He's got Boston Bob for the World Hurdle chaps but I very much doubt that horse is as good as Annie Power and he could easily go back chasing. IMHO, if someone like Needles trained Boston Bob he'd now be a strong challenger for the Gold Cup. He's a great horse but confidence is so fragile following some bad jumping last year. I'll say it again, Mullins struggles getting these potentially superb chasers jumping well enough at Championship pace. And it pisses me off.
Boston Bob would be some chaser if he could jump better. He stays so so well. Jury is still out on Mullins chasers, that is for sure. I think Nicholls is superb with them. Annie Power missing the festival would be a real shame. When you have a horse like her she should be in a Championship race. Imagine the smaller trainers who would give their right arm for a horse as good as that. What do people think her biggest asset is- speed or stamina? She has looked better the further she has gone on her two starts in the UK but travels so well I could easily see her run well in a Champion. Will be interested to see her run on good ground- she goes through soft like there is no tomorrow. Will Un De Sceaux be tested at a higher level soon? Liked the look of him on reappearance.
I think she'd be do e for toe in the Champion Hurdle and stay on really well for a place. I can't have her winning over 2miles against this bunch on good ground when she's been so impressive over further on heavy. Could be wrong though. Only musing about her missing the Festival. She's probably Willie's best World Hurdle hope so will most likely go there.
Apologies for this being old "news" but only just seen this article (22nd Oct) about Rock On Ruby and wondered if it has any bearing on the form of The New One
I think it will be either Jezki or Melodic Rendezvous. Jezki based on the fact that he was denied a clear run behind the Fly, and Melodic Rendezvous based on the fact that he injured himself in the Fighting Fifth and 50/1 is just TOO big
Massively stuck between the Fly and The New One. Good ground It has to be the New Ones final burst, soft ground and surely a repeat of last year is on the cards???Cant have MTOY will never get up the hill, proved it last year
Different year.....different horse is all i say to that!! MTOY bigger and stronger now and will settle better in my view... Dont know why people are so certain mtoy wont get up the hill based on only last years Supreme
Very TRUE Captain, I could be wrong but just have that niggling feeling that he will always end up getting out battled at chelts ???
Pricewise did go for Annie Power but the year before it was Cotton Mill so you can take from that what you will.
I thought it was something of a cop out Pricewise having just a single point on an animal under the terms NRNB. Or, of course, it could be argued that there is now absolutely no value whatsoever in the heat and those bookie chappies have the contest about right and he had little option. But I do think Annie Power, and what a lovely name for a mare by the way, will be Champion Hurdle bound. That’s because the 2 alternatives offer far, far less in terms of prizemoney and kudos. If you’ve got even a modicum of ambition in your bones you don’t run a genuine Grade 1 horse, as Annie Power appears to be, in a humble Grade 2 such as the ‘Mares Hurdle’ (which in my view doesn’t belong at the Festival and all it actually does is dilute the product as a whole). Meanwhile, remembering old boy Ted Walsh’s rant re the ‘Stayers Hurdle’ from a few years back in which he, quite brilliantly, blitzed it to pieces by saying no-one ever bred or purchased a horse with the intention of winning the race and that it was only a contest for horses who either couldn’t jump fences or were too slow for the Champion Hurdle why go their if you have a genuine shot at the real hurdling prize??? Finally, the horse appearing to creep into possible contention is Mr Nicholls’ Ptit Zig. He next goes for the ‘Haydock Park Champion Hurdle Trial’ (the most unimaginatively titled heat of the year) and if he performs well and if the word ‘soft’ appears at Cheltenham on ‘day 1’ then he’s a possible. Now rated 159 after his heroics under a welter burden at Ascot just before Christmas should those ‘ifs’ become positive then he’d be an outsider to consider, methinks.
A little snip of an interview with Jeremy Scott on Melodic Rendezvous' comeback from injury. "Melodic Rendezvous continues to progress nicely following his muscle injury which emerged following his run at Newcastle in the StanJames.com Fighting Fifth where he was fifth to My Tent Or Yours," "Obviously we were hugely disappointed following that run, but at least he did have an injury which he could have picked up in the Elite at Wincanton where he slipped, although we can't be sure. "We'll put an entry in Haydock on Saturday, January 18 for the StanJames.com Champion Hurdle Trial, although that will probably come too soon. "We'll also enter him in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday, February 8. He's building up all the time, but the reality is that we won't know if he has fully recovered until he has run. "It's only when horses are put under pressure that muscle injuries like that come to light. However, he's doing everything well enough at the moment." In my personal opinion i believe if he is 100% he is near or around the same mark/ability as MTOY and the 40/1(70 on betfair at the moment) could look very silly. It looks like the Betfair Hurdle will be his race however he will have a monster weight that day off 155(MTOY won on the bridle with 149). A good performance will see his price tumble and would be all roads to Cheltenham hopefully.
Good each way bet if you fancy him because it looks like he won't run unless he does well in the betfair. There's plenty of firms offering NRNB.
