Hedging their bets! Better to have an entry now when it only costs £625 per horse (followed by an additional payment of £1,250 in February) them than pay £25,000 to supplement them in March.
OMG! Thanks PN! I wasn't aware it was today. I'm so excited! I haven't even read your post yet! I'm going to calm down and go and make myself a cuppa, then have a good read. This is such a good forum
Interesting to see Little Josh in there - I e-mailed the Twister's yard over christmas and they tell me he is back in training and planned to run towards the end of January - I wonder if they'll pitch him in the Argento? He's one of my 10 to follow
Finianâs Rainbow is highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely but the race would come under serious consideration re Medermitt. Next race expected to be the 3 mile Denman Chase (formerly the AON) at Newbury and if he coped well in terms of both the step up in class and distance it wouldnât be beyond the realms of possibility that he could line up in the CGC. It's going to be very interesting, meanwhile, to see how China Rock gets on at the weekend. But at the moment you have to say that Long Runa and Kauto Star are some way ahead of the rest.
Does anyone know what is wrong with Wayward Prince, he was due to run at Wetherby over Christmas but pulled out. Stamina to burn this one wouldn't be the worst 100! shot to run in the race, I know he's disappointed this season but I thought Ian Williams said the horse had an infection in the Autumn which explained his poor Hennessy run. If the race becomes a proper stamina test thi sone might upset a few (if fit)
Runners after latest scratchings deadline: THE BETFRED CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP Class 1, Grade 1, £500,000 Total Prize Fund. 3.20pm, Cheltenham, Friday, March 16, 2012. Three miles, two and a half furlongs. For 5yo+ which are allotted a rating of 130 or more by the BHA Head of Handicapping following a review of the horses entered and after taking account of races run up to and including March 9 - horses which are not qualified for a rating in GB, IRE or FR may also be entered & such horses may be eligible providing the Handicapper is satisfied that the horseâs racecourse performances up to and including March 9 would merit a minimum rating of 130 (the decision of the BHA Head of Handicapping shall be final). Weights: 5yo 11st 9lb, 6yo+ 11st 10lb. Allowances: mares 7lb. Entries closed January 10, entries revealed January 11 (34 entries), scratchings deadline February 14 (26 entries remain), £25,000 supplementary entry stage & six-day confirmation stage March 10 Final 48-hour declaration stage, 10.00am, March 14. Form figures supplied by Weatherbys and are correct up to and including the racing of Monday, February 13. Form Horse Age Owner Trainer 52-FU111 APT APPROACH (IRE) 9 Greenstar Syndicate Willie Mullins IRE 11121/2- BURTON PORT (IRE) 8 Trevor Hemmings Nicky Henderson 211-1U3P CAPTAIN CHRIS (IRE) 8 Diana Whateley Philip Hobbs 640-31P CARRUTHERS 9 The Oaksey Partnership Mark Bradstock 2/1134P-45 CHINA ROCK (IRE) 9 Michael O'Flynn Mouse Morris IRE 311P/1-45 DIAMOND HARRY 9 Paul Duffy Diamond Partnership Nick Williams 22-6111 GRANDS CRUS (FR) 7 Roger Stanley & Yvonne Reynolds III David Pipe 131/321- JUNIOR 9 Middleham Park Racing LI David Pipe 133-P11 KAUTO STAR (FR) 12 Clive Smith Paul Nicholls 145-0263 KNOCKARA BEAU (IRE) 9 Bill Trueman George Charlton 16/1155-6 LITTLE JOSH (IRE) 10 Tony Bloom Nigel Twiston-Davies 3/311-22 LONG RUN (FR) 7 Robert Waley-Cohen Nicky Henderson 51124-00 MAGNANIMITY (IRE) 8 Gigginstown House Stud Dessie Hughes IRE 142-132 MEDERMIT (FR) 8 The Dunkley & Reilly Partnership Alan King 1115-F31 MIDNIGHT CHASE 10 Lady Clarke Neil Mulholland 463F/-52P MON MOME (FR) 12 Vida Bingham Venetia Williams 5141-5U2 POQUELIN (FR) 9 The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls 1FF-B111 QUEL ESPRIT (FR) 8 Red Barn Syndicate Willie Mullins IRE 13-P031 SYNCHRONISED (IRE) 9 J P McManus Jonjo O'Neill UF-4U021 THE GIANT BOLSTER 7 Simon Hunt David Bridgwater 3/216-B43 THE MIDNIGHT CLUB (IRE) 11 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE 113P-11 THE MINACK (IRE) 8 Graham Roach Paul Nicholls 3226U-32 TIDAL BAY (IRE) 11 Andrea & Graham Wylie Paul Nicholls 115-2514 TIME FOR RUPERT (IRE) 8 Littlecote Racing Partnership Paul Webber 1/10P-13 WEIRD AL (IRE) 9 Brannon Dennis Dick Holden Donald McCain 1/524P-3 WHAT A FRIEND 9 Ged Mason & Sir Alex Ferguson Paul Nicholls 26 entries remain after February 14 scratchings deadline 5 Irish-trained THE FOLLOWING 8 ENTRIES HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED: ALBERTAS RUN (IRE), BOSTONS ANGEL (IRE), FINIAN'S RAINBOW (IRE), HALLEY (FR), HEY BIG SPENDER (IRE), JESSIES DREAM (IRE), QUITO DE LA ROQUE (FR), WAYWARD PRINCE
I see that the Pipe's are making very positive noises re Junior running in the CGC. Not one that you would automatically think would run here but Minnehoma used the CGC as his 'Grand National prep' back in the day and they seem keen to use the race as a similar 'stepping stone' for Junior this term.
In case some of you missed it the one for this race is WEIRD AL!! His run behind Kauto and Long Run was a cracker and he was not beaten that far and looked to be running on well again after the last! HOWEVER the one thing with this superb jumping horse is that he requires to be extremely fresh! Thankfully Mr McCain has realised this very quickly and kept the lad fresh for this Blue Riband event. He has course form, he jumps for fun and he comes from a very capable festival trainer who will improve him after leaving the very fair handicap trainer Ian Williams! For me this looks an awesome opportunity for Weird Al, Kauto must be too old now? Even if he wins I think everyone will be happy, Long Run's race will depend where and when he makes his mistake! If it is early on and he has time to recover he will have every chance to reclaim his crown but if it is late on then he will be in trouble. Midnight Chase will surely set a good pace BUT it is extremely likely to start fading from 3 out and that is when the race will begin in earnest. What a race we have in prospect
Forgive me Gaz, but I have this down as one of the worst Gold Cups in history. Long Run is 1/3 this season, barely jumped a twig yet remains 2/1 jolly, Kauto Star as a 12 year old is second fav, had Burton Port not run so well behind Long Run at Newbury I would have struggled to name the third fav and this one whilst no match for Weapon Amnesty in his RSA is very much one to consider. The rest are pretty much proven to be inferior, Midnight Chase, Tidal Bay, Weird Al, What A Friend All finished well behind last year and I can't see that any of them have done enough to suggest they reverse form even with an older Kauto and regressed Long Run. Poquelin might lead them a merry dance, Captain Chris might bounce back to form who knows...
Grizzly: It is still going to be a good race, the roof will be lifted if Kauto still has a chance of winning 2 out mate, it's all about the stars and Kauto despite being 12 is without doubt a superstar Weird Al had his problems and after moving to a top yard has improved this season but you are correct in that it is sub standard compared to some BUT it is still the Gold Cup and I for one cannot wait to watch it mate ;-)
Mate, it'll be a great race for sure and my pessamism should be ignored but I fear if Long Run performs as we know he can then he'll win by 15, if Kauto wins it will be the biggest racing story in history but should he win it will tell me more about the oppo than the horse - 12 year olds don't win championship races. Beyond that it's looking for someone who could be championship class and I don't see anyone - Burton Port ran a blinder on his comeback but the bounce factor always exists. I'll do what I did last year and that's lay the front 2/3 in the market and back a few rags, 'cos it worked well for me then........
The key to this race for me is that Long Run will improve for the extra distance and for the Cheltenham hill. He's not a speed horse as such more of dour stayer and grinder of races. Look at the way he was outpaced in the King George but then came back at Kauto in the final furlong. Kauto Star who is at least half a stone better round Kempton imho. Similarly in last years Gold Cup Long run was outpaced as Denman and Kauto raced clear about 5f out. However he plugged on and plugged on and joined them two out before racing well clear. I think he'll come on for his latest effort and fully expect him to win this race.
Grizzly: I took the book to be pretty spot on with the first 2 clear on ratings so the offer without LR and Kauto was too good, got 11s Weird Al and 20s What a Friend, that'll do for me Value to be had all over if you have the time to sniff it out Get on GMOOH at 12s EW for the Coral Cup - never before has a horse deserved to win a race more at the festival! Touched off twice in close finishes and the young find of the season should be taking 7lbs off with luck
Griz/GDC - What do we think about Junior? Will probably get outpaced coming down the back, but will surely be staying on best over the last couple. Extremely comfortable course and distance winner last year, ground no problem, assured to stay. 66/1 has to be e/w value?
GGW: Have no disagreement with anything you say there, IF he had a professional jockey on (nowt against young Sam) he would win even easier and that's a fact!
