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Just watched this race back. No wonder most of em didn’t get home, the pace they were going.
Commiserations 3FW backers. He was travelling and jumping well (sometimes too exuberantly) till he came down. It wasn’t carelessness- he just got it utterly wrong and was going too free to prop, run down it and fiddle over.
Commiserations also Dutchman backers. I don’t think he has bled before has he?
WWW also travelled and jumped well. Did he flip his soft palate? Not many things stop a horse almost in its tracks like that. It wasn’t the 3rd last fence as it happened a few strides before that and he jumped it OK.
Mysteree did OK considering he had a trachea full of mud a few weeks ago. I don’t know how long it takes the cilia to clear all that crap out and the lung inflammation (or however far the stuff got) to settle down and training to resume, but in retrospect maybe he turned out too quick.
Silsol overjumped the first, pecked and left Fehily and my cash in the muck. He jumped loose in a similar fashion- looks like he has plenty of scope and willing enough but too high and inefficent. Needs less showjumping schooling perhaps! Wouldn’t mind seeing Bryony back on him to get him into a rhythm over fences.
Blaklion- what was the point? Poor wee bugger.
Well done Yala Enki, travelled and jumped most quietly and efficiently and got the job done. I think he may have won even if the rest of them hadn’t suffered their various misfortunes.
This was the first time in 3 years I didn’t bet Blaklion, I just thought it was the wrong race for him. I don’t think I will bet him again this season either
That was a good winner Peterh well done
He still wins the National for me even after this blip (let’s not forget from a form perspective he still finished 2nd), he’ll have a good few months rest now and be primed for Aintree.
Trouble is Blaklion doesn’t have ‘a good few months’. He has 50 days.
In his favour is his immense toughness, whether that is because of his trainer or despite him, who knows. Nigel Twiston-Davies said yesterday was the softest he has ever seen Haydock, which is akin to admitting you’ve just been to a bonfire that was hotter than Hell. To admit that, and still send the horse out with that weight takes some brass neck.
Thanks Joe, that saved me having to revisit my basic calendar awareness book to see if we had switched to 15 day months under decimilisation.
I don’t think that will have helped Blaklion’s chances being put through the wringer in that manner.
I doesn’t seem that long ago we had a thread declaring how brilliant a trainer Twiston-Davies was and yet now he seems to be the biggest clown out.
I do remember the late David Nicholson stating that he was surprised how well Twiston-Davies had started as a trainer. The interviewer asked why that was and David Nicholson replied thus:-
“Well, when he was working for me, you couldn’t have seen a lazier Ba**ard”
Nicholson’s words, not mine.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Trainer say WWW was fine after the race and just didn’t stay!!
I can’t believe that is the case as turning for home looked all over the winner and then stopped very quickly.
If you don’t stay you slow down and not come to a stand still!!Meh. The horse has worn a tongue tie since its third start over hurdles. Bet it was the soft palate didn’t stay put, not the horse didn’t stay the trip. Jockey wouldn’t necessarily hear the gurgling over the noise of all the hooves squelching and sucking out of the muck. I predict a “WS” by its name next time out.
It is a plausible explanation as when you pass the limit of your stamina you can’t really predict what kind of reaction a horse will have but needless to say that the heavy ground greatly exacerbated the situation and made it visually very shocking.
On better ground you would expect there would be a more gradual shortening of the stride as the horse reaches the end of its stamina reserves but on that ground and at that stage of the race they were not (understandingly) going very fast in the first place and as he slowed he clearly didn’t have enough momentum for the fence and I personally think that it was more the horse just saying ‘no thank you’ than the jockey actually pulling him up.
He has form over 3m 2f but the 1st time he tried further was when he fell 6 out in the Welsh National (which would have been well before his stamina would have been seriously tested) and I am guessing that between the third and second last fences at Haydock you probably still have around another 2F-3F left to travel. Therefore, with him being unproven past 3m2f combined with the heavy ground and the fact that they went far too quickly in the early stages, I think not staying is a reasonable explanation for what happened. However, if the same thing were to happen on a sounder surface then a breathing issue becomes a more likely scenario.
Based on the fact that the owner seems none to keen to run Yala Enki at Aintree, do you think the Midlands National would be a good alternative as Uttoxeter more often than not has similar ground conditions to what he ploughed through Saturday?
Yes…as you say conditions similar
but I reckon you only get to win one Welsh National/ Haydock GN trial or Eider/ Midlands National per season.
The reason being that your bog galloper wins by a healthy margin as everything else is legless, the handicapper has no option but to slap a load of weight on it, and it is incredibly tough for even specialist bog gallopers to lug an extra half stone plus through the bog. It takes a few runs to get their mark down enough to win another bog slog.
I’m sure there are exceptions to this ie horses that have won more than one big handicap marathon on heavy per season, but I would think they are exceptional and probably the ones who are very unexposed at the time of the first win. It’s hard enough to win two big handicaps on good in one season let alone two on heavy. There will always be one or two other specialist bog gallopers on a handier mark the second time.Suspect it’s more one-pace than a stamina issue. When he comes under pressure he always tries but rarely finds anything.
Would agree with this. very harsh to call any horse who finishes 2nd in a national a “non stayer”.
Was on the fence before this race about his national chances given a big weight and not sure this race has answered anything in all honesty. We all know, especially given certain races this season that “haydock heavy” is quite different to any other course out there. Although well beaten 2nd, nothing else has managed to tough it out, bar the winner, who is a bit of an enigma in my eyes, so perhaps that 2nd will look pretty good in a few months time.
I dont believe WWW has just not stayed, he stopped in a matter of strides from travelling well.
Think the way the race was run and the course, i would be prepared to forgive everything in it and it wouldn’t put me off betting any of them for the national, if you fancied them before.
Only thing i felt i learnt from the race is the one horse who has proved he can travel and stay the national distance well, is the one not entered
Blaklion finished 4th in last years National carrying 4lbs less than he is set to carry this year – even taking into account his liking for the course and being a year older/wiser, I suspect that he will have a similar type placing again this year as there are bound to be a few more stronger stayers than him in the race.
Can certainly forgive anyone from running a bad race at Haydock on that type of ground (do they provide anything else these days?) but how much of an effect/mark will racing in those conditions leave on a horse for the rest of the season? One could argue that running in that race will end up being a tougher ask than running in the National itself.
Wild West Wind stopped extremely quickly – going like the winner over one fence, out on his feet and refused the next… And it actually happened far quicker (or should that be slower?) than that. More like beaten in strides after the third last. It’s quite possible he didn’t stay, but I think the biggest reason is probably a physical one and/or temperament. Just didn’t want to know once push came to whip.
For me, Blaklion’s performance is even more disappointing. I backed him in the Grand National last year; travelled like the winner when going for home probably too far out and/or pulled his way to the front – as a result didn’t stay. Then under different tactics – held up – and over a mile shorter trip won the Becher in good style, giving encouragement of staying 4m2f this time around. However, didn’t jump with his usual (National Fences) fluency and… Together with up 2 1/2 furlongs and more stamina sapping ground too – appeared not to get home again on Saturday. Did you see the head on? Scrambled over the last.
Will run well in this year’s Grand National if jumping better, if settling, if the going in April doesn’t place too much emphasis on stamina and if this hard race hasn’t taken too much out of him… With so many “ifs” price looks too short to me.
Value Is EverythingBlaklion finished 4th in last years National carrying 4lbs less than he is set to carry this year
Actual weight carried doesn’t matter LD. What matters is the weight compared to his rivals. If the original top weights take their chance this season it’s a far better quality race than last year. Yes, Blaklion is set to carry 11-06 instead of last year’s 11-01 (so on weights carried it’s actually 5 lbs). However, in fact Blaklion is on a mark of 163 compared to 152 last year. So as far as whether Blaklion is well or badly handicapped this time around, you should be thinking he’s set to race off an 11 lbs worse mark than last year.
Value Is EverythingWell obviously weight carried does matter but I totally get the point that you are making – what you have said gives more credence to me in not believing he is going to be able to win the race, he couldn’t do it last year when racing off a lower mark.
If the weather is kind in the run up, the ground (at best) will be engineered to be no quicker than good to soft and at 4m2f I just think it is always going to be beyond him stamina wise.
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