- This topic has 16 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
Chezza doesn’t crawl up anyone’s backside – in fact he will have a pop at literally anyone, from The Prime Minister to The Pope, and certainly anyone in racing.
But Chezza won’t have it in for someone simply because they’re “posh,” and the theme for Chezza’s 2022 Yuletide TRF Diatribe is as stated on the thread title tin.
It’s become VERY fashionable on social media to deride Nicky Henderson and Nico De Boinville – one’s allegedly senile, bonkers in fact, and wraps his horses in cotton wool, unlike “The Good Old Days,” and the other is allegedly a lousy jockey who can only possibly get the rides he does due to connections – after all, his name is “De Boinville,” right?
Now Chezza must confess he might be biased a bit by the fact he’s met both of them and a nicer and more modest pair of blokes it would be hard to find.
Chezza had a nice chat with Henderson outside Sprinter Sacre’s box at Seven Barrows once and his modesty was commendable: “It’s all him, I do nothing. Anyone could train him. I’m just incredibly lucky to have been sent such a great horse.”
And Chezza once had an equally-nice chat with De Boinville at an IJF event at Cheltenham Town FC Stadium – very polite, unassuming, young man, incredibly driven and spends his life down the gym when he’s not race riding or riding work.
To critics of De Boinville, Chezza wonders how many of them would have had the balls of steel under big-race pressure to give Sprinter Sacre the aggressive ride he gave him and make the race-winning, go for the jugular, move he did to nail Un De Sceaux and win his second Champion Chase?
Or set his own fractions on Constitution Hill at Newcastle?
And many times has De Boinville hit the deck at the last when leading in a Grade 1?
There are times when Chezza doesn’t envy elite sports people the gigantic pressure they’re under one bit.
Harry Kane taking those penalties against France in a World Cup quarter final was one.
The day De Boinville hopefully steps out to ride Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle will be another.
Can anyone even begin to imagine the pressure he will be under, riding the horse rightly heralded as an all-time great Champion Hurdler in waiting?
And as for Henderson, well, after all the criticism of him for wrapping his horses in cotton wool, he seems poised to run both the best hurdlers in his yard in both the English 2m Grade 1s available to them so far this season.
How many times did Sea Pigeon run before Cheltenham the two seasons he won the Champion Hurdle?
Chezza will tell you – thrice (edited after Alan prompted Chezza to get his arse and find his 1979/80 form book and check for himself) and twice.
The Cheltenham Festival isn’t the be all and end all (though the racing media bang on about it literally every day October to March) but Henderson hasn’t trained SEVENTY-TWO Cheltenham Festival winners by taking a blind bit of notice of what anyone in either the racing or social media is trying to tell him he should be doing with the horses in his care.
Constitution Hill couldn’t be in better hands to give him the best possible chance of turning up at Cheltenham in March ready to run for his life in the Champion Hurdle, with any luck having effortlessly won both of England’s other pre-Festival 2m Grade 1s along the way.
Rant over – if you enjoyed it (and were possibly amused by it), great, Chezza’s delighted.
If you didn’t, Chezza says: “Err, sorry about that” (fingers crossed, “Not really, sorry, not sorry, sorry, not sorry”).
A very Merry Constitution Hillmas to one and all, and a truly Preposterous (sic) New Year!
Chezza
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I wonder how long it’ll be when Henderson reports on Cheltenham targets and missing races and Ian start moaning again. ;o)
The cheap shot at Sea Pigeon is unworthy of you – and it’s also inaccurate.
His first win in the 1979/80 season, he ran three times before Cheltenham, at Newbury, Sandown and Newcastle. After finishing second to Birds Next in the Fighting Fifth, he was kept off by an infected foot. He’d also run ten time on the flat in 1979, which at a wild guess, CH won’t be matching.
Again in 1980, he ran ten times on the flat, then twice over hurdles before his win at Cheltenham in 1981, including success in the Fighting Fifth.
Alan, it’s not a cheap shot at Sea Pigeon, a horse I loved, and who I even wrote an obituary about in The Independent when he died and felt privileged to have been asked to do so: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/champion-hurdler-sea-pigeon-dies-637022.html?amp
Ironically the only time I saw him race live the owner’s son gave him literally a furlong to make up in a Beverley Amateur Riders’ contest and Julie Cecil on the useful front-running winner took full advantage.
I was instead illustrating that many people – myself included – are sometimes guilty of having rose-tinted memories.
Light pre-Cheltenham Festival NH campaigns existed at times back in the day too.
Apologies if it came over any other way.
Apologies too for any inaccuracies (now hopefully corrected) – maybe I misread the online source I originally used detailing his career before posting.
Merry Christmas.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"When he wins Champion Hurdles plus a few decent pots on the Flat – then we can compare him to Sea Pigeon.
Tbf, Andy, it was a partially tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted, defence of Nicky Henderson and Nico De Boinville, and not a comparison on ability to Sea Pigeon, a horse I loved, as I made crystal clear in my reply to Alan, frankly.
Merry Christmas.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"He’d also run ten time on the flat in 1979, which at a wild guess, CH won’t be matching.
I would guess CH won’t match that in his career.
Does anyone read a thread in its entirety – or even the last posting – before commenting any more?
It feels like Groundhog (Christmas) Day!
Is it too early for Christmas Pudding?
Chezza’s feeling peckish!
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"A bit late for Christmas pudding, Ian, you should have had it last year. I had ten Christmas puddings last year but am having a light campaign today so only the six. Sea Pigeon would destroy Constitution Hill in the Christmas Pudding eating contest (I have not read the full thread), he’d have at least two in the starting stalls waiting for the opposition to get in line.
Henderson doesn’t need a defence, his record speaks for itself. Like most trainers he’ll do whats best for his horses. He says the wrong thing at times but don’t we all? Besides who listens to trainers these days, look at the form book. It reads Henderson superstar, light campaign, Cheltenham, BOOOM…!!
Nico must be okay as a jockey because otherwise Henderson wouldn’t use him
I think he’ll end up easily in the top 10 of Cheltenham festival winning jockeys if he isn’t already there
I did look for stats but my search engine wasn’t playing ballCharles Darwin to conquer the World
LOVE this posting.^
Re Christmas pudding, it reminds Chezza of the year back in the late eighties when, then domiciled in London Docklands, Chezza bought enough Christmas Puddings from his local ASDA to last him until April.
That’s Chezza all over – finds something he likes then binges on it until he’s sick of it, before taking a break and returning to it in more moderation in later years.
The NH campaign (not ability or achievements, TRF brethren! Try reading the words!) comparison with Sea Pigeon was evidently Chezza’s biggest error of the year – it was contrived, initially inaccurate and conveniently ignored the fact Sea Pigeon was dual purpose and had had a Flat campaign.
Chezza vaguely remembered the great horse had been off the track a while before his 1981 Champion Hurdle victory, skimmed through a Timeform review of his career, must have misread it and the critical ire it invoked in the Swindon area and beyond is now history.
Not to worry!
Chezza actually now finds himself getting more, not less, nervous every time Constitution Hill runs.
Chezza has never liked the phrase “it only ever happens to the good ones” – it’s not true for a start and also seems callously to infer that it doesn’t matter so much if a more moderate horse gets injured.
But Chezza’s actually quite happy about the horse not running again until Cheltenham after Boxing Day, where Chezza doesn’t think he will win as far as at Newcastle as they will want to give him as easy a race as possible.
Once, he’s hopefully won, Chezza will have some leftover Christmas Pudding to celebrate.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Time to bring this one back. Let’s see if history will repeat itself in the new NH season.
Henderson and De Boinville are alright in my book.
The former has trained a shed loads of Cheltenham Festival winners and the much-maligned latter has, afaik, yet to part company at the last with his mount with a Grade 1 at their mercy.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Hendo, Nico and now Buckley will get bashed for taking so long to tell the world where their horse is running
Has every other trainer told us where every one of their horses will be running at Cheltenham? Thought not
Why wait for an announcement? Use some foresight and work out where you think the horses will be running“Its boring, he will be 1/16 to win the fighting fifth” Not their fault
its boring walking to work with all my clothes on but I’m hardly going to do it naked
not in this weather anywayCharles Darwin to conquer the World
Let’s be honest , the world of social media contains a disproportionate number of keyboard warriors , conspiracy theorists , and “nutcases”.
I agree largely with Ian’s opening post , in that Henderson receives an unfair metaphorical bashing , from people who have never demonstrated any particular expertise in the training of racehorses.
The latest round of Henderson bashing , about the handling of Constitution Hill , reminds me of some of the flak that the late , great , Henry Cecil received over his handling of Frankel.
Constitution Hill is owned by his owner , whose interests are handled by the connections i.e. Henderson et al. He is not owned by us , nor by the great unwashed in the world of social
media , and therefore such opinions are irrelevant.
There is unfortunately an increasing tendency in this country to deride and try and bring down anyone who is perceived to be a “great”. People should try and appreciate “greatness” , and like it or not , Henderson is a great trainer.I wonder if they might do something different after Cheltenham this year?
It will obviously be Newcastle, Kempton and then the Festival. But given how he was not especially impressive at Aintree, I wonder if they might think of going to Punchestown instead?
I doubt they will try starting him off in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot (like they wanted last year but pulled out of due to good to soft ground being deemed too quick) as that race is 2m3f, so Cheltenham could realistically end up being just his 3rd run of the season.
Therefore, you would like to think that Punchestown will be on his agenda especially as I can’t see them wanting to go back up in trip at Aintree again.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.