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“It is arrogant of Henderson to expect a course to be prepared for his benefit. And weak of Ascot to capitulate.”
Maybe Ascot were going to water anyway?
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Sounds like Ascot watered the Chase course, actually.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“I was going to write that Alan King lost Detroit City at this meeting”
Detroit City was trained by Philip Hobbs, Nathan, not Alan King.
I think King is obviously remembering how running on non ideal ground at Goodwood left its mark on Trueshan; he clearly doesn’t want a repeat of that mistake.
Agree completely with Davy Russell that trainers should be mopping up the races they can win, rather than putting all their eggs in one basket for a race that they almost certainly won’t win. Like CAS, I backed Edwardstone in last season’s Arkle and reinvested some of my winnings on him for the 2023 Champion Chase, but with the best will in the world he isn’t going to beat Energumene and/or Shishkin.
Explaining the decision to withdraw Edwardstone, King said: “I didn’t like the ground yesterday. Betterforeveryone, the horse I ran in the last race there, was jarred up this morning and seeing how sore he was made my decision quite easy. I know Chris has put a bit of water on but I couldn’t run Edwardstone. We’ve only had a handful of runners at Ascot this season and most of them have come back with a problem.”
I agree with Russell about campaigning horses all season to pick up the lucrative prizes on offer, but disagree that “The Hill” is a “hype” horse.
Winning the Supreme by 22 lengths in a far quicker time than the Champion Hurdler isn’t “hype.”
Would he have called Golden Cygnet a hype horse in 1978?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“Russell and Walsh were both a bit negative about the Supreme winner. Russell seemed particularly annoyed how he is much shorter in the betting for the Champion Hurdle than Honeysuckle, said he was a hype horse and would “not get anywhere near” the mare.
Walsh was a little more objective and did make a fair point about how we have seen horses produce one sublime performance but not back it up (he gave Master Minded as an example from his own experience). He wondered if the Supreme might have taken far too much out of him.”
Can guarantee Russell would have had a different opinion if Constitution Hill had been trained by Gordon Elliot.
I also don’t like the argument that CH has only put up one great performance, his win at Sandwon in the Tolworth on heavy ground was incredible, horses just don’t do that on heavy ground, especially horses that have already shown they aren’t pure mud lovers as he’d won his previous race by even further on Good/Soft.
“Hypothetical question: what happens if Constitution Hill runs… and loses?”
I’ll drop to my knees like a soldier who’s been mown down with a splattering of bullets from a kalashnikov rifle. Highly acidic tears will flash flood from my despairing eyes and saturate my entire body. Finally, I’ll dissolve away in Alka-Seltzer style through the floor boards of my room.
“Maybe Ascot were going to water anyway?”
Perhaps – but I think Henderson’s hints about how he might have to withdraw Constitution Hill might have helped to persuade.
Agree Russell’s comment about hype was silly but otherwise he spoke a lot of sense throughout the programme. He could be a good pundit after his riding career is over. Worth a watch if you have not seen it.
The least surprising news in horse racing since the last time Henderson pulled one of his out on account of the ground not being what he perceives as perfect!
The Contenders Hurdle at Sandown Park beckons – it’s a brave man who backs him ante-post for the Fighting Fifth or any other race before the Champion Hurdle.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Of course the media love in with Henderson continues, with Matt Chapman and Alex Hammond both saying the decision is understandable.
I suppose it is if you want the season to be four days at Cheltenham and not much else.
Constitution Hill’s jockey Nico de Boinville walked the track before racing and said: “However much rain they’ve had has gone and just evaporated and gone. The water table is so low. That’s the trouble with this time of the year and the changing climate. Good ground in the autumn is very different to good ground in the spring. We’re coming in off one of the biggest droughts in our history and whatever is going on up top, underneath it’s still rock solid. Horses like Constitution Hill don’t come along very often, they’re horses of a lifetime, and you have to be very mindful of that. He won the Tolworth on soft, heavy ground and as a team we’ve come to the decision of it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"How many times did Kauto Star not run because of the ground ….. as I’ve said before if Henderson had trained Desert Orchid he would never have won a GC ..
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
After withdrawing Edwardstone, Alan King justified it by saying he has run several horses at Ascot this season and a lot of them have come back jarred up.
If that is the case, why would he enter his stable star in a race at the track? It makes no sense whatsoever.
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