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He had a hard race in the end but he was much more than 3l better than those on the day wasn’t he. I’ll enjoy seeing them blast him out over a bare 2m in a few handicaps later in the year.
Good race from Pablo Du Charmil.
Fair Along’s jumping was awful though in the latter stages.
He had a hard race in the end but he was much more than 3l better than those on the day wasn’t he. I’ll enjoy seeing them blast him out over a bare 2m in a few handicaps later in the year.
Looks a good prospect David and it’ll be interesting to see where they go next
Watched the race with imterest (didn’t play) and it appears to me that we may have seen the best of Fair Along over timber. No amount of remonstrating from his supporters will convince me that he is capable of winning a Champion Chase. His jumping was sketchy to say the least. To me, he is a horse who needs to bowl along in front. The winner looks a good prospect.
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Think you may be being a bit harsh on Fair Along there Himself
He was up against it under todays conditions if others brought their A game
Many congratulations to Tom Scudamore for showing up his four adversaries – an absolutely superb ride. Ruby may be forgiven on Saintsaire, the horse barely jumping a fence, but Pablo Du Charmil was given far too much rope and he knew exactly what to do with it.
A disappointing race all in all.
Think you may be being a bit harsh on Fair Along there Himself
He was up against it under todays conditions if others brought their A game
I’m not so sure. Before the race, Philip Hobbs thought he would win. His jumping was poor. He may well prove me wrong in future races. Let’s hope he does.
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Well, all i can say is, P Hobbs should probably employ form analyst like Mounty to do his analysis, as he, along with others, knew he was up against it today
From RP
DAVID PIPE’S Pablo Du Charmil ran his rivals ragged to win the William Hill Gold Cup.
Registered as the Haldon Gold Cup, the Grade 2 event has been won by some top-class animals in recent years and on this performance, the six-year-old does not look out of place on the roll of honour.
Tom Scudamore sent his mount to the front from flag-fall and jumped for fun at the head of affairs. His lead was reduced in the straight but Royal Shakespeare could not quite peg him back as Pablo Du Charmil (9-2) won by three lengths.
Top-weight and 11-8 favourite Fair Along made numerous errors and stayed for third, a length and three-quarters further adrift.
The winner was cut to 20-1 from 33s by Stan James for the Paddy Power Gold Cup, with VC Bet as low as 12s from 20-1 for the Cheltenham feature on Saturday week.
Bit of an over reaction by writer and bookies imo
Think horse will be rated about 150 for todays performance and that ain’t good enough to win a weak renewal of Paddy Power
Good prospect and interesting to see how he comes on from this, but lots more needed imo
I could be wrong, but the best performances I’ve seen Fair Along run have been from the front, getting a clean sight of his obstacles. It looks as if there’s been a discernible change of tactics since its defeat of My Way De Solzen at Sandown last year, which was exhilarating.
As soon as I saw him dropped in today I knew he wouldn’t win. Not a case of speaking through burnt fingers either as I didn’t have a bet in the race, but I’m disappointed at the performance and the change in tactics on what was once a breathtaking front running animal.
Think horse will be rated about 150 for todays performance and that ain’t good enough to win a weak renewal of Paddy Power
Didn’t Exotic Dancer win it off 139 last year, from rivals rated 134 (the 4-1 jolly), 130 and 123?
(NB I mention that not as a dig, but to a certain extent as something to cling on to where my dark horse for the race, the even lower-rated Bible Lord, is concerned. All academic if it doesn’t rain enough for the brute between now and then in any case…)
The race, in all its guises, has been carving out an increasingly chequered recent history in terms of winners’ ratings; so a mark of 150 would not put me off Pablo Du Charmil (in terms of being a bit low, which next to former heroes such as Dublin Flyer I suppose it actually is) half as much as his two previous clumsy efforts around Cheltenham.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I didn’t see the race but could it be that Fair Along has been on the go through the summer, and, rather than being race fit perhaps he may need a break [felt the same about Detroit City last year].
Surely the trip would be the biggest problem. Given the way he jumps isn’t he likely to prove best forcing things over a bare 2m. Perhaps the 2m handicap that Murphy managed to get Well Chief beaten in at the Paddy Power meeting would be a better target. Particularly as Pipe looks to have a better contender for the Paddy Power (imo) in the guise of Abragante.
Apologies Jeremy
My statement is based on RPR’s and the current entries list on RP website
Pablo would have claims off an OR of 150 in a average race
Sad to see the performance of Fair Along. The exuberance he showed not so long ago looks to have completely gone and once you could see he was in no mood to have a cut at his fences the writing was on the wall. Looks to me that the efforts to ride him with restraint have proved nothing short of a disaster. I know he isn’t old but if front running back over hurdles doesn’t work – and it seems unlikely as the pace seems to have gone – I think retirement looks the best option.
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