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That is the cold fact about Sprinter Sacre’s run today.
He ran well, he’s still decent, he can come on for that, but he is a SHADOW of the horse he was.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"That is the cold fact about Sprinter Sacre’s run today.
He ran well, he’s still decent, he can come on for that, but he is a SHADOW of the horse he was.
I am sure the handicappers will work their magic and raise Dodging Bullets a fair bit whilst dropping Sprinter Sacre less than you would imagine.
If we assume Dodging Bullets ran to his 165 mark today and Sire De Grugy runs to his 172 mark in the Game Spirit, it leaves Sprinter Sacre having a fair bit to improve on today’s effort to regain his crown in March.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Have the stewards investigated that ride under the non-trier rules? That’s the most blatant case of schooling in public ever seen.
Aside from that, this isn’t surprising at all. As I posted at the height of Sprinter Sacre’s powers: giant, strangely-proportioned horses rarely maintain their ability over multiple seasons and often suffer debilitating physical issues. After his heart scares, Sprinter Sacre’s breathing is still major worry.
The truth is that he hasn’t won a race when off the bridle. Though the public were blinded by the hype, he was wilting at the end of his Arkle as Cue Card closed the gap dramatically, he faded to nothing in the Supreme and he showed nothing off the bridle here. Barry Geraghty never lifted his whip today, but the worry is still there. I think Sprinter Sacre chokes in his races.
Today’s run hints that he might not need to find anything off the bridle at Cheltenham, though. He coasted round in his only (yet brilliant) gear and was in the mix right up until the final fence today. Better ground and improved fitness could see him cling on when it really matters.
Nobody has mentioned it, but full credit to AP McCoy for a very intelligent ride on Somersby. The old lunkhead didn’t oblige him with many good jumps, but they had the right plan to get Sprinter Sacre beaten.
Henderson reports "a small amount" of blood found in Sprinter Sacre’s nose post-race.
Have the stewards investigated that ride under the non-trier rules? That’s the most blatant case of schooling in public ever seen.
Aside from that, this isn’t surprising at all. As I posted at the height of Sprinter Sacre’s powers: giant, strangely-proportioned horses rarely maintain their ability over multiple seasons and often suffer debilitating physical issues. After his heart scares, Sprinter Sacre’s breathing is still major worry.
The truth is that he hasn’t won a race when off the bridle. Though the public were blinded by the hype, he was wilting at the end of his Arkle as Cue Card closed the gap dramatically, he faded to nothing in the Supreme and he showed nothing off the bridle here. Barry Geraghty never lifted his whip today, but the worry is still there. I think Sprinter Sacre chokes in his races.
Today’s run hints that he might not need to find anything off the bridle at Cheltenham, though. He coasted round in his only (yet brilliant) gear and was in the mix right up until the final fence today. Better ground and improved fitness could see him cling on when it really matters.
Nobody has mentioned it, but full credit to AP McCoy for a very intelligent ride on Somersby. The old lunkhead didn’t oblige him with many good jumps, but they had the right plan to get Sprinter Sacre beaten.
That’s a very fair summary, TYF. It might well be that the power output of a horse his size driving such a long stride and often huge jumps simply drains him, and once the rhythm goes, it’s so much harder to find the energy to even get balanced again, never mind to battle out a finish. The glorious Crisp comes to mind in the ’73 National.
Even spectacular has its downsides.
As to AP’s ride, he was a picture of do-or-die, driving Somersby into everything, but I’m not sure it was the best of tactics for the horse. It undoubtedly helped get the favourite beaten, but had someone like STD given Somersby such a ride, I suspect he’d have taken plenty flak.
In one breath he is being schooled in public, in the next this is a horse who has never won when he has come off the bridle.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"He’s never won a race off the bridle (never needed to in most races) but you’ve got to at least try when it gets to that point.
Disagree he was schooled in public, agree he is not a horse who finds a lot off the bridle.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
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