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[RC] What's in a Name (was: 'Grand Prix' style, etc.) - Patti

From: Steph Teeter < stephteeter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [RC]   What's in a Name (was: 'Grand Prix' style, etc.)


for clarity's sake, the competition was not stopped 30 minutes after
the first finisher. Any rider that was still on  course was allowed
to finish that loop.  From the results, there's a 90 minute  time
difference between first and last riders to cross the finish line.
Riders that were on loop 6 rode to the finish and stopped. Riders
that were on loop 5 rode to vetgate 5 and stopped.



Interesting. The concept of "Grand Prix" is very European and French -  http://www.france-galop.com/PROMO/Histo06gb.htm
 
But perhaps some of the organizers have their background in auto racing? The question of "completion" vs "non-completion" is easily solved by applying one of the Le Mans rules -  "the requirement that cars complete 70% of the distance covered by the winner. A car failing to complete this number of laps, even if it finished the race, was not deemed worthy of classification due to the poor reliability or speed." though this is complicated by requiring the finish line to be crossed after 24 hours of elapsed time from the start.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans  Wouldn't get John his turtle award, either.
 
Someone did sometime back (Truman?) bring up the idea of a 24 hour race with distance covered determining the winner. Of course, this might mean the front runners would have to repeat the final loops - boring for the riders but simplifies life for the media/spectators. Even the start could be spiced up for the media by using the old Le Mans start - horses tied along a rail and the riders required to run across the road, untie and mount up.
 
How much is it a test of the horse/rider vs satisfying media sponsors?
It's starting to sound a bit like reality TV (where a rider dropped dead yesterday while loading his horse - who happened to be named "911" - into a trailer during the "Extreme Cowboy Race") instead of endurance.  I'm glad I'm in the US of A where a senior citizen wannabee can still aspire to train for "to finish is to win".
 
Patti K
Vail AZ