in 2015 and the 4 timer would’ve been made. Obviously can’t prove it but that is my opinion.

I think there will be fewer surprises this year.

just wondering others thoughts and whether I’ve read it wrong?

[Nortons who]

As you suggest, I think the lack of a crowd will have far greater impact on the horses than the jockeys, especially to those horses which can get revved up by the roar etc. IMO for example Notebook will hopefully be calmer this year but whether that will translate into a better performance, who knows.

However there are a few jockeys who seem to play to the crowd more than others, whether that is just post race I'm not sure but possibly the likes of Davy Russell could be more subdued than normal. Ruby often used to stand up going over the line when winning. Would he have still done that without a crowd, maybe but I doubt it would in anyway affect his approach to actually riding the race.

Just a thought but has anyone suggested to Cheltenham that they could play crowd noises over the tannoy (as per footie commentary on TV) so that the horses think there is a crowd present? I doubt the jockeys would benefit but you never know...

[robith]

They should make a WWE style Thunderdome

[Quevega]

I think it won't make a great deal of difference as there will still be people on course.
And instead of a few thousand shouting, the horse will just hear the odd twat shouting instead.
Could actually be more off putting.

Lets face it.
Shouting a horse home is moronic.
Although I obviously do it myself on occasions.

[Istabraq]

I haven’t given up all hope of there being crowds of some sort, sure there won’t be 70,000 but some people in attendance would create some sort of atmosphere...

[Big Bucks]

I think it won't make a great deal of difference as there will still be people on course.
And instead of a few thousand shouting, the horse will just hear the odd twat shouting instead.
Could actually be more off putting.

Lets face it.
Shouting a horse home is moronic.
Although I obviously do it myself on occasions.

I dont mind shouting and cheering on a winner! But speaking of twats, it reminds me of a guy when I was in the stand at the Punchestown festival a few years ago, and he litterally cheered every single horse on in the race once he seen was going well or looked the likely winner, high fiving and hugging people next to him as if he had made a fortune when the eventual winner crossed the line! BALLBAG! (Fair play to him if he was on the wind up to get to people like me haha but he genuinely did seem like he was trying to be the centre of attention to look great having the winner)

[Istabraq]

I dont mind shouting and cheering on a winner! But speaking of twats, it reminds me of a guy when I was in the stand at the Punchestown festival a few years ago, and he litterally cheered every single horse on in the race once he seen was going well or looked the likely winner, high fiving and hugging people next to him as if he had made a fortune when the eventual winner crossed the line! BALLBAG! (Fair play to him if he was on the wind up to get to people like me haha but he genuinely did seem like he was trying to be the centre of attention to look great having the winner)

They appear everywhere BB, not limited to Punchestown I assure you...

[robith]

I dont mind shouting and cheering on a winner! But speaking of twats, it reminds me of a guy when I was in the stand at the Punchestown festival a few years ago, and he litterally cheered every single horse on in the race once he seen was going well or looked the likely winner, high fiving and hugging people next to him as if he had made a fortune when the eventual winner crossed the line! BALLBAG! (Fair play to him if he was on the wind up to get to people like me haha but he genuinely did seem like he was trying to be the centre of attention to look great having the winner)

I remember that 2018 Champion Chase being unable to help myself and saying "Come on Douvan!" as he was travelling like a dream. But after that one utterance it was very clear literally everyone was balls deep in Altior so I shut up pretty quickly!

[Kevloaf]

Rather than this being a form thread this is more of a psychological thread. I have been thinking about this a lot recently and having a (little) bit of professional knowledge into sports psychology have formed my own thoughts.

As we know down the years there have bee horses that have not liked the big occasion and you’ve had a sense before the race starts you’ve done your money. Also there are the horses that absolutely love it the show offs.

My interest though is more in the jockeys and the effect that the roar and the cheer as the horses come up the hill will have. Will that adrenaline be the same? It won’t be far off but may dip 5-10% subconsciously and will lead to fewer mistakes going round. The races will be raced with slightly less emotion subconsciously.

So what does this mean? For me I think it will mean more of the supposed bomb proof horses winning. I suppose the biggest example to me would be that I don’t think Annie Power would’ve fell in 2015 and the 4 timer would’ve been made. Obviously can’t prove it but that is my opinion.

I think there will be fewer surprises this year.

just wondering others thoughts and whether I’ve read it wrong?

Very interesting.

I'd love it to be true.

As an ante post player, the more favourites that end up winning, the better it'll be.

The more favourites win is also better for 'on the day' punters too of course...

[EnvoyAllen]

I haven’t given up all hope of there being crowds of some sort, sure there won’t be 70,000 but some people in attendance would create some sort of atmosphere...

Istabraq Sir,

I do not wish to dampen your enthusiasm (as I too am gutted I can’t be there this year), but there will not be a soul from the public gaining entry 7 weeks today.

A few people asked if I’d be prepared to lay my odds of “Envoi Allen not running in the King George” at 50/1 yesterday, despite him being a stand out ante post favourite currently.

Well, I’d be prepared to offer double that and more, that not a single paying member, with membership or without, will be allowed to attend the festival in 7 weeks time.

No sporting precedent in England will be even be contemplated until after Easter. At the earliest. It’s a guarantee.

I look forward to my week down there every single year. This year though, it’ll be at home for each and every one of us punters.

[charlie]

Psychological factors affecting equine performance - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3514365/

I think this is really interesting.

[Kevloaf]

Psychological factors affecting equine performance - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3514365/

I think this is really interesting.

Can you pick out the good bits?

In this fast-food culture of instant gratification I want someone to do the work for me

[Lobos]

Can you pick out the good bits?

In this fast-food culture of instant gratification I want someone to do the work for me

I think that's a sign of someone who needs psychological help.

[charlie]

Can you pick out the good bits?

In this fast-food culture of instant gratification I want someone to do the work for me

It's very interesting re Dressage horses but less so for race horses ffs

One point stood out though on ‘flightiness’ - we know crowds and noise get horses buzzed up which can be detrimental to their chances, but this says it may be a generally advantageous thing specific to racehorse performance - it read it as if crowds and noise 'gets them pumped up for the big day' type of thing.