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Maybe when Nicholls cools down he’ll send Frodon to the Ryanair. In the Gold Cup he’ll get burned off before two out. Having said that, I’ve backed Terrefort at a decent price for the Ryanair and could do without Frodon lining up.
Can understand having a go at the Gold Cup. He’s still young so can go back in distance next season if need be.
Ryanair over Gold Cup for sure and more specifically he looks tailor made for a King George – reminds me a little of Wayward Lad who was great at 3m but always got found out in a GC by one or two stronger stayers.
If it was a year where there was not much guaranteed pace up front and the ground was at worst good to soft then I would roll the dice with him and give it a go but you have the likes of Nativer River & BDM who will make sure there is no hiding place and will especially ensure that Bryony will not be able to slow the pace up at various times like she did today.
EE’s jumping is simply not slick enough to keep him in close enough contention even at the slower pace they went at today – a race run at GC pace will place even more emphasis on jumping and even if he put in a faultless round you could still see him getting outpaced at a vital stage – the Grand National should be his target and they could take the edge off of him by running him in a GC.
Personally I think Briony rode em to sleep there!! She has ridden a great race on the winner . I do hope and pray from a pocket point of view they go for the Ryanair. Frodon is never going to win a Gold Cup. She got a soft lead here and barely lasted home. At Gold Cup pace and an extra furlong the task becomes impossible I fear.
Get him in the Ryanair and lets see how good the horse is rather than killing him in the Gold Cup
Great ride from Byrony today, made the difference. The team allowed her to do the stop start type ride from the front which allowed Frodon to stay the trip.and cling on.
Of course had Tom O Brien challenged frodon from the start of the race then EE would have finished in another parish to Frodon.
The thing is though it’s all about the gold cup with this horse and whether the team came 2nd or 1st today makes no difference to the gold cup outcome. So Tom actually did the right thing here and EE hasn’t had a hard race.
Jumping was certainly an issue today but there was a very simple reason for that。
The faster they go the better the big beast jumps, the stop start always changing pace today really threw him out of his usual excellent rhythm.The great news is that the gold cup will be run at an altogether different pace. It will be ran at one pace and that’s flat out and it will be a native river turning the screw from the front. The constant fast pace will show EE at his best jumps wise and of course the stronger the pace of the race then the more it will suit EE.
EE never quite looked as good as he did in the welsh national and it’s also very possible this run came too soon after the welsh national even though the tizzards felt he was ready maybe it was still too soon.
50 days or so to recoup grow and progress once again and let’s get him there in A1 condition.
The slightly longer trip, the much faster pace of the race producing far slicer jumping and quite possibly softer ground (though he isnt ground defendant at all).
The team are going to the gold cup with a very big chance of winning.
THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG
ELEGANT ESCAPE IS GOING TO WIN THE GOLD CUPHilarious how the ‘know it alls’ seem to think the gold cup dream is over for EE yet he was freely available at 33/1 pre race. That’s now all gone and he is as short as 14/1 for GC in places now. Every bookmaker has slashed the odds on Elegant Escape winning the gold cup after today and rightly so.
THE TEAM WILL BE READY ON MARCH 15TH
ELEGANT ESCAPE 2019 GOLD CUP WINNERABSOLUTELY NO DOUBTS
I think something went wrong for EE close home. I hope they show the head on. Either Frodon suddenly took his ground or he might have gone wrong.
Just seen the head on
and the horse was edging right in the closing stages, it was a gradual thing rather than suddenly but enough to put off the runner upGaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
What lesson was learnt from the cotswold chase?
We learnt that EE will destroy 169 rated Frodon in the gold cup. We also learnt he is a better horse than terrefort as he has now beaten him twice. We learnt he is in a different parish to valtor.
We witnessed another 5 horses that dont stand a prayer against the legend in the gold cup.It’s no wonder every single bookmaker in the country cut EEs gold cup odds and he got shorter on the exchange.
We learnt a stop start pace is no good for EE though we already knew it. Thankfully in championship races a red hot pace is guaranteed.
We learnt that the Tizzard stable isnt at it’s best at the moment and that’s now 18 runners since the last chase winner.
Last 10 runners hurdlers and chasers all got beat with 70% of them being unplaced.It’s good to get the bad stable form out of the way now and the Tizzards have 50 days to get the stable firing.
Ultimately we learnt above all else that Elegant Escape has the biggest heart seen in a racehorse since Viking Flagship and that he has an outstanding chance of winning the gold cup.
I’ve watched it a few times now to enjoy again the tactical challenge faced by the riders. Here’s my take on that:
The Cotswold was a great race to watch. Bryony set off at a pace just warm enough to stay in front without burning too much energy. O’Brien on Elegant Escape was always going to be stranded, unable to go the pace his horse required to steadily drain the others, and knowing that Elegant Escape’s jumping would also suffer. But nor could he allow Frodon too much rope for fear he could not haul it all in up the final hill.
Take your pick as to which circuit Bryony won this on. With the first she went quick enough to avoid a battle for the lead but kept enough in reserve to crank it up a couple of notches passing the stand where Elegant Escape made his first error, losing 3 lengths. As Pat Taaffe once said, losing a length at a fence doesn’t seem much, but it takes you a hundred yards to make it up again. And that was probably the turning point in the race. Elegant Escape was never travelling comfortably afterwards.
All the way down the back straight, O’Brien could not get up with the pace, urging Elegant Escape after each jump until he was back on the bridle, at which point another fence loomed to be pinged by Frodon and reached for by Elegant Escape. From five out, O’Brien was fighting on the retreat as his horse could no longer keep up with the principals. He persevered because he knew the hill – the big equaliser, the ace up his sleeve – was still to come.
At the front, Bryony had kicked into top gear after jumping three out with Alysson Monterg and Terrefort looking the only dangers. Six or seven lengths back, O’Brien was rowing away, just to cling on. He gave his mount a reluctant slap, knowing the gelding was giving everything, but had made only half a length or so by the second last. The way Elegant Escape jumped that would have given his rider fresh hope. His horse was not tired, just outpaced as he had been for more than a mile now.
Looking ahead, O’Brien’s new hopes would have dipped at the way Frodon cleared the last, his hind feet six inches above the birch: this was not a rival whose energy was nearly done.
Elegant Escape landed over the last about six lengths down and, for the first time in the race the gelding looked comfortable as the hill’s gravity seemed to be working double on the others. He passed Terrefort and aimed for Frodon who’d begun just drifting right, a final piece of fortune for Bryony because he took Elegant Escape’s ground as that one reached his quarters. It was the difference between three-quarters of a length and a neck. Not enough for victory but it would have let us see Elegant Escape spin out his run all the way to the line.
It was a fine ride by Bryony and a fine run by Frodon. But I’d say the braver and arguably better performance was by the runner up who is full of grit. If it comes up deep in March, it’s likely he’ll get the reward his determination and raw courage deserve.
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