+1 I openly doubted whether he would be the same over fences and over 2m 4f- but that was magnificent and believe me, Apache Stronghold is no mug. He's a smart chaser.
Amazing performance, but to say it was better than Sprinter Sacres Arkle is abit much IMO. Sprinter Sacre was being chased home by a class act in Cue Card, where as I'm not sure Vautour was up against the same level of competition. I think it was more impressive than UDS though, so it makes you wonder why that horse has taken preference by Mullins over Vautour. It would be interesting to see the pair face off in a Champion Chase, that's for sure
In hindsight the double of the week was Faughern and Vautour They were the 2 new stars last year and they have followed that up this year
Ruby was very gratious. Easy to say that in hindsight. For me, that was the best performance from a novice at Cheltenham. Cue Card hadn't really proven he was top, top class over fences until after the Arkle. Bumper form was terrific but definitely not the a definitive indicator of the horses ability. Apache and Valseur have top class novice grade one form against each other multiple times this season. Don Poli has franked it as well. You could be right and Apache and Valseur and by association, Don Poli, may not be top class like Cue Card proved to be but they very well could be. UDS can only run in the Arkle. Vautour has more versatility. Ruby thinks he is a stayer as much as a pace horse. If you have a cert for the Arkle and a cert for the JLT and a cert for the RSA (all for different owners might I add) then it makes sense to send each horse to a race they can win.
Best moment of the week for me so far, the champion jockey winning on Uxizandre. A great round of jumping.
Oh Man, that does the heart good. Well done, AP, the Master, an absolutely classic front-running performance by horse and jockey!
Now the World Hurdle - i'm sure there's been handicaps at this Festival that have been easier than this race. Jesus.
Cheers lads The visor made all the difference. Although I was on at 20's last night, I didn't have him in the comp
I backed him for the QMCC months ago! ****ing hell. Kingy rubbing it in saying they should have sent him there in his interview.