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International Racing

Discussion in 'Horse Racing' started by Cyclonic, Sep 14, 2016.

  1. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    Last weekend in Hong Kong, Contentment took out the G1 Champions Mile at 20-1. During the race, the wonderful Rapper Dragon, winner of this season's Classic Mile, Classic Cup, Derby and Chairman's Trophy and the equivalent of 3,000,000 pounds in prize money, and $1.40 favourite, suffered a severe fracture of the pelvis and couldn't be saved.

     
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  2. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    I've only just seen that last year's Melbourne Cup runner up, Heartbreak City, beaten a nose by Almandin, broke a leg during a track gallop at the Curragh last weekend. He had to euthanised . How can anyone not be impressed by his brave effort in the Cup when going down in the last few strides? He may have been a shade unlucky too. He looked to be held up for a second or two as they sprayed in flattening. If Moreira had been able to pull the trigger when he wanted, Heartbreak City might have found that neck or so that made the difference. He's in the bright yellow, drawn one from the outside. Almandin is drawn 8 from the outside. He's in the dark blue, white band on sleeves and has a red cap. He follows Heartbreak City in running. Both McEvoy and Moreira put in cracking rides.

    R.I.P. mate. <rose>

     
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  3. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    Better than a 100,000 people are expected to attend the second leg of the US Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes this Saturday when the Derby winner Always Dreaming looks to go back to back. The Pletcher trained colt will go into the US$1,500,000 race as an odds on favourite after drawing the four gate in the 9.5 furlong event. He's expected to race on the pace as he did at Churchill Downs a couple of weeks ago. With Pimlico being a track more suited to on pace runners than the Kentucky race, the winner is expected to come from those racing in the first half of the field. By the look of things, the track is not going to be the bog of Derby Day.

    On paper, the the best chance to roll the favourite is the Mark Casse trained Classic Empire who's chances were smashed a few strides into the Derby. He ran home quite well to finish fourth. He drew the five slot, next to Always Dreaming. He should race a lot closer this time and will probably figure in the race.

    With the small field of ten to deal with, instead to the twenty in the Derby, one that might just surprise a few is the Churchill Downs runner up, Lookin At Lee. He's quickly gathering a decent fan base with his swooping finishes. He came from a long last to flog all but Always Dreaming in the big one. Maybe the 12 furlong Belmont Stakes will be his big chance.

    The following is a lift from a site called Covers.

    1. Multiplier (Jockey – Joel Rosario, 30-1): He's one of few entering fresh after skipping the Kentucky Derby. That's partly due to how long it took this horse to break his Maiden and his relative inexperience. His biggest win was in the G3 Illinois Derby in a time of 1:47.98 - the second fastest in the race's history. Pedigree wise, his sire The Factor is known for his sprinting talent, but this colt looks to have stamina on the grandam side, so I feel pretty confident in saying distance will likely not be an issue. He takes a huge jump up in class today but being lightly raced could work to his advantage.

    2. Cloud Computing (Javier Castellano, 12-1): He's another lightly raced colt which may be sitting on a big effort. The Preakness has historically been favorable to front-running horses and speed, so he should warrant some consideration. He may work out the perfect stalking trip and save ground racing behind front runners Conquest Mo Money and Always Dreaming. Jockey wise, he receives a big upgrade to Castellano who is choosing to ride him over his Derby mount of Gunnevera.

    3. Hence (Florent Geroux, 20-1): I'll give him a pass for not taking well to the off track at Churchill Downs. He never seemed comfortable and not many horses were making up ground late. He's capable of a bounce-back effort Saturday. He did have a nice rebounding effort after the disappointing seventh in the Southwest Stakes, coming back to win the Sunland Derby a little over a month later. Trainer wise, it doesn't get much better than Steve Asmussen, who has won the Preakness Stakes with the likes of Curlin in 2007 and super filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009.

    4. Always Dreaming (John Velazquez, 4-5): He's still undefeated at three years old and that’s quite the feat, although his front-running style definitely worked to his advantage in the Derby. Pletcher is a trainer that likes giving horses adequate rest between races. He's started 48 Kentucky Derby horses but only ran three back in the Preakness. There’s no denying Pletcher has struggled at Pimlico. Pletcher has lost 17 straight on dirt when racing within 14 days of his last start. Perhaps those statistics are enough to warrant a play against the short priced favorite.

    5. Classic Empire (Julien Leparoux, 3-1): He broke very poorly in the Kentucky Derby and lost the race right from the very beginning. He prefers being closer to the pace and he will have every opportunity to do so racing over a (hopefully) fast track, and versus a much smaller field in the Preakness Stakes. While his last effort was pretty poor based on what we've seen this colt capable of doing, it’s a definite positive sign to see that he made up ground and closed for third. Pay attention to the status of his right eye. He suffered an eye abrasion and was unable to open it the following day in the Derby. Although, I'm fairly confident connections wouldn't race him if he’s not at 100 percent, but it may be something to watch out for.

    6. Gunnevera (Mike Smith, 15-1): Nobody was closing in the Kentucky Derby, due to the poor track conditions but mainly the slow-pace scenario, so I can't necessarily fault him for a disappointing showing. He finds a new jockey in Mike Smith and I always look at the addition of someone of his caliber as a positive thing. Perhaps this means we may see Gunnevera positioned a little bit closer to the pace? It wouldn't surprise me. He may be worthy of a closer look because the odds will be good if you'd like to take a shot against the shorter priced horses.

    7. Term of Art (Jose Ortiz, 30-1): This colt will be racing with blinkers on after racing without them for his last three starts. He did race his first six career races with them and those were some of his best efforts, so I'm not surprised to see connections return to what worked. It's nice to see him with a graded stakes win under his belt - it was at two years old - but he's capable of competing with graded-stakes horses. He hasn't raced outside of California before, so I'm interested to see how he takes to mostly East Coast competition. Likely overmatched.

    8. Senior Investment (Channing Hill, 30-1): He's entering today off a victory in the G3 Lexington at Keeneland and there's something to be said about entering with a little bit of confidence off a victory. He takes a huge jump up in class Saturday to try mostly pure Grade 1 winners, and that may be too much to handle. He would need to cut seconds off his time and put forth by far the best effort in order to contend. He’s a huge long shot and his odds will certainly reflect that at post time.

    9. Lookin At Lee (Corey Lanerie, 10-1): He surprised many rallying up the rail to finish a very game second to the eventual winner Always Dreaming in the Kentucky Derby. He's a colt that has been improving and the effort he puts forth in races are very apparent and definitely a positive trait to see out of young horses. He's one of a few in the Derby that showed a particular affinity for the off track. With a faster pace upfront, would he have been able to track down Always Dreaming? Not likely, but it's possible. He prefers racing longer where there's a little bit more ground traveled. You may want to wait until the Belmont before backing this colt.

    10. Conquest Mo Money (Jorge Carreno, 15-1): This speedster will most likely take to the Pimlico dirt surface and appreciate racing the shorter distance of the Preakness. He skipped out on the Kentucky Derby and the extra month of training he's received from his last start is an added bonus especially for young horses. He'll almost certainly be forwardly placed and his early-running style helps his chances greatly. He narrowly missed edging Classic Empire in his last start too, so he definitely warrants some serious consideration.
     
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  4. stick

    stick Bumper King

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    ALWAYS DREAMING unopposable
     
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  5. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    In Queensland, the pride of racing takes place in what's called the Winter Carnival. Today the WFA G1 Doomben Cup was run. As usual, he Sydneysiders came to town on a mission. They generally plunder all our goodies, and the Cup proved no exception. The winner Sense Of Occasion is drawn the outside. He's trapped deep towards the tail of the field. He is trained by Kris Lees and was ridden by Cory Brown. 9-1.

     
    #245
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  6. SwanHills

    SwanHills Well-Known Member

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    Cloud Computing claims 2017 Preakness Stakes as Always Dreaming foiled:

    Aspirations of Always Dreaming winning the American Triple Crown went up in smoke as Cloud Computing won the Preakness at Pimlico racecourse.
    The Kentucky Derby winner, trained by Todd Pletcher, looked set to play a significant role in the second leg of the Triple Crown as he became embroiled in a fierce battle with Classic Empire for much of the nine-and-a-half-furlong journey.
    But once the latter had taken control at the top of the home bend, Always Dreaming suddenly retreated and was never a factor.
    By contrast, the Chad Brown-trained Cloud Computing was only just getting going and gradually whittled away Classic Empire's lead.
    Jockey Javier Castellano timed his late move to perfection as his willing partner just got up in a thrilling finale.
    Cloud Computing did not even run in the Kentucky Derby and Brown told NBC Sports: "I'm not going to dispute the fact that running a fresh horse was part of our strategy.
    "Our horse is very talented, but Classic Empire and Always Dreaming are two excellent horses.
    "Our strategy was if we were ever going to beat them let's take them on after six weeks' rest, and it worked."



    Always Dreaming must have had a very hard race in the slush the Kentucky Derby? He was obviously not right. French video replay was all I could find atm.
     
    #246
    Last edited: May 21, 2017
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  7. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    Rinchester's Lockinge.

     
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  8. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    Frankel bags his first Classic winner with SOUL STIRRING in the Japanese Oaks

     
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  9. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    It was a wonderful win Princess. I hope it's ok if I follow your wonderful work with an English call.

     
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  10. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely fine cyc! Though as Oddy said on the Frankel thread, there is something amusing about the Japanese commentator attempting to get his tongue around the English pronunciation "Soul-a Stirring"!
     
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  11. SwanHills

    SwanHills Well-Known Member

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    Wow, that was soul stirring. Fought back so well. <ok>
     
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  12. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    G1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure 22F. (4YO)

    1. No. 5 Srelighonn, 2. No.10 Dalia Grandchamp, 3. No. 8 Burn Out.

     
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  13. SwanHills

    SwanHills Well-Known Member

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    James Reveley wins prestigious 2017 running of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris - Auteuil on favourite So French (No.1 - light blue, black diamond and sleeves, red cap) trained by G. Macaire. 2nd Perfect Impulse (No,15), 3rd Carriacou (No.11):



    .......and here's a little bit 'extra' from France-Galop (don't miss the very last bit...wow!):

     
    #253
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
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  14. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    In English.

     
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  15. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    So French is some sort of animal. It would be nice to see him in the UK, do you guys think he's up to the best there?
     
    #255
  16. SwanHills

    SwanHills Well-Known Member

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    I'd say most certainly yes, but you'd have to ask the forum NH specialists about that. These French fences are 'different', tracks flatter. This race has been won by a horse from t'other side of the Channel and the small pond, but not too often, in fact, can only think of Mandarin in the early '60s ridden by Fred Winter. Same can be said for French jumpers winning the CGC; at the moment can only think of The Fellow. So French is some racehorse though, for sure.
     
    #256
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  17. SaveTheHumans

    SaveTheHumans Well-Known Member

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    As D'estruval is another Macaire inmate who has So French's measure and has won all his completed starts. I wouldn't think they could handle the best races over here but perhaps make decent handicappers, but I doubt they will ever race in the UK or Ireland unless purchased by a local. As D'estruval is by Nickname...remember that old war horse?
     
    #257
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  18. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    Talk about a grinding affair. The Prix Anjou Loire Challenge over 7300m, Hippodrome du Lion. Posilox proves too good for the long odds on favourite Kick It.

     
    #258
  19. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    A huge event on the Standard Bred scene takes place tomorrow at Stockholm's Solvella Racetrack. The invitational G1 Elitoppet, a leg of the European Grand Circuit has drawn some serious heavyweights for looks to be a sensational day of racing. 16 of the best horses from Europe will do battle in two heats of 8, over the mile, with the final to be raced over the same distance. Both heats and final will be raced on the same day. The great Bold Eagle is the early favourite at about even money to win the final and is a buck thirty to fill a place. The other two who look to have a decent chance are the wonderful American bred warm blood mare Delicious US, the holder of three mare's world records, and the black colossus Nuncio, who swept all before him in the USA before embarking on his European campaign. He won this event last year. Delicious US and Nuncio are 6-1 to take out the final, and about 5-4 to run into the minor money. It's going to hard to fill a place in the final, but I'd like to see Timoko run well. He's 6-1. The Elitoppet (the elite race) is one of the most prestigious on the European circuit. The clip below give a bit of a look at the field. There are some amazingly talented horses among them.

    Heat 1.

    1. Spring Erom.
    2. D.D's Hitman.
    3. Delicious US.
    4. Tjacko Zaz.
    5. Bold Eagle.
    6. Cruzado Dela Noche.
    7. Takethem.
    8. Resolve.

    Heat 2.

    1. Up And Quick.
    2.Twister Bi.
    3. Propulsion.
    4. Nuncio.
    5. In Vain Sund.
    6. Timoko.
    7. Dante Boko.
    8. Elian Web.

     
    #259
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  20. Cyclonic

    Cyclonic Well Hung Member

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    We don't get too much jump racing in Australia. He's a look at the Listed Australian Steeple run today.

     
    #260

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