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Ginge surely one of the things that make a great is that they win when things don’t go there way , an example would be Dessie winning his GC in horrendous ground , any horse can make a mistake but he’s made the same mistake twice now , in my eyes he’s out of his comfort zone now , we always asked what would happen if he came off the bridle , is the question now when he’s asked to attack a hurdle is his technique now a issue …
People are acting like this jumping issue is something new that has just suddenly appeared – truth is he has always had this tendancy to let fly at a hurdle (last flight in his Champion Hurdle win was only inches away from being a repeat of Annie Power and State Man crashing out).
Ruby did a bit on ITV where he highlighted several similar incidencies where he came up out of Nico’s hands of his own volition – the only difference with these two falls is that the horse seemed to second guess himself and half put down as he started to come up and he ended up stepping on the hurdle halfway up it, which gave him no chance of standing up.
It was that similar type error he made at the last in the International Hurdle (where he had a clear sight of that hurdle) but that time he wasn’t on a very long stride and his front legs got high enough up the hurdle that it didn’t cause him to fall. I don’t think it is a change of tactics to blame for the falls – he took a lead fine in the Christmas Hurdle and him going from the front I don’t think was ever a planned decision it just was a result of circumstances dictating it because nobody else want to to do it.
As to whether he will go to Punchestown, it is a bit odd that this time Nicky seems so gun-ho about going (off the back of two falls) when he avoided going two years ago off a trouble free season. If it is all about getting a confidence booster into him then I would imagine an easier and more sensible target (less pressure on his jumping for sure) would be the Select Hurdle on Bet365 Day at Sandown, although being a G2 race that would entail him giving weight away to his rivals (gasp, shock horror) and it is also run over 2m5f but they seemed unconcerned about going the 2m4f trip at Aintree.
Interesting to see how it plays out.
Wouldnt surprise me at all if that’s him done for the season , if he went to Punchestown and got beat ( in my eyes likely ) then they really are going to be questions to ask , you know the going over fences question will come up
The one thing I think you can be sure about is that he won’t be going chasing – especially not with this current jumping issue that he is experiencing, going long and stepping on a hurdle is one thing but I dread to think what would happen to him if he tried that at a standard fence let alone an open ditch.
Seems to be all it has been with him since his win in the Champion Hurdle.
For all his success and brilliance, I am pretty certain that he will now be looked upon as a case of being a very good horse with the proviso of………….but just how good could he have been.
Llewellyn and Jacob both fully paid up members of the Jockeys Union. No mention of how De Boinville got Constitution Hill caught in a pocket, lost his position and put under pressure which led to the mistake.
At least Ruby Walsh, someone who rode far more big race winners than those two put together, could see it clearly. Maybe Llewellyn might like to call him “clueless”?
The fact in the 3 races he has run in with padded hurdles has led to a bad mistake and then 2 falls might be the issue. Is he misjudging the distance with these new obstacles?
Both falls have happened because the horse has picked up too early. It needs reschooled and made to chip in that extra stride. All horses need to be able to “pop” over from a deep take off point.
If white is the stand out colour that horses can see, perhaps they might view the fence as a target rather than an obstacle?
I always found it curious that Dayjur jumped that shadow in the breeders cup.Common sense would be headgear to make him concentrate but there’s no way connections would allow that …
Specsavers?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways“Crucial gallop”? I’d rather say a crucial schooling session. Surely the horse is more than 100% fit to contest any kind of race, but will his jumping be good enough on a course he doesn’t know and at a much faster pace?
I’d like to be proved wrong but I can’t see this happening. If at his peak Constitution Hill didn’t go to Ireland then why now when they have doubts. Now with the unbeaten tag gone (it has Nicky) it would be nice to see him campaigned differently next season but again I won’t hold my breath.
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