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The correct decision but what a mess they’ve made of this horses career.
Not having the balls to remove Nico from the ride is a large contributor to him not running in the Champion Hurdle. Sure Nico was going to ride Sir Gino anyway.
There’s no doubt in my mind, he’d have won the Champion Hurdle with a set of cheekpieces and a different jockey onboard but they needed to have him in the Kingwell first.
This Yogi Breisner stuff was absolute nonsense. The horses issues were under race conditions and no amount of work at home would change that. Willie rarely schools his at home.I don’t want to hear from these connections after the Champion Hurdle now ” We had the best horse”, ”Nothing in the race would’ve beaten either of ours”.
Nicky and Buckley haven’t feck up with these kind of comments.He cant jump , doesn’t matter who was on board , we had the other jockey scenario and it didn’t work
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
HDLG
He can jump or he’d never have won a single race. He was unbeaten over jumps for 3.5 years. Horses can take there eye off the ball. How many has Willie improved with a set of Cheekpieces now? I can’t believe they watched him falling time after time without giving these a go. Worked wonders for Jonbon this season also.
Look at the difference they made for State Man and Majborough and now the great Galopin Des Champs is due to wear them in the Gold Cup also.You keep saying we had the other jockey scenario. FFS anyone with a braincell could see the horse was well off colour that day and yet Bowen still didn’t make him fall.
Nico lost his bottle on this horse a long time ago. He was second guessing into too many hurdles and was causing almost identical falls every time. You’re either with the horse or not. Nico was changing his mind to close to the flight.
I wonder what changed their minds, as it seemed pretty obvious they were keen to run. I wonder if some external pressure was applied.
Whatever the reason though, good.
Just breathed a sigh of relief (and not because I’ve backed Golden Ace at 14’s). Common sense prevails and as a Racing fan I just couldn’t contemplate if the worse had happened; the rest of Cheltenham would have been awful, not to mention the Tabloids.
Sounds like he will still be going to Cheltenham……to parade before the race.
Hendo: We feel it is not fair to ask him and Nico to do it again.
Then why the continued dog and pony show and the schooling session this morning to get to this decision? It should have been made Saturday following the Southwell win, which proved the flat was now a viable alternative……….thankful that he did win as he liked on Friday as without that, I am pretty certain Cheltenham would have been the next stop and that would have been squeeky bum time for all his fans.
Hendo has mentioned the Henry II Stakes at Sandown, so add that to the list of potential races he could run in.
GM he’s not going because he can’t jump , anyone with a braincell would see its a horse not a jockey issue , I don’t think Nico is a great jockey , all the hills big wins have come with Nico on board , the horse has lost its bottle , there an issue now which means he can no longer jump , the owner and trainer agree with this this he’s now a flat horse , are any owners asking Henderson not to ride there horses …no
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
@GM23 – there’s no point in trying to rationalise with HDLG. He can’t even count. I completely agree with you that they should have tried another jockey – I have seen many shouts for Cobden, while surely Sean Bowen would have given it a go.
Never have I seen someone go through such anguish over their 50p e/w. Now that the correct decision has been made regarding Constitution Hill, I sincerely hope that something else trounces The New Lion in two weeks’ time.
The EW bet on TNL is not a bad idea, especially if you get four places. I think the horse can collect some decent place money….
Glad I know you have no champion bet now but there’s no need to be sour , wishing a horse to get beat purely because of I’ve backed it shows you your a bit of a sad individual , my discussion with GM doesn’t involve any numbers…. no closed questions either , having another mare Glad , need to have a word with yourself …
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
It was the right decision to concentrate on flat racing. It will provide a great deal of interest to see how it all pans out.
Mixed feelings about this. Its a shame in some ways hes finished as a NH horse but at the same time if anything had happened to him on the Tuesday I doubt many of us would be able to enjoy any of the rest of the week. Look forward to seeing how his flat twilight career pans out.
On another note I read/hear he was drifting like a barge before it was officially announced. This bookmaker sponsoring yards malarky is a massive problem for the game. The sport relies on them too much and for me there is a slight integrity issue that stems from that relationship.
I was surprised they didn’t draw stumps after the Fighting Fifth.
I still believe had the white padded hurdles not been introduced these jumping issues might not have surfaced.
I was one of those at the time who thought he should have gone chasing after his first Champion Hurdle and probably would have been an Arkle & Champion Chase winner and a 4 time Cheltenham winner.
Now he can try and reinvent himself. We love a flawed character in sport whether human or equine. He will be Box office if he can prove himself on the flat.
Easy to understand, but also sad to see the end of his jumping career. Would have loved to see him shine at the biggest stage a final time.
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