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In the last hour, I’ve received a very interesting e-mail from Germany. It would appear that, in addition to Stellino, Henderson also has another German Flat recruit in his yard, but this one could be a bit special!! Turfshuffle is the name, and I remember him giving Weststern 4 kg and an absolute hammering in a decent race at Cologne in August last year when trained by Uwe Ostmann. I understand he’s just arrived at Hendersons yard (that’s Turfshuffle, not Uwe Ostmann!!), but he’s a really decent horse, and I for one can’t wait to see him run!
Darren – AngloGerman
Cheers for that Darren, the name is in the notebook already.
I was going to ask you about the German runners over at Dubai recently, but I never got round to it.
If any catch my eye this coming Thursday, I will give you a shout if you don’t mind – just for your thoughts of course.
Mike
A lot of Henderson’s novices aren’t following up, not sure why, maybe they are getting found out when stepped up in class, but won’t be backing any for Cheltenham until they win again.
Turfshuffle has entries this week at Sandown & Wincanton as well as an entry in the Supreme Novices Hurdle.
Just a word of warning if your considering putting your hard earnt on TURFSHUFFLE, whilst he managed to win 4 from 14 races he was also beaten fav on 7 occassions , he`s always been a bit of a talking horse!!
On a positive note he`s joined the right trainer, he could be half decent, he looks like an hurdler and he certainly as scope!!
I`ll take a look at his opponents before taking a view!!
With regards to DONALDSON, best bit of business ever done selling this horse, whilst he won a so called “listed“ race in Baden Baden the perofrmance was nothing special, he managed to get first run on Santiago and the third home is an 8-y-o province horse…………..i must admit to laying him rather big on his hurdling debut.
When i anylise horse racing i try and remain unbiased and pragmatic!!
Just a word of warning if your considering putting your hard earnt on TURFSHUFFLE, whilst he managed to win 4 from 14 races he was also beaten fav on 7 occassions , he`s always been a bit of a talking horse!! !!
Turfshuffle was hardly (if at all) out of the first four in his races in Germany, but, like Weststern, the handicapper in Germany seemed to have got hold of him. It seems that the escape route for most decent class 1/2 handicappers in Germany seems to be hurdling in the UK!
The worry with these type of horses is if the horse will actually take to hurdling. Certainly some seem to, but some seem to disappoint. Example, I thought Donaldson would do really well over here, but so far, it’s not to be. On the flipside, I was really surprised how well Fair Along has done – his breeding is nothing special, and I didn’t think he would be much more than a class 4 horse.
With regards to DONALDSON, best bit of business ever done selling this horse, whilst he won a so called “listed“ race in Baden Baden the perofrmance was nothing special, he managed to get first run on Santiago and the third home is an 8-y-o province horse…………..i must admit to laying him rather big on his hurdling debut.
The fact is that Donaldson is one of the few horses to have beaten Schiaparelli, doing so in a Group 1 at Duesseldorf in 2006. That form alone is outstanding, but I do think it was a bit of a flash in the pan, and, like Tony, I think they did well to get 300,000 EUR for the horse (if that indeed was the price). I’ve mentioned before in the forum that Peter Rau didn’t really think the horse was quite top class (not as good as Saddex certainly). That being said, he would certainly be better that most other German imports on the flat, and I am quite surprised by his underachievments so far in the UK, although as i’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of Jonjo O’Neill.
When i anylise horse racing i try and remain unbiased and pragmatic!!
Unbiased? Not when Mr. Fechner had something running!! Then again, I can talk – I think most of Europe heard me groan when Fiepes Shuffle finished second on Sunday!
Darren – AngloGerman
Darren says: Turfshuffle was hardly (if at all) out of the first four in his races in Germany, but, like Weststern, the handicapper in Germany seemed to have got hold of him. It seems that the escape route for most decent class 1/2 handicappers in Germany seems to be hurdling in the UK!
Was 7th of 10 in Baden although he could be forgiven as 2200 was clearly too far!, that brings forward another question………Will he stay the trip when racing over hurdles?, i know he won over 1850 in Koeln but they seemed to think his best trip was the standard mile (10 from 14 races where over the mile), i guess you could put forward FIEPES SHUFFLE as a contra argument ,afterall,he was a sprinter and stays ok over hurdles,he would have won at Sandown but for tipping up at the last,however,FIEPES is probably an exception, i know German trainers tend to think milers are ok over hurdles,however,races are ran differant in the UK!
I think the German h`capper is fair unlike the UK equivelent, 3-5 kilos is usually the range,have you noticed horses in the UK getting upto 20lbs?,still,i think the French h`capping system is much tighter and from asthetics the best in Europe.I`m only saying the “court is out“ for me when it comes to TURFSHUFFLE,however,it`s a fact he was always overhyped in Germany,you can see that from the betting market.
With regards to DONALDSON the numbers i heard where €340k, that`s a lot of money if you took into consideration his last 4 races (in Germany),still,it`s fair to say you are likely to find a better bargain in Germany than in the UK and maybe the horse would have been better going to a differant trainer!!
Darren says:-
Unbiased? Not when Mr. Fechner had something running!! Then again, I can talk – I think most of Europe heard me groan when Fiepes Shuffle finished second on Sunday!Well, of course i wish Dieter all the “luck“ , unbiased is probably not the best of words to describe what i meant, on the other hand ,i manage to keep things in perspective and i rarely suffer from extremes of emotion.
I admire people like yourself that “wear your heart on your sleeve“ , however, i tend to be better described by the Chinese proverb:
Fall down 5 times,stand up 6 times!!
I used to bet in a West End branch of Wm Hills. There was a big spending punter in there all the time, who used to always say Henderson rarely got improvement out of his winners. He maintained they were usually trained to the minute, and little left to work on.
Not sure if there was any truth in this, but it might be the reason for MCFC Stan’s observation.
The way he has turned out some horses recently you might think it would be a hard case to argue against.
However there is no better man for getting them bang on for Cheltenham.
He has trained the Triumph Hurdle winner 3 times and must have about 30 winners to his name
Never been out of my top 5 trainers that’s for sure. Whatever it is he does seeems to be working
I see another ‘potentially smart’ Henderson hurdler was introduced today in the shape of Punchestowns. Quickened up really well after the last.
Mike
Turfshuffle actualy runs tomorrow at Wincanton, however, for a class 4, this looks a pretty decent race. According to the Racing Post, Song of Songs is forecast to be odds on tomorrow (not surprising on his second to Osana), and there are a couple of other interesting individuals, most notably Southern Regent, who is (as far as I’m aware) only the second ever Indian bred horse to run over hurdles in England, after Statley Raj. Philip Hobbs has Hot Diamond in the race, there’s a couple from Jonjos yard, and Master Halling comes down in grade after being thrown in at the deep end on his hurdles debut. Yes, I think this could turn out to be a pretty decent contest, but I, in my finest biased fashion, will be willing Turfshuffle on! Whether he can handle a horse with the class of Song of Songs remains to be seen though.
Darren – AngloGerman
Punchestowns really put his head down well and wrapped up the race impressively
Would love t know how he stands in the pecking order of all this talent
Is Sentry duty’s target settled yet i wonder?
Remember that tremendously brave little chap of Charlie Mann’s horrific fall in a good handicap hurdle, I think. Got up as right as ninepence after he got his wind back, and was apparently not a bit adversely affected by it.
What a temperament! Too brave for his own good. Unrealistic, but if he was mine, I wouldn’t have him run again. He’s run again this season, I think. Can’t remember his name, but you’ll probably know who I mean.
For what its worth i was very impressed with the Henderson trained Ravello Bay.
She who won the bumper at Fakenham and will improve plenty for the experience and could end up a champion.
The track was against her but her attitude was second to none !Remember that tremendously brave little chap of Charlie Mann’s horrific fall in a good handicap hurdle, I think. Got up as right as ninepence after he got his wind back, and was apparently not a bit adversely affected by it.
What a temperament! Too brave for his own good. Unrealistic, but if he was mine, I wouldn’t have him run again. He’s run again this season, I think. Can’t remember his name, but you’ll probably know who I mean.
That sounds like My Turn Now who took a horrid fall in last years’ Tolworth Hurdle and has disappointed badly this season,although he did win two more races after that fall.
Yes, that’s him, GD. I didn’t realise he’d two more races in the meantime. It may be that he’s just being given a sabbatical. He’s a small horse and a brave one, so an easy time maybe what’s needed. It may be his own body’s telling him it. Just speculating though. A horse whisperer or vet I’m not.
Interesting that they have gone to an easy track with him,could be expected with a suspect stayer.
Song of songs as a penalty so Turfshuffle would need to beat him if he`s going to be a Cheltenham horse, similiar levels of form on the flat!!
Gun to head i would take HOT DIAMOND with a 7lb claimer in the saddle at odds of 8/1, he can`t do any worse than the deteriating Richard Johnson.
One things for sure ,Nicky Henderson will know where he stands with the fav , the betting market will prove interesting!
This is all assuming the track survives inspection, they say it should be ok but we`ve heard that before!!
I managed to watch most of the race in my local Ladbrokes, however, half way through, due to other coverage, it was squuezed into the left corner of the screen, and with my eyesight not being the best (don’t worry, new glasses ready next week, no labrador required at the moment!!), I had quite a bit of trouble working out what had happened. However, Turfshuffle, who usually led in his races in Germany, seemed to be held back and was only put in the race at the later stages. Maybe the fact he drifted from 2-1 to 5-1 told a story. Excellent choice from Tony with Hot Diamond giving Song of Songs a real battle – I wasn’t sure who had won really, but both the first and second finished well clear of Turfshuffle. I’m not sure my 50-1 Turfshufle for the Supreme Novices now represents any value, but I’ll be following him throught the season to see how he gets on.
Darren – AngloGerman
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