The 2 mile chasing division remains firmly in the grip of the Black Aeroplane. Sprinter Sacre's superiority over anything which dares to take him on is so staggering that it is impossible to envisage anything other than a second consecutive title for Nicky Henderson's superstar. Indeed the biggest challenge looks to be trying to find a horse which is likely to run against him in March. Here's what the bookies have in their markets as of September 8th (Stan James prices taken from Oddschecker): Sprinter Sacre 1/3 Simonsig 7 Dynaste 16 Cue Card 16 Flemenstar 20 Captain Conan 20 33/1 Bar The fact that Simonsig and Captain Conan are unlikely to take on their stablemate, and Cue Card, Flemenstar and Dynaste are much more likely to go the Ryanair route, shows just what Sprinter Sacre's dominance means to the market. Connections of lesser owners may well be tempted to run for the prize money but this should really just be a race for us to sit back and be thrilled by Sprinter Sacre. Ultimately, he will need more of a challenge to achieve the loftier ratings which his talent surely merit, but at the moment there seems to be a real possibility that this race, which has been won by so many wonderful horses and has thrown up so many exciting finishes (see the wiki page HERE), will once again be a small field demolition job.
If we keep our eyes open we might get a nice ante post e/w horse in the places William's Wishes for example
Simonsig is obviously much better than we saw last March so just how good is he? I suppose his appearance /non appearance will, to some extent, answer that.
He won't be able to live with the Black Aeroplane Ron - even money he goes King George then Ryanair (unless he romps home in the KG, then it might be the CGC)
Simonsig is an absolute beast and has the raw talent and ability to beat every horse he runs against this year.Well,i say every horse.He wont beat SS should they meet,but that's certainly no disgrace as no horse will get near him nevermind beat him.
My main gripe re this race remains. Get THAT woman’s name off its title deeds. In fact while the Racecourse Executive are at it rename the event – ‘Mr Henderson, THE Champion...Chase’. Anyone taking 1/3 about Sprinter Sacre 6 months before the race though wants sectioning in my opinion as giving the fragility of the breed and the brutal nature of NH racing it must be in the region of Evens – 4/6 that he will even make the race! Should Mr Henderson’s ‘Black Aeroplane’ make it to ‘tapes’ though there can only be one winner, methinks. In fact if granted good health throughout season 2013/14 I’d be very confident of the old boy remaining unbeaten once again.
The X-Factor Champion Chase ? Nothing wrong with putting the Queen Mother into the name of this race, she was different mustard to the current lot AND was a huge supporter of NH racing to boot. We can't have every race named after a bookmaker ........
Sire De Grugy wins this. And he won't be 11/4 once the favourite gets withdrawn on "veterinary advice".
If Sprinter Sacre doesn't make it, then I can't wait to try and get Sire beat. He lost to that old rogue at Cheltenham, nevermind trying to beat a good field in a QMCC
I'd be surprised if SS turns up. In an interview with NH on ATR he was full of "We would like to think". The one that concerned me went something like " with 4 weeks to go, we would like to think that he's about right at this point in time" (may be nothing like but that was the gist). Surely he could be more confident about what stage he should be at "at this point in time". In addition, he did mention the weather was a problem. Those of you who have listened to more interviews with NH will have a better idea of what to read into that. It wouldn't inspire me to back him. I can almost see the interview where NH says something along the lines of "Look, he's a magnificent horse and maybe he could go and win without being fully fit but, given the problem he had, we feel it wouldn't be right to subject him to a hard race first time back on a race course. We may have a look at giving him a run at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and see how it goes from there."
Everything went wrong for him that day. The theory seems to be that Cheltenham may not be his course, but as he has easily the best 2 mile chase form of any horse this season, I'm no that worried about him showing his best there.
I really think he has been beating trees this season, and I think with the Irish possibles and also even a horse like Al Ferof stepping back in trip, he is vulnerable enough for the price not to be appealing even if SS didn't turn up.
this is my thinking too. I notice that Nicky Henderson is sending Captain Conan and Kid Cassidy to this race regardless and I can't help thinking therefore that SS wont be seen again this season. in a way that wouldnt be a bad thing. we all want to see SS at his absolute best.
Taken from ATR... Trainer Nicky Henderson expects the final decision over Sprinter Sacre's participation in the BetVictor Queen Mother Champion Chase to be made within the next 10 days. Henderson has endured a torrid time this season with the current champion, who lost his unbeaten record over fences when he pulled up at Kempton over Christmas with an irregular heartbeat. It has been a slow, gradual process trying to build him back up and while everything is on target so far, the Seven Barrows handler stressed Sprinter Sacre will not run at the Cheltenham Festival unless he was 100 per cent happy. "He either runs in the Champion Chase or we put him away for next season," Henderson told BetRacingNation TV. "He worked on Wednesday and I was pleased with him. He wears a heart monitor in all his work and he's wired up to Newmarket. I have the results back within an hour, it's all perfectly OK. "We've got work to do and I would think it will be another 10 days before we finally make the decision. "He could go to Kempton on Friday week or even Newbury (next) weekend as I wouldn't mind him jumping some fences on a racecourse. "Captain Conan is in good order and I think he will finish up running in the Champion Chase whether Sprinter is there or not, and Kid Cassidy will almost certainly run in it, too, so we might be three-handed. "Sprinter will only run if he is back to what we consider his very best. If he is, to be fair, unless I get this wrong, he is the one they all have to beat. It will be difficult to beat him if he is back and if he's not back I won't run him."
You've still got a chance on your call there Archers... PadPow odds... Sprinter is @ 4/5... Sire De Grugy is @ 5/2... Captain Conan is @ 8/1 Benefficient is @ 8/1 10/1 bar the rest...
I would now be surprised if Sprinter Sacre run having read Mr Henderson’s latest bulletin. Looks like the great man will give him every chance to get where he wants him to be but at the moment he just ain’t quite 100%. So glad that the ‘Black Aeroplane’ is in the right hands and won’t simply be rushed back to the racetrack in pursuit of money.
