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Reported on the Sporting Life site this morning that this grand chaser is not up to the rigours of training and has been retired.
A sad loss to the sport!
Colin
Shame really since he was very exciting. BUT he achieved alot and will be remembered for his battles with BOS as well as having a daft name. :biggrin:
SHL
Quote: from thedarkknight on 9:05 am on Sep. 8, 2006[br]He was a very good chaser at his best.
IMO it was a great shame that Paul Nicholls chose to run him when he clearly had physical problems on his final start. Maybe this sad conclusion will serve as a reminder that some things are more important than winning (or indeed losing) a trainers championship.<br>
Exactly.
<br>He must mean Moscow Flyer:biggrin:
Such a shame and I sure hope that this isn’t a sign of things to come this jumps season after what happened last year.
A great chaser, I remember when he won his first Game Spirit – he was effortlessly awesome that day.
Totally agree with you ‘ TheDarkKnight’, I think that decision taken by Nicholls and Hales totally ruined the horse. <br>Before that season Azertyuiop was a fantastic horse to watch and his Queen Mother was exhilarating to watch. The Tingle Creek with Moscow, Azer and Well Chief is a race to cherish for life.
- Total Posts 438
Azertyuiop was a top-notch ‘chaser, although not quite deserving of the 182 awarded to him by Timeform in a year when they went totally over the top in their ratings. He was a good jumper, able to quicken off a strong pace and brave and consistent to boot.
His retirement, as well as Moscow Flyer’s, will certainly leave a void at the top of the two-mile ‘chasing tree, but there are enough promising youngsters around to suggest that we should be in for some cracking contests over that trip this season.
Azertyuiop’s 182 was rock solid. Giving 19 lb to Isio in the Victor Chandler. Isio won again next time off 155 and went down by just 6 lengths to Moscow Flyer off levels of Aintree.
The figures stand up under scutiny in handicap company, surely that is the best test. He reproduced it when giving 4 lb and a two and a half length beating to Well Chief in the Game Spirit. Well Chief on his previous outing had of course won the VC himself off 176.
It rather annoys me how Nicholls sells Azertyuiop sort when he compares Kauto Star to him. Kauto Star isn’t anywhere near Azertyuiop’s league (yet! possibly).
(Edited by davidjohnson at 11:51 am on Sep. 8, 2006)
Quote:
It rather annoys me how Nicholls sells Azertyuiop sort when he compares Kauto Star to him. Kauto Star isn’t anywhere near Azertyuiop’s league (yet! possibly).
Agree with that DJ but perhaps we’ll see better this year?
Incidentally for those who don’t know azertyuiop is the top line of a French typewriter keyboard (ours being qwertyuiop). It’s probably been largely superseded by now though.
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways- Total Posts 438
grasshopper and dj, I have no problems with the ratings based on the horses’ handicap marks that season; Azertyuiop and Well Chief gave massive beatings to other good-class (though not necessarily reliable) ‘chasers like Armaturk and Cenkos that year.
My problem lies with the historical value of those figures. It is well known that both handicap marks and independent ratings creep up over time (I’m sure that the BHB adjusted all handicap marks to counter this a few years ago, but haven’t got the article at hand) and this results in falsely high ratings as a consequence. I can’t have it that Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop and Well Chief were all markedly superior to such top-class two milers as Badsworth Boy, Pearlyman, Martha’s Son, etc. In fact, anyone who thinks that Well Chief could give Badsworth Boy weight and beat him needs his head examined, in my opinion.
:biggrin:
Yquem21
I thought that the BHB had to raise the h’cap marks, several times in recent years, as the ratings were slipping!
Quote: from SirHarryLewis on 9:12 am on Sep. 8, 2006[br]Shame really since he was very exciting. BUT he achieved alot and will be remembered for his battles with BOS as well as having a daft name. :biggrin: <br>
Sorry I ment MF of course. I was writing too many threads simultaneously
SHL
Quote: from yquem21 on 12:42 pm on Sep. 8, 2006[br]grasshopper and dj, I have no problems with the ratings based on the horses’ handicap marks that season; Azertyuiop and Well Chief gave massive beatings to other good-class (though not necessarily reliable) ‘chasers like Armaturk and Cenkos that year.
My problem lies with the historical value of those figures. It is well known that both handicap marks and independent ratings creep up over time (I’m sure that the BHB adjusted all handicap marks to counter this a few years ago, but haven’t got the article at hand) and this results in falsely high ratings as a consequence. I can’t have it that Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop and Well Chief were all markedly superior to such top-class two milers as Badsworth Boy, Pearlyman, Martha’s Son, etc. In fact, anyone who thinks that Well Chief could give Badsworth Boy weight and beat him needs his head examined, in my opinion.
:biggrin: <br>
So are we saying that there is a rating creepage of sorts that happens over the years.??
SHL
Quote: from Grasshopper on 3:02 pm on Sep. 8, 2006[br]
I don’t know what BB’s highest Timeform rating was, but I am very comfortable that Well Chief’s rating of 182 two seasons ago, was an accurate reflection of his best measurable form.
Interesting statement considering your view that you feel 182 overestimates Kicking King when at the weights he emerged as Well Chief’s superior in the Arkle.
Sorry Grasshopper, that comment was little tongue in cheek, but when you use the quote facility, you don’t have the option to include smilies!
More seriously, I agree with you that the figure isn’t as reliable as that of the two-milers, but Azertyuiop isn’t the only one that gives the form credence, Kingscliff reproduced it when he won the Betfair Chase.
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