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“”If Coneygree repeats his Gold Cup performance then in all likelyhood he wins – is SDR a 170 horse, probably but I am not 100% convinced at this stage that his jumping will stand up to the kind of examination Coneygree will put it under”””
Ah, See this is whether we strongly differ. There isnt an irishman who believes Road to Riches or Djackadam could shoulder near that weight in Hennessy and Coneygree wasnt that far ahead of them. He may be improving but he is 8 so possibly not as much as lot of novices. Churlish to knock the horse and his achievements but as Joe has mentioned above, this seems a strange target really.
I’ll agree with you on Road To Riches but not Djakadam as he was very impressive when winning last year’s Thyestes lumping 11-10 on heavy ground as a 6yr old, especially as he gave Goonyella (who went on to win the Midlands National and was runner up in Scotish National) 15lbs and a 27L beating to boot.
“”If Coneygree repeats his Gold Cup performance then in all likelyhood he wins – is SDR a 170 horse, probably but I am not 100% convinced at this stage that his jumping will stand up to the kind of examination Coneygree will put it under”””
Ah, See this is whether we strongly differ. There isnt an irishman who believes Road to Riches or Djackadam could shoulder near that weight in Hennessy and Coneygree wasnt that far ahead of them. He may be improving but he is 8 so possibly not as much as lot of novices. Churlish to knock the horse and his achievements but as Joe has mentioned above, this seems a strange target really.
I’ll agree with you on Road To Riches but not Djakadam as he was very impressive when winning last year’s Thyestes lumping 11-10 on heavy ground as a 6yr old, especially as he gave Goonyella (who went on to win the Midlands National and was runner up in Scotish National) 15lbs and a 27L beating to boot.
My issue isnt with carrying the weight. ITs obviously the weight concession. Djakadam was giving 6 pounds I think to MY Murphy. A really good performance but we are talking about giving a stone plus here to some serious animals. Interesting though that you brought up Djakadam….maybe we dont give him enough credit. We rightly highight how well Coneygree did for a horse little experience but he is still two years older than the Mullins horse.
The one reason I would like Coneygree for the race is that Vroom Vroom Mag and Don Poli havent been seen yet and I would wonder whether they will even line up.
SHL
He seems a bit forgotten about what with the owners Vatour creating all the buzz re the Gold Cup but a year stronger and wiser, I still think he is a major player and he is a guaranteed stayer and is not badly priced at around 10-1….there are a lot worse bets.
I don’t see either Don Poli or Vroom Vroom Mag coming especially without the benefit of a prep run – it blew up in their faces rather spectacularly last year with Djakadam being thrown in at the weights and travelling like the winner before checking out early in the straight….once bitten twice shy.
Steeplechasing, in the days when Silver Buck and Night Nurse were in their pomp Haydock was a very different racecourse. In 2007 they re-developed the course, making the bends much more hairpin sharp – a sort of upside down Musselburgh.
As for the fences, they are half the point of Coneygree. Instead of the black brutes used before 2007 they now use the crappy little portable ones found at point-to-points. In short, they have turned a once great steeplechasing racecourse into a Mickey Mouse dog track.
I’m not even sure that The Betfair ‘deserves’ to be a Grade 1. This year’s race looks like attracting not a single runner from the first nine in the Cheltenham Gold Cup ante-post lists, with the possible exception of Road to Riches. The fact is that the prestige attached to the race is surely down to that conferred on it by four-time winner, the great Kauto Star, who could handle anything including dressage.
It is interesting that you think winning a bumper and a novices’ hurdle round Uttoxeter is evidence that a horse will handle chasing at Haydock: I’d recommend walking both courses to see if you can spot any similarities!
Lastly, all connections of staying steeplechasers are “obsessed” with the Hennessy, because the cup has names on it like Arkle, Mill House, Mandarin, Burrough Hill Lad and Denman.
I’m with steeplechasing…I would have gone for the treble and the bonus…I’ve never seen him run a bad race round Haydock or any track like it so where is the evidence that it wouldn’t suit?
This is a very special horse who only knows one way to run…he’s straightforward and uncomplicated…for me he would win either…so the lure of the bonus would have decided it for me…
Am happy to see him give weight and a beating to this field though..
Coneygree should be able to easily give SDR 9lbs. You know pretty well what you are going to get with coneygree, where as SDR has quite a bit to prove over fences, imo the 5/1 about SDR is rank bad value. One that is of interest to me lower down the weights is Houblon des oboeux, this thing running with 10-7 or 10-9 on its back will think its been let loose. Set to carry a monster 17lbs less than last year and available at 33/1
SSK, looks like we’ll need to agree to disagree on whether or not Coneygree would handle Haydock. Also, as you say with the Hennessy, perhaps it’s am ambition-based target rather than anything else, in which case good luck to connections.
Apparently Coneygree spread a plate Monday morning and it’s “touch and go” for him to make the race.
For more see the RP site.Sorry for starting another thread in the “Horse Racing” forum. Would be interesting to know, if the KG would be the alternative race now.
Not sure how serious spreading a plate is, maybe someone with more knowledge could fill us in?
Doesn’t sound like a hope is lost reading the piece…..hope all is well and we don’t get robbed of the spectacle of him trying to concede the weight…
Sat with £76 on him for the Hennessy and somewhere roughly in the region of £350 for the King George I’m not sure whether if missing this and taking the hit would enhance my chances for the King George?
My hope is that he gets over this setback and runs in, and wins them both!
SDR possibly the new top weight ?
When it comes to ante-post, me an coneygree just dont agree
Spreading a plate means the shoe moves across the foot, the nails are then are not aligned under the hoof wall and if the horse has re-trodden on the nails, as it slides across the foot, it can then puncture the sensitive sole.
It can get infected, which is why the shoe is off and they are poulticing his foot. Hope they sort it – this sort of thing can lay horses off for quite a while if it goes in the wrong direction.Well explained OBIWAM, I see that Sara Bradstock also added…
“It’s a bit like getting something under your fingernail – it’s
very sore and quite painful but it can heal quite quickly, so
we’ll have to wait and see if it improves over the next couple
of days or if it’s something that needs to be poulticed over a
longer period.”I wouldn’t give up on your Hennessy bet yet ZAMORSTON, but it
is quite close now so it would have to clear up pretty quickly.
Let’s hope it does.Apparently if they can’t get a shoe on Coneygree by Thursday he won’t be able to have his big pre Hennessy gallop on Saturday which means he won’t be running at Newbury.
So we should know by Thursday.
Listening to that interview with Sara Bradstock that Racing UK posted up earlier, it sounded to me in her voice that they were facing an uphill struggle….sounded pretty downbeat…understandably so I suppose….I love the fact that they will not chance one single thing with this horse…I can only tip my hat to them, even if it’s more money down the ante-post drain for me…
So many trainers these days send their horses to the racecourse not fully fit, in wrong races etc….not ready to run to their marks…refreshing to see…
Well, the only race that really matters is the Gold Cup. So no matter where he runs in a week from Saturday or not or where he will run around Christmas, the two races he has to make are the AON Chase as a prep and then the GC. The injury seems in my opinion a minor one, if you think about the long-term targets.
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