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Katchit ran a good race but that is probably as good as he is. He’s been overhyped and had we knew Harchibald was back in that type of form there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Harchibald has an obvious Champion Hurdle chance but I still wonder about him up that Cheltenham hill.
Silly me, how could I forget Katchit’s Triumph Hurdle win. Even with that in mind though, I still can’t see that he’s ‘a few pounds’ better around Cheltenham, especially as those behind haven’t exactly advertised the form (both Liberate and Mobaasher beaten 4 times since).
Punjabi actually travelled like the best horse in the race at the Festival, only to completely blow out a couple from home. His run behind the King horse at Aintree was much better, though I still feel he’s better than that result.
If Katchit and Harchibald meet again, on any ground and at any course, there’s only one winner. With time Katchit may improve, he is only a four-year-old after all, but I think he’s just about as good now as he will ever be.
Silly me, how could I forget Katchit’s Triumph Hurdle win. Even with that in mind though, I still can’t see that he’s ‘a few pounds’ better around Cheltenham, especially as those behind haven’t exactly advertised the form (both Liberate and Mobaasher beaten 4 times since).
Punjabi actually travelled like the best horse in the race at the Festival, only to completely blow out a couple from home. His run behind the King horse at Aintree was much better, though I still feel he’s better than that result.
If Katchit and Harchibald meet again, on any ground and at any course, there’s only one winner. With time Katchit may improve, he is only a four-year-old after all, but I think he’s just about as good now as he will ever be.
Katchit isn’t the biggest of horses though and has little scope. I think we may already have seen the best of him.
As you can tell from the name – this view may be a little biased and this is my first post.
Can’t tell you how disappointing the defeat was yesterday but actually he did run well – travelled nicely but possibly a little exposed hitting the front so soon (although choc felt he could have taken them out sooner to run the gears out of Harchi) jumped well and only 3 lengths off the winner
Uncharacteristically, he made a slight error over the last when under pressure to both sides and behind, and didn’t have the speed beyond to pull the others back – however he didn’t let his head go down and chased all the way to the line
Let’s see how he responds to defeat (he knew he’d been beaten) when we get back to Cheltenham in the Bula in two weeks – if he can continue to mix it with this company it bodes well for next season and beyond because whilst he isn’t growing much he is filling out and getting stronger
Going into the race, we were looking for him to be competitive at this level (he’s not run against anything like as good as the horses yesterday) and he proved he was but in need of improvement – his season is about Cheltenham in March and as such AK and Choc were never likely to jeopardise – and Alan wanted him to go for the Bula all the time
Whilst nothing he’s done at Cheltenham is as good as he’s likely to need to be in 2 weeks he can only beat what’s in the race and he’s done that 4 out of 4 times to date – he likes the course, its close to home (unlike yesterday) and the finish complements his battling nature
All in all we’re happy with him (if not disappointed by the outcome) let’s see if he can compete again in 2 weeks
hello Katchit,
how nice to see you
thank you for this report, those of us who thought he would win the Champion Hurdle feel as though we’ve just been stuffed!
look forward to seeing him again and better luck next time – do keep us posted, I haven’t quite lost faith in him yet
Was at Newcastle yesterday and harchibald looked amazing in the parade ring, a different class to the others. I knew Katchit was small but is absolutely tiny. Think it needed the run though and will be a different proposition next time out.
I thought Katchit ran up to his form although I haven’t seen that much off him. I made a point of watching a couple of his races the other day and he just never gave me the impression he’s a future champion hurdle winner at all. Having said that the vibes for him were not good before racing yesterday.he just wasn’t fancied.
I fancied Harchibald no end a couple of years ago so I had to have a bet on him for Cheltenham. If he truly is coming back to his best.he must have a helluva chance.
However, who fancied See You Then at this stage when he won his first champion hurdle?..just about no one……Hurdlers can improve beyond all recognition between 4 and 5 and I’ve got a feeling something will come out of the woodwork to do them all.
Was at Newcastle yesterday and harchibald looked amazing in the parade ring, a different class to the others. I knew Katchit was small but is absolutely tiny. Think it needed the run though and will be a different proposition next time out.
It was noticeable that Katchit was last out and very unsettled in the parade ring which is the first time he’s not been 100% relaxed – he normally just walks around with his head down but there was more than one occasion where he had his lad hanging on
Who knows whether any of this made a difference but I’d like to think that there were signs he wasn’t himself – that said I agree he ran to his mark
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