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17 runners and just even money. That’s a bit too skinny for me, though he was 9/4 Friday evening.
Any thoughts?
11/10->Evs-> 10/11 now
Glad that he survived his mistakes and nice to see him getting a lot of appreciation from the crowd.
As far his jumping goes, this is another talent-free chaser when it comes to jumping the bigger obstacles. Just consider that the pace wasn’t overly fast in the early part of the race.As i said on my thread, overraction to the Jumping, was more a communication error between horse and jockey, paul asked him to jump he took another stride, dont think he was ever falling from that, the peck on landing, will learn plenty from that, onwards for me, i was impressed enough, especially the engine he still has to do that after those errors
If he went out next time and made the same errors i would consider your point
He is a pointer afterall so odd to say talentfree …
Ps when was he 9/4? I sat refreshing until the market came out? Just curious how i missed that…
To be fair I was impressed with him as he was much more careful when he got in short than he was over hurdles. He did’t actually hit the fence but went in short when his jockey was going long and shot him up in the air and it was a peck on landing rather than a jumping error at the third last. I liked the way he picked up and drew clear between the last two and then winged the last.
If you didn’t know who the horse was and just watched the race you would have to say it was a good performance for a first time novice chaser and it will be interesting to see what they do next and whether he is able to put back to back good runs together.
Makes you wonder just a little what could have been had they decided to go this route with him instead of sticking to hurdles after his novice season.
Ham, I checked the RP site last evening and he was 9/4 with Hills for about 2-3 hours.
When I say rather talent free I’m thinking about him contesting Group 1 chases. Being a winning pointer doesn’t mean much five-six years later. The engine is still there, but that’s not enough in a fast ground Grade 1 chase.Heartwarming to see him winning again; I always love this horse, could have been one of the true greats but for injury. Apart form that mistake I thought he jumped well enough, and his leap at the last was like the old days. Rising 12 I’m sure his sights won’t be set too high, but I wonder if Willie regrets not sending him over fences after his novice hurdling season, and leaving the Champion Hurdle to Vautour. Speed, stamina, scope, he had it all, a Gold Cup winner if ever I saw one
I don’t think he would ever be risked in a fast ground chase and to be fair with the watering policy these days how many racecourses would allow fast ground for a Grade 1 chase in the first place?
It was a nice begining for him and I would think all things being equal we may see him at Christmas time in better company and that will likely tell us what level he could potentially reach – while he is not the same Champion Hurdle Faugheen his 3rd in last years Stayers Hurdle is still strong form.
Time may very well prove that this is an afterthought that will not lead to one great last hurrah but he may just surprise us, afterall age didn’t stop Florida Pearl from winning a Grade 1 as a 12 yr old.
Faugheen is a ‘talent-free’ chaser is one of the rarer comments I’ve read in my life, after winning what was probably a decent Novice event.
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Difference between Florida Pearl and Faugheen is that Florida Pearl never jumped a hurdle. Faugheen has spent his career adapting his body to a certain stride and jumping angle. Similarly, Cool Dawn never jumped a hurdle in public, Edredon Bleu only raced three times over hurdles and most others who won big chases while in double digits spent no more than one season over hurdles.
It’s nice to see him run well and if he’s enjoying himself then there’s no harm in him competing. That said, it appears that whatever natural ability for chasing he had has been trained out of him so I would be very surprised if he reached the same heights over fences as he did over hurdles.
Like befair I think it’s a case of what could have been but he’s still had a bloody good career all the same.
Tatling, if he had enough talent to become a decent chaser, why would you wait until he’s almost 12 in order to send him over fences?
Surely, he won a decent novice chase, but who was in it? Only time will tell.
The runner up only won a maiden hurdle, the 3rd never came close to winning a race and the 6th Dommage Puur Toi only rated 139 over hurdles, with the 5th Glenloe without a win since 2016. I think there are better novice chases to deserve the description “decent”.To be fair mate, I think my description of the race as “probably decent” is nearer to the mark in anyone’s book but your own, than Faugheen being “talent-free” over fences.
Your point about his age is a bit daft as well – its well known Closutton had him penned in for a Novice Chasing campaign until Vautour got injured, and Ricci fancied having a CH contender, so Faugheen stayed Hurdling. The rest is history, he stayed over timber while he was dominating, and can you really fault that decision making process?
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The two so called ‘errors’ were not actual jumping mistakes as in hitting the fence but apart from that his jumping was very good for a first timer, he was good on a long stride and unlike his hurdling days was neat when going in short.
You can’t look at these type of races from a form perspective as that is pretty irrelevant because it is purely about putting all the schooling work into practice and building confidence in a race situation where hopefully you do not have to subject the horse to maximum pressure. Not sure what part of todays performance would indicate that he has had ‘whatever natural ability for chasing trained out of him’.
Totally agree that at his age/circumstances he is most unlikely to be capable of winning (or even being asked to compete) in a Gold Cup at the festival but Mullins has said there is a Grade 1 at Limerick at Christmas time that could be suitable and if he acquits himself well there then who knows something like the RSA could be a target or given his limited timeframe even a shot at the Irish Gold Cup (especially if the turnout is akin to last year’s renewal).
Just have to wait and see but all in all you surely couldn’t help but be very satisfied with the first steps taken in this new venture.
I wasn’t aware that Vautour had been injured as the rationale for keeping Faugheen over hurdles; as I recall they both reappeared around the same time that autumn
That beginners chase was very decent Ruby..
Walk Away 140 after 3 hurdle starts- clearly a HDB chasing project.
Glenloe 141 or thereabouts
Dommage Pour Toi is another probable improver this year, only the 4 starts over hurdles and beat a good horse in Zero Ten..
Midnight Stroll 138 hurdler.
Flawless Escape and Antey are no mugs.Don’t get me wrong, Faugheens a 160 horse still; but how many beginners chases are much better than that?
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Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!I agree with you about Walk Away who could be very decent as a chaser and also about the fact that Faugheen is still a 160+ horse, though only over hurdles. With chasing being a totally different discipline, I’d like to wait and see what he shows in the next couple of runs. After that we’ll see what his true rating over fences should be.
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