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Agreed CAS, there are some rides that should be called out by presenters – and aren’t.
What I am saying is imo a lot of the time punters both on here and on other social media often haven’t taken enough account of the pace or expected pace pre-race (how many front runners are in the race etc) and / or the temperaments of all the horses involved in the race.
I remember you yourself criticised Nico’s riding of Hyland in the “Ladbrokes Trophy”.
By saying “I didn’t get involved but if I had backed Hyland I would not be entirely satisfied with De Boinville’s effort. Maybe the horse would not have beaten the winner anyway but he gave it no chance from that far off the pace at Kempton”.
This is what I said after the race (have now added a few words in brackets to explain more):
“I do think the criticism of Nico is unfair.
I was expecting to make Hyland a bet. He’d jumped exceptionally well as a novice but had been up there on the pace in 4 of his (only) 5 previous starts over fences… And as I said beforehand, there was absolutely masses of pace in the race. When studying any race I write down how I believe every horse likes to be ridden. Front runner, races prominently, tracks pace, mid-div, held up or dropped out. Including mixtures of eg “FR/RP” or “HU/DO” etc… And only 2 of the 13 runners weren’t described as FR, RP or TP. With 6 of them having “FR” against their name. It stands to reason that 6 horses cannot all make the running. There was imo almost bound to be a rush for the first fence and a strong (or overly strong) pace seemed to me highly likely. In other words those on the front end of that battle would probably be going too fast early on – so were unlikely to stay there. Both the winner and second were behind early. Early leader Beachcomber finished last of only 6 finishers after setting an overly strong pace. The later fractions a lot slower than the early and mid fractions. (Because of that overly strong pace more horses pulled up than finished the race).
It is true that Katate Dori made up that ground mid-race to go prominent and kicked plenty soon enough. Does not mean it would’ve been the same had Hyland or another horse done the same. The way the race was run – an overly strong pace on soft ground placing a far greater emphasis on stamina… Suited Katate Dori; who’d won and run well in races over further which were on even softer stamina sapping ground. (ie Winner) had more stayng power than any of his rivals.
Given the way the race was run – Nico played the percentages and held his horse up. Statistically the right thing to do (in a race with an overly strong pace). However, Katate Dori was (A) Well handicapped, (B) From a stable in cracking form, and (C) Had more stamina… And also, anyone backing an (apparent) prominent racer in this field should’ve known that horses ridden differently to what they are used to often don’t show their form. Hyland – the hold up horse – did not jump quite so well as (Hyland the prominent racer) on his previous two. Hyland made up a lot of places in the latter stages, but because others were falling back. NOT because he was given too much to do. He just couldn’t cope with one horse”. ![]()
Am not saying you’re a poor judge CAS, just imo wrong on this one occasion where Pace, expected pace and temperament explain a lot about the riding and running of some horses.