15:00 Cheltenham - Ch'tibello (Owes me nothing as had very good win on him when he won the County Hurdle at the Festival in 2019 (probably the last winner I had ) and conditions are similar today. Managed to get the 9/1 best price generally on offer at time of writing. Hope the Skeltons can help me break my long-standing duck! )
Duck remains. Darn these flat sprint finishes. Harry Skelton got well and truly shut-out of it at the start of the sprint. Won't give up on Ch'tibello, there's still a race or two to be won with him. On to next weekend's nightmare! Come to think of it, think I'll have a couple of bob on Crossgalesfamegame in the last at Cheltenham. What a name for a hoss!
Surprised to see no talk on here post race with Goshen the wonder horse. I guess it shows the general apathy towards racing in the UK at the moment. I don’t think we’ve had a worse set of horses in comparison to Ireland. Only two we’ve got that are potential superstars are Epatante and Shiskin. I just hope the latter turns into the star the UK sport needs. was at Cheltenham for the two days, so many disappointing horses and weak fields. Great to be on course but oh to have seen a brilliant performance
What wasnt brilliant about the performances of the two Irish winners on Saturday? the fact that only their connections backed them?
nothing to do with the markets, I thought both were very good but the context is important. The handicap chase winner had been improving from a ridiculous dual handicapping mark. He had clearly improved significantly back over hurdles but was doing a sequence off lower chase marks. He won off a mark in the 130s which means he needs to improve a couple of stones to be graded class. Then the hurdles winner was very good again, but it was a disappointing race given the winner is a sub 60 horse on the flat and has had 5 races over hurdles prior to that. I’m sure that the big guns in Ireland aren’t quaking in their boots about anything from The weekend’s action
Sure one of our finest will pick up a handicap in March. Epatante will count as one of ours despite being French bred and Irish owned. Did you see the bumper in Ireland yesterday? If you didnt then I strongly suggest you find a replay of it!
I think the International meeting is generally relatively low-class Nass. Last weekend was much better at Sandown and many of the better horses will be waiting for engagements over Christmas. Regarding Goshen, he probably suffered the same fate as many good juveniles entering open company for the first time. I do, however, concur with whoever mentioned that the fall might have messed with his head. The engine is still there but is the gung-ho daredevil approach? Gary Moore will do well to find the key and he may have to wait a year physically.
Sandown was much better? Not sure I agree on that, we had bottomless ground on the hurdles course, and small field chases where the best horses were missing. I’m a fan of Politilogue but the lack of depth in all of these races is stark. Look at the field for the John Durkin in comparison!! as for the novice chase, it was an impressive win by Allmankind, but again it was a small field and the questions still are unanswered, around weight for age allowances and just how good the horse is. Not really sure that is ideal for a grade 1 race. The only race that had some depth was the Peterborough Chase, which I think was a very good renewal and the two who battled out the finish are interesting for the rest of the season. I really enjoyed the racing, it’s just stark how few very good horses we have in the UK and we have too many opportunities for them.
As for Goshen and the fall, I am more of the opinion that he has major issues, given how poor he was in his flat runs (and heavily backed suggests they thought he was a cert) and now over hurdles. I think they will find something in the forthcoming weeks, it’s alarming that he missed two other entries (Fighting fifth being one) which suggests all hasn’t been quite right for a while. Hopefully he gets a year in the field, then perhaps they can start again with him.
If you look at the all-aged Grade 1s run in Ireland this season you'd hardly call them superior in either quality or quantity of runners: Ladbrokes Champion Chase - Down Royal: 1. The Storyteller (158); 2. Chris's Dream (164 - huh?); 3.Tout Est Permis (152 and subseuqntly fifth off 135 over hurdles). 9 ran. Morgiana Hurdle - Punchestown: 1. Abacadabras (158); 2. Saint Roi (156); 3. Jason The Militant (147). 5 ran. Hatton's Grace Hurdle - Fairyhouse: 1. Honeysuckle (159); 2. Ronald Pump (156); 3. Beacon Edge (149). 6 ran. John Durkan Memorial - Punchestown: 1. Min (169); 2. Tornado Flyer (153); 3. Melon (159). 7 ran. Now the UK all-aged Grade 1s this season to date: Betfair Chase - Haydock: 1. Bristol De Mai (169); 2. Clan Des Obeaux (171): 3. Lostintranslation (171). 5 ran. Fighting Fifth Hurdle - Newcastle: 1. Epatante (162): 2. Sceau Royal (158); 3. Ribble Valley (147). 6 ran. Tingle Creek Chase - Sandown: 1. Politologue (169); 2. Greaneteen (158); 3. Rouge Vif (164). 5 ran. I'd argue the International Hurdle yesterday was a stronger race than either the Morgiana or Hatton's Grace. The Irish novices have looked mustard - not surprising given the money spent.
The international was nowhere near the level of the Morgiana, you will see at least two of them at the fore of the CH market. The handicap marks are irrelevant in the most part because they’ve never run in handicaps. Honeysuckle would be a short price against that international field as well.
