- This topic has 58 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 2 months ago by
.
- Posts
I suspect he needs to be turned out in a field for at least a year, then run two or three times before Cheltenham. But I just read about ‘osses on the papers and on here, so hardly an expert.
Well i am sure its all very "knowing" to chortle away at trainers comments, but whats your problem with Hobbs letsget?
Im not defending him, but hes always seemed to me reasonably straightforward when talking about his best horses. Not a Nichols or king maybe…<br>
Quote: from clivex on 9:45 pm on Mar. 18, 2007[br]Well i am sure its all very "knowing" to chortle away at trainers comments, but whats your problem with Hobbs letsget?
Im not defending him, but hes always seemed to me reasonably straightforward when talking about his best horses. Not a Nichols or king maybe…<br>
Fair, and good point.
To others, it’s probably a good thing to leave out the ‘in mentality feeling’ by constantly referencing other people’s names when they have no relevance to the thread – just creates an exclusive, and unnecessary feeling.
EW,<br>Can’t agree more with all the points you’ve made. DC clearly ran miles below every formline shown this year. Funny how people now say DC isn’t good enough for a CH when those same people were lauding HE beforehand, who DC beat earlier this year, or Brave Inca, who HE beat, or Straw Bear, who DC beat, or Afsoun, who was beaten out of sight by SB, who in turn was beaten at Sandown by DC. Please…
:)
(Edited by Salselon at 10:47 pm on Mar. 18, 2007)
It has been over twenty years since a 5-y-o won the Champion Hurdle so DC can be given the benefit of doubt. Also, any horse that wears blinkers has a temperament problem and more prone to running a poor race. The ground was probably a bit quicker than for recent good runs. A combination of these factors contributed to a poor run.
Afsoun ran a great race and looks the pick of the form from the race.<br>
Quote: from Grasshopper on 11:08 pm on Mar. 18, 2007[br]Even stranger that those who lauded DC based on what he achieved on the clock, are now throwing collateral formlines about with abandon, to try and justify his status.
Please….<br>
<br>He’s a good horse Grass, who was just a few pounds short of Championship material this year imhaho , next year may be a different story<br>
(Edited by empty wallet at 1:12 am on Mar. 19, 2007)
- Total Posts 17716
Quote: from FlatSeasonLover on 1:47 am on Mar. 19, 2007[br]Will they even go for the Champion Hurdle with Detroit City next year?
Looks like his trainer is already contemplating the World Hurdle?<br>       RP article
(Edited by reet hard at 5:19 am on Mar. 19, 2007)
Your link was a little off mate but not to worry. Interesting. For my money, there are plenty of decent staying hurdlers for next years World Hurdle….. Inglis Drever (my favourite :)), Mighty Man, BJK, Wichita Lineman, Blazing Bailey etc. I would probably go novice chasing but what do i know :)
I think everyone’s missing the performance of the winner here.. Electric, HE and BI ran their races, they could have run slower for the first mile and I still think sublimity would have won as he obviously had the toe to do so..
I backed DC and looking at it now, I agree that he just hasn’t got the cruising speed to maintain championship pace against horses who he can’t bully on the track.. If he’d run to form I think he would have struggled to beat BI let alone Sublimity
This phrase ‘championship pace’ really irks me. It has no meaning whatsoever and is merely trotted out when people don’t have the vocabulary to expand on their point. People were saying Kauto had yet to prove he could go ‘championship pace’ and he wouldn’t prove that until the Gold Cup. Does the fact that the Gold Cup was steadily run mean that he has yet to prove he goes ‘championship pace.’
Read comments made by Conor O’Dwyer re the pace of previous races… If the two time winner of the CH couldn’t maintain the pace in this years champion I would call that a pace that tests champions ergo championship pace. You would be the first to detract the merits of a race run at a snails pace.. :cool:
I agree about Sublimity, Aragorn. I was thinking the same, myself. I think we tend to discount his prowess, while reflecting on the earlier proven prowess of DC and HE.
It’s a common enough mistake by us punters to largely discount the possibilities of newcomers, when we’re so taken by the prospects of our established champs, isn’t it. And seemingly, just as common after the event.
DC always ground out his results, brilliant though they were, and age may be catching up with HE, after all, so I dare say when a crack horse, such as Sublimity, comes along, they too might have been surprised. And not been able to do too much about it.
<br>
- Total Posts 17716
Quote: from davidjohnson on 2:24 pm on Mar. 19, 2007[br]This phrase ‘championship pace’ really irks me. It has no meaning whatsoever and is merely trotted out when people don’t have the vocabulary to expand on their point. People were saying Kauto had yet to prove he could go ‘championship pace’ and he wouldn’t prove that until the Gold Cup. Does the fact that the Gold Cup was steadily run mean that he has yet to prove he goes ‘championship pace.'<br>
The inference being that anything you don’t understand doesn’t exist, and must be the invention of the inarticulate?<br>Leave it out,DJ.
Fast times are often just that, fast times – hence the large number of course records held by mediocre horses – and are often achieved off uncontested leads or against inferior horses, whereas a championship pace is generated by genuine top class horses, in top form, competing against each other throughout the race.<br>As an example from current discussions, Fair Along was allowed a more or less uncontested lead for most the Henry VIII, with MWDZ, the only horse capable of testing him, content to sit in his slipstream until challenging late on in the race. The race generated a decent time, but in no way constituted a championship  test.<br>A totally different story, and a different result, in the 2m Champion Chase, where Fair Along, for whatever reason, was unable to dictate in the same manner against better horses overall, and the stronger all-round pace in this race enabled MWDZ, (Imo, much the more capable of coping with this sterner test), to turn the result around by some 15l.<br>Not all puzzles are solvable with just a stopwatch!:cool:  <br> <br>
Was I the only one not surprised at all when he floundered in the Champion Hurdle? Detroit City was lay of the festival for me. 6/4 was a ridiculous price for a 5-y-o that hadn’t technically beaten any of his main rivals yet. Based on the form from the race in which he beat Hardy Eustace, Hardy was weighted to beat him in the Champ Hurdle. Also, Straw Bear was never a serious contender after his Christmas Hurdle flop.
As for the blinkers, perhaps Hobbs is just looking for an excuse or explanation as to how his star stuttered in the big one. Now, he’ll know much better than I do, but from this end it just looks as though DC’s either too green, or just not good enough, to compete with greats like Hardy or The Inca.
- Total Posts 17716
Quote: from Grimes on 5:34 pm on Mar. 19, 2007[br]<br>It’s a common enough mistake by us punters to largely discount the possibilities of newcomers, when we’re so taken by the prospects of our established champs, isn’t it. And seemingly, just as common after the event. <br>
Grimes
I think most of us were surprised by the improvement he showed, (22lbs higher than previous best, according to RPR), an uncommon amount for any horse in one race, let alone one having his 5th race over hurdles.<br>A very good winner of a very good race, no doubt, but if you ever find a way to mitigate for such happenings, let us on TRF know first, would you?:) <br>
One way of looking at this is that the winner is being lauded for his first top class performance in five and the losing favorite being slaughtered for his first defeat in nine
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.