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After declaring to the world at Cheltenham on Wednesday that Racing Demon was a "cetain runner" at Carlisle, and that she was so looking forward to visiting the course and no, he wouldn’t in the least bit mind the soft ground — well blow me down, our beloved Henrietta has gone and changed her mind.
So we’ve been deprived of a mouth-watering clash between two of the best young chasers in the country. But it was never going to happen, was it?
Thread already started about this.
We’ll see Racing Demon once before the new year, then at the end of Feb. Then she’ll wrap him up in cotton wool until Chelters, just like a race primed Bridgestone tyre ;)
Hang on for a sec…whilst I agree this is frustrating and we’d all like to see the best chasers taking each other on, she has an obligation to do (what she believes to be) the best for the horse, and the connections. And let’s not forget that not many trainers have trained a triple Gold Cup winner!
Although I’d agree that Hen has a tendency to err on the side of caution if I had a promising second season chaser the last thing I would want to do is run him on heavy ground at Carlisle and risk bottoming him for the season.
To be fair you couldn’t possibly argue that at all times Hen has nothing but the welfare of the horse as paramount. Ergo she is a trainer a lot of owners would die for, if a little frustrating at times maybe. There’s not a lot you can do with a broken down horse!
I agree, SL, and in this case she may be justified in not running him on the slop at Carlisle.
But she has plenty of previous in making big plans and scrapping them left, right and centre, and sometimes it just gets a bit tedious.
Best Mate was a big strong horse and a few more runs in his life would have done him no harm whatsoever. Not many trainers have trained a triple Gold Cup winner, but then not many trainers have a horse that good in the yard. I can think of about 50 trainers who would have won three Gold Cups with Best Mate had Jim Lewis sent him to be trained elsewhere.
Quote: from Lincoln Duncan on 10:50 pm on Oct. 27, 2006[br]I can think of about 50 trainers who would have won three Gold Cups with Best Mate had Jim Lewis sent him to be trained elsewhere.
Name them then.
Quote: from davidjohnson on 11:04 pm on Oct. 27, 2006[br]
Quote: from Lincoln Duncan on 10:50 pm on Oct. 27, 2006[br]I can think of about 50 trainers who would have won three Gold Cups with Best Mate had Jim Lewis sent him to be trained elsewhere.<br>
Name them then.<br>
<br>Oliver Carter, Patrick Millington and Simon T Lewis for starters :biggrin:<br>
(Edited by graysonscolumn at 11:08 pm on Oct. 27, 2006)
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 think the trainer is one of the most underrated factors that people take into account when having a bet. I always find it amusing when people use the phrase ‘Give him the tools and he’ll do as good a job as any.’ It’s patently not true. How Grey Abbey’s owners must be wishing they’d have switched him from Finbar Murtagh’s 2 or 3 seasons before they did.
Similarly virtually any horse that joins the likes of Sue Smith, Gary Moore, Alan King, Peter Bowen and Evan Williams to name just five is almost guaranteed to improve.
On the last few seasons’ evidence, but more so this year than ever before, I’d add Alison Thorpe to that list in a heartbeat, DJ.<br>
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.
Without doubt this year gc. Though I got my fingers burnt on Pilca in the week so thought I’d leave her off it:biggrin:
Nothing wrong whatsoever with Knight skipping Carlisle.<br>Why should the horse make its seasonal debut against the potentially top class Monet’s Garden on a stiff trick on heavy going?<br>Yes, she can be accused of seeming indecesion over running plans and wrapping her best horses in "cotton wool" but always takes a long term view in the best interests of her charges. Do you want your horse to peak at the Cheltenham November meeting like Pipe’s or at the festival?<br>Her recruitment of TJ Murphy on a second claim is also a shrewd move ,as his patient style is suited to her training methods. How often he will be available in practice is another matter.<br>It’s been debated at great length on TRF whether Best Mate was another Arkle , but nonetheless producing the horse on the day to win 3 Gold Cups was a magnificent achievement. I too would like to see the list of 50 trainers who could have done the same.<br>Incidentally is O’Neill guilty of "cotton wool" treatment in not matching Black Jack Ketchum against My Way De Solzen at Wetherby today given the ground?
Quote: from Lincoln Duncan on 10:50 pm on Oct. 27, 2006[br]I agree, SL, and in this case she may be justified in not running him on the slop at Carlisle.
But she has plenty of previous in making big plans and scrapping them left, right and centre, and sometimes it just gets a bit tedious.
Best Mate was a big strong horse and a few more runs in his life would have done him no harm whatsoever. Not many trainers have trained a triple Gold Cup winner, but then not many trainers have a horse that good in the yard. I can think of about 50 trainers who would have won three Gold Cups with Best Mate had Jim Lewis sent him to be trained elsewhere.<br>
Hen does nothing terribly different from other trainers except for talk too much. If she left her plans open ended instead of drawing attension to them only to then have to change them, none of this would be any big deal.
I dont think many trainers would have won 3 GC even with Best Mate but then how many would have aimed him so specifically…Henderson perhaps.
SHL
Quote: from Lingfield on 9:34 am on Oct. 28, .
Do you want your horse to peak at the Cheltenham November meeting like Pipe’s or at the festival?
If you send it to Hen it’s not likely to do either. Take out the victories of Best Mate and Miss Knight has stats of 1/96 at Cheltenham in the past five seasons.
Like others here, I defend the right of the trainer to make the decision – it wouldn’t suit me as an owner, but I can’t imagine the question is ever likely to arise.
Perhaps we should be asking why the media continue to interview her live on TV or report her views in the papers?
AP<br>
That’s the point about Best Mate though AP, he arrived on 3 occasions supremely primed to win the Gold Cup.<br>Had he been bottomed out humping huge weights in the mud throughout the winter trying to prove he was Arkle then his career would more likely have been foreshortened.<br>Nicholls makes a similar point in today’s RP that he is starting some of his top rankers later this season because they cannot go through the season and get to the festival meetings A1.
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