Latest news on the superstar chaser ................... SPRINTER SACRE'S heart rate was reported as "perfectly normal" by vet Celia Marr, who was in attendance at Nicky Henderson's Seven Barrows yard on Friday morning to observe the star chaser. Marr, a specialist in equine internal medicine, said: "I'm very pleased, these are the results I would have wanted to have seen when coming here this morning." The results of the eight-year-old's canter will have been extremely heartening for connections of Sprinter Sacre, who can still entertain hopes of him defending his BetVictor Queen Mother Champion Chase crown at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Describing how the crucial canter was tracked, Marr added: "He had nine pads under his girth which monitored his work for two hours; before, during and after exercise." The pads attached to Sprinter Sacre transmitted an electronic signal back to a monitor in a Land Rover which followed Sprinter Sacre on the gallops. Owner Caroline Mould was also in attendance with her husband Raymond, who said simply: "So far, so good." Sprinter Sacre heads the market for the Champion Chase at a best-priced 10-11.
The worry is that all these checks would have been satisfactory in any of his gallops and races prior to the mishap but it didn't stop the mishap occurring. It would have been more reassuring to have established the underlying course for the relapse. It's great news that he is OK though and I hope it doesn't reoccur.
Agreed Ron - which is why I was slightly concerned at the fact that he is still Cheltenham bound. These things don't "heal themselves", and if it happens once it can surely happen again?
I know this is slightly cynical and is only an opinion but I am not entirely sure that Barry G did not simply recognise that he wasn't going on the ground at Christmas, he knew he had had the problem that delayed his return and did not want give him a really hard race against match fit opposition to win a race that may have been to the horses long term detriment. My reasons for wondering this are that the horse whilst in the race showed no sign of struggling, did not and was not dropping back through a field of horses racing when pulled up, was not dismounted and was trotted back. I am not sure what BG felt as an indication the horse needed to stop when the horse himself was not stopping? I am not sure why when you felt enough to pull the horse up but not enough to dismount, If my view was that something serious enough to pull up was wrong and I could not possibly know what it was I would have dismounted. Could it be a case of the jockey quite rightly recognising that this is a Rolls Royce and you do not drive it through a muddy water logged field? I state this as only a possibility and one that I would actually have agreed with. I am not saying this is what happened but it has certainly left me as simply an armchair viewer wondering such a thing as you simply do not see horses pulled up in such a fashion usually.
Not cynical at all Bluesky, I think such questions can and should be asked - we have to remember that horse racing is also a betting proposition. Sprinter Sacre was available at 2/9, which represents a 22% profit if he wins. Given that he had completed all of his 16 previous starts, with 14 victories including that unbeaten run of 10 over fences, this appeared to be the classic case of buying money. Making 22% on your investment by other means is certainly challenging enough at the moment. Sporting Life reports 1 bet struck on course of £5K to win £1111 and I wonder how that punter views Geraghty's decision to pull the horse up?
I can quite easily believe that a rider feels or senses something is wrong, even though the horse is continuing; horses are like that - they will keep going for you. So full marks to the rider for pulling him up. As to why he didn't dismount, that is very strange and doesn't make any sense to me.
