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Has anyone heard anything from those near him as to how he’s doing in training over the larger obstacles? Am going to Sandown on Saturday and have noticed he’s entered to run in his first Novice Chase there.
Would love it if he made a good chaser and would love it more if on Saturday he repaid me the money I had on him in the Champion Hurdle!
He was down to run in a beginners chase at Uttoxeter the other Friday [we were thinking about going] but didn’t run. May have been due to the ground perhaps.
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Must have been a bit of a let down when you found out he wasn’t running! He’ll be against Hinterland on Saturday who has an excellent record fresh and good proven form
Never a good idea to go to a race meeting because of one horse [thinks Istabraq’a third Champion Hurdle when I got to Cheltenham only to hear that there was a doubt about him running]. Did Wetherby on the Saturday instead [wise decision!].
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Oh no I’ve been planning to go for a couple of weeks now it’s just a bonus that Grandouet is running! I only live a mile from Sandown so it’s no difficulty getting to!
Has anyone heard anything from those near him as to how he’s doing in training over the larger obstacles? Am going to Sandown on Saturday and have noticed he’s entered to run in his first Novice Chase there.
Would love it if he made a good chaser and would love it more if on Saturday he repaid me the money I had on him in the Champion Hurdle!
Geraghty said they schooled him last season and he seems really excited about his prospects over fences. Of all the top class 2 mile hurdlers in the last few seasons, i think he looks the most worthy of the tag " chaser in the making ". A couple of silly mistakes have punctuated in an interrupted career but you look at how easily he was travelling at Chelenham in March…
He could be awesome over fences but it’s those silly mistakes that worry me. The hope is the bigger obstacles help cultivate more progression.
One thinks of Valiramix and how good he could have been – well Grandouet is from similar stock and there’s potential to be a brilliant 2 mile chaser.
A shame about his jump at the last as he put in an encouraging round of jumping considering he could run through hurdles at times. He travelled well as per usual but always looked covered.
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yeah. Do you think he was put off by Hinterland at the last ?
Far from impressive and it may well be the mistakes that cost him over hurdles will blight his progress over fences
Hope not.
Apart from being a really poor card by Sandown’s normally high standards I was disappointed that Grandouet didn’t win today. His final fence mistake was independent of Hinterland’s but I was expecting a lot better.
I was impressed with Grandouet’s jumping, as his trainer must have been or he wouldn’t have chosen Sandown for a debut. I thought he was tiring after racing keenly (he was still pulling turning in) and if Geraghty can get him to settle early in his races, he might well have a Festival victory in him. He jumps fences much better than Simonsig does, getting his back end up and clear with full flex.
Agree Joe. The way the races are run at Cheltenham should help him settle as they don’t hang about. Just a case of how well he can jump them at a quicker pace?
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Grandouet falls into two categories of hurdler that have a low strike rate when switched to fences.
The first is Triumph Hurdle runners – from the 2010 version that he ran in, only Houblon Des Obeaux has won a Graded novice chase since and he was only 16th of 23 in the Triumph.
The second is horses that spend three full seasons running over hurdles before switching. It seems that the technique for hurdling becomes second nature and it’s harder to make the change to fences.
Of course there are horses that fit these criteria and cross over successfully (Walkon would be a recent example), but backing them is not a route to profit. They often do better when sent back hurdling – Reve De Sivola from the same Triumph Hurdle as Walkon being a good example of that after his recent Grade 1 success in France. He managed to win a Grade 2 novice chase, but he was 1/10 over fences when they gave up.
Grandouet falls into two categories of hurdler that have a low strike rate when switched to fences.
The first is Triumph Hurdle runners – from the 2010 version that he ran in, only Houblon Des Obeaux has won a Graded novice chase since and he was only 16th of 23 in the Triumph.
The second is horses that spend three full seasons running over hurdles before switching. It seems that the technique for hurdling becomes second nature and it’s harder to make the change to fences.
Of course there are horses that fit these criteria and cross over successfully (Walkon would be a recent example), but backing them is not a route to profit. They often do better when sent back hurdling – Reve De Sivola from the same Triumph Hurdle as Walkon being a good example of that after his recent Grade 1 success in France. He managed to win a Grade 2 novice chase, but he was 1/10 over fences when they gave up.
The Triumph is an odd race in my opinion and whilst i watch the trials and study the form for the festival, i tend not to take much interest in those horses past their " graduation year ". Usually flat bred or precocious French types, they have a habit of failing to progress over hurdles and some trainers send them fencing when they’re not really made for the job. Zarkandar’s renewal being an obvious exception.
Quite poor from Grandouet, really. I liked him as a hurdler until the setbacks kicked in – even fancied him for the Champion Hurdle in 2012. In spite of natural ability, I always viewed him as a poor jumper of hurdles. Going chasing suggests that he doesn’t have the speed for a Champion Hurdle any more.
Hinterland travelled better all the way yesterday to my eye. Grandouet seemed to be operating at 75% of his best, or even less. Very disappointing.
I think it would be foolish to write him (or any horse come to think of it) off on a first run of the season as the majority of the good ones will be peaking around March time. But yeah you wouldn’t be pilling in on his next start especially if he is around the same price as he went off yesterday.
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Having watched a replay, some of his jumps are spectacular, travelling with confidence between the fences. Then he starts looking around, ears go back and appears novicey. Convinced the last fence mistake is influenced by Hinterland not jumping either. he follows suit but unseats Geraghty. Less weight upfront than the Nicholls horse.
I think they should try and lead with him.
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