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Agree, run ’em while you can. Great to see Henrietta’s monster out again in the next. The most exciting jumper in training imo.
Mmm – I’m all for horses running rather than being kept in their boxes – but there was far more to lose for IC today than there was to gain.
There is only a certain number of times these chasers can crash round in Grade 1s..
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Poor poor judgement from Twisty running Imperial Commander today.
Another run about 3 stone different from the one preceding it – consistently, the most inconsistent horse in training.
Tell me again how goood NTD is; there are permit trainers who could have placed the horse better.Yes, run the horses if they are fresh and it is what they like, i.e. running 2 hard races within 3-4 weeks.
Imperial Commander was never going to win today, was a waste of time running him, just glad the horse is safe.
A lot of us thought IC didn’t get 3m. I was certainly one of those and I think TDK you were too from memory? If the trainer had listened to us he wouldn’t have run in , never mind won, a Gold Cup. I also assumed the horse went better fresh. Maybe he does. He was never ever right today from the moment he jumped the first two big and slow he wasn’t right. When he tried to check going into the third he was in trouble and from there it went from bad to worse. I thought he looked like something physical was ailing him but who knows? His lack of consistency generally is a clear weakness.
Nobody will be more gutted than NTD but for my money Rory is right. If the horse was well in himself and showing signs he was ready to run then it was well worth trying. 85k up for grabs and nobody got killed. It was a horse race.
It’s not a yard that has another dozen horses with different grade one options and who knows what next season will bring?
I’m sure many will delight in saying ‘I told you so’ to the trainer (including maybe the owners) and the trainer may well concede that they were right.
Well done to the layers who got it right today. Well done to Coral too by the way TDK for ducking that Doctor David, I was hoping to get 8/1, couldn’t believe ladbrokes went 16s!! Another close but no cigar day.Imperial Commander may well get stuffed by Calgary Bay! So What! The mission for this year is well and truly accomplished,if he gets beat,he"s out to 10"s for next years Gold Cup and i will be the 1st in the Queue to take it! Anybody who thinks Kauto will get his revenge next year form another queue! reet that doesn"t include you as you have burnt your fingers already!
Itl all be academic next year after somersby win the Gold cup
The one at Royal Ascot?
Sean
Some fair points there.
I was definitely among those who got IC’s stamina wrong earlier in the year (a lucky escape as Pricewise tipped him with us in the Betfair) and I’m certainly not suggesting that horses in general shouldn’t be risked if there are some doubts over the suitability of the conditions.
However, I would contest that if you have just won a Gold Cup, you might exercise a little more caution in deciding where and when to run the horse again – it is a little different to a relatively unproven horse being chanced on the big stage in potentially unsuitable conditions.
If you had owned IC, wouldn’t you have wanted a little more time to bask in the sun?
BTW – re Doctor David – had to laugh when Andrew Thornton started looking around at one point. Was shouting at the television "There is one 30 lengths in front of you ffs!" Next season – no A Thornton, no J Tizzard over fences!
Sean, some good points.
However, which year was it in, that a horse that won the Gold Cup, went on to win the Totesport Bowl? ? ?
The GC is a very hard race, and to give the horse just 19 days rest from that exertion, and expect him to win a race at a track where he has run once, and came 3rd.
Yesterday’s race had his King George effort written allover it, a race in which again he had basically had a 1 month break from a hard race against Kauto Star at Haydock.
He clearly needs to be fresh, yesterday, he was far from it, and it was a stupid decision to run him.
TDk an Gaz you’re both right of course that historically – both in terms of the race and in terms of the individual horse – it was a high risk strategy. I think it was a risk worth taking and if it was my horse I’d definitely have wanted to run, not least because his opportunities now are numbered. It’s not like he’s a seven year old that they shelled out half a million quid for. This was his year I think. But i do of course take all the points you guys make and you’ve been proved right on this one. Funnily enough TDK I like Andy Thornton on that type of horse where you know you’re going to hit the frame given one of those ‘hunt them round’ rides. Must have been the looks over the shoulder that induced some people to back it at evens in running!
TDk an Gaz you’re both right of course that historically – both in terms of the race and in terms of the individual horse – it was a high risk strategy. I think it was a risk worth taking and if it was my horse I’d definitely have wanted to run, not least because his opportunities now are numbered. It’s not like he’s a seven year old that they shelled out half a million quid for.
This was his year I think.
But i do of course take all the points you guys make and you’ve been proved right on this one. Funnily enough TDK I like Andy Thornton on that type of horse where you know you’re going to hit the frame given one of those ‘hunt them round’ rides. Must have been the looks over the shoulder that induced some people to back it at evens in running!
What do you envisage getting close or past him next year in the GC, Sean? ? ?
I did wonder if the decision to run IC was anything to do with the sponsors not being happy with the way their logo had been covered up on GC day, and wanting more publicity? I’m sure I’m totally wrong in this, but it was just a passing thought.
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Moethat possibly, but I have never seen one so irritated and aggrevated by another trainer and his horses publicity before.
Kauto Star is so dependable, on the 26th of December this horse has won back the nations christmas spendings 4 years on the trott, he’s a fans favourite and if we all knew he was going to fall then I dont think it would have been built as a Kauto v Denman affair, I dont think anyone in the world would have said Kauto will fall which puts it into perspective.
As a horse you’ve gotta earn the right to become a legend in this sport and doesnt come over night.
I really like NTD and am pleased to see him being so successful. But, I think that he is, first and foremost a farmer. All the farmers I know have little time for horses because they are not cost effective. NTD probably approaches racing from a different angle to other trainers [the Martin Pipe one]. His horses aren’t expensive and his owners aren’t rich by some standards, therefore they’re there to run: they have to pay their way. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t treated as well as any other racehorses; in fact, I would imagine that they are some of the happiest horses around [John Francome said so on Ch4]. He’s not the first trainer to make the mistake of going to Aintree after Cheltenham..look at Dessie and a host of others, and he won’t be the last. At least The Commander lives to fight another day.
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