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I don’t think he’s the best but I think he tries as hard as anyone and looks at times to be very ruthless.
The beauty of owning a horse like Twice Over… you can place him anywhere as the situation dictates. Queally rode a great race and the horse was too good on the day.
Disappointing from Vision D’Etat, not as versatile and caught flat-flooted as one might expect but couldn’t take ground off the winner. Curious that the trainer thought that the ground was too "sticky" for him, I think that must have been a factor. I thought he was entitled to cut into Twice Over’s lead regardless of the pace.
Looking back he only beat two 12f horses last time out on the soft track over 10f. Ignore that weak race, and VDE hasn’t encountered any cut since Zarkava’s Arc. In between, he’s run all of his best races (in the Ganay, Prince Of Wales, HK) on good or good-to-fast.
In fact his only other G1 victory was his head win over Famous Name in the French Derby. That’s surely below his best form. He won that Derby at 14/1 so his performances leading up to the race must not have been too impressive; those races too were on rain-affected tracks.
The warning signs that he’s better without cut were there if cleverly hidden. A good lesson on the importance of ground and subtleties of form, I guess.- Total Posts 17716
I’m still flabbergasted at the change in Twice Over and how my own attitude changed towards the horse.
Looking back to when he beat Raven’s Pass and was made Derby fav I immediately marked him down as more likely to win the Triumph Hurdle than the Derby. Turned out to be looking that way as he lost his 8 of his next 9 races and was a horse you could put a pen through the minute you seen him entered. He always seemed to quit whenever the pressure was put on.
Henry sticks with him believing he’s still has the potential to win at the highest level (I’m thinking he’s mad) He then drops him to the lowest of the low he can and he wins 2 Mickey Mouse races which more people looked down on than they did up.
I never paid much attention to Henry when he said Twice Over was a very good horse and all he needed was a confidence booster. Not until he shocked everyone and hacked up in the Champion Stakes last year.
his decision to go pot hunting turned out to be another Cecil stroke of genius that totally transformed the horse from quitter to fighter winning 3 Group 1’s and never having run a bad race since.
Came as no surprise to hear Henry say he’s his favourite horse. He never lost confidence in the horse and the pleasure he must take from achieving what he has with him horse must be immense.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than see Henry take the the trainer’s championship again if anyone ever deserved it it’s him.
2 Group 1’s on the same day! You just can’t keep a good man down.
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Rename remain to rename first or you might find out you just called yourself the Auntie Pot Pimp or something crazy like that.
I was still a tad tipsy when writing this morning, however I will formally apply for the role of ante post prince
An admirable win for Twice Over. But how should the admiration be apportioned? How much to Henry Cecil for having the horse better than ever after a couple of very tough defeats. How much to Tom Queally for easily the best tactical ride from any of the jockeys in the race, and for learning from his mistake in the Prince of Wales earlier in the year. (We all make mistakes, it is what we learn from them that matters most). How much to the horse himself for making the absolute most of his ability by being tough, honest and versatile?
A lot goes to HRAC. I have to admit I took Frankel on in the Dewhurst because I reckoned the top three in the market all had similar(ish) chances and the favourite looked to be shocking value. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the only one of the main contenders trained by an elite trainer was the only animal to show his form.
Same sort of thing with Twice Over. Sure the horse is a tough one but having him at his peak after two really hard races in August and September speaks bundles for his handler.
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