User talk:Zafonic/Archive 1

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Welcome!

Hello Zafonic/Archive 1, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome!  -- Francs2000 20:30, 21 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Racehorse categories[edit]

As a contributor to racehorse articles I would appreciate you taking a look at Category_talk:Racehorses and expressing any views you have regarding Racehorse categories. - Cuddy Wifter 06:29, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hello,

could you please check this article Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, because my english is not very good. Thanks in advance. Historicair 15:18, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks[edit]

Just wanted to thank you for being brave enough to cover this vast subject. I notice Arc De Triomphe entry so far only covers the structure and not the coming-up race. anyway keep it up Trojan horse! Norwikian 10:18, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Category:Horse racing by type[edit]

You did a lot of good work on this but I wonder if the "circa" is appropriate for defining distances. I think they need to be explicit as there is a huge difference when experts and commentators anaylse races even with a difference as little as 1/16 of a mile. Also, as I'm no good at titles, could you perhaps come up with a category for races open to all horses, regardless of sex, for ages 3 & up. (See : Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap, Canadian International Stakes, Breeders' Cup Classic etc. Thanx. Handicapper 15:18, 8 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Thoroughbred horse Infobox template[edit]

Galopin has generously volunteered to help the Wikipedia:WikiProject Thoroughbred racing create an Infobox and has done a great job. Take a look at his talk page (User talk:Galopin#Template tests) for the two choices for the bottom box and those horses where I set up their box today using sample 1. Handicapper 18:10, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Race results tables[edit]

I see where you removed the betting odds column from the table you created at Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. There are others where page lines are doubled because of the betting column. I think this is unnecessay information and should be removed from all tables. Do you agree? Handicapper 18:13, 20 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, I have tried to translate the french wikipedia about Pasquier, but my english is quite bad and poor, so it will be cool if you can verify it on Stéphane Pasquier. Thanks in advance. Historicair 15:25, 6 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Stubs[edit]

Classification Clearly, over 90% of them are stubs. Some of them are long tables, but that does not make it a non-stub article. Per Wikipedia:Stub:

Once a stub has been properly expanded and becomes an article rather than just a stub, you or any editor may remove the stub tag from it. No administration action or formal permission is needed. Be bold in removing stub tags which are clearly no longer applicable.

The example you gave is probably reasonable as an article, but most of these don't actual merit being an article, but a list or table of information (which itself is not very long.) -Justin (koavf)·T·C·M 20:16, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What are you doing? Clearly Dubai Sheema Classic is a stub. You're deleting the stub category from articles that have a postage stamp worth of information on them and are clearly stubs. -Justin (koavf)·T·C·M 20:21, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Jockey stats[edit]

Hi, I just wondered where you get a jockey's winner totals per season from? I'm planning on starting a number of jockeys' articles, and these stats will be very useful. Cheers, DavyJonesLocker 17:39, 1 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that, I don't have any of those books so my research has pretty much been confined to the internet. I've found some free stats on www.flatstats.co.uk, but they differ, sometimes quite heavily, from those found on the RacingPost site so I'm not sure how reliable they are or how they tally with yours, so for the mean time I've only used them on Richard Hughes.DavyJonesLocker 16:12, 2 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Re: Flatstats stats different to Racing Post. Some media sites such as the Racing Post will show the stats from both all weather and turf racing combined whilst Flatstats shows seperate stats for both surfaces. Another reason is because Flatstats reports automatically exclude races for Amateur, Apprentice and Lady only riders. You need to include these in the Flatstats report if you want to see the stats for all types of races. - Flatstats.co.uk 10:57, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Racehorse categories[edit]

The very substantial work you did to create the racehorse birth/death categories is appreciated by all. Handicapper 18:21, 10 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Prix Eugene Adam[edit]

You reverted my edit: "moved Prix Eugene Adam to Prix Eugène Adam: title incorrect without the accent)". This is an English encyclopedia and in english the name Eugene has no accent and we use English names similar to the use of French names in the Wikipedia French encyclopedia such as the Epsom Derby See: Derby d'Epsom. The use of accents here causes many problems with redirects and, and all of the millions of English people search without accents (because they don't know anything about them) and like me, could not find Prix Eugène Adam. Thanx. Handicapper 18:06, 10 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for clearing up my articles for me[edit]

Thanks for improving some of the articles which I started. I'm pleased that we have created the reference articles for racing. --Wikipediatastic 11:23, 13 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Thanks likewise[edit]

I'd also like to add my thanks for straightening up my articles, adding winners lists etc, articularly the ones on the Group 3 British flat races. Not always sure of what are the right sort of standards so I'm very grateful for your help. I'll keep working on the Group 3s for the moment. Bcp67 21:51, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Re:Khalid Abdullah[edit]

Cheers for fixing all those links; I knew I'd broken them yesterday, but I was going to do them today when I had more time. Anyway; I've also added something to the A. P./Tony McCoy dicussion page which you might be interested in. DavyJonesLocker 18:12, 23 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]


French alphabet usage[edit]

I do object for a number of reasons but I see where some places (articles) it has been done while not in others. As such, please leave it as is in English for now and ASAP I will prepare my views on the subject for assessment and appropriate action by fellow Wikipedians and the appropriate Wikipedia panel responsible for policy. Thanx. Handicapper 22:05, 27 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

List of Irish flat horse races[edit]

I see you are the only editor of List of Irish flat horse races and wonder why there is no introduction or explanation for the 3 groups used, nor is there a general introduction to the list even if it would be short. I also left a similar note on the talk page. Without looking at each it looks like you also made the other horse racing lists also without any intro. Cheers ww2censor 17:51, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Racehorse article titling[edit]

User:Bcp67 raised the issue (on my talk page) of naming conventions after I changed "Classic Races" to United Kingdom Classic Races. I responded here User talk:Bcp67#UK Classic Races and thought you might want to look at it with respect to the titling of British flat racing Champion Sire /Jockey/Apprentice/Trainer/Owner articles. Thanx. Handicapper 14:40, 25 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As I told Bcp67, I'm not going to do anything as I think this is an issue for people from the U.K. to decide because the issue of it being officially named the "United Kingdom" is important within the context of stating facts in an encyclopedia. Somewhere at Wikipedia I came across a referral mechanism but can't remember where. Handicapper 20:21, 25 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]


You mentiomned categories: I also think we need categories for the Champion sires, jockey, trainer etc from the U.K. and France. Handicapper 21:23, 25 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Nijinsky II[edit]

You might be interested in my comments at Talk:Nijinsky II regarding Find A Grave. Handicapper 15:29, 27 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Unreferenced tag on race article[edit]

Someone has stuck an unreferenced marker on the article about the Criterion Stakes. What can I do about this? As the bulk of the article is the winners list surely that is a matter of public record rather than anything I can reference to. Any ideas? Bcp67 20:20, 31 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your help with the link. Most of my detail about race results is derived from the Racing Post website or from a couple of books that I've got. Bcp67 20:45, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Orphaned fair use image (Image:Newbury racecourse logo.jpg)[edit]

Thanks for uploading Image:Newbury racecourse logo.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable under fair use (see our fair use policy).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any fair use images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. This is an automated message from BJBot 15:58, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Gary Moore[edit]

I've taken out the reference to Gary W.Moore being a succesful trainer in England in the Gold River article. As far as I know, the Gold River jockey is an Australian, the son of George Moore who rode for Noel Murless in Britain in the 1960s. Gary Moore the trainer (father of Ryan and Jamie) is entirely English. To add to the confusion I have a feeling that his father might also have been named George! Bcp67 19:44, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry! Probably comes from Handicapper's unfamiliarity with the UK racing scene - and my unfamiliarity with whose edit I was changing!! Bcp67 19:52, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Persian Punch[edit]

Would you mind sparing a few minutes to have a look at the article on Persian Punch? It was a bit of a mess and I've tried to straighten it up and make it a proper Wiki article but I'd be very grateful if you could add any further revsion. Thanks. Bcp67 21:48, 12 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Winners since...[edit]

In my race articles (thanks btw for sorting out the mess I made of the Reynoldstown Novices' Chase!), I've usually stuck to the format of Winners since 1988. Is there any particular reason for going back to 1988? Generally the Racing Post database only goes back that early but do you think it worthwhile to go back earlier for run-of-the-mill races? I suppose its a question of knowing where to stop and having a sensible cut-off date? Bcp67


Winners tables[edit]

The European races use the Color =#99ff99 for the bar which is Green. I did a new table (with owners) for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile which is raced on dirt with the Color #D2B48C which is Tan. I thought that for races on dirt they could be done with a Brown/Tan bar whereas for Turf races, use the green. Handicapper 17:51, 26 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]


New Jockey category[edit]

I made a new Category "Jockeys killed while racing" so if you know any in the UK, France, etc. that fit. Because its realtively small, I think one category is probaby enough but if you wish, divide them by country. Handicapper 16:49, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I notice you haven't edited for a while. You are a highly valued contributor and I hope it is a vacation and not permanent. Handicapper 17:06, 4 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Good to see you back! Bcp67 21:06, 2 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Champion Hurdle[edit]

I've just done a couple of minor changes to the Trivia section in the Champion Hurdle article. I've got an idea that this section ought to be retitled something like "Historical notes" as most of it isn't really "trivia", and there is also a guidline about trivia sections. What do you think? Bcp67 07:31, 12 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sortable tables[edit]

Good to see you back. Some genius came up with a great idea. Go to Epsom Derby and look at the table. It is sortable by any column! Handicapper 15:30, 16 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Using the
never dawned on me and I'm embarassed to say how much time I spent fooling around with the thing. Would like to suggest another change. How about a real "grass green" for the header bar for turf races? It would have to use a white font if someone knows how to set that up. Maybe its just me, but the green we have now is awfully bright. Handicapper 13:48, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You're right about the first being too dark but I'm easy on either of the other two. Let me know what you prefer and I'll start changing North American races as soon as I get a chance. Handicapper 20:12, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dirt race box header color[edit]

Take a look at the color consolidating I did for Jockey Club Gold Cup vis-a-vis the existing colors in Woodward Stakes etc. Do you think we should change all the dirt ones to this? As well, should we change the grass races to the same new green? (Duplicate existing box titled #2G or something) Handicapper 17:36, 21 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Your Green User:Zafonic/winners tables looks good to me. Please go ahead and set up the template. Thanx again. Handicapper 15:18, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Epsom Downs[edit]

Do you have any thoughts on the title of the Epsom Downs racecourse article? Someone has suggested that the title of the article ought to be Epsom Downs Racecourse - Talk:Epsom_Downs Bcp67 19:56, 2 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your thoughts. I did this sort of thing with Great Leighs Racecourse, renaming the article and writing an (incredibly) short stub about the village of Great Leighs to replace it. I'll see if the person who suggested the rename fancies doing the Epsom Downs article. Bcp67 20:38, 2 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

All done. There's now Epsom Downs Racecourse and Epsom Downs. I have tried to go around and adjust the links. I also looked at the Epsom Derby page. Does there need to be a long list of winners there do you think or should it be moved to a list page? SuzanneKn 18:45, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I've done the new page with capitals but now I see that Newbury racecourse above has lower case but Great Leighs Racecourse has upper case. Any views? SuzanneKn 18:49, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

While we're on the subject, I've got a proposal that both Sandown Park and Lingfield Park are also moved to ... Racecourse. Although both places exist only as racecourses, unlike Epsom Downs, I think for consistency's sake they ought to be moved - Fontwell Park Racecourse already fits the bill. I'll make the changes when I get the time. Bcp67 21:13, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Categorys[edit]

We currently have a category for Kentucky Derby, Epsom Derby, Arc and Breeders' Cup winners that lists horses only. Do you think we should also include jockeys and trainers too as is the case with the "Category:United States thoroughbred racing Hall of Fame inductees"? Handicapper 17:26, 10 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A second thought: To my way of thinking, for any jockey or trainer, winning any of the Classic races is a very important milestone. What would you think of one category for all:

and so on.

- Handicapper 19:50, 10 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good to me. Maybe run it by Bcp67 and see if he concurs. Do you know how to make robot changes? I agree with your earlier suggestion that the horses should be changed from UK to British. I recently saw where the BBC referred to them as "British Classics" so if its good enough for the BBC, its good enough for me. However, I'm sure someone will come along and insist on changing them all to the legal UK name. In this vein, do you think maybe we should do an aux page for the Thoroughbred racing project outlining the norms etc. Handicapper 20:28, 10 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I like the Classic-winning categories idea, although when I saw this discussion the "UK thing" did come into my mind. You can bet someone WILL tag them as UK Classics. For my money they are the "English classics" but British does fine as well.

Some people would well go into more than one category - Harry Wragg springs to mind as one.Bcp67 19:56, 11 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Prix du Gros Chene[edit]

I see you did the table of winners for the Prix du Gros Chene. Would you know who the jockey was on the 1987 winner, Tenue de Soiree? I'd like to add 1986 and 1987 details if you can also find the race time for those two years. Thanx. Handicapper 14:25, 14 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hope you don't mind - I've picked this one up and answered it on Handicapper's discussion page. I've got Sporting Life Flat Results in Full books from 1985 through to about 1992 and NH Results in Full from 1984-85 to around 1994-95 so if you ever want anything looked up I'm willing to dig around in the loft. Bcp67 19:08, 18 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Epsom Derby[edit]

Searching for infomation on Dr Devious, I found your individual pages for Epsom Derbys by year. This is truly outstanding work and a most valuable and professional contribution. Handicapper 16:53, 17 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Environment Friend trainer[edit]

I've made an amendment to the Eclipse Stakes list of winners this morning. I've changed the winning trainer of Environment Friend to James Fanshawe in line with the table in the Breedon Book of Horse Racing Books. I'm not 100% sure as I've never yet found a mistake in your edits and the Racing Post website does give Nigel Wright as the winning trainer for the 1991 Eclipse. I'll check it out with the Sporting Life Flat Results in Full for 1991 tonight and let you know what it says. Bcp67 05:39, 27 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm going to stick with Fanshawe in line with this quote from a Racing Post article on owner Bill Gredley - "To this day, the owner remains puzzled over the failure of the James Fanshawe-trained Environment Friend, who beat two home when fancied for the 1991 Derby. In his previous appearance he'd won the Dante, and he subsequently won the Coral-Eclipse." Bcp67 05:43, 27 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your reply. My loft-full of racing books also includes a few Ladbrokes Pocket Companions covering the early 1990s! Bcp67 04:36, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

?[edit]

I found this statement while doing the article on Halo:

  • Halo nearly went to stud in England but, fortunately for this country, was discovered to be a cribber and was rejected.

Can you tell me what is a "cribber"? Thanx. Handicapper 12:33, 2 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Spa Novices Hurdle[edit]

Can I ask you for a bit of advice / help please? Someone has slapped unreferenced and notability tags on an article which I started about the Spa Novices' Hurdle, the new-ish 3m nov hurdle at Cheltenham. I can probably get some references onto it by linking to the Racing Post website, but how do I establish "notability"? Its a Grade 2 race at the festival, and for my money it doesn't get much more notable! But I can see that the general reader might wonder why I suppose. Any suggestions? Bcp67 20:19, 2 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for adding the refs and links for the Spa Nov Hurdle. I'm not sure why this race in particular was singled out!! I've done an article this evening on the Derby winner, Authorized which I'd be grateful if you could cast a critical eye over and amend as you think fit. Thanks. Bcp67 21:47, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

1987[edit]

As you'll have seen I've been doing some work adding pattern race results for 1987. Can I use your format and do an article on the 1987 Epsom Derby, or would you rather do it yourself? Bcp67 19:39, 11 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've started building it in a sandbox page. Hopefully I'll have it finished by the end of the weekend.Bcp67 21:01, 12 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Its done - all credit to you for the number of these you've done, there is a lot of work involved. Would you mind having a look at the article 1987 Epsom Derby Please? I can't get the font size to look right, its ok in my page where I set it all up User:Bcp67/Sandbox2 but it doesn't work on the real page, can you help please? Many thanks. Bcp67 20:08, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your comments and for looking at the article. The font size thing seems to have sorted itself out this morning.Bcp67 04:41, 16 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for your revision of the article I began on the Newbury Super Sprint Trophy. I knew it was a "sales" race but I couldn't put my hands on the exact conditions, so thanks for filling in the details. Do you think its strictly correct to describe it as a handicap race though? (I guess you do as that's what you called it!) To my mind a handicap race is one where the weights are theoretically allotted according to the relative ability of the runners, whereas in sales races they are determined by the selling price. Open to your thoughts, and I am not going to make any changes yet as I can't think of any better way of describing it at the moment. Bcp67 19:43, 24 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]


If you are posting more race tables etc., note that I changed John Dunlop (racehorse trainer) to John L. Dunlop. Handicapper 19:58, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Here's another one:

  • Ryan Price (racehorse trainer)
  • Ryan Price (horse racing)

I have changed them to H. Ryan Price. Handicapper 12:17, 15 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Would you mind having a look at my thoughts on the above and adding your comments? Thanks. Bcp67 18:35, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for making the corrections to my edits of the various 1987 results. My source, Sporting Life Flat Results in Full, shows Henry Cecil as the winning trainer for the Prix d'Harcourt but I must say that your amendment to Biancone looks much more correct - the winner was ridden by Biancone's jockey Tony Cruz, rather than Steve Cauthen. What's your source for these French results? It would be useful for me to have somewhere to check against the Sporting Life book. Thanks. Bcp67 20:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! I've noticed you've done a lot to the above page. However, you haven't altered the talk page redirect, which still went to the shopping centre's talk page. I've now fixed that, but you may want to add the appropriate project templates to that page now. I also think that since many people refer to the shopping centre as just "Cheshire Oaks" that a disambig. line at the top of the article might be an idea. I would add it myself, but thought I'd raise it with you as the author first as a possibility.  DDStretch  (talk) 17:04, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oaks Trials[edit]

Both the Cheshire Oaks and the Lingfield Oaks Trial had Group 3 status up to and including 1985 - they were downgraded to Listed status from 1986 on. Would you mind noting this in the articles - you can phrase it better than me! Thanks. Bcp67 18:08, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Naming conventions[edit]

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that documents "facts" in a POV manner and is a recorder of information for everyone to learn from, not a story for the fans of particular activities. The documenting of a person or event by an encyclopedia must be scholarly, not casual.

We are not a racing newspaper/magazine who writes in "familiar" form for the benefit of readers. In John Doe's racing column in XYZ sporting magazine on paper that has dozens of racing references, there is zero doubt about who the columnist is talking about. But, that same name in Forbes is not recognized by 99.999999999999999% of its readers and becomes a linkage problem on the Internet. The NTRA, the world's largest Thoroughbred racing association, is not a bunch of dummies and have begun using middle initials for a reason. With online text, the need for middle intials is essential not only in a localized setting like Wikipedia, but because linkage from website to website for international audiences is growing so rapidly.

While "John Reid" is how most people knowledgeable about UK racing know him, adding the jockey/trainer etc label to his name is unnecessay and looks unprofessional. Without the middle initial, it forces others to create, in some cases, a great many "John Reid (politician)", "John Reid (scholar)" and on and on. These can, and are, covered by one disambiguation page at Wikipedia such as the thirty+ John Scotts. It takes work to type "John Reid (jockey)|John Reid" and is in fact easier for the editor to type/part paste "John A. Reid|John Reid" as I did when I created the Ryan Price bio --- though I don't see the need for even that. Nonetheless, in this case, Wikipedia's "suggested" convention (not policy) is flat out wrong.

Just for the record, I have wasted countless accumulated hours fixing articles where the person/place/thing's name is linked to one or several others of the same name but the article creator never bothered to fix the problem. One of Wikipedia's most serious deficiencies is the lack of an official editing oversight panel made up of qualified people. So called suggested policy "discussions" are most often two or three people, of which far too many are working with a vested interest, bias, or mission. Note the brilliant change by one of these "gathered groups" for Category:United States Thoroughbred racing Hall of Fame inductees who decided the T in Thoroughbred should not be capitalized. When I pointed out their change to what in fact is a spelling error, the brilliant User:Johnbod replied: "Once you're here, it's all to play for, as many have found to their cost." And in the end, this learned group reinserted the capital T but then capitalized the R in racing when in fact it is a Thoroughbred racing reference as no "Thoughbred Racing Hall of Fame" exists. So, two or three people have imposed their lack of knowledge here. Now, who is going to volunteer to go to all the work of fixing their mess?

Note too that we (and I am guilty, too) write bios on horses that 99% of the time only do as owners/breeders intentionally do and report on only wins or near wins. We in fact, again as an encyclopedia, must report all the facts about the horse's history including that the horse finished seventh, tenth, or whatever. (Which is why I like your Epsom Derby/Arc annual page format that beyond being informative helps clarify horses records such as was originally created for Vert Amande.)

Thanx for your interest and valued comments. I will cc this to the appropriate page(s) for others to consider as well, or maybe to the Board as part of a suggestion for an editorial panel. Handicapper 14:30, 13 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]


I hope I didn't seem curt in the above, but I have been in a foul mood over the Category change and nonsense going on with a few non-project members. I just posted an article on English-based Shamardal. I found his story absolutely fascinating and thought you might be interested. Do you have any idea why he abruptly stopped racing in July? February 7, 2005 ESPN story on Shamardal. Handicapper 15:37, 18 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]


2007 Arc[edit]

Do you know if Peeping Fawn is going to run in the Arc? Handicapper 18:50, 1 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

New category??[edit]

Do you think that we should create a racetrack category for each race such as Category:Belmont Park or Category:Newmarket Racecourse etc. for all races there. Handicapper 15:19, 6 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just found this Video at YouTube. If you haven't seen it, take a look. It is the funniest finishing line incident I have ever seen. Handicapper 16:11, 10 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Newcastle Gold Cup[edit]

Do you know anything about this race? Beeswing won it six times. Handicapper 15:42, 17 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Years in horse racing[edit]

We include racehorse births and deaths in the years in horse racing categories - why not births and deaths of people? Do you think it is worth adding these in or would it over-complicate? Bcp67 21:11, 17 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Craven Stakes[edit]

  • At first I wondered if maybe the Craven Stakes originated at Newcastle Racecourse, which, if I read it correctly, opened in 1882 [1] but maybe earlier, then was shifted to Newmarket. However, the Craven Stakes at Pedigree Query [2] goes back to 1773 and when I started adding to PQ the three Craven wins TB Heritage says Beeswing had, there was already an 1840 winner named HETMAN PLATOFF. So now, I'm totally confused. I can understand there might have been a Craven Stakes at Newcastle for a certain number of years that is now defuct but if so, who are all the ones listed for the Newmarket Craven at PQ prior to 1878. Any ideas? Handicapper 18:10, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanx. Problem is, where do we start with dates? Maybe I'll e-mail Newcastle Racecourse and see if they could help. Handicapper 19:41, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. - I wonder if it is possible that the Craven Stakes was named for Miss Craven who was born in 1824 [3]. And, if so, was it Newcastle or Newmarket? Handicapper 12:01, 19 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Richard Pitman[edit]

Someone's been through the horse racing articles and changed Richard Pitman's links to someone called Richard A. Pittman. I've put a note on his talk page, (as have others!) - can you check through and make sure that all the links that should point to Richard Pitman are back in place. My time is a bit limited and I'm not around this weekend. Thanks! Bcp67 07:04, 26 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Irish St Leger[edit]

Do you know if the Irish St Leger is restricted to Irish-bred horses? Handicapper (talk) 14:04, 21 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for fixing the inadvertent removal of a ref.. The video section is uneeded, until you can find legitimate footage :) Sfan00 IMG (talk) 12:50, 7 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect use of Minor edit flag[edit]

Please remember to mark your edits as minor if (and only if) they genuinely are minor edits (see Help:Minor edit). Marking a major change as a minor one (and vice versa) is considered poor etiquette. The rule of thumb is that only an edit that consists solely of spelling corrections, formatting changes, or rearranging of text without modifying content should be flagged as a 'minor edit.' Thank you. -- John (Daytona2 · talk) 20:12, 18 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

TB race distance categories[edit]

Are you satisfied with the revised Category(s) for race distances? Handicapper (talk) 16:11, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's Christmas...no time to recheck the sources on my article. But I thank you for your input and for your kind words. I'll check it out when I get back...unless you want to go ahead and do the right thing? gggg Merry Christmas to you too! JiggeryPokery (talk) 16:44, 24 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, it's taken so long to get to Parole. Christmas and New Year's were very busy plus my entire server went down in storms and I've been rebuilding like mad. I shall double and triple check your concerns about Parole's racing career in the next few days. JiggeryPokery (talk) 18:12, 15 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've taken the Epsom Derby out of the Parole article. Though I found reference to it in one book, I can't find it in any others...so on the principle that one book does not beat out several books, out goes the Epsom Derby. Thank you for pointing this out to me. I may not write with proper wiki "tone" as one here is constantly tagging me, but I do like to write as factually as I can.JiggeryPokery (talk) 21:57, 21 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Good grief, I meant the Metropolitan, which as you rightly said is the Great Metropolitan. Where is my brain when I need it.JiggeryPokery (talk) 00:48, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Racecourses in Europe[edit]

Hallo, do you think it would be a good idea to have a page listing every racecourse in Europe? like this: List of horse breeds - Culnacréann-(talk) 16:33, 23 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Categories[edit]

The category Category:Flat horse races for fillies and mares and its subs are all restrictive and not usable for 2 and 3-year-olds to categorize distances. What do think about changing it and its sub categories to this or some other variation:

- Handicapper (talk) 13:21, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A good idea[edit]

Speedy deletion of "Premio Roma"[edit]

A page you created, Premio Roma, has been tagged for deletion, as it meets one or more of the criteria for speedy deletion; specifically, it is obvious advertising or promotional material.

You are welcome to contribute content which complies with our content policies and any applicable inclusion guidelines. However, please do not simply re-create the page with the same content. You may also wish to read our introduction to editing and guide to writing your first article.

Thank you. \ / () 10:39, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Restoring Deleted Article[edit]

Hi. I am not an administrator, so I am not able to restore the deleted article, even though I tagged it in the first place. Try contacting the deleting administrator, User:Gwen Gale, and if you wish, start a WP:DRV (Deletion Review). I believe the reason I tagged it as advertising, and the reason it was subsequently deleted was due to the way it was written. I'd be happy to help improve the wording so that others do not make similar assumptions. Hope to hear from you. :) \ / () 22:22, 2 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

National Horseracing Museum[edit]

Do you think we should ask the WikiProject Thoroughbred racing to consider adopting some sort of title format for horses, jockeys, trainers, etc. who have a bio at the Newmarket Horseracing Museum [4] to use as a U.K. equivalent to the U.S. National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and other similar institutions. Handicapper (talk) 17:38, 4 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The British Horseracing Hall of Fame officialy exists as part of the National Horseracing Museum which, for example, states that "Blandford rests in Racing's Hall of Fame" [5] and another time the Museum refers to Athasi in her bio as "Athansi takes her place in this hall of fame" [6] Thanx for your interest in this subject. Handicapper (talk) 21:42, 11 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In appreciation of your excellent work[edit]

Hello! I was doing New Page Patrol and I came upon your new articles. I just wanted to share this as a token of my appreciation:

The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
In appreciation for your successful efforts to expand the content and character of Wikipedia. Ecoleetage (talk) 15:15, 20 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Horse racing in the United Kingdom[edit]

Many thanks for your note, I will stop what I am doing for a little while in view of your comments. However all I am doing is diffusing "in the United Kingdom" rather than any other changes. I agree with your two category suggestions, too, I don't thing it affects what I have been doing. I also would like to see an info box on each article as there is at Kentucky Derby. Happy to discuss this further. --Richhoncho (talk) 22:05, 24 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for note, I will amend my changes. Wish I'd seen that before I started. I'll let you know when I have finished --Richhoncho (talk) 06:38, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

OK. I see you have already done it. Sorry for giving you the work. --Richhoncho (talk) 06:45, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Categories.[edit]

I see you are replacing Category:Open middle distance horse races with Category:Flat races in Great Britain - It would be much easier, and more useful to make the first category a sub category of the second, so every distance would be in flat races anyway. FWIW Has there been a discussion on this change? --Richhoncho (talk) 07:33, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]


For work on the category Horse Racing[edit]

After a shaky start between the pair of us I think you richly deserve this.


The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
In appreciation for your successful efforts to expand the content and character of Wikipedia. --Richhoncho (talk) 10:17, 25 January 2009 (UTC)|}[reply]