I think Mightbeallforluck is a bit of an old dog who doesn't put it all in to say the least..given a lovely ride by the much improved Mark Walsh. Downed tools very quickly..I have backed him on his only two wins at decent odds and will probably back him again. Could be a cliff horse...anyone else keep backing/following one regardless? If yes who?
Not a cliff horse as such Dex, but I definitely had one of those "**** my luck" seasons with Don Cossack last season. He only lost once all season yet I had 2 losing bets on him and no winning bets - I backed him ante post for the Cheltenham Gold Cup (didn't run) and backed him to win the Ryanair (3rd behind Uxizandre). Never touched him in his other 6 races where he won at odds of 11/10, 6/4, 13/8, 6/4, 3/1 and 5/2. As I said, **** my luck
Wow that was a really nice performance from Work In Progress at Kempton - pretty weak race but did it really well and looks like plenty more to come from him.
Had no idea The New One was running, didnt watch it, wont be watching it any time soon, just a comment on campaigning of jump horses. The Champion Hurdle winner ran in a listed race and Grade 1 as his pre Cheltenham campaign, in the Grade 1 he beat 3 horses who were coming into the race from handicaps and 1 from a beginners chase. He ran 2 races in the best part of a year at 1/4 and 4/11. None of them care about anything before March and everything past then is an afterthought for 99% of the good horses. The Hattons Grace is up there with the Down Royal Champion Chase in terms of meaningless G1s, its about 50k to the winner, id rather win the G2 International Hurdle for 50% more prize money at a meeting people are actually watching. Only the Irish and fanatics will be watching the Hattons Grace on a Sunday on ATR. The novice races on that card mean more to me than the Hattons Grace. Its becoming the norm for jump horses, they might run for a few more seasons but you can still count on one hand the proper races they ran in that actually mattered, where the best all turn up outside Cheltenham. The King George is the only race off the top of my head that truly matters pre Cheltenham.
You cant run in races higher class than Grade 1s. It's harsh to diss a horse if what's showing up in those races aren't of Grade 1 quality. You can only beat what's put in front of you. If you've a Grade 1 horse you should run it in those races. If you don't keep to the lower grade stuff.
I agree Beefy, im not dissing the horses, im dissing the philosophy of jump racing and the handling of the best horses. They tend to avoid each other until march, or stick to easy pickings, especially in the 2m hurdle division. Sometimes a couple of them will meet in the Christmas Hurdle or the Tingle Creek for chasers, but its the exception, not the rule. You could argue that it makes Cheltenham more exciting and important but I doubt the festival would lose anything if the best horses actually treated another race that season as important instead of just another step to peak in march. The best flat horses might retire at the end of the 3yo season but normally they have run in 4 or 5 G1s that really mattered, a jump horse might take 2 or 3 seasons to achieve that.
I think NH racing has had 2 or 3 years where we have had absolute stand-out horses in the championship divisions - Faugheen over hurdles, Sprinter Sacre over fences. I actually think the better spectacle is when there are several horses in with a chance in these top races - no disrespect to the Faugheen's of this world meant. For me the best NH race for years was the 2013 Melling Chase at Aintree where you had Sprinter Sacre, Cue Card, Flemenstar and Finians Rainbow going hell for leather. Great race and (at that time, with SS unproven over 2m4f) 4 true candidates who gave their all. These ultra-dominant superstars such as Faugheen, although a beauty to behold, do nothing for the spectacle of racing. Sure they are great horses but if an animal is too dominant it lowers the spectacle, That's why the Grand National will always appeal - there is simply never a 1-2 shot running in it.
I did not watch the game, Dex, but I gather that the Southern Hemisphere Wops buried the Paddys. It appears that Rugby Union is a Southern Hemisphere game as the Jocks managed to blow their game against the Convicts in the last minute... Nice that Nicola Sturgeon travelled to a foreign country to see how independent Scotland fared...
Ted Walsh once described Cheltenham as a bit of a monster as it kind of eats up all around that and he's definitely right. Aintree, Fairyhouse and Punchestown all follow it and all offer superb racing, prizemoney, crowds whatever barometer you wish to apply. But all 3 suffer as there not Cheltenham. The thing is there's plenty of other good races and festivals which horses can target. People moan about the many 3, 4, 5 runner fields in top races like the Tolworth, Henry VII or the Hattons Grace or whatever but the problem is they don't be supported. I think there are loads of reasons for that, sometimes a Faugheen or a Sprinter Sacre scare them off. But its definitely the case the programme is so expansive connections can bypass a Grade 1 to run in a Grade 2 quite easily, as the quantity of horse needed to 'fill' these races isn't there. Regards great horses effectively hacking round at 4/11 or whatever I've no qualms with that, you don't need to bet on that race, there's 20/30 other races each day to do your dosh on. Just enjoy a top horse doing their thing is my view. If its not a working mans price, its probably testament to the horse in question rather be used as a rod to beat its back with. Frankel rarely ran at anything other than 1/10 did he, but we don't mark him down for it and rightly so.
Btw any La Liga stat gimps might want to know that the Fabulous Athletic club,next up on Sky Sports,have won 7 of their last 43 visits to El Riazor.
8/1 paid 1/2 basically, quick way to get accounts closed but lucky for them I gave it all back on the rugby
Conti used to be like that for me but I got him right a couple of times last year, funny thing is he's still one of my favourite horses
****ing robbed...2-0 up with 10 mins left...2-2 Thought we might give a great send off to old Howard K..sadly lost but always a legend in the best football club in the world. Aupa Howard!
