The first 3 home in the Champion Hurdle will get entries in the Aintree Hurdle over two and a half miles, as will Annie Power, who had the OLBG Mares' Hurdle at her mercy when crashing out at the final flight. More here
Hope they all turn up Ron as I've got my tickets sorted for the Thursday. That would be an absolute cracker to see 4 of the first 5 in the Champion Hurdle renew acquaintances over the longer trip. I've assumed Jezki won't be there but I've not seen where his next race is if he has one.
If you think Mullins is going to throw all 4 in there then your dreaming. He likely has them all entered whilst they decide who's going where. He might want to allow Hurricane Fly one last day in the sun at Punchestown, so they may well run Faugheen at Aintree, seeing as there's a longer break than usual between Cheltenham and Aintree this year. I certainly don't see HF running at Aintree, as he's had a lot of hard races this year, and is knocking on abit. I remember reading reports that it took him along time to get over his race at Leopardstown, and he's run the CH since, so he's probably in need of a rest. If Faugheen does run at Aintree I think Arctic Fire will run with him, and Annie Power would go in the 3 miler. I could be completely wrong with my predictions regarding who's going where, as I know there was talk of Hurricane Fly going for the French Champion Hurdle. But one thing im fairly sure of is that all 4 will not be lining up in the same race at Aintree. It makes no sense whatsoever!
Not dreaming at all. I'd be very surprised if Mullins sends 4 over. The Fly is a standing dish at the Punchy festival so I'd expect him to run there. Even if he sends 2 add TNO and ROR that will do for me. From a viewing perspective Aintree is far superior to Cheltenham. Brilliant views of the course right over the winning post. Added to that most folk are only interested in getting ****faced so getting between paddock and stands far easier.
Mullins will run Arctic Fire and one other, probably Annie Power who I think will run at Aintree and Punchestown Hurricane Fly will either run at Punchestown or be put away Faugheen will run at Punchestown, it's the big Irish festival and the Irish will want to see their Champion
At a guess: Annie P goes Aintree, Fly goes Autieul, Faugheen goes Punchestown which leaves the improving Arctic Fire... Not sure what way they'll go with him. Some seem to think a step up in trip would help him but I'm not so sure, have you seen how keen he is? Looks to have bags of toe but just needs a fast pace to settle. Obviously he's not quite up to Faugheen standards but I don't think he needs stepped up in trip. He could be one to mop up the English Grade Ones next year if they choose that path for him. Obviously has very little to beat over there, the one possible exception being Peace and Co. As a 4/5yo though he'd be in plenty deep enough next season. Probably worth bearing in mind Mullin's post race comments about Arctic Fire in not being able to see a rib on him yet! Him and Faugheen could give us the hurdle race of the season at Punchestown if Arctic Fire keeps improving... Jezki I think stays here for Punchestown. In terms of his ability, with the benefit of hindsight, the 2014 Champion Hurdle clearly looks substandard now. Afterall the biggest dodgepot ever seen to step onto a racecourse got second and The New One was third! Both winner and third unsurprisingly outclassed in this year's renewal. However a step up would help both horses, but last year's Doombar does look a lot weaker than this year's potentially could be. In the form Mullin's had his big guns at Cheltenham you'd have to think that he wins this with whoever he chooses. I suspect it will be the mare.
Nigel was busy scampering down the prize list to see what 5th got him when he saw Ron's thread lol Seriously that is very disappointing news. Poor horse. Hopefully he'll be back next season, if not can you imagine what the English Grade 1s will look like
Willie Mullins has ruined NTDs master plan! They'll have to make do with the Scottish Champion Hurdle instead, another prestigious race I like Peace And Co as a hurdler for next season, I think he won the Triumph with a lot in hand. He should clear up in the English G1s, wether The New One is around or not. I'd have reservations about him as a potential Champion Hurdle prospect though, just because he will only be 5. Maybe when he's 6 he'll stand a chance
What would you do with Peace and Co next year? As a 5yo it will be tough to win the Champion Hurdle but I can't imagine horses coming back for a second crack having failed at the first attempt have a great record either
Binocular was beaten as a 5yo, and came back the following year and won it. I think you just have to give it a go, and see how he runs. If he's completely beaten then go chasing, but if he runs a good race in defeat like Binocular did then go for it again at 6
Given the currently lamentable standard of the British Champion Hurdle challenge, I would think connections will be eyeing a tilt at the Champion Hurdle with Peace & Co. The only other possible contender in Seven Barrows would be MTOY but I guess his future is far from certain.
I think MTOYs had his chance, and he'd of probably won had he been given a better ride. I'm still convinced Barry Geraghty out rode McCoy that day. I think if you swapped the jockeys round MTOYs would have won comfortably. I just don't see him coming back from injury as an 8 year old and winning. As 6 is the prime age, and the form of that race isn't stacking up to well in comparison to this years renewal
Agreed. Looking bloody thin on the ground for any serious British challenge to Faugheen at the moment - very disappointing. He'll go off at 1/4 come March 2016
Looking at the entries it appears Mullins is running both Hurricane Fly and Arctic Fire, and not running Annie Power or Faugheen. This is likely going to make the betting more competitive, and it's hard to know how bookmakers will price the race up. Hurricane Fly hasn't run over 2m4 for years, though he does have a victory over Solwhit on his only run over the trip, whilst Arctic Fire has no form whatsoever over the trip. Jezki is still entered and he has 1 piece of form over the 2m4 when he beat Zaidpour by only a length a couple of years back. The horse that sets the standard this season over the trip is Rock On Ruby, though beating Vaniteaux by 2 and a half lengths(giving 8 pounds admittedly) doesn't really look that strong form, particularly when The New One beat Vaniteaux giving away 8 pounds over 2 miles even easier. Then Vaniteaux was thrashed 48 lengths in the Champion Hurdle. So I can't be having Rock On Ruby's form as being good enough to be competitive here in a G1. I think at 10 his days as a G1 performer are long gone. Aux Ptits Soins (the hardest named horse to remember how to spell) is an interesting inclusion in the race, but he is really going to have to improve a lot to win this. He won well in his handicap win at the festival but he was only off 139 that day, so he's likely going to have to find around 20 pounds of improvement. He's obviously still improving but that's a lot to find in a month. I did like his run at Cheltenham as he came very wide with his run, but this is a G1 hurdle he's running in here. It's a whole new level of competition. Nicholls is really throwing him in at the deep end here, after only 2 previous runs over hurdles. I think this race will be between the 3 Irish horses, and the ground could play a big role. As Jezki and Arctic Fire will prefer good ground, whilst HF will have a big chance if it rains a lot. The ground is probably going to be good though, so I think it's between the other 2. Arctic Fire even though he hasn't run over the trip is my pick at this stage, as although they didn't go that quick in the Champion Hurdle he was the horse finishing the strongest of all of them. Faugheen was still in full flight right to the line, and Arctic Fire was gaining significant ground on him. He got outpaced when they initially quickened but then stayed on up the hill better than anything else in the race. So I think the step up in trip will see him improve. He is also still only a 6 years old, so should be improving from run to run, unlike a few of the others. I know Jezki and Hurricane Fly have looked better than him over in Ireland this season on heavy ground, and he only beat Jezki at Leopardstown due to Jezki making a last hurdle mistake. But I'm convinced from looking at his form that he is a much better horse on good ground, and he proved that at Cheltenham by beating Hurricane Fly and Jezki fair and square. So Arctic Fire is a very confident selection for me in this race
4 days away and we are still yet to see any bookmaker give any odds on this race, all the other G1s at Aintree are priced up yet for some reason arguably the most high profile one of them all isn't priced up. There aren't even any prices on the exchanges, so no idea how they will price it up. Having a guess I'd go 7/4 Arctic Fire 5/1 Jezki 11/2 Hurricane Fly 8/1 Rock On Ruby 10/1 Aux Ptits Souis 16/1 bar
Outclassed? I dont think they ran to anywhere near the same level this year. The previous year it was a proper gallop from start to finish, TNO has turned out to be injured and Hurricane Fly finished in front of both of them after being well beaten last year. Turned into a sprint this year and maybe that suited the first and second more than Jezki and TNO. Arctic Fire has won 2 hurdle races in his life, a maiden and a 15k novice hurdle and was rated 147 when 5L behind Irving and 4L behind Aurore Destruval a couple of months ago but now he is a 169 horse and 7 lengths better than Jezki. I dont know about you but im not wearing that for a second. The time was 3 seconds slower than the Supreme and you wont get many Champion Hurdle's run in that fashion I wouldnt have thought. Seems obvious that both TNO and Jezki ran at the very least 10 pounds below the previous year and the handicapper must agree or else Faugheen would be rated 180+ just now. With Arctic Fire getting so close to the winner and those two barely raising a gallop it just looks a strange race to me, no doubt the right horse won but I wouldnt trust the form and I never do in false races. Might be a while before you see "Made all dictating steady pace" in the formbook for a Champion Hurdle winner again. And I think you might be forgetting a certain Irish horse who ran second to Hardy Eustace!
I'll be laying Arctic Fire all day at 7/4 Shergs Put him around 3/1 and ROR a little shorter and I reckon you're not far away. Having said that, I think it more than likely that HF and Jezki stay at home. Race could cut up quite badly.
Oh no not another TNO is great/always unlucky argument lol 1. You don't think last year's Champion Hurdle lot ran there race this year. Mmmm...disagree myself. I think Fly underperformed last year, beats Jezki every day of the week kind of backs that up. At 11 years old too! Maybe last year's Gold Cup lot 'didn't run their race' this year either then if you apply that logic. Can't have that argument sorry. You can't make excuses for the entire field. Champions win DESPITE things going wrong, that's what makes them CHAMPION. 2. Trusting the Fighting Fifth form but not the Champion?! OK, Irving must be some horse, he'd destroy Faugheen if Arctic Fire ran his race in it, oh wait.... 3. TNO doesn't win Grade One races, usually doesn't even compete in them outside Cheltenham. Beats Zamdy Man & Vaniteaux and people go 'theres your Champion'! Mmmmm... His level is Grade 2. Check the form. 4. The Tent is often brought up to support his form. If you want to bring up shoddy form explain the Scottish Champion too lol Never won at Cheltenham, even Harchibald done that 5. Supreme was run faster than Champion. No biggy, often happens probably due to a bigger field. Mullins bossed it that's my POV, I don't expect agreement lol
