- This topic has 10 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 8 months ago by
.
- Posts
What about this boy?That was some performance for an animal having only his 3rd run,he could be special.
I’m surprised Clare Balding didn’t ask Weld would he be going over timber,he’s got a hell of an engine,he’s definitely one i’d like to see hurdling.
Whatever and wherever he goes he’s a horse to follow,Melbourne cup next year maybe?He looks a bit of a loony, still very green, but oodles of natural talent. He could be special once he works out what’s going on.
You could call him the winner before half way, travelled nicely on the ground.
http://i60.tinypic.com/epx1j.jpg
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Surely there are rich pickings to be had on the flat with this horse. I certainly hope so because I’ve backed him at 5/1 for the Ascot Gold Cup.
With Leading Light looking less than invincible and Estimate retired the division is there to be taken. It’s not hard to envisage a good seasonal debut and the green light for Royal Ascot resulting in a seriously shorter price come Ladies Day in June.
5/1 could be like finding money in the street. Who’s going to stop him?
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
With Leading Light looking less than invincible
Leading Light had picked up a leg injury which would rule his racing career over, but thankfully not a life threatening injury as this article in the racing post suggests.
LEADING LIGHT, winner of last year’s Ladbrokes St Leger and the Gold Cup in June, is unlikely to race again after suffering serious leg injuries in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Saturday.The four-year-old was badly hampered in an incident early in the straight involving the winner, Forgotten Rules, and Marzocco, who finished eighth.
His trainer Aidan O’Brien revealed on Sunday that Leading Light had returned from the race with career-threatening injuries.
Speaking at Naas, O’Brien said: "He has suspensory injuries to both front legs and you would have to say that his racing career is in serious jeopardy. He has probably run his last race.
"The incident that happened was unfortunate and in this case it was most unfortunate that our horse came out of it all with two bad injuries."
Leading Light finished 12 lengths behind Forgotten Rules in the 2m Group 2. The stewards inquired into the incident and Pat Smullen, who rode the winner, received a three-day careless riding ban.
A son of Montjeu, Leading Light has won eight of his 12 races, beating Talent by one and a quarter lengths in the Doncaster Classic and securing a second Group 1 victory when landing a thrilling win in the Gold Cup.
Leading Light is not only a son of Montjeu, but through his dam’s part of the family related to Secretariat.
http://www.pedigreequery.com/leading+light4
who in turn is related to Eclipe.
In the fall of 1989, Secretariat was afflicted with laminitis—a painful and often incurable hoof condition. When his condition failed to improve after a month of treatment, he was euthanized on October 4 at the age of 19. Secretariat was buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, given the rare honor of being buried whole (usually only the head, heart, and hooves of a winning race horse are buried, and the rest of the body is cremated).
A necropsy revealed his heart was significantly larger than that of an ordinary horse. An extremely large heart is a trait that occasionally occurs in Thoroughbreds, linked to a genetic condition passed down via the dam line, known as the "x-factor". The x-factor can be traced to the historic racehorse Eclipse, which was necropsied after his death in 1789. Because Eclipse’s heart appeared to be much larger than other horses, it was weighed, and found to be 14 pounds (6.4 kg), almost twice the normal weight. Eclipse is believed to have passed the trait on via his daughters, and pedigree research verified that Secretariat traces in his dam line to a daughter of Eclipse. In the 20th century, the heart of Phar Lap was weighed and also documented to be 6.35 kilograms (14.0 lb), or essentially the same size as that of Eclipse.
At the time of Secretariat’s death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat’s heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn’t believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine."Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham’s heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham’s measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated Secretariat’s heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg),or about two-and-three-quarters times as large as that of the average horse.
It was my theory that the same gene could have to some degree been in Leading Light and he might have had a top class career in staying races on the flat.
Surely there are rich pickings to be had on the flat with this horse. I certainly hope so because I’ve backed him at 5/1 for the Ascot Gold Cup.
With Leading Light looking less than invincible and Estimate retired the division is there to be taken. It’s not hard to envisage a good seasonal debut and the green light for Royal Ascot resulting in a seriously shorter price come Ladies Day in June.
5/1 could be like finding money in the street. Who’s going to stop him?
The only thing I would say is the ground was woeful their were horses walking over the line in more than the one race but if the horse is as good on a quicker surface than he’ll take all the beating.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Surely there are rich pickings to be had on the flat with this horse. I certainly hope so because I’ve backed him at 5/1 for the Ascot Gold Cup.
With Leading Light looking less than invincible and Estimate retired the division is there to be taken. It’s not hard to envisage a good seasonal debut and the green light for Royal Ascot resulting in a seriously shorter price come Ladies Day in June.
5/1 could be like finding money in the street. Who’s going to stop him?
The only thing I would say is the ground was woeful their were horses walking over the line in more than the one race but if the horse is as good on a quicker surface than he’ll take all the beating.
He has won twice on good to yielding though Nathan and two and a half miles is going to test stamina no matter what the ground is on the day.
Surely there will be more to come and it’s not really a division where talent suddenly emerges very often. Plenty of those behind him in the betting have big question marks on the stamina front and Brown Panther is not quite a stayer at the Gold Cup trip for me.
It looks a division with little strength in depth where patience may be rewarded.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Surely something with step out of the shadows here. Forgotten Rules did well while the two big guns failed to fire for various reasons, but would need to step up even further to win even an average Gold Cup.
Perhaps the jumps boys will smell blood as Dermot Weld did when Rite Of Passage took the Gold Cup. Willie Mullins is branching out his operation and did well with Pique Sous on the flat this year, so surely he’s got some fast ground loving yolk up his sleeve.
Surely something with step out of the shadows here. Forgotten Rules did well while the two big guns failed to fire for various reasons, but would need to step up even further to win even an average Gold Cup.
Given that he was having just his third ever start on Saturday you’d have to think there’s plenty of improvement to come from Weld’s horse. That has to be the most ominous thing for the opposition and unless as you say something comes out of the woodwork he’ll surely be hard to beat.
Surely something with step out of the shadows here. Forgotten Rules did well while the two big guns failed to fire for various reasons, but would need to step up even further to win even an average Gold Cup.
Perhaps the jumps boys will smell blood as Dermot Weld did when Rite Of Passage took the Gold Cup.
Willie Mullins is branching out his operation and did well with Pique Sous on the flat this year, so surely he’s got some fast ground loving yolk up his sleeve.
Dermot Weld trains this fellow as well though and that’s part of the confidence that he knows what it takes to win the race.
Something may emerge but it surely won’t be
this
year’s St Leger winner Kingston Hill following in the path of Leading Light, so the potential Classic candidate doesn’t seem to be there this time for next year.
Of the contenders this year, Brown Panther is one of the more prominent ones in the betting and he is reported to be going to Santa Anita for a race the owner states is on an unsuitable track, over an unsuitable trip, with an unsuitable downhill start. After an aborted attempt in Canada, where Brown Panther unseated the jockey and bolted before being withdrawn, you have to wonder if Brown Panther will come back from the Breeder’s Cup experience in prime form?
Magician looked the business in last year’s Breeder’s Cup but has not looked like anything near the same horse this season. Outstrip won the Breeder’s Cup juvenile but did nothing afterwards and the previous season’s winner of the same race George Vancouver did as little for Aiden O’Brien afterwards, as Jonibake can attest to.
It’s just a worry for me as a potential backer of Brown Panther next year after forays into a race at a late stage of the season, that they are freely admitting might not suit the horse on several counts.
Back to Forgotten Rules and I am happy to take faith in the horse having more to come after a late start to his career and achieving the level of form he already has in such quick time.
Rite Of Passage
has done the business before for the same team and this guy could follow in his hoof steps in more than one sense, with a potential Racing Post headline on the day after next year’s Gold Cup which reads:-
More Glory For Weld, As Forgotten Rules Rams It Right Up The Opposition’s Passage!
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Alright THM and Steve – I’m sold on Forgotten Rules now! I’ll get my helping of that 5/1.
I’ve got a soft spot for Hartnell and guess he’s one of very few proven 2m+ stayers from this year’s classic crop. Presumably he’ll go to Godolphin and risk injury at the Dubai Carnival this winter though?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.