Who are you favouring tomorrow, Stick? Joe Farrell and Vintage Clouds seem the obvious ones to get the trip, which is half the battle in the National. Concerned about Tiger Roll's weight?
Who are you following is more relevant mate! I have a fair bit, too much really, on ROCK THE KASBAH. Saver on Vintage Clouds
I'll be doing Vintage Clouds and Joe Farrell. I like the look of Vieux Lion Rouge as an outsider. I've just checked and currently 50/1. Tackled the course 5 or 6 times and made it past the post on every attempt. Conditions seem to be going in its favour and it sits in well with weight and age for your average National winner. Them will be my 3. Good luck, mate.
If you take away Waiting Patiently's win over a declining Cue Card, there is nothing there to suggest he was/is top class. The form just isn't in the book and I expect his handicap mark to regress. Min was rated 180 by the Racing Post for his win. That's nonsense in my opinion. Isn't it far more likely that he beat overrated and waning horses on Friday? Politologue's owner was said to be bullish and livid about his horse's odds in the King George VI at Kempton on Boxing Day. The horse could not cash in on those who ran miles below form and those who came to grief in that race and the ratings of those from that race look nonsense based on what they have done since. These handicappers throw a horse up a stone based on one dodgy run and it's almost always the case that it was other horses failing to live up to ropey looking marks that is the real story. It was said in the Gold Cup that Bristol De Mai debunked the myth that he doesn't act at Cheltenham because he was third. What about the fact that Native River never travelled, Kemboy fell, Clan Des Obeaux didn't stay, Might Bite is gone at the game, Thistlecrack stank and others were awful on the day? It was a grim renewal of the race and it is boring to see a race defended because it is a Championship race. Clan Des Obeaux is the only horse to win from the King George since and that was at 2/5 Fav over the struggling Terrefort. Kemboy is the only runner from the Gold Cup to win since and he fell at the first fence in the Gold Cup. Trainers are just as bad with the bull plop talk. It makes me laugh that Colin Tizzard said that his Elegant Escape would miss the Grand National because of a hard race in the Gold Cup. Amazingly he runs him the day BEFORE the Grand National, in a race where he was on worse terms than he would have been in a Handicap race. What a surprise he is tailed off behind Kemboy, last of six runners, beaten 55 lengths. The Racing Press are useless. Instead of tackling Tizzard about his stupid and contradictory statements, they are too busy with brown nosing and hyping wherever possible.
I think Buveur D'air's best days are behind him. Losing is one thing but Supasundae has been disappointing for most of the season. He was absolutely slaughtered by Apples Jade on two occasions and his effort in the stayers at Cheltenham was very tame. Supasundae is basically a 160 Hurdler at his best and the third home Ch'tibello is not top class either. Although Ch'tibello won the County Hurdle at the Festival, his mark had deteriorated to 146 for that race and he went up 10 lbs for winning it, which is about as high as he has ever been rated. I thought Buveur D'air looked really good on his seasonal comeback but his form since has been more modest. His tendency to make mistakes has also made life tougher for him. If I were going to re-assess Buveur D'air I would be looking to mark him down from 172 to 167 and he may come down from that next season. I considered Buveur D'air at 6/4 for the Aintree Hurdle but decided not to play. I have backed Klassical Dream for next year's Champion Hurdle at 10/1 as I though he really hosed up in the Supreme Novices. The horses behind him there include Felix Desjy, Aramon and Fakir D'oudairies all ran really well this week. Buveir D'air went out to 12/1 after his defeat and I won't be playing him this time around. The stats are getting against him now and I prefer the younger horse Klassical Dream.
Agreed - Klassical Dream looks exciting and I hope Quick Grabim can recover from his setback, he looked to be a very smart novice. I hope they plan a hurdles campaign for City Island as I think he could step back down in trip to very good effect. His Ballymore win has gone a little under the radar.
