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Henderson said he was nervous about running him at Kempton, when was 1/5 to win a novices race.
If that is how he is thinking, I can’t see him running the horse at tracks such as Newmarket or Chester, or taking him to France or Germany.
“Presumably the Post is eschewing facts to have a pop at Hendo as well.”
Yes, they are. It’s nothing but conjecture.
OK, so Henderson has clearly stated he is not prepared to run the horse on a flat and fair track such as Newbury on ground on the quick side of good (a fact). But we are being asked to believe he might run the horse on similar ground on the Rowley Mile, one of the most undulating tracks in the country with a pronounced Dip.
Does that seem likely? OK, we don’t know what the weather will be like between now and the Guineas festival but the Rowley Mile seldom rides on the slow side in the spring.
They way I look at it is that I don’t think the horse would have a problem racing on ground on the fast side of good as he is a fluent mover and doesn’t have an action that would suggest he needs give in the ground.
I doubt that the ground at Newbury today would pose any problem for the horse given it has been artificially watered to be ‘safe’ ground. The times for the first two races (albeit both for newcomers of age 2 and 3 which were pretty slowly run) were slow by 2.93s and 4.28s respectively which would suggest that the official ground description of good (watered) probably isn’t that far off the mark.
Re: Chester – the course is only just one mile around and as such I would not imagine connections would deem it a suitable option, even if it gives them an inbuilt excuse if he ran badly – which would probably result in many of us here questioning Hendo’s reasoning for running him there in the first place.
The trip question is a little more open to interpretation as his first two runs over 12F were against novices/lowly rated horses and as such he wasn’t hard pressed to travel as he did and quicken up but as he goes up in grade he will be facing quicker/better horses and as such he may require a slightly further trip, which is why I think 14F and 16F races should also be seriously considered……..they will also open up more options especially if Hendo is going to be ultra picky on what ground he will and will not run him on for 12F races.
Hendo at Newbury today had this to say:
“I had a long chat with Ryan Moore yesterday,” explained Henderson. “The horse has been on the go since September and he has got to have a holiday. I should think it’s probably better for him to have that now, rather than later, so he can be ready for an early autumn campaign.”
Good lord!
Good decision , he ran too often over jumps and lost his unbeaten record as a result , dont make same mistake twice , unbeaten on AW flat and turf flat , must be a November conditions race on all weather , preserve that unbeaten record .
“preserve that unbeaten record .”
Tell you what, they should be aiming him at the July Cup.
Been on the go since September?! He’s only run once between September and the 20th Feb and that only lasted 2 hurdles! Since then just 2 flat runs totalling 3 miles both races taking the same 2 minutes 34 secs to run.
Why enter him for the John Porter then? The Ormonde Stakes is 19 days away, 5 days after the Punchestown Festival finishes and he ran there last season!
Hes unbeaten at 6f so July Cup out sadly , way too risky .
Hes a wonderful horse , i look forward to his races , but blimey i remember See You When but he did have glass legs , this is unreal .Falling at the first a couple of times, doing a few laps around the parade ring at Cheltenham and having a couple of free spins around the all weather gaffs is hardly being on the go since September. Nicky’s receptionist has written more sentences on twitter about how this horse is not running than yards ran by the horse, himself.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
“The horse has been on the go since September and he has got to have a holiday”.
Is that for real?
What is the point of him having a Flat career if they are intentionally missing most of the season? With a 9 year old gelding.
Here’s a question , which horse has ran the most times this nh season for him, I’m going to guess 1 maybe 6 times max , his lorries must be worth more than average …. well less miles on the clock ..
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Whilst he may only have run a few times, he’s been in training since September – I think it’s not unreasonable to have a break, freshen him up ready for the autumn. Some comments I’ve seen have little understanding of athletic training, routine and performance, whether human, or equine.
“Some comments I’ve seen have little understanding of athletic training, routine and performance, whether human, or equine.”
Yet the mental gymnastics are amazing.
Of course its fair but why enter him in the John Porter if the intention was to have a break?
The going is too quick… Well, yes its the flat season.
If there was a comedy show set up for horse racing, this horse and Hendo would take up the whole showGaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Sean Bowen base been on the go since last April , he’s doing ok and is still smiling …
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
If he had been racing frequently along with being in training since September then I would fully be on board with him having a break.
That being said lets not get carried away in thinking that in lieu of him only getting no further than the second hurdle in his only NH race that they compensated for that by working him harder than normal at home……..also take into account that they would have given him a decent break following his Newcastle fall to get over that and along with the odd schooling session I would think he was probably doing something like half to three quarter speed work maybe two or even three times a week the rest of the time. Trainers just don’t push their horses in their work at home because it more often than not would be counter productive when it came to actually going racing.
I would have much rather Hendo just came out and said we are going to wait until the Autumn when the ground should be easier for him and then we will make up for lost time by giving him an agressive campaign of three or even four races (rising through the various grades) to find out just how good he could be on the flat.
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