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Whilst watching the race, SS made a spectacular jump 2 fences prior which had me in awe. To see him being pulled up, my initial reaction was that he had strained his back muscles from that particular jump. Fantastic horse but will he be retired in the near future?
Reading in today’s Sporting Life racing website it says Sprinter Sacre’s heart problem has righted itself. I’m by no means suggesting there has been any wrong doing here but this seems highly "convenient".
The uninitiated would be aghast that there has still been no inquiry. Sadly, it looks increasingly like the elephant will leave the room quietly.
Two words – Detroit City.
Went from magnificent to inexplicably poor to dead.BG did exactly right when he sensed SS was suddenly inexplicably poor. Might have saved his life. Or do you conspiracy theorists believe the two vets that reported an irregular heartbeat are also in on the scam?
Two words – Detroit City.
Went from magnificent to inexplicably poor to dead.BG did exactly right when he sensed SS was suddenly inexplicably poor. Might have saved his life. Or do you conspiracy theorists believe the two vets that reported an irregular heartbeat are also in on the scam?
Conjecture… again. Emotional conjecture at that.
I don’t
believe
anything because I don’t have immediate and uninterrupted access to concrete and indisputable proof. Only an idiot would
believe
anything he hears from third/fourth party sources. Particularly sources which have not once been independently or officially verified.
To re-iterate my position;-
I love Sprinter Sacre and am delighted he didn’t die before nature intended.
I do not
believe
anything untoward has occurred and on the balance of probability afforded by the limited evidence available, my gut tells me that it’s unlikely anything untoward happened.
However, the above statement would never hold up in court as it’s pure conjecture.
The sight of a horse being pulled up that quickly without being dismounted is incredibly rare. The absence of an independent inquiry in such circumstances is rarer still.
With it being such a high profile horse, the liquidity is there for the
possible
exploitation of advanced knowledge.
The arrhythmia pops up after a mile at Kempton. Not during any schooling sessions during his training for the race. Then sorts itself out as quickly as it had first arrived.
The controversy surrounding Moonlit Path and Binocular dictates that Nicky Henderson is not a man above scrutiny. No man is for that matter.
None of the aforementioned is in any way enough to secure a conviction. Nevertheless, there is more than enough for a routine investigation. What harm could it possibly do the character of NJH or the integrity of the sport. Furthermore, as raised by PC, it sets a very dangerous precedent.
My biggest qualm is that the official line, despite its imperfect strength, is being accepted as though it were the word of God. All I’m asking is why is it too much to ask for a quick procedural?
These days there is often an enquirey before the enquirey. ie Stewards probably looked at the incident and decided not to hold an enquirey. Because it’s blindingly obvious something was wrong. Anyone who knows anything about this particular horse knows Sprinter Sacre did not travel or jump the way he normally does. Therefore, got to be something amiss. Is it this irregular heartbeat? Probably yes, if that’s what they say. Connections are not forced to tell Joe Punter anything, so it is good they do. Of course part of our punter’s mentality is always skeptical, but if there is no evidence then it should remain in his/her mind. It’s not enough for the need for an enquirey. Too many would disuade trainers from giving any reason for any disappointing performance, just saying "we don’t know why, it’s a mystery". Surely it is best we get an explanation with a slight question mark, than no explanation at all?
Whenever there’s a slight chance of someone not telling the truth, it seems we must hold an enquirey. Conspiracy theorists will always see the mere fact of an enquirey being held as "something dishonest must have happened".
For equine safety more horses should be pulled up in these circumstances, not less. More enquiries would only mean fewer distressed animals pulled up. It’s always nice to know, but I don’t particularly care what was wrong, it’s just enough to know there was something.
Hypothetically, could punters profit? Yes.
The horse was long odds-on, but not as short as a top form Sprinter Sacre deserved to be. We all knew the horse ran below form last time out (when winning) in Ireland and since has been under the weather with a virus (or that sort of thing). Fact is if it was known Sprinter Sacre was AOK, then he’d have started more like 1/10 than 4/9 and Sire De Grugy more like 9/1 than 4/1. ie The true (not hypothetical) chance of something not being right with Sprinter Sacre WAS already factored in to prices, at least to some degree.In the know punters could profit if they knew of any doubts at home, that there was a fair chance Sprinter Sacre would not perform. However, for most of us (including bookmakers) it was an impossible race to work out. Hence bookmakers not taking any chances working to 115%, average mark up of 2.5% per horse; despite it being a 6 runner conditions race contested mostly by exposed sorts, with most runners rank outsiders (usually needing less mark up).
Really hope Sprinter Sacre returns to his absolute best and thumps his Champion Chase field. However, as others have said, big imposing types are suseptible to injury/physical problems and punters can bet against them when odds are deemed favourable. I put ante-post bets on both Simonsig 5/1 and Cue Card 16/1 for the Champion Chase with the Non-Runner-Free-Bet proviso. Knowing they’d both only run if Sprinter Sacre did not turn up. Looks like I’ll be taking up the NRFB with the former, but the latter is now best price (with a run) 3/1.
Value Is EverythingThe sight of a horse being pulled up that quickly without being dismounted is incredibly rare. The absence of an independent inquiry in such circumstances is rarer still.
Sprinter Sacre is an exceptional horse that has sauntered through most of his races on the bridle. That Geraghty had to bump him along after a fence says it all. This isn’t a horse who requires urging. This isn’t a time for an AP style special.
The horse had previously scoped badly so BG thinks there’s something related to that. He doesn’t dismount because otherwise the horse beneath him doesn’t feel injured.
Ruby Walsh falls off Kauto Star at Exeter and remounts him. Wrongly, as it turns out, because it transpires the horse is injured and is out for the season.
Had Ruby chosen not to remount the horse and Kauto had been found to be perfectly fine after the race, people would have been up in arms because he didn’t remount and win the race but chose to think of the horse first.
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