Hello all, This isn't a shameless blag for my blog, I am really wanting some input and I think this is a good idea. One that can be run on here alongside the blog. The story goes - I want to go to the festival all four days next year, and as such I am getting a full membership. I think therefore a blog about the year of racing up to the festival is a good idea and I am being frank and honest about my limitations and biases. One limitation is that I don't follow bumper races as closely as I should, and as such I miss out on many potentially top novice hurdlers. I therefore want the 606ers to name me a potential novice hurdler to follow through the season and a tiny bit of rationale for following the horses progress. I will pop them into gg.com and notify the thread & blog about their running and the results with a hope to see some of them turning up at the festival in March. What do you think?
Nass I am toying with a similar idea. I was thinking of doing a weekly review of novice races right up to the festival - maybe one for hurdlers and one for chasers, or even splitting each of those into "speed" and "stayers". The idea being that each week we take a look back at the novice races and try and pull out noteworthy performances and even pick up some early festival pointers. What gave me the idea is that there is so much happening in this sphere each week during the winter, and it would be good to have one thread where you can look back and review the main races. So often a key race is overlooked in the novice sphere because it was a class 4 at Fontwell or Bangor, rather than a Grade 2 at Cheltenham. I thought about adding the betting summary for the top novice races at the festival each week, to see how the market develops. I'd be happy to take the chasers if you want to do the hurdlers. What do you think?
I think we should do this, perhaps as a forum we can do a bit of a review each week of what we have noticed in both novice spheres. I am more than happy to help out with this.
One form the David Pipe yard I will be watching out for is GEVREY CHAMBERTIN who is related to stable star Grands Crus. Gevery Chambertin won a bumper over 2 miles at Ffos Las by 30L on his debut which granted was not the strongest race but it showed he has ability. He then contested a stronger bumper at Newbury over 2m and did well to finish a close fourth. A step up in trip over hurdles was the making of Grands Crus and the step up in trip for Gevery Chambertin should bring out lots of improvement.
My Tent Or Yours: Nicky Henderson's yard were reportedly staggered when this one got beaten 1/4L in March, and he followed up this effort with a 2nd in the Aintree bumper 1.5L behind The New One, who won his first Novice Hurdle in convincing style only a couple of days ago. My Tent Or Yours is one I'll be looking to back this season on the back of that decent form and the yards confidence.
If anyone can find the name of Nicky Henderson's brother to stablemate MONO MAN I would greatly appreciate it. Henderson bought him for £60k and I am under the impression they are fond of it. Mono Man himself is one to keep an eye on this year, potentially a smart horse over 2 and a half miles.
Good idea guy's, as you said it can be hard to follow every race and some often slip inder the radar, it would be nice to have the info stored on here.
DODGING BULLETS - Paul Nicholls said he must be the best maiden in the country after being placed in the Triumph last March and then unplaced when over the top at Aintree. Watch the Triumph again as he cruises into contention but just doesn't see out the trip. However with a summer growing and filling out, I think he could be one to watch in the novice hurdle division.
There are a couple more who come wit big expectations from their trainers but either haven't run yet or didn't quite cut it last season: Minsk - Only had one run last season, a disappointing second - much more expected of this one by connections. Ransome Note - Serious flat performer, rated 117 in his peak, Royal Ascot and Group 2 winner. Waaheb - Punchestown Bumper winner in 2011 before being out with injury all of last season after being one-time Supreme Novices antepost favourite.
My novice hurdle tip for the very top would be Mr Henderson’s TISTORY. A half brother to my old fave, Punchestowns, this French bred 4YO won a Ludlow bumper nicely back in March and the sky, as they say, could be the limit. A top, top prospect. As I said a few weeks ago the best novice in the county may be a juvenile. Alan King’s HANDAZAN. An ex-John-Oxx inmate King has gone down the Mr Henderson route of Zaynar – ex Aga Khan stock here. Another who could be top drawer. Meanwhile, I’ve no idea if connections plan to send him over the sticks or sell him but one from the level that I’d love to see over hurdles is Mr Gosden’s UNEX EL GRECO. Currently rated in the 90’s on the level this scopey individual would I think be set alight by jumping 8 flights of hurdles. I do think though that betting on novice races ante-post (hurdles especially), at Cheltenham, is since the introduction of the ‘extra’ races very, very hazardous as horses now have 2 or even 3 options over which race to enter with many trainers not committing there horses to one particular novice event until just a handful of days before the actual race. Boston Bob going for the 3 mile event rather than the 20 furlong heat last term, at the Festival, was one example where punters severely had their old fingers burned.
I've seen him, they like him but he was called 'Mono Man's brother'. Mono Man is definitely one to have on side but I've no idea what they're planning with him.
