- This topic has 311 replies, 61 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 1 month ago by
.
- Posts
If the King George at Kempton had been 100 metres shorter Vautour would have been a comfortable winner and around 2/1 for the Gold Cup. The only doubt is will he stay.
That’s just it though, Vautour was cantering 100 metres out around a flat 3 miles and did not get home. There’s another 2 1/2 furlongs to race on a far stiffer track than Kempton.
If you look at Gold Cup winners, in the last 50 years imo only Kauto Star and Desert Orchid had as much speed as Vautour.
Stamina might be the “only doubt” about Vautour, but (especially considering how he finished at Kempton) it is a HUGE doubt.
Actually, there is another fair sized doubt about Vautour – if the trainer is telling the truth of how he’s going to be ridden – needs to prove as effective without racing up with the pace. Changing the way a horse usually runs lessens its chance, connections wouldn’t be doing it if they thought he’d stay the trip racing prominently. Will Vautour settle going a slower pace?
Will Vautour settle with rivals in front of him? imo Got to be taken on..
Value Is Everything“Vautour has done far better work this week than he has in the last three (weeks).
“That tells me he should go for the Gold Cup. Every year at Christmas Vautour disappoints us a bit, and every year he improves in the spring and for the hill at Cheltenham. This year looks no different. We expect a huge run.”
I don’t get it when Mullins says “…every year at Christmas Vautour disappoints us a bit…”
Yeah, that 2nd to Cue Card in the KG looks a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT to me too. Please retire him if you’re serious about his KG run.If ‘Vautour’ does win then Mullins should be charged with blatant non-trying as he knows the horse responds to extra work..Work that is obviously avoided when the horse is 40kilos over his ideal racing weight.
There are two horses with possible doubtful stamina and one outstayed the other last time around. Vautour might be a (unlikely) stone better now but won’t matter a jot if he can’t get the distance. Connections wobbled after the race and then set about convincing themselves. Often your first instinctive impression in any walk of life is the most accurate
Dc makes too many little mistakes. Way too much is made of the want ifs at kempton. It was a tired jump. The fact he was seemingly travllling OK unraveled by the actual effort of jumping and he had another to get over ffs
Don poli is so slow he is likely to be lapped. I would be more keen on DJ if it wasn’t for that fall last time. It’s something I just don’t like to see before a big race
Cc ticks the boxes for me. Constantly overlooked is the fact that he didn’t really travel wonderfully at kempton and I believe doesn’t much like right handed. You can just tell when a horse is bouncing round a course and he wasn’t
I also think smad place will surprise a few. There is an assumption in some places he needs heavy going
They tried to hold Vautour up in the KG for the first circuit and he didn’t look happy about it at all – for Ruby to say that if he had the race again he would make less use of him indicates that stamina is a real problem as his natural tactic is to front run (as he did so effectively in the JLT).
My immediate reaction to the KG was that he didn’t stay, Ruby still hadn’t moved on him jumping the second last and he picked his stick up for the 1st time at the 1F pole (about 10 strides before the last) – he didn’t seem to find much for it which indicated to me that the petrol tank was hitting ‘E’ and the last thing he wanted was another 2f. After a few days thought I was then of half a mind that Cue Card may have just outstayed him taking on board Vautour doesn’t generally show his best form until spring and the fact that he was also several kilos above his ideal racing weight.
Now several months later I am moving back to my original opinion that 3m is as far as he wants to go and that course form, going back left handed and less testing ground will not be enough to negate any stamina issues (especially in a race that will not be run to allow Ruby either an easy lead or a chance to get a breather into him). Will he be running all over them coming down the hill jumping three out (most probably) but as I have said many times before, so was One Man (who had already won over the 3m2f distance) and we all know what happened to him.
Make no mistake, I would love to see him prove me wrong and win it as he is the undoubted class horse of the race but that will only get him so far (probably to about the home turn) but once he comes off the bridle there are several horses he will be mixing it with that will find big time off it and I don’t see him being able to out slug them up that hill.
What about Don Cossack getting ridden more prominently? What’s the chances? General consensus seems to be he needs to be ridden more quietly but that’s when his jumping issues occur in my opinion,when left to his own devices(barring the Kempton fall).
I have a funny feeling they could be about to pull a bit of a rabbit out of the hat and sit in 2nd or 3rd just behind Smad Place and give some room to get a look at his fences and attack them. Was watching a preview the other evening and Ted Walsh i think it was said something like “your boy won’t be making the running or up with the pace anyway will he?” Gordon seemed to be taking a second or 2 to give his answer which isn’t like him and Ted as abrupt as he is answered for Gordon and said no.
Talk coming from the Mullins camp is Ruby has decided who he rides anyway and Vautour unsurprisingly is his pick
Fascinating race, loving all the opinions on here. Let’s hope they all line up on Friday and there are 3 or 4 of the principals turning for home all with a chance.
I’m with Vautour for all the reasons ‘Sea Pigeon’ states.
Watching a replay of last years gold cup Djakadam didn’t half power up that hill. If he’s anywhere near at the last he might just outstay them.
So Vautour doesn’t run. I have to say I’m normally a great defender of Ricci for not deciding things but he said a while ago either he goes to the gold cup or he stays at home. That was a misleading thing to say now that we know he goes for the Ryanair.
Hugely disappointing. want to see the best horses race each other in championship races. (Similarly, Annie Power would never race Faugheen in a hurdle either).
The Ryanair was a race added a few years ago as the festival saw the pound signs of having an extra day. This is the result – diluted championship races.
Really has subdued the excitement of the first morning. In five years Ricci will own everything and run them in separate races to sweep them all up. Bad for the sport.
(Hello board – long-term lurker, drawn here by the Memorials via twitter, and thoroughly enjoy the previews in this forum. Big fan of NH in the 70s and 80s when growing up, kind of lost contact with the sport in the 2000s, but have really got back into it in the last eight or nine months and have thoroughly enjoyed this NH season so far. Enjoy chases, especially the big Saturday handicaps and graded races, hence my disappointment in Vautour).
Welcome to the forum Quelle Farce.
Vautour goes for the Ryanair. Even though I’ve got an ante-post Ryanair bet on him it is very disappointing he’s not taking the Gold Cup route.
They say he’s “not fit enough”.
They also said “Gold Cup or nothing”.
They now say “Djakadam got a bad cut” last time out and was no certainty to get to the Gold Cup, did they say that after he fell?
They’ve said a lot of things.
Fact is (well it looks to me) form suggests Vautour won’t stay the Gold Cup trip and they’ve decided to go Ryanair.Suspect the truth is Vautour just hasn’t been settling well enough at home for them to let him go for Gold.
Betting in the next couple of days will tell.
If he’s not fit 4/5 will drift, if fit it’ll shorten.Value Is EverythingVautour is still lightly raced.
Another years experience could help him settle better and for whatever ginger says it’s not proven he doesn’t stay and Gold Cup will surely be the target next year…..??
Surely…..
or not..Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Given Ricci’s bookmaker connections they should have owner and trainer in to the Stewards and ask some serious questions.
What they’ve said in the run up does not make sense.Value Is EverythingVautour is still lightly raced.
Another years experience could help him settle better and for whatever ginger says it’s not proven he doesn’t stay and Gold Cup will surely be the target next year…..??
Surely…..
or not..Cue Card settles far better now than he did a year or two ago Nathan, stands a much better chance of getting the Gold Cup trip now than he did a couple of years ago. Am not saying Vautour will never stay, am saying he won’t (wouldn’t) stay this year.
Value Is EverythingGiven Ricci’s bookmaker connections they should have owner and trainer in to the Stewards and ask some serious questions.
What they’ve said in the run up does not make sense.Betbright now paying out as if Vautour won the Gold Cup.
So they can see what it potentially looks like.Are they going to increase the Ryanair prices of all the non-Vautour ante-post bets staked?
Are they going to pay out on the second horse if Vautour wins the Ryanair?Value Is EverythingYou can go collect on Vautour if you backed him with Betbright apparently. Nice PR stunt there,but in fairness it’s not a bad touch.
You can go collect on Vautour if you backed him with Betbright apparently. Nice PR stunt there,but in fairness it’s not a bad touch.
It’s an absolutely sickening touch. 90% of my betting is ante-post and I’m happy to take the ups and downs, even the seriously expensive ones like this. But what Ricci said this morning was the horse simply isn’t well enough to run in the GC, never mind win it. What he’s saying through his company is, ‘If I’d run him in it he’d have won – just pay out.’
Disgusting decision
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.