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I’m not a great one for saying horses should retire but Carruthers just didn’t seem to be enjoying himself over the Cross-Country the other day. His park form seems to have gone completely in recent runs, too.
The RP’s take on the Cross-Country was “trying this discipline for the first time, didn´t excel himself and might need more practice”. I don’t agree with that, he just looked unenthusiastic to me.
To be fair, he has got history of suddenly bouncing back to form, but he’s 12 in a few weeks and I hope they don’t chase his downward mark trying to win a modest race or two unless he rekindles his enthusiasm.
Let’s hope I’m wrong – his Hennessy win three years ago was very special.
Mike
He didn’t look at home over the cross country course at all. I think trainers often try horses in these races to see if they can rediscover the old spark, but sometimes it simply doesn’t work.
On a brighter note for the stable, Coneygree makes his return tomorrow, having last been seen finishing third behind At Fishers Cross and The New One in January of last year.
Strange with Coneygree being withdrawn at the start on Vets orders yet jockey and trainer say the horse was perfectly fit
The key to winning with Carruthers is very simple. Get him into the lead and don’t let anything get ahead of him.
He is a game old stick when he gets his way, but will completely down tools if he gets headed. The complication is that he’s getting older and doesn’t have the pace to hold the lead most times, but when given a little freedom (see the Classic Chase last season for example), he’s still got plenty of fire left in his belly.
The Cross Country was never going to be his bag imo. It may be 3m 7f around there, but all the twisting and turning doesn’t give him a chance to gallop. Balthazar King and Sire Collonges like to be prominent too, so he had too much pressure, especially on his first go at the course.
I think he’ll win or place in a valuable race again this season. The Veterans’ races at Doncaster, Newbury and Chepstow would be good assignments for him perhaps.
I’d run him in the Grand National now it’s just another long distance handicap chase, he’s been a better horse than either of the last two moderate winners of the race, is a better jumper and is a similar age.
They’d have to protect his handicap mark mind, wouldn’t want it getting too low.
Mark Bradstock said on ATR yesterday that Carruthers will be back over the cross country fences next month.
I’m not a great one for saying horses should retire but Carruthers just didn’t seem to be enjoying himself over the Cross-Country the other day. His park form seems to have gone completely in recent runs, too.
The RP’s take on the Cross-Country was
"trying this discipline for the first time, didn´t excel himself and might need more practice"
. I don’t agree with that, he just looked unenthusiastic to me.
To be fair, he has got history of suddenly bouncing back to form, but he’s 12 in a few weeks and I hope they don’t chase his downward mark trying to win a modest race or two unless he rekindles his enthusiasm.
Let’s hope I’m wrong – his Hennessy win three years ago was very special.
Mike
It was, and I had a bloody good win on it.
The Cross Country is a stupid race and should be abolished. When I watched Carruthers jumping one of those cruel trap jumps thought up by some kn*bhead in tweeds, I thought: You poor sod. I don’t blame you for having the hump.
The key to winning with Carruthers is very simple. Get him into the lead and don’t let anything get ahead of him.
He is a game old stick when he gets his way, but will completely down tools if he gets headed. The complication is that he’s getting older and doesn’t have the pace to hold the lead most times, but when given a little freedom (see the Classic Chase last season for example), he’s still got plenty of fire left in his belly.
The Cross Country was never going to be his bag imo. It may be 3m 7f around there, but all the twisting and turning doesn’t give him a chance to gallop. Balthazar King and Sire Collonges like to be prominent too, so he had too much pressure, especially on his first go at the course.
I think he’ll win or place in a valuable race again this season. The Veterans’ races at Doncaster, Newbury and Chepstow would be good assignments for him perhaps.
Hard to disagree with that. In his instance it’s largely academic that he schooled enthusiastically over the banks and hedges at Cheltenham a week or so before that race over the same obstacles – you’d hope that he would in a one-runner race without any other pace influence to goad him into mistakes or break his heart.
The Bradstocks have possibly missed the point here. If I were them I’d have asked Cheltenham if they could pop Carruthers round in tandem with something else to observe whether he enjoyed it quite so much. I can’t see him faring any better if there’s another front-runner up against him in the December contest.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Just two facts:
1. The horse owes nobody anything.
2. He HATES Cheltenham.
Show me a horse rated around 150 with a worse record at Cheltenham than him. Plus the CC course is nothing for a horse that likes to bowl along from the front. Too sharp and too tricky.So please, just do the only sensitive thing after todays 50+ lengths beating and retire him.
Okay, it wasn’t 50+ lengths, it was just 38. So what is next? Try to bring his mark down to 120???
Okay, it wasn’t 50+ lengths, it was just 38. So what is next? Try to bring his mark down to 120???
Thought Carruthers ran well today.
As GC and TYF have pointed out RL; it is not Carruthers’ handicap mark that’s the problem. Needs to get his own way up front. You could say that’s unlikely at Cheltenham, but prominent racers have won most races there today. Indeed, Benbane Head is a very similar type to Carruthers. If you look at Carruthers’ jumping, he actively enjoys jumping, just claustrophobic, hates being surrounded by horses.
Do think connections/the rider is missing a trick, instead of lining up on the inner, he should be on the outside. Convinced if those who run their best races from the front are not able to get there, then the best place to be early-on is on the outside. If they’re passed early-on on the inner there’s nowhere to go; boxed in. If passed whilst on the outer he can either be pushed to get to the front, and/or may not be leading, but has an unobstructed view of the front anyway (better to be anywhere on the front of the arrowhead than behind it) therefore more likely to run his race.
Value Is EverythingWell, he sort of ran okay-ish in a race that cut-up quickly, although again he had very little response when the leaders moved on.
I cannot seriously believe Cross Country is for him and this is an experiment that should end here. He struggles to get to, and maintain a lead on this tight ever-turning course.
I suppose he will be on a fairly attractive mark for another crack at the Classic at Warwick in the New Year. The course suits his jumping/travelling style. If there’s no joy there, it’s time to call it a day.
Mike
I get the feeling that Carruthers is a Tidal Bay type horse that needs the routine of racing and training and wouldn’t be suited by life in a field or as someones pet to hack out, and they’re just trying a few things to see what works best for the horse.
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