- This topic has 861 replies, 151 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 10 months ago by
.
- Posts
‘More pertinently is the surface and also the fact that Sha tin is 10f as opposed to 7f cirumference’
But this is a one-off, Clivex. Unless of course you’re saying that the Hong Kong meeting was a more viable choice for this year only?
Just that i think a big horse like Dt must be suited by a somewhat more galloping track
if it had been belmont ..then fair enough (i think thats a bigger track) but although the ground was a bigger factor , even with good conditions the tight turns were against him
hes alovely admirable horse and just wanted to see him go out with a great victory. HK should be seen as that…
Can you recall what the comments were at all, Gareth?
As I understand it, Coolmore sent their Racing Manager, Tammy Twomey, with Powerscourt. Offense was apparantly taken that only a "secretary" was sent over.
Apropos of nothing, Ms Twomey is now Mrs O’Brien, having married Vincent’s son Charles last year. Which also makes her John Magnier’s sister-in-law.
122 races and 6 fatalities – roughly one for every 20th race. Sure, that compares great with Cheltenham, but lets keep like-for-like. I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that the last 122 races at Royal Ascot havent produced as many fatalities as that.
I too am gutted about the sad loss of Georgeous George. I didn’t enjoy the breeders cup meeting at all. Does anybody know whether George actually got any mares in foal at all in his short time at Coolmore as it would be interesting to know if he had any offspring due?Aidan wrote, Truth is Hong Kong/Dubai etc has never been that high on Coolmore/Ballydoyles priorties I guess.
Surely the most logical reason for that is that the breeding arm Coolmore takes precedence over the racing arm Ballydoyle when viewed commercially. The US is still the pre-eminent breeding sales market globally and winning a BC race looks a lot more attractive on a stallion’s cv than winning in Hong Kong or Dubai imo.
One of the reasons put forward as to why the BC might be losing its luster for the Europeans is the very high cost of travel and associated expenses, and maybe the commitee needs to address that. As far as Magnier et al. are concerned this will never be an issue and I would be most surprised if they did not continue to take aim at these races. As much as I like Hong Kong in December and Dubai in March, the BC still sets the standard for international meets with the best horses running there. I would say that Royal Ascot and the Arc weekend are clearly the two best turf only events.Who knows with a polytrack like surface to make its debut in 08 there could be a lot more Euros going for non turf races next year.
I have only just seen the race, why did Kinane not pull George Washington up earlier? ? ?
He was struggling from miles out and you could see he wasn’t travelling well at all, yet Kinane kept pushing away and trying to make him improve.
Initially I said on here that I was angry @ Kinane for continuing to push GW along coming round the home turn but according to reports he had apparently completely eased down when the accident occurred.
I’m a big Aidan O’Brien fan but the way GW was campaigned this year baffled me and even if he was still with us now I’d be saying the same thing. What was wrong with the Juddmonte, QEII & Champion Stakes? He was initially earmarked for all three but on each occasion pulled out to make way for inferior stablemates who failed to capture the prize.
I read an article yesterday (Times or Telegraph I think) that talked about this 1 mare in Italy but then I’ve heard the half-a-dozen figure mentioned as well.
Can anyone clarify?
I’m a big Aidan O’Brien fan but the way GW was campaigned this year baffled me and even if he was still with us now I’d be saying the same thing. What was wrong with the Juddmonte, QEII & Champion Stakes?
Ultimately, Aidan’s job is to produce stallions for the Coolmore team, so I think it made perfect sense to try to win the races you mentioned with a prospective stallion – or prospective stallions – rather than a horse with fertility problems.
Yes possibly Mike. Dylan Thomas & Excellent Art are both going to be retired with Duke of Marmalade staying in training so that would back up your theory.
I suppose we never/never will got to hear about the full/true extent of GW’s fertility problems though. Maybe the silence said it all. It’s just a big shame that we now won’t get to see how things would have played out. Would he have become a fully-fledged successful stallion in the end? Or would he have been back on the track next season? Hurdling
?Hurdling
Can you imagine? God forbid he fell and hurt himself. You’d have people decrying this awful jumping game, wondering why horses were being put at risk every day as they’re made to jump over obstacles whilst running at speed on ground ranging from bottomless to bone-breakingly fast.
Or maybe not.
Hurdling
Can you imagine? God forbid he fell and hurt himself. You’d have people decrying this awful jumping game, wondering why horses were being put at risk every day as they’re made to jump over obstacles whilst running at speed on ground ranging from bottomless to bone-breakingly fast.
Or maybe not.
Glad to see that Walkinthepark (2005 Derby runner-up) has been found a job at stud in France and the reports that he may be going hurdling are wide of the mark.
Oh no they’re not!!!!!!!
2:35 Prix Achille-Fould (Hurdle) (Listed Race) (Unraced) (4yo+) 2m2f
[off 2:35] £18,811.00, £9,405.00, £5,486.00, £3,723.00, £1,764.00
TRAINER Age Wgt JOCKEY SP OR TS RPR
1 Ikra J Bertran De Balanda 4 9-13 B Benard — —
2 10 Bedaly A Bonin 4 10-3 C Gombeau — —
3 5 Dream In Blue Robert Collet 4 10-3 C Pieux — —
4 3 Pierre Qui Vire (IRE) J-Y Beaurain 6 10-8 — —
5 15 Walk In The Park (IRE) J E Hammond 5 10-12 — —
6 dist Harmonieux (ARG) Diego Lowther 6 10-12 — —
UR Ouest F-M Cottin 5 10-12 — —
PU Cadouble G Chaignon 4 10-3 — —8 ran TIME 4m 27.00s
NON RUNNER: Petit Laugere
1st OWNER: G Hagenbach BRED: Societe Civile Ecurie Altima TRAINER: J Bertran De Balanda
2nd OWNER: Mme C Hennel De Beaupreau
3rd OWNER: Mlle M VidalTOTE PARI-MUTUEL: WIN 11.50; PL 2.00, 1.40, 1.70; DF 11.60
Colin
quote:
Can you imagine? God forbid he fell and hurt himself. You’d have people decrying this awful jumping game, wondering why horses were being put at risk every day as they’re made to jump over obstacles whilst running at speed on ground ranging from bottomless to bone-breakingly fast.
Or maybe not.
Gareth, why do you think the top chasers are not raced on bone-breakingly fast ground? Why do you think that Paul Nichols has decided not to run Denman at either Wetherby or Carlisle this weekend?
Could it be because he is a trainer who is not stupid enough to run his top horses on ground which he thinks is unsuitable for them, and which could endanger their well-being??
Lets just face facts – AOB took a big gamble with GW which didnt pay off. I just hope that he learns from this mistake, and that Ballydoyle, if they are to keep up this obsession of theirs with winning the BC Classic, at least try it with a more suitable horse in safer conditions in the future.
Oh no they’re not!!!!!!!
2:35 Prix Achille-Fould (Hurdle) (Listed Race) (Unraced) (4yo+) 2m2f
[off 2:35] £18,811.00, £9,405.00, £5,486.00, £3,723.00, £1,764.00
TRAINER Age Wgt JOCKEY SP OR TS RPR
1 Ikra J Bertran De Balanda 4 9-13 B Benard — —
2 10 Bedaly A Bonin 4 10-3 C Gombeau — —
3 5 Dream In Blue Robert Collet 4 10-3 C Pieux — —
4 3 Pierre Qui Vire (IRE) J-Y Beaurain 6 10-8 — —
5 15 Walk In The Park (IRE) J E Hammond 5 10-12 — —
6 dist Harmonieux (ARG) Diego Lowther 6 10-12 — —
UR Ouest F-M Cottin 5 10-12 — —
PU Cadouble G Chaignon 4 10-3 — —8 ran TIME 4m 27.00s
NON RUNNER: Petit Laugere
1st OWNER: G Hagenbach BRED: Societe Civile Ecurie Altima TRAINER: J Bertran De Balanda
2nd OWNER: Mme C Hennel De Beaupreau
3rd OWNER: Mlle M VidalTOTE PARI-MUTUEL: WIN 11.50; PL 2.00, 1.40, 1.70; DF 11.60
Missed that one.
There was a Celestial Storm that day and we didn’t get our copies of the Racing GhostAny road up, glad he’s now safely at stud!
Beeswing – like every trainer, and particularly jumps trainers, I’m sure Nicholls has a long list of horses that he’d look back on with the benefit of hindsight and wish he’d left at home in the stable, and I’m also sure he’d be the first to sympathise with O’Brien over the inherent risks that are part and parcel of horse racing.
I too am gutted about the sad loss of Georgeous George. I didn’t enjoy the breeders cup meeting at all. Does anybody know whether George actually got any mares in foal at all in his short time at Coolmore as it would be interesting to know if he had any offspring due?
?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.