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Ah, the NH season is upon us again. And I for one, am already lapping up all the comments about horses “coming on a ton for that”, “having a good blow”, “being all about March for him”, “he’s still a big baby”, “making a lovely chaser” and all that lovely stuff. I thought Martin Pipe had sorted out all this nonsense about being able to get a horse fit during the actual training, but alas not.
On to the suggested topic – 2m Chasers this century, the best of them. Here are my selection of the top 5 (any disagreements absolutely welcome and encouraged!). RPR disagree with me for a start, rating Well Chief a pound superior at his peak to Douvans peak. Regardless:
Moscow Flyer, Altior, Sprinter Sacre, Douvan, Master Minded.
If these five met hypothetically in a QMCC in a five runner race and ran their best races, RPR would have them finishing:
1st Sprinter Sacre (190), 2nd Master Minded (186), 3rd Altior (183), 4th Moscow Flyer (182), and Douvan (178) trailing in last.
I would be delighted and grateful to hear anyones views on this.
BUY THE SUN
Agree that Sprinter Sacre was the best of them. It is difficult to think of anything that could have beaten him when he won his first Champion Chase. People with longer memories than me might say Flyingbolt but I wonder how reliable his rating is.
Personally I would put Altior in second and Master Minded third. I also think there is something to be said for longevity. Altior has won at four Cheltenham Festivals, whereas Master Minded put up one brilliant performance but never really matched it again.
Not sure we ever found out just how good a peak Douvan was. He kept beating the same horses in small fields on soft ground. Having said that it was clearly not his fault he did not win a Champion Chase and his perennial runner up Sizing John was good enough to win a Gold Cup, albeit in a moderate renewal.
We could have a sixth horse in this race who I think would go very close if he stayed upright – Kauto Star.
Good shout Homer. Kauto Star won the Tingle Creek the same season he won the Gold Cup. It is difficult to imagine a Gold Cup horse being campaigned that way now.
I was at Sandown that day and could not believe how easily he won. I think I am right in saying Voy Por Ustedes was second but Kauto Star beat him out of sight.
Sprinter. Altior 4 lengths back. Master Minded 2L behind him. Douvan found out & Moscow probably fell or unseated at the 3rd last when starting to get shoved
Yes, Kauto Star is a great call. He murdered Voy Por Ustedes in the 2006 Tingle Creek and went on to win the KG three weeks later. VPU won the 2017 CC and was at least a very decent G1 yardstick.
Incredible that those races are already about 13 years ago….
I wouldn’t even dare to mention Douvan’s name in the same breath with Sprinter, Altior, Kauto, Master Minded and Moscow Flyer.
One horse we should mention is Viking Flagship. Highly talented and a true fighter.
Azertyuiop and Well Chief are underrated in my opinion. Were it not for Moscow Flyer’s switch to fences, people would be discussing their rivalry at the same exalted levels of Kauto v Denman. Their weight carrying performances in the VC chases were considered outrageous at the time and hindsight has done nothing to diminish them. That both were just below Moscow Flyer harshly detracts from their legacies.
That being said, peak Sprinter Sacre wins this on the bridle. He was a real phenomenon.
I do wonder if Faugheen could have been in the conversation had he been sent chasing as he certainly had the build and cruising speed to be just as lethal over fences.
Moscow Flyer had to beat two top-class rivals, which none of the others had to. And you are forgetting Dawn Run!!
Dawn Run?
One of the top 2 Mile chasers of the 21st Century?
I think she might have been forgotten by most people for that list. Sorry Befair.
My standouts
1) Sprinter Sacre
2) Kauto Star
3) Moscow FlyerThat’s the only three for me, but in the spirit of the thread, I could add
Azertyuiop, Well Chief, or Altior, but none of them top notchers for me personally.
Dawn Run beat the 2M champion of that year, Buck House, who I think had won in record time, in a match over 2M; I was there, remember it well. What more evidence do you need? She obs would have won the 2M champion, but obs, like Kauto Star, went for the more competitive, prestigious and lucrative GC
It seems like Master Minded is a real forgotten horse – it’s a shame he went off the boil over two miles, and it’s also a shame that he never got the chance to show what he could do over three miles.
I’d put Sizing Europe over Douvan, too.
Regardless, it is clear to all who have eyes to see that The MEGABEAST would crush his foolhardy rivals underfoot, smiting them hip and thigh with a dominating display of destructitude. Let all tongues profess and let no man dare gainsay – even the mighty Altior cannot begin to compare with the sheer annihilatory majesterial might of The MEGABEAST.
BlueSky @pghenn.bsky.social
So don't run, just like the others always do
Excellent replies. Homersimpson has not been over zealous on the Duff in suggesting Kauto Star, I think he would indeed have been very competitive with anything over 2m.
Bachelors Hall – great post regarding Azertyuiop & Well Chief. As I said, RPR have The Chief above Douvan, which I couldn’t argue with with any conviction. Great days, a true mighty three over 2m.
And the VC – Azertyuiop giving 19lb to Isio and just getting nailed – Isio hacked up in a big-pot HC off 6lb higher the next time out, and proved himself Grade 1 class with a Melling runner-up berth.
And The Chief giving subsequent Rynair winner Thisthatandtother 20lb and a beating
.Absolutely great stuff, another case of NH racing, not so much shooting itself in the foot but blowing the entire leg off with a sawn-off, by making the race a Graded conditions plod around.
I remember Well Chiefs english debut in a maiden, just looked it up to refresh my memory. Drifted like a barge from 6’s (shorter in the morning as well I think) to 14’s, before hacking up ahead of a seething McCoy (Johnson / Pipe retained at the time) on the well-backed jolly. Pond House jaws hitting floors no doubt!!
BUY THE SUN
21st Century Befair as noted. Dawn Run was a great mare, but if both were at their best, I cannot believe she would have been close to Badsworth Boy over fences at 2m.
Not sure whether any of the 21st Century list would have beaten him, either. But comparing different eras is always impossible anyway…
Mike
Accepted; I was thrown off by the mention of Flyingbolt earlier. Just making the point again, that none of these great 2M champions would have had the speed to win a 2M Champion Hurdle, the stamina to win the French CH (over 3M) later that year, and the the versatility + courage to win the 3M Gold Cup, and THEN defeat the current reigning 2M champion over 2M.
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