2012 Arkle

4 of the last 5 Arkle winners competed over 3m at some points in their careers. Nothing simple about it.

I have SS in some bets, but on the day will have an Al Ferof / SS forecast. Sanctuaire is going to ensure this is run at a hot pace.

As it is i think SS can stay further than 2 miles but little doubt Al Ferof has more stamina, although Rubi Ball ( by the same sire as SS ) has won over 2m2f and 3m4f

Once again, the race is a novice chase open to five year olds and upwards.

Sprinter Sacre is novice chaser, whos is five years and up?

Same with Grands Crus. He is a novice chaser, so should go for the race aimed for novice chasers?

Simple.

PFN must be very confident about Al Ferof as he intends keeping Sanctuaire for Aintree unless AF goes wrong beforehand.

Sanctuaire was rated a pound better than SS over hurdles and his chasing debut was at least as impressive as SS’s, imo.

Jared Sullivan, Sanctuaire’s owner, would, I’m sure, love to win an Arkle and it looks like Nicholls had little trouble persuading him to give the race a miss.

I still think Cue Card is the value in the race but will be having a saver on AF.

PFN must be very confident about Al Ferof as he intends keeping Sanctuaire for Aintree unless AF goes wrong beforehand.

Sanctuaire was rated a pound better than SS over hurdles and his chasing debut was at least as impressive as SS’s, imo.

Jared Sullivan, Sanctuaire’s owner, would, I’m sure, love to win an Arkle and it looks like Nicholls had little trouble persuading him to give the race a miss.

I still think Cue Card is the value in the race but will be having a saver on AF.

If Sanctuaire were mine he’d be going for the Arkle. It is

race for 2 mile novice chasers and that horse has put in one of the performances of the season.

I’ll ask the question again as it wasn’t answered last time….

If Sprinter Sacre is such this good thing and so clearly miles better than anything else at 2 miles then why is it running in the Arkle and not the QMCC?….Answer…..still a ‘hype’ horse and people getting too carried away with Henderson’s bullshit for me…

Did Moscow Flyer run in the QM
Did Azertyuiop
Did Well Chief

He’s in that elite but his form is more transparent than that trio as he has already trounced his main opponent. If Moscow Flyer had been given a go at Seebald prior to their Arkle he’d have been very short and would have attracted the same hype comments.
SS is a chaser pure and simple and yet still went close in the Supreme. It was a superb effort from such an inexperienced horse.

Yes Why?

Did Moscow Flyer run in the QM
Did Azertyuiop
Did Well Chief

He’s in that elite but his form is more transparent than that trio as he has already trounced his main opponent. If Moscow Flyer had been given a go at Seebald prior to their Arkle he’d have been very short and would have attracted the same hype comments.
SS is a chaser pure and simple and yet still went close in the Supreme. It was a superb effort from such an inexperienced horse.

Were those three hyped up to the extent Sprinter Sacre has been? I don’t think they were…

Master Minded won it as a 5yr old (albeit not the strongest race)

When people are making assertions on here that the horse is so far better than Finians Rainbow then you have to ask the question why connections aren’t going for the bigger race if it is that good….

What happens if the horse picks up a bad injury before next season (God forbid) or if the horse just wants a lot further than two miles next year (a big possibility)…then you’ve thrown away the chance of taking part in and winning a QMCC…

I don’t buy into the hype anyway….yes he’s put in a couple of impressive performances but as for trouncing a rival….Peddlers Cross absolutely smashed through the first fence but still creeped back into the race and at a point looked dangerous before fading late on which is now understandable considering he picked up an injury…

Taking 2/1 on a horse on the basis of that run and a lofty home reputation is not something I’m the slightest bit interested in. I’ve seen for myself 3 times in his career when he’s come off the bridle he’s found little….

The last two years the bookies have been out to get one on the opening day and have succeeded with Dunguib the year before and Cue Card last year, both pretty short in the opening race….with it 10/1 the field so far in that one I’m sure Sprinter Sacre is the one they’ll be rubbing their hands over….

Where to begin with this illogical mess.

Mastermind won it as a 5 yr old. That’s an excpetional. It’s the only time a 5 yr old has won it, and he wasn’t eligible for novice races. Sprinter Sacre has had 2 starts over fences and is eligible for Novice races. Therefore, it is entirely logical to take in the Arkel rather than the Champion Chase. Novices tend to go for the Novice races. Implying a horse is hyped and doesn’t warrant his place in the market because he isn’t being aimed outside of Novice company is absolutely asinine and stupid.

They aren’t going for the race perhaps because he is a novice and has only had 2 runs over Fences. Maybe that is the reason? I didn’t know you were a high class trainer who has had great success aiming Novices in Championship level races .. oh wait, you aren’t.

Trainers dont train on the basis that the horse will pick up an injury. Not that hard to understand.

Peddler’s Cross hit the first fence, but had ample time to recover. Maybe he wasn’t at his best, but he was destroyed. SS was cantering all over him and Peddler’s didn’t have the speed to hack with him. Cheltenham is different and plays to different skillsets, but it would be folly to think Peddler’s Cross has more natural speed than SS. I also don’t think he ever looked remotely dangerous in that race ; he was never travelling better than his opponent.

3 times in his career? He has been beaten twice. Once in a Novice Hurdle where he patently didn’t stay, and once in the Supreme Novice. He’s clearly progressed since the Supreme and clearly had the best cruising speed of any horse in the Supreme. So 3?

SS does have some concerns to overcome. He has good opposition to face and will have to get up that hill. Yet it cannot be denied that the price he is seems completely warranted and that he is a serious player for the Arkle.

The bit about the QMCC was a bit tongue in cheek and aimed at the ones hyping the horse up beyond belief, making out it could pick up and carry a horse with the form in the book Finians Rainbow has!!

IMHO Sprinter Sacre is only as short as he is purely on reputation over what he has actually achieved on the track….Al Ferof is the one who has achieved more for me which is why I still think that horse is terrific value. His victory over Astracad over the Arkle CD was better than both Sprinter Sacre’s victories for me…

The 3rd race I was on about where I didn’t think he found that much was his debut where he just got home from a Nicholls horse who was conceding a stone in weight to it…

I really hope Newbury beats the weather at the weekend because I reckon there will be a big shake up in the market come that race!

More than happy with my 7’s on Al Ferof at the moment.

PFN must be very confident about Al Ferof as he intends keeping Sanctuaire for Aintree unless AF goes wrong beforehand.

Sanctuaire was rated a pound better than SS over hurdles and his chasing debut was at least as impressive as SS’s, imo.

Jared Sullivan, Sanctuaire’s owner, would, I’m sure, love to win an Arkle and it looks like Nicholls had little trouble persuading him to give the race a miss.

I still think Cue Card is the value in the race but will be having a saver on AF.

If Sanctuaire were mine he’d be going for the Arkle. It is

the

race for 2 mile novice chasers and that horse has put in one of the performances of the season.

145 rated performance over 2m 3f is far from one of the performances of the season.