Apparently Ricci said on ATR last week that Moyle Park had a setback. Didn't hear it myself so it's not first hand info.
Very interesting stat / trend in yesterday’s ‘Weekender’ re this heat. In the renewals from 2009-13 of the horses who finished 1-2-3-4 (so that’s 20 in all) not one ran on the Flat. In fact the last horse to place, who had run on the level, was none other than the mighty, the great, the legiondary Binocular in ‘08. So recent history suggests you have to be that good to figure had you been an ex Flat performer. This recent trend certainly goes against the likes of Irving and First Mohican.
The bookies fav race of the festival, this one, even more so than the handicaps. Fill the satchels on the very first race. Not since fearless freddie williams laid jp mcmanus 100 large at 13/8 against like a butterfly have the enemy taken a beating on this race.
The Tullow Tank will not run at Cheltenham as trainer Philip Fenton saw his court case adjourned until March 20.
Barry Connell's decision Nass so it won't affect Last Instalment, Dunguib and the others. Unless of course their owners decide to follow suit.
I really like the Liquidator for this race... Irving and Vautour are gonna be all the rage now so the price should be pretty respectable on the day... often we see the hot pots turned over in this race. The Liquidator for me has bags of ability...loves Cheltenham..is suited by a galloping track and will love a strong pace. Hopefully it will be goodish ground on the day - Kempton wasnt his track last time and the ground wasnt to his likeing. The Liquidator then assuming he turns up for it ..
Very true Stick but the way he destroyed the field in the Supreme trial in November on goodish ground was very impressive. I just dont think he liked Kempton that day and I think I read somewhere he was found to have had a minor muscle problem after the race. He 's ran well previously at the festival so thats another box ticked for me. Im expecting a huge run. You can get 25/1 at present with one of the bookies which is very tempting but I dont do ante post betting.
Love the horse pops, he was in my five to follow for the season but that last run was a shocker. I hope you are right about him. Pipe has some top class novices thats for sure!
Irving's win yesterday was hugely impressive, and he's slightly tempered my confidence behind Vautour! There's little doubt Irving will be the fastest horse in this race, but the speed horses generally struggle to win this race, Go Native being a notable exception. One critique I would offer up is the Supreme's will be a whole new ballgame to what Irving's been involved in before, where his speed has killed races which seem to have been slowly run, small field affairs. He justifies challenging for favoritism though despite my belief that he may possibly lack the robustness the Supremes requires from a novice hurdler.
Just managed to get on here after being busy this weekend, but......... IRVING 10/1!!!!!!!!!!!! What a machine
Captain/Stick - This is what Pipe said during 1 of the preview evenings "David Pipe: (on The Liquidator) He is back on good form. You could call him the forgotten horse. He has had one bad run but was vying for favouritism before that. If we can get him back to his best he will have a chance."
Irving has looked, in the words of Paul Nicholls, a proper horse. He is a genuine 2m hurdler. The worry for me is that he is flat-bred and hasn't encountered anything quite like Cheltenham yet. Kempton would have been right up his street. He is also yet to go left-handed, not that he won't like it but it is another thing to keep in mind. Liquidator will rate an interesting each-way bet if he turns up on song.
Just watched Liquidators two Cheltenham runs- the bumper and the Supreme trial, and he looks very much at home. He will also stay 2m 4f + one day and his stamina was really in evidence when running on strongly late on in the Bumper. I'll be very tempted to have a bet on him now. As of yet, the other fancy of mine is Valseur Lido.
Valid points as always Toppy, but sometimes I just think the eyes need trusting more than the breeding, whether he goes left handed / right handed, track issues and any other questions you want to ask of a certain animal. I actually still think Vautours last run was slightly a better piece of form, but is he susceptible to something with a decent turn of foot? Isn't Hurricane Fly flat-bred by the way? I was a little nervous before Saturdays run as to whether he would turn out to be as good as the hype suggested, but he was virtually flawless, jumped well and travelled like a dream before putting the race to bed as he liked. Can never be confident with a Supreme Novices bet given the competitive nature of the race, but I'm very happy to have the 10/1 voucher in my possession.
Seems VAUTOUR is taking a sizeable walk in the market at the minute for this race...Not another one out I hope, especially as this one carries my coins! I've just had a little saver each-way on Wicklow Brave at 8s though, just in case. Irving would be a worthy favourite but at the current prices I'm happy to look elsewhere as 5/2 seems pretty short to me.
