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Will be too much of a speed test for Celestial Halo and ground not soft enough for Khyber Kim, plus KK’s hold up tactics may not work so well off a moderate pace
Will be too much of a speed test for Celestial Halo and ground not soft enough for Khyber Kim, plus KK’s hold up tactics may not work so well off a moderate pace
I think Nicholls and Walsh have got enough experience between them to work out the tactics for CH and taking into account the other runners
Id imagine Ruby will try and take it up from a mile out and see what happens – he won’t let CH get caught up in a slow tactical race, so the speed merchants can wait ’til the last few furlongs. He’ll try and run the race how he sees fit. Whether CH will be good enough we’ll have to wait and see.
They have already said they don’t want to front run too and will ‘ride a normal race’ with him. But imo it doesnt matter how they ride him, I still think it will be too much of a speed test for him on the likely going.
Celestial Halo
put up possibly the best performance this season when giving 20 lbs and a 10 length beating to Totesport Trophy fourth and easy big Ascot handicap winner Mamlook.
HH,
Why is a race on good-soft at Cheltenham, likely to be too fast for Celestial Halo? When he put up one of his best performances at Wincanton (a sharper track) on good-soft? He’s also blinkered for the first time which will also help the pace angle.Khyber Kim
All three wins on soft, though unlucky second on good-soft and fourth at Aintree on good. Good second at Newmarket on the flat on good-firm.
There is very limited evidence of Khyber Kim wanting soft. Should have won the Gerry Fielden on good-soft but for rider losing an iron. Ran 4th at Aintree on good when not exactly at the peak of his powers. And one of his best flat runs came in a conditions event at Newmarket on good-firm. He’s also looked temperamental before this year, seeming best either fresh or at local courses. So form prior to this year is very much suspect.
Value Is EverythingIts almost time to let the horses do the talking,so my last word on this race is,having gone through every bit of form,i maintain the best is last years race itself,closely followed by
Celestial Halo
winning early on at Wincanton,i said it then,that performance is Champion hurdle winning material.I have been lucky to snaffle 20"s down on this fellow drifting this year,due to a couple of lack lustre runs but i am confident if this fellow takes money on the day,connections have got him back to his best! "Fist" you should be as confident about Binocular as i am about Celestial as their form is rock solid!I believe last years Supreme will throw the 2 main dangers to our 2 horses! Somersby will boost the races credibility earlier in the day!
Good luck to all,it will be a cracker,i cant wait! 
- Total Posts 17716
Celestial Halo
put up possibly the best performance this season when giving 20 lbs and a 10 length beating to Totesport Trophy fourth and easy big Ascot handicap winner Mamlook.
HH,
Why is a race on good-soft at Cheltenham, likely to be too fast for Celestial Halo? When he put up one of his best performances at Wincanton (a sharper track) on good-soft? He’s also blinkered for the first time which will also help the pace angle.Ginger
That’s bunkum!
Celestial Halo won a poor early season contest against half-fit horses, many of them running over the wrong distance (including the 2nd & 3rd). The race itself hasn’t produced a winner with even a pretension of being a Champion Hurdle threat for at least 10 years, simply because it’s too small a prize and too early in the season to be taken seriously.
Either that, or CH suddenly sprouted wings he never had before, and lost them before his next outing.
Khyber Kim, imo, wouldn’t win a Champion Hurdle on any ground.Well I’ve bitten the bullet and had my first Festival bet on Binocular – I just hope the stable information is reliable
I’ve always been in the Go Native camp but Zaynar at 10/1 is amazing IMO. I think the circumstances around the race that it was beat lto may have caught a few of these out. That race can be dismissed to a certain extent and more than doubling in price because of it gives great value here.
Celestial Halo
put up possibly the best performance this season when giving 20 lbs and a 10 length beating to Totesport Trophy fourth and easy big Ascot handicap winner Mamlook.
HH,
Why is a race on good-soft at Cheltenham, likely to be too fast for Celestial Halo? When he put up one of his best performances at Wincanton (a sharper track) on good-soft? He’s also blinkered for the first time which will also help the pace angle.Ginger
That’s bunkum!
Celestial Halo won a poor early season contest against half-fit horses, many of them running over the wrong distance (including the 2nd & 3rd). The race itself hasn’t produced a winner with even a pretension of being a Champion Hurdle threat for at least 10 years, simply because it’s too small a prize and too early in the season to be taken seriously.
Either that, or CH suddenly sprouted wings he never had before, and lost them before his next outing.
Khyber Kim, imo, wouldn’t win a Champion Hurdle on any ground.I don’t care what ran in the race in the past Reet, or what the name of the race is. That has nothing to do with form (one horse measured against the next).
"Half-fit horses"? Mamlook ran 2nd in the Cesarewich just 3 weeks before. Celestial Halo was a 30lbs better racehorse than Mamlook at Wincanton. Mamlook may or may not have improved next time out over 2m3f, but we don’t need to judge him on that run. Instead look at the Totesport Trophy at 2m. Mamlook ran off a 2 lbs lower mark at Newbury. Oldrick franked the Newbury form by finishing second at Sandown at the weekend off the same mark. If Celestial Halo was in the Totesport and run off the same mark as Wincanton, to my reckonning he’d have won easily. Whiteoak might have needed it, but she also went on to win eased down next time out. She put up one of her best performances at the trip on the course. When beaten 1 1/2 lengths getting 3 lbs by Ashkazar. She was beaten by 14 lengths getting 15 lbs by Celestial Halo. Just because they are not tip top racehorses he beat that day we tend to under-estimate the form. Look at the weight he gave away and by how far he beat them. It was in all probability a performance out of the top drawer.I didn’t think much of the form immediately after Wincanton (even said so). But have been forced to change my mind. The time (as pointed out on the day by TAPK) was also exceptional.
Celestial Halo wasn’t that far below his best when trying to give 4 lbs to Khyber Kim, beaten only 2 1/4 lengths, so Celestial Halo again comes out the best horse at the weights. Medermit also given 4 lbs 3 lengths behind in third; went on to frank the Boylesports form at Haydock. The Irish Champion run has to be forgiven I know.
Khyber Kim is improving, and the Boylesports form gives him a real chance.
Value Is EverythingI am on Celestial Halo e/w at 16s and Won In The Dark e/w at 100s and am really looking forward to this race especially as the field has been weened down somewhat.
However I think everyone who has had a bet in this race should rightfully be terrified of Khyber Kim, even those who have backed Khyber Kim, because he can win this if he feels like it, at his price I just dont feel like taking a a chance on him feeling like doing something but he may well do…
Let’s all Go Native.
The horse will come there cruising, but will he do a Harchibald?
I’d like to back him E/W if I can get my filthy mitts on some 4/1.
I fancy Zaynar to run a big race here and he is the missing forecast link. Ignore the Kelso form, he hated the ground. I can see them both racing away but Native proving that bit superior pace-wise.
When push comes to shove, I cannot back horses like Binocular and Celestial Halo as I just do not think they are good enough.
I’d rather have Khyber Kim than those two.
Zip
Surely Jumbo Rio will have a great chance. He’ll travel well off any pace and will relish the hill. Also he’ll be trained to the minute for this. His French form is top class and he only has 4 lengths to find with Solwhit (after racing too keenly) on recent form in Ireland. He is a fast improver in an open race and it would be very foolish to ignore his chance. 100/1 is tremendous value
- Total Posts 17716
Ginger
Love it when you start telling people what ‘form’ means, when you obviously haven’t a clue yourself.
It’s pointless measuring one horse against another unless one takes into account the circumstances on the day and the previous form of the protagonists. Mamlook had indeed finished placed in the Cesarewitch, as he had the previous season, when also placed in the Ascot Stakes. All 3 flat races over further, and stiffer tracks, than the Elite, which ought to give you some clue about the horse’s nature. Also, having finished closer in the previous year’s Cesarewitch, he then proceeded to be beaten 28l in the 2m Greatwood, just 4 weeks later. He has also only won one race since his novice hurdle days – over 2.5m, on soft ground at Ascot.
Horses invariably stay further over hurdles than they do on the flat, and both Celestial Halo and Mamlook are proven stayers in the latter sphere. Whiteoak never ran on the flat, but her only win since her novice days was over 3m1f.
3 stayers contesting a 2m race around a sharpish track, it’s inevitable that one should win, unsurprisingly the one closest to the pace. Celestial Halo’s whole hurdle record shows him to be a grinder over 2m, having not shown a burst of speed over the distance since his novice days. If a hen lays an egg in a pigsty, it might be wrong to assume a swine will hatch.
WTF do you think he’ll be wearing blinkers?- Total Posts 17716
Writing on here very often makes you look silly but what the hell here’s my summary.
Binocular
Said to have worked brilliantly on Friday and no one knows better than Nicky Henderson how to get them spot on for the big day. This build up has echoes of See You Then and his dodgy legs and writing him off would be foolish.
Celestial Halo
Too many negatives have come out of the mouths of the owner and PN to think he’s anywhere near as he was last year. Ruby says he won’t be making the running and gives him no more than an EW chance which is hardly surprising. He wasn’t fit when Binocular beat him at Ascot last season but there more to it than that this time round. Dodgy bet.
Go Native
Has it all. He travels well can quicken in a flash and stays the trip. The will he won’t he stop going up the hill saga only tells me everyone thinks he’s going to hit the front and many who have bet something else are hoping he does.
Jumbo Rio
This is not a Brazillian circus but it could be where he’s heading. No Chance.
Khyber Kim
I gave everyone this horse to back at 20/1 when he hacked up in the Greatwood but that’s him I’m afraid. He’s been made to look better than he really is by his subsequent defeat of Celestial Halo but I just can’t have him at this level. A decicion I could easy regret but not for me although he does remind me of Beach Road which is scary.
Medermit
Defeat of Punjabi has very little meaning. He was taken of his feet in the Scottish Champion Hurdle on good ground which is an added worry. Lacks the class against this field.
Punjabi
Regning champion and a very good horse. He showed when finishing behind Kyber King that all the class is still there. Hewas cantering allmover them until blowing up. He had a very nice run round Kemton the other day and what beats him will win. Looks certain to be there or there abouts again.
Raise your Heart
You cannot be fookin serious….waste of bloody time and money entering him.
Solwhit
No one would be surprised if he won. Howver the ground has gone against him which is a worry but a bigger worry was his run at Newcastle. Without any apparent excuse, having already won a race, he ran flat couldn’t quicken. There was no pace that day but unless he forces the pace himself or Ruby has a change of heart we could see a repeat here. However Davy Russell is one of the best around and he’ll make sure whatever has to be done will be done.
Starluck
The big question with him is does he get the trip round here? If they go a steady pace that will suit him but he still needs to improve to win. Unlikely!
Won in the Dark
If he was going to win Davy Russell would be riding him. He would have no chance on last years run when he couldn’t get ablow in. He looks a beter horse this year and if the race was run at a crawl his chances would be multiplied 10 fold because he can quicken. The ground was totally against him when he hacked up last time…if there going to be a shock win it will come from him.
Zaynar
Everything is against him winning. If they go slow he’ll blunder himself into submission and he can’t quicken instantly. If they go fast he’ll find it hard to keep up and most likley will get going way too late. Worked slugishly the other day which doesndents the confidence.
Summary: With no Osana going off like a bat out of hell this should be run at a pretty moderate pace to start with but I suspect a very quick injection of pace will come from Celestial Halo and you could find Solwhit right up there with the pace. They will want to make this into a staying race and try and fend of Binocular Go Native Kyber King and Punjabi.
If they don’t then Go Native will simply do what he did at Newcastle.
I think Noel Mead has it in his head to try and win this in exactly the same way as he won the Supreme and not holding Go Native up to the last for a quick sprint.
However Nicky Henderson may have other plans and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Binocular is the one to make the first move.
If there’s one thing Binocular does it’s stay and now they know that I expect them to make full use of it and not play cat and mouse with Go Native a battle they would surely lose. He must try and use his speed early IMO and try and get Go Native into a fight.
In the meantime they will have both Punjabi and Solwhit to worry about.If the race is run the way I think it will be then I’d go for
1. Binocular
2. Punjabi
3. Solwhit
If however Go Native is the first to move and gets to the last a couple clear then it’s goodnight to all. They have got to get this horse into a fight early or he will be damn near unbeatable.I hope you’re right as my 3 antepost bets are Go Native, Solwhit and Punjabi
I agree with your 123 and I think Binocular will be there or there abouts on ground he will like.
Good luck to all,it will be a cracker,i cant wait! 
I agree with your 123 and I think Binocular will be there or there abouts on ground he will like.
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