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Who’ll Willie be sending? The reigning Supreme Novice Hurdler Vautour? Or the unrealised Un De Sceaux? Possibly both? Or is that not Mr. Mullins’ forte? Think I’m right in saying he’s never had an Arkle winner though he did go very close with Champagne Fever.
Will be looking forward to seeing the top ante-post horses hit the chases at the start of this season, they should reveal a lot.
Well, these two are more likely to be Grand Annual than Arkle contenders, but it’s Fred Winter 4th
Keltus
v Scottish Champion Hurdle winner
Court Minstrel
in the novices’ chase at the Abbot today.
I think Keltus is born to be a chaser with his massive size and good attitude. Court Minstrel gives away a little weight, but is some way clear on hurdling ratings. Still, he’s more likely to have targets later in the year than Keltus and is a rather small type.
Let’s see if Keltus can lay down a very early Arkle marker.
So many of these novice chases/Champion/world hurdle depend on what Willie Mullins decides to do. Hard to speculate at this stage until his intentions become clearer
Well, it was not an insignificant performance from Court Minstrel at Newton Abbot on Monday. He’s laid down the first Arkle marker, although he’ll probably be swept aside by the better novices sooner or later.
Giving weight and a beating to Keltus, while the grey never looked very comfortable, is a good effort.
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Looking like UDS going for this from the Mullins team then? I’d have thought Vautour was tailor made for the Arkle.
Looking like UDS going for this from the Mullins team then? I’d have thought Vautour was tailor made for the Arkle.
Agreed, Vautour is tailor made for this race. Un De Sceaux also looks a real two miler so it will be interesting to see how things play out over the course of the season.
Ptit Zig is expected to be better over fences than he was over hurdles so 16s could look a big price in 5 months time.
Lee
Thought Vautour was alright this afternoon. Not impressive but ran well. Need to see how Un De Sceaux fares.
Josses Hill apparently unlikely to be seen until January
Thought Vautour was alright this afternoon. Not impressive but ran well. Need to see how Un De Sceaux fares.
Josses Hill apparently unlikely to be seen until January
Can’t agree, I thought he was most impressive. Long way to go, tho
Not sure what people expect? Unlike the novice hurdler who beat rubbish and was shortened up 8 points this was a reasonable field and Vautour dominated from the start, eventually winning with any amount in hand.
As regards targets although this is quite obviously an Arkle horse that probably matters little to Mullins who appears to shuffle the pack rather than look for the option that best suits the horse.
Last season he prevented Un De Sceaux from even having a shot at the Champion Hurdle. Had he been successful all of this speculation would have been avoided.
At least you can see the merit of Vautour going over fences rather than Faugheen. They look like chalk and cheese and it is easy to see why Faugheen only made 12,000E in the sales ring.
Thought it was a highly impressive chasing debut from Vautour myself. Clarcam is not mug and Vautour made light of the 12 lb weight allowance, what with Clarcam being a four year old.
I really hope they go down the two mile route with him. Many observers feel he’ll be stepped up in trip later in the season with Un De Sceaux being aimed at the Arkle, but I think two miles is perfect for Vautour. He obviously stays further but he has such a high cruising speed that he’s very hard to beat over the minimum trip.
Mullins mentioned the Grade 1 at Leopardstown for him, and you’d imagine all going well there that the Irish Arkle would be next on the agenda. Given how well Un De Sceaux handles soft ground, you’d wonder if he’ll bypass Cheltenham again in favour of another couple of French raids.
Un De Sceaux is entered at Thurles on Thursday, with Lieutenant Colonel and Le Vent D’Antan among the possible opposition.
If S Sacre and SDGrugy miss Cheltenham, what price would Vautour be in the Champion Chase?
Depends on what route Simonsig would take up.
If Simonsig didn’t take in the race then Balders would be favourite but if they stuck Vautor in with a run he would be about 2/1 with your scenario, perhaps.
Blackbeard to conquer the World
Early season blunder by Un de sceaux. Faller today at Thurles.
His jumping was top absolutely top notch before that too. I guess at the clip he goes the slightest mistake could bring him down. Didn’t touch a twig before that.
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Early season blunder by Un de sceaux. Faller today at Thurles.
His jumping was top absolutely top notch before that too. I guess at the clip he goes the slightest mistake could bring him down. Didn’t touch a twig before that.
My god he looked good until falling didn’t he! After Vatours seasonal win I was sure he’d be the one to go for the Arkle and win it well, however UDS looked incredibly good and stupidly fast, leaving the impression he wouldn’t be able to go that clip over further (but then again, what do I know).
I’d happily back either of the Mullins horses for the Arkle, but which one will he send………it may be a long waiting game! I think UDS and Vatour are the best and 2nd best 2m novice chasers in training, but in which order I don’t know.
Irish Saint another I like, but can’t oppose the Mullins ones.
I thought UDS’s jumping was exceptional till the fall; I’d certainly give him another chance or two
I’ve already backed Vautour for this but there has to be a chance he’ll go for the JLT. Mullins comments about stepping Valseur Lido up to the RSA trip ass further weight to the argument that Vautour could go for the intermediate race at the festival. I’d rather see him in this but have had a little Un De Sceaux (Arkle) and Vautour (JLT) double just in case that’s the way Mullins wants to go.
While I think Vautour is the standout candidate for the Arkle, there is value to be had further down the market. Namely Sgt Reckless, who made an excellent chasing debut and is entered at Sandown this weekend. It’s worth looking at the Supreme Novices and focusing on Sgt Reckless for the whole race because it was a quite remarkable run. He must have been 15 or 20 lengths behind Vautour jumping the third last, but he passed a most of the field between there and the line, finishing a staying on fourth, beaten under eight lengths by the impressive winner.
At 25/1 he looks overpriced.
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