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In Jonbon’s last 16 races before today he has always either front run or raced prominently. There is a reason why jockeys do what the horse is used to. They need to be roughly in the position the horse enjoys and also horses being ridden differently tend to make more mistakes.
When the tapes went up Jonbon did not get away well and so could not race prominently. When a horse that likes to race prominently can’t, the best place to position it is on the outside – without horses around him and having a clear view of the fences (nothing actually immediately in front). But Solness’s jockey was doing exactly that, keeping wide. So Nico could hardly go even wider. Had to take the chance and race inside him.
…And Jonbon made the error.
Constitution Hill has never been further back than he was yesterday. Ditto Ballyburn.
Value Is Everything“Mike, he’s got the best horses in training and the Festival is a bit more than demanding than other meetings. I think he feels too much pressure at times.”
Paul Townend has the best horses in training probably and he fell off State Man and made a mistake on Ballyburn and Kopek and got away with the latter. When jockeys ask horses to do something the horses have to answer as well. The Festival is a pressure cooker of expectation and it’s never all plain sailing there’s ups and downs. That’s my take on it.
Nico blamed the tape going up and yet it shows him nudging the horse forward toward it twice before the tape went up.
The more I know the less I understand.
Is the problem that Nico is almost a gentleman jockey , he’s not riding 5 or 6 a day everyday , if something goes wrong maybe he’s not able to react as quickly as some other jockeys , he’s a wonderful horseman but maybe not a excellent jockey , had to laugh at McCoy with a face like fizz at the end …
Thanks CAS … I’ve closed the ” i hate the final fence ” club , to be honest I don’t think it may a difference to the race anyway , not HDB week
It is a lame excuse. To my mind they were tanking along and the horse’s jumping didn’t stand up to it.
He has won some soft races at Cheltenham but his jumping was sticky in the Arkle and he has made catastrophic mistakes in the Clarence House and Champion Chase. The Henderson camp can deny it as much as they like but Cheltenham is not his track.
He is still a good horse and has won a stack of Grade 1s but his festival record is now 0 from 3.
He’s more a Aintree horse , prob he’s best piece of form when he beat El Fab was at Aintree , will they panic and go up in distance …. Ryanair next year lol
“Nico blamed the tape going up and yet it shows him nudging the horse forward toward it twice before the tape went up”.
Of course he was nudging the horse forward RTB, he wanted the prominent position that suits the horse. You’ve got to get close to the tape to get a prominent position. But the point he was making was that in doing so Jonbon didn’t like it and was slower away. He wasn’t to know Jonbon would react like that. Nico is not blaming anyone, he’s just explaining what happened.
Value Is EverythingI saw Chapman’s interview with Nico , he seemed to be blaming the starter to me. All bit odd , he pulled horse up at Sandown three or four out after one mistake earlier in season and they said oh his winning chance gone so pulled up , yet here he carries on , lets the horse get breath and runs into a place divi .
After CH won at Kempton he gave some commentators a serve , how’s that working out now .
Jonbon is a cracking horse though ,and the ride to get him back in it o place was very good imho.Quilixios was running a huge race and I think he’d be the stronger stayer of the two (him and the winner) probably if he’d stood up but Quilixios has never looked like a Grade 1 chaser before today. Jonbon swatted him aside with ease at Sandown and Quilixios may not have even been the runner-up that day but for some late fallers. Maybe there is something in this Jonbon not liking Cheltenham as much as other courses stuff.
Sorry but I disagree Tinman , the winner was getting on top and the HDB horses still aren’t firing , Marine is a proper horse on good ground and can win at least one more Champion
Don’t subscribe to his not liking Cheltenham – his 6 runs at the course has resulted in 2 wins and 4 2nd places which hardly suggest that he doesn’t operate at the place.
He had no chance with Constitution Hill in the Supreme but the race report stated that the vet confirmed that he lost his left hind shoe and in the Arkle, the race report alluded to him ‘jumping slightly left throughout along with ‘drifting left when challenging 2 out’ and ‘hung left and no extra run-in’.
Serious jumping mistakes have now cost him two G1 wins at Cheltenham but then he has also made jumping mistakes and/or had race reports that said ‘not fluent’ or ‘jumped left’ at several others courses like Aintree, Ascot, Sandown and Warwick respectively.
Is he better at other tracks…..maybe but I wouldn’t blame Cheltenham itself for two of his three most recent failures as it has been jumping mistakes (that isn’t just reserved for Cheltenham) that has been his downfall.
The ground came right for the winner and probably found out a few of the favs. Need to check for horses that like good ground the next two days. May be against galopin but his class will probably see him through.
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