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One time Derby fancy and Royal Ascot beaten hotpot was very poor in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp today, finishing second last behind winning favourite Flintshire, trained by Andre Fabre. Ocovango ran a little bit better but was never going to win and it’s time to accept he has his limitations.
Flintshire was cut in the Arc betting to 13/2 Jt fav with Al Kazeem and I think that is a joke given the lack of real quality present in today’s race, where he was favourite because of some really poor runs from his opponents, who would have gone off shorter than him earlier in the year, before they were exposed as not being top class.
Is anyone else puzzled by the way Aiden O’ Brien has campaigned Battle Of Marengo and Mars this season? Here we have two horses who were touted as live Derby prospects and are obviously not up to that class. Instead of aiming them at races they could win and perhaps get a confidence boost from, they are continually pitched in at, or near, the top and are experimented with over various trips and with various aids applied, all without success. It seems they would rather gamble that a change will yield something worth putting on a CV before packing them off to stud, than accept that they just aren’t top notchers.
Looking at the St Leger betting makes me laugh, with Ruler Of The World as low as 4/1, Mars as low as 8/1 and Battle Of Marengo as low as 10/1. Joke odds for all three and I will not be surprised if none of them turn up on the day.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
I’m slightly confused that they applied blinkers but then tried to ride him with restraint. Don’t blinkers have the opposite effect?
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I know the consensus on here is that BOM is just not that good and I agree he is clearly not a high class horse BUT I do agree with Steve that there have been some odd training and jockey tactics with him.
He came within a whisker of finishing second in the Derby but it seemed pretty clear that his stamina was stretched having been given a very aggressive ride, kicking on a long way out. Just a few weeks later at RA in a race he was really entitled to win they employed exactly the same tactics and surprise surprise he got pipped again. I said at the time I thought he was given an unnecessarily hard race.
I was surprised to see him run today and I can only think they DID run him because they had nothing else to run and have to have a runner in a middle distance Group 1. He ran like I expected him to – a very tired horse. The blinkers and the new tactics were a shot in the dark and they never looked like working. I would be amazed if he ever wins another race.
Let’s be honest – Aiden is in the wonderful position of knowing he has any number of good horses every year so I am not sure he does what is right for every individual horse. He doesn’t actually have to – there will always be another one coming along right behind. If BOM was trained by another trainer he would surely have been campaigned more circumspectly. As it is BOM will probably be another to eventually be shipped off to Mike De Kock or someone similar.
It is the same with Mars. He throws this poor old horse at almost any Group 1 race over any trip hoping they might get lucky.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Maybe Ballydoyle have been thrown off track by the issues with Kingsbarns (AWOL), Cristoforo Columbo (where is he?) and George Vancouver (didn’t train-on) and are making it up as they go along with what they have left.
Mars, Battle Of Marengo and Magician have all had strange campaigns.
Mars has tried various trips, with bad luck, lack of class, poor rides and lack of experience costing him. Find him a soft listed race to boost his confidence – Twice Over style. Perhaps he will emerge as a better horse.
A break and a drop in trip could be useful for Battle Of Marengo.
Magician appeared to be seen as a Derby horse, if his Curragh-via-Chester route is anything to go by. He then ran at Ascot in spite of the well-documented injury worries. Was it really worth the risk?
.. It seems they would rather gamble that a change will yield something worth putting on a CV ….
Ballydoyle seem quite up-front that, one way or another, as a business the CV is their whole purpose :
Aidan is up front that he goes by whatever Joseph says. Joseph voted for BoM from the start of the year and despite that he was not good enough. Time for Aidan to switch confidants. Too much of Joseph said this and Joseph said that. Ask Heffernan or Colm. Right the boat before it is too late.
Listen anyone who takes any quote from Ballydoyle at face value is forgetting there sole aim is as a commercial breeding operation. Listen the Lads will always have the final say of where the horses go and any Group 1 win will boost a horses value when they retire.
I think they do know a good horse when they have one, I just don’t think they are doing the best for each individual horse, as Sir Henry would say, I’ll let the horse tell me where to go, feel my way. God forbid Frankel was a Ballydoyle inmate
. That’s where Ballydoyle are now getting it badly badly badly wrong... It seems they would rather gamble that a change will yield something worth putting on a CV ….
Ballydoyle seem quite up-front that, one way or another, as a business the CV is their whole purpose :
As you point out, it is their business and they can run it any way they see fit but it just doesn’t seem that they have the best interest of the individual horse at the forefront of their minds.
Some people describe Aiden O’Brien as a genius but a quick scan of the two horses I have given as examples, and their careers thus far, doesn’t give the impression of the handiwork of a genius. They are spinning the lottery machine and hoping one of their balls will drop!
Vincent O’Brien
was
a genius, these boys are a factory, rolling clones off the production line as toy cars for the son to ride around in.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
. That’s where Ballydoyle are now getting it badly badly badly wrong.- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.