Forgotten Voice

Previous Royal Hunt Cup winner and placed in Group company on the level returned from injury to rout a half decent field in a Bangor novice hurdle this evening.
Now under the guidance of Nicky Henderson he was confidently partnered by AP McCoy despite JP McManus having a runner in the race. He was understandably keen early on but well anchored by the champ. He picked them off at ease and won going away without ever coming off the bit. He hurdled as well as any debutante that I have seen for a long time and simply oozed class.
The one thing he doesnt have is soft ground form but my question to you chaps and chapesses is, just how good do you think he may be?

 

Didn't see the race Stick but as you and others say he created a favourable impression.

Never mad about milers making good hurdlers and not sure how many Danehill Dancers have hit the hurdling heights.Obviously being campaigned until October and then back for the Spring festivals possibly.Who knows,maybe a trip to Galway or Listowel this Summer.The Roys have horses with David Wachman now so may fancy an Irish Odyssey.

Time will tell how valuable tonights form is but he could do no more than he did.Could well be the classiest hurdler to debut in July at Bangor..thats not saying a lot mind you!

 

It's July and he's running over hurdles which tells it's own story.

 

Here is the race

 

Ron.

Won very easily and jumped well once the pace quickened.Pulled hard early and was a bit sticky hurdling off a slow gallop in those early stages.

Lovely big specimen and appears to have more scope than a lot of ex flat racers.Interesting to see where he goes next.

Will he run with a penalty or be upped in class?...Struggling to think there will be much for him at this time of year tbh.

 

I think Quel does him a disservice. He is coming back from an injury that meant a really long time on the sidelines. They would obviously want to get him to the track as soon as he is right and as the ground was probably perfect for him then why not the end of July. Where else would you start a novice hurdler but in a novice hurdle?
Does winning at this time of year though rule him out of more prestigious events in 2013?
I would expect to see him out again in three to four weeks carrying a penalty in another novice hurdle. I would expect to see an even more impressive display next time!

 

What got you up this early?
Actually you could be right Stick. With a horse that has been off for some time you want to prove him as soon as you feel confident he's fit enough. Good horses are not usually tried over the summer because of the going, which can be very firm, so hardly a problem this year. Given that, why not get him to show his recovery now in some easy race.

 

I don't think I am doing him a disservice. How often does Needles send out a real star in July? I don't know of it ever happening.

 

Stick, have been away for a few days down in God’s own county but on my last visit to the forum (week ago today) my regular readers may recall that I did actually flag Forgotten Voice up, on the old daily thread, as he was starting to be entered in heats and of course was a very useful runner on the level for Mr Noseda. In fact you could say that Forgotten Voice is one of the very best horses to make the transition from flat racing to timber in recent terms.

How high he can climb up the old novice hurdling ranks is of course the $64 million dollar question but the early evidence must be that he is certainly Promising with a capital ‘P’. Maybe Mr Henderson will get another couple of runs into him before stepping Forgotten Voice up in class and aiming him at something like the Grade 2 Novice heat at Cheltenham’s ‘Open’ meeting.

The big negative re this horse though is his age. Is only a few months off turning 8 but in saying that he only has a few miles on the old clock.

I must say though that whatever the future holds for Forgotten Voice right this moment the forum should be doing nothing but loudly applauding Mr Henderson for a magnificent, and I do mean magnificent, training achievement in getting the beast back on the track with an effortless win after almost 2 years off. First class and further testament, were it needed, to his fantastic skills and the ability of his magic hands.

 

But QE it doesn't mean it won't. The longer a horse is off the more difficult it is for them to come back. The fact that he's not going to get jarred up and he'll probably be running against lesser lights gives Henderson a perfect opportunity for an early reintroduction. If he waits 2 more months he learns nothing and will have a tougher reintroduction.

 

I'm not saying it won't but I am saying it's highly unlikely based upon past performance and training plans for Hendersons runners.

 

I know nothing about training thoroughbreds but if this is a decent horse, lightly raced and is being considerately nursed back into action, I would say full marks to the trainer and what he does with this horse cannot be compared to what he has done with any others. This is clearly a special one off and he wants to see if the horse has recovered sufficiently to progress to the top rank without over trying him and causing a setback. Therefore he is carefully selecting his races with this in mind. I would suggest the time of year is because it fits in with the horse's recovery plan more than anything else.