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My theory.
1. KS will be 11 next year; the first sign of regression and he’ll be retired as the National Treasure he is.
2. PN doesn’t really think Denman can win another GC- also will be 11.
3. Joncol- connnections won’t allow him to run unless there is serious cut.
4. Imperial C- will never scale those heights again.
5. Etc.But the most important factor is Nicholls needing a live GC contender, and BB fits the bill.
I’m on at 33’s but reckon he’ll shorten.
From what Nicholls’ has said at this stage it will be at least another season before Big Bucks’ goes back over fences.
Only if something goes wrong with Kauto or Denman can I see him changing his mind.
Don’t forget he also has Neptune Collonges to come back as well as What A Friend.- Total Posts 17716
I will be there dont worry
Big Bucks will probably never have a ‘full’ season over fences ever again. He is a hurdler, simple as.
Have you noticed how fast, fluent and economical BB is over hurdles? Put the horse over fences and he will make more mistakes than Fabio Capello at a World Cup. The horse is a hurdler, one of the best ever, and he will never reach the same heights if he reverts back to chasing in my opinion. In fact, I doubt he’ll even be tried at the bigger obstacles (for more than a season that is).
staying over hurdles and staying over fences is a different kettle of fish. it would be very interesting though.
one horse i would love to see have a crack at the gold cup would be mighty man.
I will be there dont worry
Nice to know you be there i got 20/1 for you to win do not get injured please
- Total Posts 17716
I don’t know that we can say that for sure, Gaz.
Common sense tells us that he’s just too poor a jumper to be competitive over fences, but he’s been racing solely over hurdles for almost two years now and has improved from winning a handicap off a mark of 159 to lay claim as the undisputed staying champion.
Who’s to say that he wouldn’t excel over fences given the chance?
Let’s be honest, the only conceivable justification for sending Big Buck’s chasing this season would be the failure of Kauto Star to win the King George. That, in my opinion, is highly unlikely, but if it were to happen we know only too well that he (Big Buck’s) has more than enough ability to compete with the likes of Denman and Imperial Commander.
My opinion is that he’ll probably jump better in loftier company, having only once faced worthwhile opposition over an appropriate trip (Hennessy). However, I sincerely doubt that the theory will be tested until at least 2012 when Kauto Star will likely have been retired on the back of an unprecedented third Gold Cup victory.
Up to Mr Stewart really isn’t it. Denman and Kauto won’t be winning any more Gold Cups, so it’s whether they switch this year or next. Whenever the time he’ll be schooled intensively given his propensity to ‘hurdle’ his fences, a technique that nearly won him a Hennessy aged 5. Not bad eh?
I accept that no-one is going to agree with the following sentiments but…
I still think Denman can win another Gold Cup. His performance in the Hennessy last year was as good as anything seen over fences all season but he’s obviously an incredibly difficult horse to train.
For the second year in a row, he made it to the Gold Cup surrounded by dreadful vibes (apart from the fall at Newbury the rumours had been that he had been working poorly) yet again raised his game to put in another smart effort.
Fair enough, he has more than his share of quirks, but anyone who saw the race at Punchestown has to admit that he must still have some engine to still have a chance at the last given how badly he handled the track.
He’ll never be the horse he could have been – I still think his 2008 Gold Cup rates as the best performance over fences of the last 20 years – but I just wonder if Nicholls will keep him for the Gold Cup instead of doing what everyone expects and running him in the Hennessy.
Will be interesting to see if Kauto Star does come back from a very heavy fall in the Gold Cup – if not maybe Denman will at last have the luxury of the stable jockey on his back on the big day.
A couple of points on this one…
Firstly I had the same theory last year…KS and Denman getting older, didn’t like the look of younger brigade etc. and I backed BB accordingly. Only one thing wrong with the theory (in the immortal words of Edmund Blackadder)…it was b****cks!
Secondly, BB is not nearly as bad a jumper of fences as is now assumed. He certainly cost himself a good chance of the Hennessy through a bad jump at the last but he certainly didnt hit everything in my view.
Also remember when he went over hurdles he didn’t go on a one way journey…he was tried back over hurdles and did so well he remained, there was always the option to come back and that was mentioned (though now forgotten) at the time. Curiously history has been rewritten with his jumping now described as much worse than it actually was.
He was never Best Mate over a fence but was just out of his novice season when they reverted him to hurdles and understandbly kept him over timber since.He is absolute poetry in motion over hurdles. Whenever Nicholls talks about him though, he is hell-bent with the idea of him going back over fences. Hopefully the Stewart family will see sense and keep him hurdling, as he could clean up for a good few years yet.
I see no reason why he can’t run a big race in the Gold Cup. Hell if he really takes to fences once again i’d even give him a shout in the National!
Sure he made mistakes 2 years ago, but just look at how much he was matured and i reckon he could be a great chaser if given his chances…
i dont think ruby would choose BB if that and Kauto ran in the GC 2011.
taranis looks a tasty horse to follow, that and mighty man will be my main horses to follow next season.
I see a distinct lack of decent competition for next year’s Gold Cup. As far as I can see, only Somersby or Taranis can win. Taranis is an absolute monster when he runs off a 6-week+ break. What he did in the Pillar this year astounded me and I remain convinced that he’d have won the Gold Cup.
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