I see that its been announced that the 11th richest man in Wales has bought one of last seasonâs top staying novice hurdlers namely the 5YO African Gold. After winning his bumper back in May 2012, this top, top prospect, went onto win 4 of his first 5 races over hurdles â including a demolition of Mr Hendersonâs very useful Close Touch. He then arguably stepped up on this to run 2 excellent races in defeat â 2nd behind At Fishers Cross, in the 3 mile Grade 1 novice heat at the Cheltenham Festival, and then 5th behind Solwhit, in open company, at Aintree. Always thought of as a staying chaser, that is the sphere he will surely now be aimed at, and he is amongst the leading fancies for the 2014 RSA Chase. Certainly appears one to watch and undoubtedly has the potential to reach the very top over the old big âuns. The points to ponder, pilgrims, though must be: (i) what price did he fetch?!? Its a âprivate dealâ so I guess we will never know but Iâm guessing in the region of a cool quarter of a million, (ii) who will now train the old boy??? Currently with old boy Twiston-Davies but in the past Dai Walters has had most of his good horses with Mr Henderson (Oscar Whisky being the clear star) and others mainly with Mr Nicholls, Alan King and those old rogues the Pipeâs. He has used Twiston-Davies occasionally in the past but personally, and this may shock a few, Iâd transfer African Gold to Mr Henderson as no one can train a horse like that man, and (iii) what exactly will African Gold go onto achieve. The sky has to, at this stage, be the limit and I think heâll prove very hard to keep out of the upper echelon of staying novice chasing stars in 2013/14. Could even be viewed as a potential Cheltenham Gold Cup horse for 2015 and beyond. Anyone else equally excited by this purchase???
A very nice horse but no answers to those questions I'm afraid, would be interesting to know, maybe more info to come out in the stable tours ?? He was a cracking hurdler last year and ran well when 2nd to At Fishers Cross in the potato race. Did he really see out the 3m on the soft ground that day or was he just beaten by a proper good horse ? He was cruising at the final bend with young Twisters even looking over his shoulder. He'll have grown over the summer and will love fences so I expect him to be high in the betting on both the RSA and the Jewson, which is now a grade 1.
Wuby, you can get 20/1 about him for both the Jewsons and the RSA (although interestingly Victor Chander have him 6 points shorter and pushing for favourtism in the latter race). Ron, no idea, I’m afraid. But I’d guess that Dai Walters made an offer that his previous connections couldn’t refuse. According to that ‘Rich List’ feature, incidentally, he’s now worth £180 million and consequently is sandwiched between Catherine Zeta-Jones and that terrible old crooner, Tom Jones, who are 10th and 12th respectively.
Sorry to go off topic from your initial thread Barney, but i was intrigued by the Welsh top 20, and who had what... Anyway ive put it up for all to see... 1. Sir Terry Matthews - £1,090m 2. Michael Moritz - £1,082m 3. Douglas Perkins - £870m 4. Simon Nixon - £536m 5. Henry Engelhardt - £528m 6. Steve Morgan - £410m 7. David Sullivan - £400m 8. Sir Stanley and Peter Thomas - £225m 9. Malcolm Walker - £200m 10. Catherine Zeta-Jones - £185m 11. Dai and Richard Walters - £180m 12. Sir Tom Jones - £140m 13. David and Heather Steven - £137m 14. Duncan Cameron - £132m 15. Sir Chris Evans - £120m 16. = Andrew Owens and Alex Lewis - £110m 16. = Andy Pritchard - £110m 18. Hayley Parsons - £95m 19. William Lloyd - £93m 20. Bernard Rees Smith - £90m 21. Andrew Vicari - £85m 22. = Tarsem Dhaliwal - £80m 22. = James Hull - £80m 24. Peter Darwell - £77m Ive only heard of about 4 of them, and most of them don't even sound like they were born near a pit or Welsh valley...!!! There is certainly some money in them there valleys...!!!
something seriously wrong with income distribution--nobody-but nobody should be thousands of times 'richer' than others ---one of the reasons this place is so ****ed--more like a banana state !
I see he is out of Kings Theatre, and that has to be a bonus looking at what has gone before him... Riverside Theatre - Ascot Chase, Ryanair Chase Captain Chris - Arkle Challenge Trophy Menorah - Supreme Novices' Hurdle Wichita Lineman - Spa Novices' Hurdle Voler la Vedette - Hatton's Grace Hurdle Cue Card - Champion Bumper, Ascot Chase, Ryanair Chase Both hurdle and jumps form looking at this lot here... As you say Barney, the sky is the limit...
