That's my thinking - let young Joseph win the Triumph with Espoir D'allen and send the super filly to the surpeme where she would be getting oodles of weight off some largely moderate geldings.
“Top Novice hurdler”. Is that the quickest plodder? How do we tell – stopwatch? Redzel. Who? Royal Ascot – no. Winx will make 25 by staying at home and beating the same old Aussie trees. Royal Ascot – no. Frankie will stick with Enable. There has to be a doubt at this stage whether Cracksman will prove to be another Jack Hobbs. Also, they may try to campaign him over ten furlongs and her over twelve. No idea about Faugheen. Need to finish the tea before I can read the tea leaves. Frankel can get an English Classic winner, but not necessarily this year. With the number of stoutly-bred mares that visit him, an Oaks winner might eventually be the first if somebody can get a daughter that is not too highly strung and settles. What comes after starters? More left-over turkey? (My mother calls it pork substitute, so it was pork sandwiches for tea on Boxing Day)
I am sure that some jumps fan will be along in a moment with the exact number, but there is more than one Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham, so the connections of the various contenders could all run in different races over different distances (and, indeed, if the weather is inclement, different ground). So how do you decide which one was the best? Winning distance could be folly if one contender wins by twenty lengths whilst two of the other contenders fight out a photo finish the following day.
Well I'll just take it as the one decided by Timeform at the end of the season then. Take any other rating/opinion and if they are all the same, that's good enough for me. If they differ then maybe it's too close to call
