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I really feel next year will kick off a golden era in the c hurdle division.Binocular so impressive last year and the hurricane coming late in devastating fashion in punchestown. When and if these 2 horses line up next march 15th, fit and healthy, it will be some spectacle. At this min I lean towards binocular though if the hurricane stays injury free then all bets are void…this horse is a machine.Also menorah looks a damn good horse so next years renewal could be one to savour…already can’t wait…will be a warm winter!
Binocular was spectacular last year and you`d leave him out at your peril,same with HF,but so far in the competition I have sided with Menorah. Expect to bet him a bit more yet but have some good prices on him. He loved Chelt last season.
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Can’t be havin that Leger Winner and if General Miller wins the Champion Hurdle Phil I’ll have sex with Billy Bunter
. Nicky will aim him for the Schweppes (Tote Trophy)and he might get a run in the Champion but that’s as far as it goes.Huge Binocular fan but I just can’t see him shaking off Hurricane fly unless Ruby(If he rides him ) allows AP to steal a march on him. No doubt AP will ride acopy book race to what he did last time but Hurricane Fly has the pace to cover all his moves and outspeed him. If Binocular has a weakness it’s his inability to quicken a second time and that IMO is the difference between the two.
In relation to the champion hurdle it is quite difficult to pick a horse to steal the crown away from McCoy and Binocular however i feel i know the right man for the job in Donald McCain. I think peddlers cross has a serious chance, he handles cheltenham and looks very classy. I will be snapping up the 14/1 and would advise others to get on. I had around 8 winners and the same again placed at this years festival, a very profitable week for myself. Aintree was also good having backed peddlers cross in his hurdle race and McCoy ante post at 25/1 so i may know what i am talking about
Bring on the NH season and lets get racing properly!! 
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Eight winners in four days and you know it all, huh?
Deary me.
Besides, there are some on this forum who put Peddlers Cross up at 33/1 six months ago.
No dont know it all infact probably know very little as there is no such thing as a true racing expert its a game of opinions!! Horse make liars out of people every day, hence turned over jollies and 100/1 winners!! Well thats my opinion anyway
However i think donald mccain is a future champ trainer and he certainly knows his stuff. If hes interviewed on get on for example on atr and his horse if fav. and he feels it doesnt merrit that he will say, hes honest all the time about his horses!! therefor when he says that peddlers cross is the best hes ever handled and that his speed even on the flat when working at home is frightening i would tend to believe this horse is special!! Check out the atr website for the article!! furthermore i only joined this forum a few days ago so couldnt put him up months ago!! im just sharing opinion not quashing others views be they wrong or not Just kidding!!Dont know what Mccain is like but i think trainers often overrate their best horses. Its good if he honestly says one ISNT performing but positive comments arent ever worth as much! I like Peddlers Cross but no idea which race to back him in.
I think Dunguib is overpriced and lots of positives if forgiven his last run. Would expect to settle and jump better after his novice season, age stats good, fairly certain he covered the distance quickest in the supreme, smaller field in the Champion should suit, strong pace should suit, other contenders being injury prone and inconsistent should suit.
Needs to improve but room in the price imvPeddlers Cross saved my bacon at Cheltenham but I think Donald McCain is wasting his time going the Champion Hurdle route this season.
I saw this horse win its p2p and it looked a natural. Davy Russell said he schooled the horse before he went to England and that he jumped like a stag. Chasing will be his game and the horse will only pick up bad habits if he stays over timber.
I really can’t see him being quick enough for the top hurdlers. The last few Champion Hurdlers have all been flat recruits – Sublimity, Katchit, Punjabi & Binocular. Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace were the last two proper NH types who were competitive at this level. I thought he got outpaced coming down the hill at Cheltenham last season before really staying on when he hit the rising ground. He outstayed a dour stayer in Reve De Sivola and an Ascot Gold Cup winner!
Send him over fences now and he’ll be a Gold Cup horse in 18 months time.
I agree he is a future gold cup winner and jumping is his game but i still think he should have a go at the champion hurdle, hes recieving weight from donald mccains other contender overturn and the trainer feels peddlers cross is the better horse. It would be great to see a true champion!! winning a champion hurdle this year, then the gold cup next year and the year after that following up with the aintree grand national in 2014 to finally bring the national home to its most famous stable!! haha heres to dreaming!! should get good odds on that though!!
If Binocular beats Hurricane Fly in a Champion Hurdle I’ll give up backing horses
I agree.
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With all respect Binocular was without a shadow of a doubt the most imressive Champion hurdle winner since Istabraq discounting him like he’s some 2nd rate hurdler is as foolish at it gets.
He looks head and shoulders above anything that run in the race in years and AP says he’s one of the best horse he’s ever ridden and by far the best hurdlers.
If he turns up in the same nick this year it will take a brilliant brilliant horse to beat him.
I certainly think that Hurricane Fly can outfight him up the hill but only if he can keep with him when McCoy changes gear on him at the top of the hill. Binocular won’t stop but his one weakness is probably his inability to find that little bit extra and quicken once he hits top gear. For that to come into calculations you need to be good enough to get to him in the first place.
I’m banking on HF finding just a bit more than Binocular but as I say I don’t even know if he is in the same class and has the ability even to get into a position to do that. I certainly wouldn’t be having my goolies on at this time to find out.
As far as the would be up and coming start are concerned they might have a chance of bridging the massive gap in a normal year but they have no chance of doing so with thsese two around.
Menorah I can’t have Philip Hobbs is in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks he’ll win a Champion Hurdle.
Jonjo knows exatly what it takes to win a good Champion Hurdle and admitted he didn’t even fancy Rhinstone Cowboy who was a very good horse in what was a moderate year.
I very much doubt he’s even have the Champion Hurdle on his mind for Get me out of Here unless he improves about 16lbs in the next few months. Don’t where he’ll go but I doubt if they’ll send him for this.
Khyber King did his bit finished 2nd but lacks what it takes and this year looks to be much tougher.
Dunguib: as they are dumb as horseshit and won’t go chasing with him I guess he has to take his chance. Maybe they’re right, I got the impression he had gone in the Supreme and should not have run again last season. I would not even try to talk anone out of backing him. He could still be the machine everyone thought he was and the jury as they say is still out on him.
Solwhit: He found out to his cost there’s a huge difernece between taking on good horses round a park course and taking the same speed merchants on in the Champion Hurdle. Can’t see next year being any different for him unless it turns out to be a bog and he is made much more use off. He’s Definitely Stamina 1 Speed 2 so he’s the wrong way round for the race if the ground is anywhere near fast.
Peddlars Cross: Very Very good but not good enough at this trip and probably too big a gap for him to bridge. I would do a Go Native and have him fit as a fiddle and try nd pick up a couple of good prizes before the big guns start firing. Then step him up in trip.
Go Native: Made to look better than he actually is…..Son of Harchibald enough said.
Quevega: Not as long as there’s mares race there for the taking. Would give them a race but again the gap between what she does and they do is massive.
Overturn. Mille Chief, Soldatino would be lucky to stay in touch and would be beat by the 3rd last.
Rite of passage: Ascot Gold Cup winner, top class but that doesn’t automatically make him a Champion Hurdle horse. I doubt very much he’ll even run in the race if he runs in any the trials against the market leaders. He has hurdle form that hardly entitles him to run in the race let alone win it.
Hurrican Fly Binocular and Dunguib look to have it between them.
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I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Mille Chief, Fist.
dunguib was the biggest dissapointment of the season, many’s the man on this side of the water lost his mortgage payment for march this year thanks to him haha!! the hype was unbelievable, punters should of got a clue when paddy power offered money back on all runners if he won the supreme novices that he wasnt quite a banker!! that said his jockey did him no favours on the day but his jumping lets him down and bar significant improvement in that part of his game i think he will fault when they rocket for home in the race next year 2 or 3 out!! i was at punchestown for the irish champion hurdle this year and he was very uninspiring that day, no match for huricane fly and never looked a real danger!! that said he has the speed and ability but needs to improve, dont see him winning but realistic claims for 2nd or 3rd in my opinion!!
Peddlers Cross saved my bacon at Cheltenham but I think Donald McCain is wasting his time going the Champion Hurdle route this season.
I saw this horse win its p2p and it looked a natural. Davy Russell said he schooled the horse before he went to England and that he jumped like a stag. Chasing will be his game and the horse will only pick up bad habits if he stays over timber.
I really can’t see him being quick enough for the top hurdlers. The last few Champion Hurdlers have all been flat recruits – Sublimity, Katchit, Punjabi & Binocular. Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace were the last two proper NH types who were competitive at this level. I thought he got outpaced coming down the hill at Cheltenham last season before really staying on when he hit the rising ground. He outstayed a dour stayer in Reve De Sivola and an Ascot Gold Cup winner!
Send him over fences now and he’ll be a Gold Cup horse in 18 months time.
IC,
I think you’re way off the mark on this one, the quality of the CH in the last number of years has been sub standard IMO. If Hardy Eustace or Brave Inca were in their prime, they would have trounced the opposition, probably not Binocular who was a decent winner of last season’s race.
Peddlers Cross should definitely be allowed his chance in the Champion Hurdle, he is one of the most fluent hurdlers I have seen in a long time with a high cruising speed, he can make the running or be held up, he has the perfect profile for the Champion Hurdle, a fantastic NH horse who if stays well in himself will become a legend.
Fist,
A couple of points I’d like to make about your posts: –
Philips Hobbs knows what it takes to win a Champion Hurdle, Menorah was a very good winner of the Supreme and will improve again this season, proper horse.
Philip Fenton is not as dumb as horse **** as you say, a shrewd trainer who runs a small stable. The horse was totally over hyped to begin with, the bookies exploited this.
Go Native is not a son of Harchibald as you put it, I would put a line through his Champion Hurdle run, he was not the horse that won the fighting fifth or the Christmas Hurdle, Meade’s stable were totally out of form in March, and to be honest have not really returned to any type of form you would expect.
I would also strongly doubt that Hurricane Fly will make it to Cheltenham in March, as talented as the horse is, he has yet to run at the venue despite being aimed at the festival for the last two years. Montjeus as they get older just get more difficult.
JohnJ
I just can’t see him being quick enough to win the Champion Hurdle John. I think he is a classy chaser in the making and it always irks me a little when horses remain over hurdles when they are potentially chasing superstars – if it hadn’t been for foot and mouth disease it’s probable that Moscow Flyer would have never jumped a fence. In my experience, horses that have too long over hurdles pick up bad habits and it makes the transition to jumping fences more difficult.
I accept what you are saying re his profile for the race as both Hardy Eustace and Istabraq won over two and a half as novices before dropping back to win the Champion. Istabraq was bred to win a Derby being a 3/4 brother to Secreto so speed was never really going to be an issue with him. I always thought Hardy was a bit of a freak – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tougher horse and his hurdling technique was sublime. Both his Champion Hurdles were masterful tactical rides from the front by the vastly underrated Conor O’Dwyer. The way Peddlers Cross won at the Festival didn’t scream two miles to me – if anything it looked like he’d appreciate a bit further.
I’d like to see him win it as a supporter of Irish p2ps but realistically I can only see him running third or fourth. He could clean up in the novice chase division if given the opportunity though.
Fist, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Go Native (or Harchibald’s son as you put it). He did defeat Binocular twice last season before disappointing at Cheltenham. He suffered an injury at the second hurdle so you can put a line through his run. He is a bridle horse but Harchibald himself came within a neck of winning the best renewal of the Champion Hurdle in recent years and Go Native does have course & distance form.
Solwhit is another who didn’t give his true running in the Champion Hurdle for obvious reasons. He was on antibiotics for the week leading up to the race and was only given the green light to run on the morning of the race. His Punchestown run is a far more accurate reflection of his ability. I do think he was slightly flattered to get as close to Hurricane Fly that day as he was hampered by Dunguib before the turn in and Davy was able to nick a few lengths. He is tough and reliable but he’d probably need a decent dig in the ground to have a serious chance of winning a Champion Hurdle. I expect him to give some of the market leaders a bloody nose or two before March though.
Philip Fenton has done well with Dunguib considering his problems. The horse is a nervous wreck at home and he is not a natural over any sort of obstacle. He clearly has an engine though. I feel his only chance of ever going close in a Champion Hurdle is if they change his running style. As a bumper horse they often rode him handy and kicked early to utilise his undoubted stamina. They started holding him up over hurdles in an effort to get him more settled during his races but I think this may have cost him the Supreme Novices last year. O’Connell was obviously instructed to do the same again at Punchestown and he was way too free on ground that was quick enough for him. I’d like to see them let Dunguib lob away up front in a race and see how he goes. He definitely has the stamina and it might improve his jumping if he’s "set alight" earlier in his races.
Hurricane Fly clearly has buckets of ability but he is a big ante-post no no for me after having my fingers burnt two years in a row. If he makes the race he has serious claims but that has to be a significant if given his fragility.
Binocular is a worthy favourite at the moment but it is definitely not a two horse race. Menorah and Get Me Out Of Here will still have improvement left in them and Dermot Weld could still be holding an ace or two up his sleeve. Casual Conquest could be anything over timber, Cue Card likewise.
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The time of Peddlers Cross’s Neptune compared very favourably with that of Spirit River in the Coral, IC, and was actually the second-best on the card behind Big Zeb. Given how keen he was throughout the race (and for how long – he was still pulling well in to the second circuit) it’s a miracle he won at all.
If anything I think he’ll relish the step back in trip; at this stage of his career at least.
I had ruled Go Native out on the fact that he’s unlikely to win off the fast pace, but I’m now wondering where this pace is going to come from ??
Dunguib won’t mind a test, but maybe front running would play into binoculars hands too much. I think he’s got the gears to get covered up instead and let the race unfold (and hope that someone else knocks a couple of hurdles over for him
).
Khyber Kim and Solwhit also need pace but may feel that front running diminishes their own chance.
Last years pace setters Celestial Halo and Zaynar otherwise engaged – any chance this is the first dawdling champion hurdle for some years?
. Nicky will aim him for the Schweppes (Tote Trophy)and he might get a run in the Champion but that’s as far as it goes.
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