Clarence House 2015

[Denman2008]

Henderson gave an interview on him didn’t sound like he was expecting him to run on Saturday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfDVSJzz8ak

[stevecaution]

Ladbrokes were one of the last to ease Sprinter Scare, they held him at 11/10 for a while. They now go 2/1

Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.

[KingSprinterSacre]

http://m.racingpost.com/?redirect_back= … id=1805980

Some more postive vibes.
Henderson said: "Barry flew in this morning and went to Ascot and he was pleasantly surprised as there was plenty of good to soft in the ground and we would have run today".
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Sprinter-360
Sprinter Sacre: has been off the course for over a year
PICTURE: Getty Images
Sprinter inches nearer to weekend return at Ascot
BY ANDREW KING 3:16PM 14 JAN 2015
NICKY HENDERSON is increasingly confident Sprinter Sacre will be able to run in the Sodexo Clarence House Chase at Ascot on Saturday after stable jockey Barry Geraghty walked the course on Wednesday.
However, despite Henderson speaking more positively about Sprinter Sacre, the nine-year-old has drifted out to 2-1 (from 6-4) with Betfred and been replaced as favourite by Dodging Bullets.
Doubts had surfaced about the suitability of the going at Ascot for Sprinter Sacre with Henderson unwilling to run the 2013 Queen Mother Champion Chase winner on testing going after an absence of over a year.
But speaking at Newbury on Wednesday afternoon, Henderson said: "Barry flew in this morning and went to Ascot and he was pleasantly surprised as there was plenty of good to soft in the ground and we would have run today".
The trainer is due to walk the Berkshire circuit himself on Thursday morning and said: "The forecast for this evening is not great by any means. I might go there tomorrow and not like what I see if we get plenty of rain overnight
"However, if we get three days of drying weather it might get back to what Barry found this morning so we will be declaring him [on Thursday] to run as I think I have got to.
"We are desperate to get a race into him as it’s Ascot, Newbury or nowhere before Cheltenham."
A final decision on whether Sprinter Sacre returns at Ascot on Saturday could be left until the day of the race Henderson added.

[stevecaution]

The betting has completely flip-flopped with Sprinter Sacre being declared. He’s now as low as 8/11 with Dodging Bullets out to 5/2

With the ground currently soft and still more showers, sleet and hail forecast I wouldn’t want to be backing Sprinter Sacre at odds on.

It’s been a strange build up with negativity and then more positive vibes coming from the Henderson stable. Punters could be sitting with 2/1 Sprinter Sacre and 11/4 Dodging Bullets as their two against only two other realistic contenders.

Bookies have looked as clueless as we mere mortal punters in regards to what was happening with this race.

"Insider information", "Spies in every stable", "Chinese Whispers", "

They

knew"?

Nah, "Horse***t" more like

Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.

[The Ante-Post King]

I’m hoping ‘Sprinter’ runs as this race wont suit

Dodging Bullets

at all.It certainly wont have any bearing on what will happen on good ground round Cheltenham in March.

[no idea]

seems keen on running and everything looks like it is ready to go.
Will be an intersting race.
If the old SS turns up he should really be 1/4 so may well have a good bet on him if he starts evens, as it could turn out to be the best bet of the century bearing in mind he was 2/9 to beat the current Champion on his seasonal debut last season.
Roll on Saturday

[IanDavies]

In my view, it is impossible to accurately price up Sprinter Sacre because you are not betting on whether he is good enough to win (he would slaughter them at his best), you are betting on how much ability he retains after his set back and whether that setback will recur.

An interesting psychology takes over in my view at times like this.

The brain often tells punters to take on horses because ”they seldom come back” but then the heart reminds them of how stupid many felt at times when they DID come back at odds they would never have started at in their prime – like Kauto Star at Haydock.

And no one likes feeling stupid.

I’m not big on betting the odds-on on horses with a documented heart condition over fences – there really are better odds-on chances if that’s your thing – so I won’t be backing the highest-rated chaser since Arkle and Flyingbolt on Saturday.

All I will say is that, if he disappoints again and is retired, it won’t alter the fact he proved himself one of the truly great (overused word but not here) chasers of all time the season he won the Champion Chase and at Aintree.

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[stevecaution]

seems keen on running and everything looks like it is ready to go.
Will be an intersting race.
If the old SS turns up he should really be 1/4 so may well have a good bet on him if he starts evens, as it could turn out to be the best bet of the century bearing in mind he was 2/9 to beat the current Champion on his seasonal debut last season.
Roll on Saturday

The weather may have a say in it yet and I can’t back Sprinter Sacre at the likely odds given the scenario. Maybe on Sunday morning we’ll all be wondering why we didn’t re-mortgage the house when he was available at 2/1?

Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.

[ivanjica]

Am I missing something here? Sprinter Sacre has won in the soft twice, and once in heavy (with the word "impressive" used to describe his success in the latter).

I suspect the Henderson yard are "at it" again in terms of manipulating the market with rumours about him not running (similar to Binocular in the Champion Hurdle) and the whole yard are on at 2s.

Even if he is 50% fit he should pick this field up and carry them!

[homersimpson]

Am I missing something here? Sprinter Sacre has won in the soft twice, and once in heavy (with the word "impressive" used to describe his success in the latter).

I suspect the Henderson yard are "at it" again in terms of manipulating the market with rumours about him not running (similar to Binocular in the Champion Hurdle) and the whole yard are on at 2s.

Even if he is 50% fit he should pick this field up and carry them!

Like any great horse, he will go in any ground although preference will be for better ground. As the horse has not run for over 12 months, Henderson will not want a bog as he will not want him to have a hard race, which if DB is to find further improvement could certainly happen. It’s OK saying BG will look after the horse but if SS has a chance of winning then sportsmen’s natural instinct will take over and he will extend SS.

[Peruvian Chief]

"It’s OK saying BG will look after the horse but if SS has a chance of winning then sportsmen’s natural instinct will take over and he will extend SS."

I should bloody well hope he would, this is under rules Horse Racing not a jog around the owners field.

I fully expect a ‘Well Chief’ style return tomorrow, an assertive victory.

I severely doubt Henderson would even consider running if the horse was not absolutely raring to go.

I don’t buy all this about losing being ok etc, etc, I think connections would be absolutely distraught to get beat. He’ll start long odds-on I would imagine and my personal take on it is take any price you can get to the off.

[stevecaution]

"It’s OK saying BG will look after the horse but if SS has a chance of winning then sportsmen’s natural instinct will take over and he will extend SS."

I should bloody well hope he would, this is under rules Horse Racing not a jog around the owners field.

I fully expect a ‘Well Chief’ style return tomorrow, an assertive victory.

I severely doubt Henderson would even consider running if the horse was not absolutely raring to go.

I don’t buy all this about losing being ok etc, etc, I think connections would be absolutely distraught to get beat. He’ll start long odds-on I would imagine and my personal take on it is take any price you can get to the off.

Everything you say is logical and evens could be a gift in retrospect.

The only concern is that Henderson would have been running Sprinter Sacre absolutely convinced he was "Absolutely raring to go" when we last saw him and we know it ended in disaster.

The diagnosis was a heart problem and although the horse has had plenty of time and plenty of tests, for me there is always that slight concern that a problem could resurface when returning to the scenario where it originally emerged.

It will be interesting to see where the odds are sitting at flag fall tomorrow. Class

should

see him through and if he can coast along he may never really need to come out of second gear. If there is competition in the closing stages you just wonder how hard they will push Sprinter Sacre. It’s a fascinating race and one of the most anticipated contests of the season.

Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.

[harvey2000]

I hope as everybody else does, he’s ready to do himself justice, and would welcome one of the best we’ve seen back to the race track.
But…he should be pushed hard in the closing stages as should any horse in any race under rules. Just because he’s the highest rated horse in racing shouldn’t make him exempt from "public schooling" offences. If he’s ready to race there shouldn’t be none of this "looking after him" malarkey. If he’s not ready for a racecourse, keep him at home.
Let’s just hope he sluices up!

[cormack15]

Looking forward to seeing this Twinlight. He’s the one for me here.

That said, SS is my favourite horse in training and I’d love it if he hosed up. Massive day for him, head says a big NO but heart says YES!!

[stevecaution]

Not seen much of the anticipated money for Sprinter Sacre so far this morning, if anything he’s a little weaker in the betting today.

I am not convinced by Twinlight, he was pulled up two runs back and then seemed to produce a fairly large career best out of nowhere last time. The first two in the betting that day Uxizandre and Ballycasey both disappointed on the heavy going and I don’t really trust the form. He could win if Sprinter isn’t back to something like form and Dodging Bullets isn’t suited by today’s conditions as TAPK thinks but I just wonder about how true the form of Twinlight was on his last start.

Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.

[cormack15]

Twinlight only two lbs off DB on RP ratings and is progressive. Can’t argue with your doubts with your doubts SC but even bigger doubts around SS and DB may be unsuited as TAPK says. DB is progressive too though so it’s not a race I’ll be getting involved in. Fascinating contest though.

[Bachelors Hall]

I can’t even focus on the Holloways nor will I be able to pay attention to the Graduation Chase at Haydock.

This is all very exciting and nerve wracking.

[Author]

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