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AOB: "He’s got so much natural speed!"
Cynical Punter: "But he’s a cow. He is an actual, honest to God, actual Bos Primigenius."
AOB: "But he’s got so much natural speed!"And so ad infinitum.
I’m being a bit harsh on the man, of course – just a shame that this season he’s been focusing more on the (admittedly not-too-shabby) RVW, the past it Fame And Glory, the hypemachine that is St Nicholas Abbey* and the really rather pointless Jan Vermeer and not really given the Mile-and-a-half UBERHORSE** Cape Blanco the credit/races he’s deserved.
*Do we honestly think that we’ll see SNA on the track again, or will he be packed off to stud where he’ll be able to put his So Much Natural Speed to good use? Personally, I’d like to see him stop running in the bumpers and do some hurdling
**That’s UBERHORSE over 10 furlongs, of course.
Uberhorse??? – Cape Blanco certainly isn’t!
Overrated on his 10f runs and, though he clearly stayed 12f well in the Irish Derby, that is poor gp1 form, and his 2 real races over that distance show just how good he isn’t.
His main claims to 10f fame are:
A/ That, in the Dante, he beat a Workforce that quite clearly didn’t run his race, with the 108 rated Coordinated Cut only 4l in arrears, and
B/ In the Irish Champion on rain softened ground, he set a strong pace (much as you’d expect from a true 12f horse) against a stablemate (RVW) whose trainer had already decided couldn’t win in that going, an out-of-sorts (subsequently confirmed by his trainer) Twice Over, and gave a 8/9 lb beating to the modest (117 rated) Beethoven, who doesn’t stay 10f anyway.
Had he been any good, he would have taken his place in the English Derby rather than the French, as AoB’s better horses invariably do.
Can’t wait to take him on next season, against all those who have him down as some sort of superstar!
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Wait for it lads: Aiden O’Brien News Flash
"We decided he wasn’t quite ready," trainer Aidan O’Brien said. "We’ll sit on it for a week or two and see where we are. There is a good chance he might be around next year. He might run [this year], but only if we think it’s beneficial with that in mind."
Now he has to be taking the p!ss
Uberhorse??? – Cape Blanco certainly isn’t!
Overrated on his 10f runs and, though he clearly stayed 12f well in the Irish Derby, that is poor gp1 form, and his 2 real races over that distance show just how good he isn’t.
His main claims to 10f fame are:
A/ That, in the Dante, he beat a Workforce that quite clearly didn’t run his race, with the 108 rated Coordinated Cut only 4l in arrears, and
B/ In the Irish Champion on rain softened ground, he set a strong pace (much as you’d expect from a true 12f horse) against a stablemate (RVW) whose trainer had already decided couldn’t win in that going, an out-of-sorts (subsequently confirmed by his trainer) Twice Over, and gave a 8/9 lb beating to the modest (117 rated) Beethoven, who doesn’t stay 10f anyway.
Had he been any good, he would have taken his place in the English Derby rather than the French, as AoB’s better horses invariably do.
Can’t wait to take him on next season, against all those who have him down as some sort of superstar!Cape Blanco : Flat placings 111-101210
The "0" are from two poor draws in France, the second being the Arc last week.
The "2" is from the King george at Ascot, where he finished first of the 3yo horses, including beating Workforce. That was the second time he beat workforce this year.
The "1" include 2 G1, 2 G2 and a G3.
Not that shabby form is it?
Oh how I miss the days of Dr Vincent..he’d have pulled that phone away from his ear and smacked him around the lug with it
If he was with the late great Dr O’Brien the horse would have been retired along time ago.
I miss the days of Darkie Prendergast,and Michael Hurley,and Tom Draper.But that was then and this is now.And Capt Boyd Rochford and Noel Murless.And so on and so forth.
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Cape Blanco : Flat placings 111-101210
The "0" are from two poor draws in France, the second being the Arc last week.
Where he was drawn right next to the winner, 2nd, and 4th?
The "2" is from the King george at Ascot, where he finished first of the 3yo horses, including beating Workforce.
The below par Workforce being the only other 3yo in the race?
That was the second time he beat workforce this year.
Incredible that anyone should still believe that either of those races were at all representative of Workforce’s true form?
The "1" include 2 G1, 2 G2 and a G3.
His somewhat fortuitous win in the Irish Champion apart, they include the notable defeats of such luminaries as: half-lengthing the 118 rated Midas Touch, finishing 4l in front of the 108 rated Coordinated Cut, the 117 rated 7yo Youmzain who’s won 1 race in 4 years and was himself beaten 14l in the Arc, and the mighty (103 rated) Mister Tee.
Not that shabby form is it?
In the context of possibly the poorest (Workforce apart) bunch of 3yo middle-distance colts we’ve seen in years – probably not, though superstar he most certainly isn’t, nor likely to be.
We all make excuses when we lose, even Workforce, so what. Nobody reads the excuses a year later.Just the unadorned record.Cape Blance twice beat Workforce.That is the record.How many good 3yos did Cecil have ? Did Stouty have?Its not the talk; it’s the walk.So come off it.Listen to Cecil talking now,and the tyo sason is not over yet.Don’t you get tired listeninbg to Cecil? He sounds just like Aidan. But it is OK?
Early this year when Ballydoyle was not striking I attributed their poor form to having unhealthy horses ie a bug in the yard. All the wise ones explained that Aidan was starting slow because he was focusing on the BC. Well it now appears that he only has the usual suspects in the BC plus 2.So much for the wise ones.I hate to be accused of "I told you so" but I do get some humble satisfaction from the present entries from Ballydoyle in the BC.
Early this year everyone was at pains to explain the poor start to the season by Ballydoyle."Aidan is aiming for thee breeder’s Cup" they said. I maintained that there was a bug in the yard.Now it looks like my explanation was as near the truth as any other. It turns out Ballydoyle has 4 entries in the BC, two old warriors, a tyo and a handicapper. Go for it Ballydoyle but those entries are hardly the result of forward planning since last May!
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There’s alot of things that cause slow starts Andy and the weather is at the top of the list. Waterlogged gallops exceptionally cold winter etc
What he lost he has made up for.
AOB has a 20% strike rate compared to 21% last season He’s had more runners and more winners this season and Already won slightly more prize money and the season hasn’t finished yet.
The problem is you have him on a pedestal and expect him to pull wonder horses out of his a$$ mate. He’s got the $millions and his skill is unquestionable but not even that guarantees you chose the right one at the sales or sent the mare to the right sire….you need a bit of luck as well.
His entries in the Breeders has nothing to do with bugs or bad training the horses he has to play with simply aren’t that good. I doubt if anything in the UK or Ireland could live with Zenyatta, Midday is one of the best fillies I’ve seen in a long time, Goldikova is a living legend and Workforce look a certainty if he goes for the turf.
Don’t leave the man much to work on and if he wins anything it will be a massive training feat but he has to send them and be represented because PR is a big part of his set up.
On a classic level he’s done wonders with the very ordinary Fame and Glory, he managed to get a group 1 out of Rip Can Winkle and if you consider what they went through last season he hasn’t done too badly. Whether the "Company" made money overall or not I woudn’t have a clue.
It looks like next year won’t be much better for them as his best bet looks to be Cape Blanco but no doubt he’ll find a Group 1 ot two for him.
Unnless AOB has some wonder horse hidden away I can’t see them competing successfuly aganst the likes of Frankel, Saamid, Dream Ahead, Native Khan and Wootton Basset who look the best crop of 2yo’s seen since Mill Reef and the Brigadier.
Fist I am not arguing with you. Everything you say may be true. But last May nobody knew that.The explanation that Aidan was starting slowly because he was aiming to peek for the BC was hauled out to explain the poor showing of his horses. I did not buy that and I still don’t.Only one of his brilliant 2yos lived up to his billing as a 3yo.The rest never fired.
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I would imagine his plan was to win the Mile with Rip Van Winkle and the BT with Fame and Glory atrer taking the Arc. The best laid plans eh?
However Goldikova isn’t unbeatable as we know and if Rip Van Winkle can get to the front 2f from home he’sahrd horse to peg back at a mile. It’s perfectly possible Work Force has gone over the top again like he did after the Derby and with the colder weather it’s more difficult with young horses to let them down and get them back on song gain.
Bit pie in the sky perhaps but the season (USA side) isn’t over yet.
I’m sure at the start of the season he said he was aiming for the classic, could be wrong.
Has he confirmed plans to send over? Assuming Rip runs in the mile and Fame and Glory in the turf?
Fist, thanks for your positive analysis.I needed that.Maybe Await the Dawn could turn into a good four year old to keep Cape Blanco company also I think he may have some good 3 and 4yo fillies to race next year.
Aidan says he is not happy with Await the Dawn. He is out of the Champion stakes. Not happy with St. Nicholas Abbey after a years rest,out till next year.JanVermeer has been put away till next year and so on and so on…. Not happy with Fame and Glory will probably miss the BC.Not to mention RVW.Why Oh Why did he not close the yard down in the spring when the horses were not firing?One 3yo only withstood the virus successfully. Cape Blanco and he alone ran up to his 2yo form. All the other group one winning 2yos failed to reproduce their form as 3yo’s.Not good enough to say group one winners are not now group one horses.There is a bug in the yard.
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I don’t think it’s a virus and I don’t think they’ve lost their way (I don’t think they’ve ever had it to lose). Simply put Aiden has so many horses he hasn’t got a clue who the best is, he just throws quality around willy nilly and hopes to hit the bullseye. You can tell this from the amount of entries at the beginning of the year, that he has no idea who is best. He’s a great trainer but it’s too much for one person. They need to bring in someone to help (like Godolphin) or kick him out and bring in someone up for the job and able to keep up with whats going on a bit better. I know this is hard to hear for fans of Ballydoyle who follow their horses up and down the country regardless of their talent like they are girls following the latest boyband.
I’ll sign off by saying Mastercraftsman shouldn’t have been retired, he was their best 1m to 1m2f horse and if they want to win races he should’ve been kept in training.
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