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For me CH needs to be switched to the flat and if you take sentimentality out of the equation, it is not even a remotely difficult decision to make.
Had he not already won a Champion Hurdle then it becomes a little harder to not consider going back to hudling but he has and given that three falls in his last four races (falls which have been carbon copies of each other) what more evidence do you need to stay on the flat?
Those who have mentioned the Ormonde Stakes as a potential target I think might be forgetting the tight turning Chester track which I can’t see suiting him that much. A big galloping track would be much better for him and the G3 John Porter at Newbury in April would be a great place to go next or maybe the 2m G3 Sagaro Stakes at Ascot or 1m6f G2 Yorkshire Cup at York or 2m G3 Henry II Stakes at Sandown could all be viable options.
He clearly isn’t short of speed based on the fact he dipped under 12s for each of the last 3F at Southwell and hit a top speed of 39.95mph – but clearly the further he went the better he looked so 1m6f and 2m flat races really shouldn’t be an issue either – yes he needs to prove that he is up to that level but until you try it you won’t know. If they were worried about quicker ground conditions there is also the option of pot hunting graded races in and around Europe (particularly in Germany) where they aren’t always have the stiffest competition so they don’t take as much winning generally.
This performance has potentially opened up so many new doors for the horse that (for me) the sooner they make the decision to go down the flat route the better, it is the best choice for the horse which at the end of the day is what really matters.
After two high-profile fatalities over hurdles (both in Grade 2s at Kempton today) with horses only having their first ever falls, that decision should be a lot easier now. Just consider that CH stands at three falls und two dives/scares at the final flight.
Latest from NJH:
Cue another eight million posts from HDLG reminding everyone that the horse’s last four outings over hurdles have resulted in form figures of FF5F.
Yes – we know.
I’ll make him a 1/3 chance to go to Cheltenham.
The first place prize-money of roughly £ 255k (last year) is a huge temptation. They are quick to forget everything and will be willing to roll the dice once again.
Among hundreds of other words, Nicky says this –
“We’ve got to bear this cross of responsibility. We owe that to racing and to everybody. It’s not me that’s wanting anything out of it.”
Another bollock-load of nonsense. If he believed this, the horse would be withdrawn from Cheltenham.
Instead he prattles on about things hingeing on next week’s schooling, the genius that is Yogi Breisner, the confidence in Nico … the full bucket of cognitive dissonance dredged up to try and make himself disregard what he has said a hundred times and what everyone who knows a thing about horse racing quickly discovers – the gallops, the schooling ground, the homework have the sum total of bugger all to do with what a horse will do on a racecourse. They found that out before his last run when he was ‘electric’, ‘jumping superbly’ etc at home, yet they roll back round with the same guff.
If nothing else, connections have filled the public goodwill pot by running at Southwell. Will they risk this, their whole career reputations, and arguably the future of NH racing on one false step from a horse who has made so many? I have racked all sides of my brain on an objective front trying to understand their supposed dilemma over something that should not even be under debate.
Ruby, I’d happily have a fiver at 5/2 or 9/4 he won’t be there, but don’t like taking money from friends! Any bookies actually betting on this?
100% spot on, Joe.
Their only dilemma should be: what Flat race to target next?
The John Porter at his favourite workout track or the Henry II Stakes at his fav Sandown…..No matter how catastrophic his jumping at home was or is going to be, we’ll only hear “electric” or “in great style” and so on. Things we were told dozens of times.
And Nico should be kept away from the horse, there is no trust or chemistry between the two of them.
Ruby, I’d happily have a fiver at 5/2 or 9/4 he won’t be there, but don’t like taking money from friends! Any bookies actually betting on this?
I don’t know about that Joe, but if he will run, he won’t be no more than 5/4 on the day.
He’ll go to Cheltenham. It’ll go something like this:
He’ll school over a few hurdles next week at a reasonably gentle pace with another horse whose jockey will be under strict instructions not to half length him or light him up, he’ll pop them them safely as per Yogi Bear’s training and the session will be declared a great success.
Aintree and Punchestown will be waved away as trainer error, silly old me, mea culpa, shouldn’t have run him. The Fighting Fifth will be called a little ring rustiness plus maybe a tiny wee bit of careless habit creeping in which Yogi has successfully ironed out and now he doesn’t touch a twig (Nicky’s favourite adjective , “frightening”, will not be used as a descriptor for the schooling
).Then, you know, of course 9 is a touch older for a real Flat career…of course we can have some fun with him on the Flat and we still will…and of course if we had taken a different path and gone on the Flat a year or two ago he could have won Ebors and Ascot Gold Cups and things, of course he could have.
But he is a champion hurdler, the best of the modern era and probably all time, and you should have seen the schooling, he was pricking his ears and looking for the next hurdle and telling us he wants to run. And we owe it to the horse, really, to give him a chance to prove he is the best because he should have won 3 already. And we want to go to Cheltenham because everyone has been so wonderful, and everyone wants to see him there at the home of NH racing, he belongs at Cheltenham. We owe it to the horse and the racing public so we simply have to run him and we’re really looking forward to it. We really think he’s better than ever you know, it’s extraordinary that he’s still getting faster at the age of 9! But he is very quite unique.
(The fact that if Sir Gino was fit , CH would be going nowhere near Cheltenham won’t be mentioned)
I don’t think he will run at Cheltenham. I would be extremely disappointed if he did.
Lol Glad I simply state the facts , the horse you say is the greatest has recent form figures of FF5F , I doubt he will run at Cheltenham , the negatives outweigh the positives
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
The entire purpose of the Southwell race was to show the world how fit and enthusiastic the horse still is. Nothing wrong with that and the first place prize money of roughly 22k was much better than giving him a spin over four furlongs at Newbury against The rapist.
But, what will the tactics be at Cheltenham? The CH won’t be run at a crawl, especially if the ground should somehow ride faster than soft. He might be trying to make all, but the rest won’t fall asleep and he’ll have horses upsides him jumping the obstacles a few mph faster than in a Fighting Fifth. The schooling sessions at home which might consist of jumping three or four baby hurdles and running over three furlongs or so along a horse that is three stones inferior to him, tell absolutely nothing.
Why do connections think that this year’s race will be different and easier for him? It’s not a bumper like it looked last night, it’s a race with obstacles and what happens if he just hits one of them at an early stage? He might get frightened and fall back into his old patterns…“the horse you say is the greatest”
See – I have never said this, because he isn’t the greatest. Night Nurse is.
Have a read what Ruby Walsh says about his jumping , makes a lot of sense , err Ruby you may want to reread that last post …
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Thanks for that CAS. When was Yogi Breisner appointed? Was it after Sir Gino’s injury or prior to that?
I mean that much fuss for just one race even when they had the fav for the Champion….
Somehow I don’t get it, but maybe they will really call it quits over the jumps and take the Flat route as a bonus.
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