A super inaugural meeting and my thoughts on the stars on show and their Festival chances. MIN- Yes Put a decent looking field to the sword in convincing fashion. I guess it is still in the lap of the gods as to where he appears on the Festival card with The QMCC being the obvious race. What a belter that would be and simply knowing his wellbeing puts him ahead of Altior in my book. FOOTPAD-Yes Will almost certainly be the horse in just about every accumulator. He showed his class at the weekend. He simply cruised the whole way round and did not come out of first gear. The only question for the Arkle is will anything get him off the bridle. SUPASUNDAE-Yes A stayer with gears and I see very little in the way of serious competition from the UK. He broke a lot of hearts this weekend but hats off he is top drawer. FAUGHEEN- No He needed to bounce back with a win to be a serious contender to Beuvair Dair and while it was an encouraging run he came up a fair way short of his best. I have no doubt that he will be over in March but I think he is playing for place money. SAMCRO-Yes Most likely in the Ballymore but he would win the Supreme also if they chose that option. He is an exciting animal and there are no obvious chinks in the armour, he has it all. I cannot see them supplementing for the Champion as in his owners eyes this horse is all about next year when they will go chasing. He will scoop his novice pot with minimal fuss. TOTAL RECALL-Maybe He is rated 156 over fences but that should have a serious plus next to it. Entries for the Ryanair and the Gold Cup both look tempting and my personal call is that they will have a crack at the Gold Cup before going to Aintree. The horse has a serious engine but would probably just fall short at the Championship. If he does go to the Gold Cup he wouldn’t be a bad each way shout. MONALEE-No He was given a fine ride by Fehily today and that was the difference. He is as game as you like and kept pulling out just a little bit more. His likely Festival race is the RSA where he will most likely meet Presenting Percy and I don’t think he is quite that good. The runner up today, Al Boum Photo, could turn the tables on him and a couple of the home team, Willoughby Court and Black Corton could also have his measure. Nice animal though and he did run a belter in last years Albert Bartlett. OUR DUKE-No Cracked when the pressure was applied today and the test will probably be far greater in the Gold Cup. He needed to win today to back up his credentials. KILLULTAGH VIC- I hope so Had the race in the bag today and surprised a few people. He does have a scary way of jumping and that could find him out at Cheltenham. He is all heart and true battler but this was far from ideal as a prep race for the Gold Cup. Had he pinged that last fence I am sure the response would be a Yes. Y favourite horse in training but he scares the life out of me every time he runs. DJAKADAM- Maybe Yes maybe, if indeed they run him in the Ryanair. He jumped like the super horse he did out in front today and that sort of performance would give him a huge chance of what would be a well deserved Festival victory. It seems obvious to me that he should run there, he has no chance in the Gold Cup. Finally a word on the bumper. It was a smashing field and Blackbow deserves a lot of credit in getting that whirling dervish over the line in front. RHINESTONE however lost nothing in defeat and I am certain he will reverse this outcome at Cheltenham. He is top of my list for the Festival bumper at this time.
In my 15 wish years of watching NH racing i've never seen a horse hyped as much as Samcro. He lived up to it today. Is already a make or break horse for a lot at the Festival.
I a pretty certain Bob that he will be far better suited by Cheltenham than the other horse. Plus, he will have a pro on board and Blackbow will have the sack of spuds!
I'm great at pointing out the mistakes of others mate . In the handicaps I'll be keeping an eye out for Liz Doyle's Last Goodbye. Off the bridle a long way from home today but hosed up albeit under a featherweight. Took another look at his run in the Novice Handicap at last year's festival. He finished 5th, 8 lengths of the winner but that doesn't really tell the story as the trainer intimated in her post race interview today. Was on and off the bridle throughout and was hampered by Foxtail Hill's fall and then massively hampered at the last yet still stayed on well up the hill. Has a quote of 12s for the Brown Advisory but I reckon it will be the Ultima. No price up yet but have requested one.
Smashing little jockey that young lad too. Only problem is Chan that he will get absolutely walloped for that win today, especially in the way he did it. Tough game horse and wont be far away. I have the joy of unpicking the handicaps to look forward too! First time ever I am getting close to the Festival with almost everything I could want on ante post bet slips already. Just kicking myself for not listening to Boris regarding Buveur Dair. Cant have it all.
Yeah that's the fly in the ointment though I reckon there's fair bit more improvement over further though. Although the young lad gave him a decent ride today he's got a bit to learn about protecting handicap marks
No doubting Killultagh Vic's engine but jumping is the name of the game. Heart-in-mouth stuff if he is carrying your money and I don't expect it will be any different in future. I'm a little wary of the Min form because of the way the race was run - did he simply outstay the others? He was 1.5 seconds quicker than Footpad and about 4 seconds quicker than the handicap chase but the gallop set by Special Tiara was quite ridiculous and the race fell apart because of that. I found the Total Recall race a complete farce, how can a horse be allowed to run off what was an absolutely ridiculous mark like that? The 2 first 2 in the Grade 1 juvenile impressed me as I think Espoir D'Allen set a decent standard prior to the race. However the Triumph will be a different ball game and I wouldn't rule out Gavin Cromwell's charge on better ground. Footpad was very impressive once again but I still cannot understand the price discrepancy between him and Sceau Royal and Alan King's charge remains the better value, especially on spring ground. Overall I wonder how many horses left the Cheltenham chance behind this weekend?
On Min I think most Champion Chases are run at a good strong gallop so it may be as good a trail as any. It's hard to see Douvan showing up and Altior could possibly going there without a prep, Min would have to be number one on my list. I've never really warmed to Sceau Royale (always thought he was just a little bit short of the top level) but with Footpad and Petit Mouchoir both going for the Arkle it looks as though there will be a lot of pace in it. Thought the Henry the eight fell into his hands. The same might happen in the Arkle. Strong possibility of it being run to suit him and he is looking a decent bet to be fair.
Would folk be confident that both Footpad and Sceau Royal clash with the Champion Chase having a few question marks about it?
They would need to be supplemented as neither is entered. The owners do have Top Notch entered in the Champion Chase but I think he is more likely to run in the Ryanair. I don't think they will try and keep Sceau Royal and Footpad apart (unless it came up very soft - that might put them off running Sceau Royal?)
I'd be surprised should anything get within 10l of Footpad or Petit Mouchoir. That looked a proper strong gallop from the off and they both saw it out strongly. Henry must be delighted with his horses run off the back of an injury and as someone on him at a double figure price i was too. Think he'll give Footpad a bit to think about if its good ground.
I can't see a reason to send either to the QMCC. No real reason to take on that challenge this year even with the the uncertainty around Altior and Douvan.
Altior looks set to run on Saturday...providing its not worse than soft and the meeting is on of course..
Politologue is taking Paul Nicholls back to the big time, he hasnt had a horse like this since the glory days. Altior is bang in trouble.
