2017 Champion Hurdle

Vautour wrote:

The Ante-Post King wrote:

The only horse that can beat my 500/1 Champion hurdle winner Petit Mouchoir runs today and I dont wish the horse harm but it would be great to see ‘Buvair d’air’ run like a pig.

500/1? wow. I thought I was doing well getting in at 10s..

Sounds better than 480’s ‘Vautour’ but still huge Odds..Bobby VTC spotted those Odds and we both snaffled,480’s down to 410’s…Its who can hold their nerve longer before laying off.

Poor value if it loses btw
eh ginge……

Sea Pigeon wrote:

There is a bad smell in this market. Yanworth is 100/1 in the lay column on Betfair. is he injured or been working bad?

Zarkava wrote:

The Ante-Post King wrote:

Zarkava wrote:

Petit Mouchoir supporters happy? Hmmm…did set a strong gallop but…he’s beaten Nichols Canyon twice…and that’s all he’s done…Buveur D’Air must go Champion Hurdle?

Who’s the only horse to have beaten ‘Faugheen’ Zark?

Gord, I’ve been playing around with the idea of NC winning this today for a few reasons.

Hors La Loi (4 > 7), Brave Inca (6 > 8) and Binocular (4 > 6) took a bit of time to improve to get to Champion Hurdle-winning standard.

-They all had very good Festival Grade 1 novice hurdle performances under their belt – 1st, 2nd and 2nd respectively in the Supreme

-They all placed in a Champion Hurdle previously

I’m sure there are other similarities, but these are the main two. Nichols Canyon comes close to this profile – he finished 3rd in the Neptune rather than placed in the Supreme, and of course he came 3rd in this race last year.

But I think the similarities end there. I just don’t see any obvious improvement from last year. He’s contested 9 2 mile Grade 1s in total;

2 mile Grade 1s on soft/heavy: U1131
2 mile Grade 1s on good-soft/yielding: 132
2 mile Grade 1s on good: F (when about to finish 3rd)

So we see a far better strike-rate in softer conditions, 60% on soft/heavy (75% when completing) and 25% (33%) on anything quicker.

I also can’t get over his Neptune form, 3rd behind Windsor Park and Parlour Games. He only beat Vyta Du Roc a head in that race. That is not a sign of a top 2-miler.

Then I went back to watch a replay of the Irish Champion Hurdle. Look at these few seconds in particular (0:24 > 0:28):

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Look at the stride of Petit Mouchoir. A clear quick ground action, bouncing off the ground. Then look at the far longer soft ground action of Nichols Canyon.

Then look here, a vital part of the race (2:49):

<iframe width=”1170″ height=”658″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/1iZ4f8iZP84?start=169&feature=oembed&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””></iframe>

Ruby’s taken NC up to challenge PM, but they jump the hurdle 1/2L apart and almost instantly PM’s 2L clear, Ruby’s off the bridle and it’s race over.

I do not believe that this horse is top class over 2 miles on quick ground. I believe he will get outpaced on quick ground against better horses than were in last year’s Champion Hurdle.

Conversely, if Petit Mouchoir’s forte is that cruising speed of his and he tries doing that in the Champion Hurdle, it won’t be Footpad that’ll be bearing down on him – it’ll be Buveur D’Air, Yanworth, Faugheen?, Superb Story, etc. Better horses than Footpad, and they will go past him.

Yanworth is pretty weak, out to 8.8.

And Yorkhill was last matched at 9.0. He was about 17 to back 1 1/2 hours ago at 1.15am. Now it’s 2.40am and he’s 9.0.

Interestingly I noticed that the other £3 at 1000 on Briar Hill for the JLT was matched earlier. I wonder if this is a Wylie switcharound, with Briar Hill his JLT horse and Yorkhill his Champion Hurdle runner.

Only just noticed this Zark,that was a fast performance,the sort that steals races,if he does the same at Chelters he’ll be trading short…I can still see ‘Yorkhill’ running in this too and Willie telling all it was always the plan.

Zarkava wrote:

The Ante-Post King wrote:

The only horse that can beat my 500/1 Champion hurdle winner Petit Mouchoir runs today and I dont wish the horse harm but it would be great to see ‘Buvair d’air’ run like a pig.

He’s no pig!

Obviously a class horse but they went no gallop and he cant jump for toffee.I’m not so sure he would love a battle to be honest and he’ll have too to get past Petit Mouchoir…Good luck Zark

Zarkava wrote:

I greened out on him at 7.2 so not losing in this market. Big mistake laying that £14 at 80, basically ruined my entire position on him. Not really sure what to make of the race, especially at the prices. Where is L’Ami Serge?

I had to take a 2nd look when I saw you had traded out at 80’s.I wont trade out mine at 7’s

Yanworth entered for kingwell over 2 miles so I imagine the champion hurdle is still the target

Wow faugheen is out and Min!!

A race of pretenders now!!

brain power for me!