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Yeah Brampour, Starluck, Olofi and Clerk’s Choice all entered for the County Hurdle as well. Could be seeing 8 or 9 runners at the moment.
Quite simply from an owners point of view they have to go the handicap route. No point entering a horse for a race they have no chance in. I’d want a pop at prize money.
I see from The Weekender Sir Tom has finally been converted to the Zarkandar fan club after being hugely impressed by the Betfair hurdle victory.
"Z is now my number 1 favourite horse"
I really wish Binocular and Hurricane Fly had clashed in this 2 years ago it would have been a cracker.
Now I can only hope Binocular is back to his very best and can give the Fly some sort of race or this is just going to be an exhibition round for the champ.
The defection of Grandouet might just help Binocular as Ruby will surely want to hold up Hurricane Fly until the last.
If the 2010 Champ is on song and AP kicks early I can’t see the likes of the Nichols pair anywhere near quick enough to go with him.
He’ll want to inject a lot of pace into the race after the 3rd last but Ruby will be expecting it and with a lot of horse beneath him I can see no reason why he wont get into a position to pick him off with his better turn of foot.
I’m going to do a RFC on the two champs on the day and sit back and enjoy the race. HF is way too short now and I don’t have the bottle to back Binocular against him but if he won it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
Why would AP kick early on Binocular? Even at his best in the 2010 race he took a pull after jumping two out.
If back to his best, he will still have only one burst in him and I’d be astounded if AP didn’t want to conserve that in the hope of out-speeding HF, rather than burn out Binocular by trying to go for home a long way out.
Binocular cannot possibly outstay Hurricane Fly can he? Didn’t HF win a two and a half mile grade one on soft ground out-battling Solwhit on his way to winning the Champion last year? Whilst Binocular has undoubted class, I would also say his best chance of regaining his crown would be to use his speed at a stage in the race where Hurricane Fly cant get back at him, ie the end.
To me, looking through HF’s form, the only thing left in question is his acceleration against an animal like Binocular when on top of his game. (clutching at straws a bit I know)
But in the interest of debate, last year HF beat Peddlers cross and Oscar Whisky into 2nd and 3rd respectively…. two horses I always thought would be seen in better light over a longer distance. Indeed OW is going for the stayers hurdle this year and going back to the 2010 neptune, I thought PC needed every yard of the intermediate trip.
Binocular has the perfect mix of speed and stamina for two miles and is a natural a hurdler as I’ve ever seen, a different proposition. Obviously nobody knows if he retains the same ability of two years ago but if he does, HF might well be beaten into 3rd behind Binny and of course, the 2012 Champion Hurdle winner…..ZARKANDAR!
Screw it, The Fly is now guaranteed.
Day one Hurricane Fly/Sprinter Sacre/Quevega treble.
Screw it, The Fly is now guaranteed.
Day one Hurricane Fly/Sprinter Sacre/Quevega treble.
Sounds easy, a little too easy……….
Na one of em’s bound to drop.
Seems Mr Nicholls intends to run 4 in the race if his word at the preview night is to be believed. Sounds like he is employing the same tactics Aidan uses in the Derby.
Screw it, The Fly is now guaranteed.
Day one Hurricane Fly/Sprinter Sacre/Quevega treble.
Sounds easy, a little too easy……….
Na one of em’s bound to drop.
SS!
There’s no guarantees in racing!
Screw it, The Fly is now guaranteed.
Day one Hurricane Fly/Sprinter Sacre/Quevega treble.
Sounds easy, a little too easy……….
Na one of em’s bound to drop.
SS!
There’s no guarantees in racing!
The Fly turns up he wins, as with Quevega. And I fail to see how Sprinter Sacre loses. Then again, if something sounds too good to be true . . .
In my opinion, getting outpaced is not Zarkandar’s problem.
I was discussing the race with some customers after the race and voiced my opinion. My initial feeling was echoed by a friend via text shortly after – the horse is lazy. I believe we will see the horse in headgear at some stage.
Remember, he is a half-brother to Zarkava and she wasn’t exactly straight-forward. Zarkandar comes off the bridle fairly early, battles on, then pulls himself up when he hits the front.
His seasonal debut victory in an ultra-competitive contest was impressive in itself, but this is a horse who will never show us his true superiority and he is a far better horse then what we have seen thus far. Wasn’t he showing signs of ill-health the morning after his Newbury success?
He is unbeaten over hurdles (never given a chance to show how far he could go on he flat) and beat a good field to win the Triumph, which has subsequently been franked by numerous horses – Unaccompanied, Grandouet, Brampour, Smad Place etc etc.
He is a serious challenger.
Probably the biggest piece of garbage ever written on a forum was to say Binocular was a poor Champion Hurdle winner.
That was complete nonsense and even Hurricane Fly would have struggled to beat him in 2010.
There are certain factors punters don’t bother to look at or ever think to take into consideration.
They say Champion Hurdles are won and lost from the top of the hill and the sectionals show that Binocular comes out way a head of Hurricane Fly. Not only did he cover the distance from the second last to the winning line faster than Hurricane Fly, he did it on much slower ground and without anything to race against.
The only questions that need answering are is Binocular back to his best, is Hurricane Fly better than he was last season and can he find the extra he needs to to make up the deficits the sectionals show.
It’s not an exact science as jockeys ride horses to beat what’s in front of them and had Binocular been there instead of Peddler’s Cross it may just have been a case of Ruby moving sooner and may well have found more than enough to beat him.
There is little doubt in my mind that if both turn up totally on song there will be absolutely nothing between them.
Don’t kid yourselves that Hurricane Fly is unbeatable
He had a true test of his ability last year and came through it well but hardly in Istabraq style and now he has to do it all over again against a better horse than PC and the up and coming Zarkandar.
It would have been much more interesting had Spirit Son and Grandouet turned up but Hurricane Fly may still have a race on his hands.
If Sprinter Sacre wins and makes PC look ordinary maybe Nicky will be thinking he should have waited a year before going fencing
If he does and reports are positive on Binocular I will be taking a chance on Nicky having him back to his very best and will back him.
Hard to imagine Binocular actually turning up in the same condition as 2010 but I have great faith in Nicky Henderson who seldom gets it wrong.
^^In my initial analysis last year I predicted Binocular would beat Hurricane Fly and Peddlers Cross. Alas, Benny never made it and I suggested a Hurricane Fly / Peddlers Cross forecast and never did it!
My back has a big red mark on it now, so I better stop patting it!
Seriously, Binocular is the most noticeably quick hurdler I have seen since Make A Stand. If the real Benny turns up he will push The Fly to the limit and it could be the race of the meeting.
Throw in Zarkandar and, not forgetting the dark horse Rock On Ruby, and you have one helluva contest. ROR pushed Binocular right to the line at Kempton and though it was highly unlikely Binocular was in peak condition, ROR is a different horse around Cheltenham and you would think Zarkandar is held in higher regard at Ditcheat.
The Fly is the reigning champion and the one they have to beat, but wouldn’t it be something if he and Binocular came there cruising turning for home? Mullins Vs Henderson. A P Vs Ruby. Champion Vs Champion. After all, Binocular was never actually defeated last year.
Been a little surprised by Walsh downplaying Zarkandars chances, thinks Binocular is the bigger threat, think a fast Champion Hurdle would suit Zarkandar.
Not really interested in the others.
Been a little surprised by Walsh downplaying Zarkandars chances, thinks Binocular is the bigger threat, think a fast Champion Hurdle would suit Zarkandar.
Not really interested in the others.
I can see the thought process behind this. Ruby’s ridden both Hurricane Fly and Zarkandar, and is clearly far more taken by the Fly. What he hasn’t done though is ridden Binocular, but has seen the back of him when he won the Champion Hurdle, and presumably heard plenty about his work at home from AP. I think Ruby knows if he’s up against the same Binocular as we saw in 2010 he may not get it all his own way, whereas the best judge of what Zarkandar can achieve this year would clearly be he.
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