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Live and learn mate.
I actually think the way he ran there, he’s crying out for fences.
Interesting to see what the sectionalistas make of that race. With Melon pulling so hard and Johnny Constable still there approaching the last I’d suggest they didn’t go very fast. MTOY (always a horse with immense natural speed) able to sprint away up the hill, that’s another indicator that stamina wasn’t really tested.
Also makes you wonder – have MTOY’s frailties in a finish been due to a plain lack of stamina at a well-run 2m rather than anything related to attitude?
I think Melon’s connections won’t be too disappointed with that. Gave away 6lbs to the Champion Hurdle runnner up and finished 2 L behind him. He also had a bit of a tustle with one of the other horses before turning for home. As a 5 year old he has plenty of scope for improvement and I’d say the reason he’s not Novice Chasing is down to his lack of experience with only 3 starts in his Novice season. He needs to improve another half a stone before March to get anywhere near Buveur Dair and Faugheen but based on what I saw today, and the fact he is 5 and gave weight, I would fancy him to place in the Champions Hurdle.
Interesting to see what the sectionalistas make of that race. With Melon pulling so hard and Johnny Constable still there approaching the last I’d suggest they didn’t go very fast. MTOY (always a horse with immense natural speed) able to sprint away up the hill, that’s another indicator that stamina wasn’t really tested.
Also makes you wonder – have MTOY’s frailties in a finish been due to a plain lack of stamina at a well-run 2m rather than anything related to attitude?
At those weights MTOY didn’t need to be anywhere near his best today, put up better performances in races he was beaten. So no, defeats were not due to stamina. One thing he did today that hasn’t often done in races away from the Champion Hurdle in recent years is – settle. Has age mellowed him?
Value Is EverythingYou just beat me to it Ginge
you could also say has age improved him 
Never had a bet on the race, but been a big follower of the horse for some time now. Last year he settled a lot better than in previous years, but today was the smoothest i have seen him ever race. Granted he was getting weight today, but given good ground at Cheltenham and fast pace, he will still be travelling well two from home.
MTOY at 10 now seems to be more amenable to settling in the early stages, the amount of energy he now saves from that enables him to pick up at the end of the race.
If anything Melon was acting like the old MTOY as he was still tanking along jumping the second last and now connections need to get him to learn how to settle because I can’t see any Champion Hurdle or the trials leading up to it ever being run at the pace he will need to be effective.
Ed Chamberlin at the end of todays show said he would win the 2019 Arkle and then Fitzy said how about the 2018 one as they still have time to run him over fences!!!
Well done My Tent Or Yours – I’ve slagged him off plenty in the past for not putting races to bed – that was a joy to see in a fine finish. Congrats all those who kept the faith.
Interesting to see what the sectionalistas make of that race. With Melon pulling so hard and Johnny Constable still there approaching the last I’d suggest they didn’t go very fast. MTOY (always a horse with immense natural speed) able to sprint away up the hill, that’s another indicator that stamina wasn’t really tested.
Also makes you wonder – have MTOY’s frailties in a finish been due to a plain lack of stamina at a well-run 2m rather than anything related to attitude?
I think there’s something in that and when you factor in the positives today – fresh, receiving weight from his rivals….
He ran in last year’s renewal off the back of a run on Heavy at Haydock and it probably took the edge off him instead of bringing him on. He has tended not to improve after a reappearance.Has age improved My Tent Or Yours? Don’t get carried away. If “improved” means his form then no, today some way short of the Champion Hurdle form. Conditions were not as testing as last year and Henderson had MTOY fitter than other reappearances which enabled him to show a good level of form not seen for some time at this time of year. One thing that has seemingly improved with age is being more amenable to restraint; in turn meaning he’ll probably be more consistent this season. ie No longer needing the pace of a Champion Hurdle to show his best. However, that “best” may not even be quite as good as it was in his younger days.
Value Is EverythingCould still see him placing in another Champion given the lack of depth this year and you only need Faugheen to no show and maybe some bad luck in running for BVD and it would be interesting to see what he could do given some decent ground in March and him settling better than he ever has previously – as the saying goes, you gotta be in it to win it.
He stills travels with plenty of zest.
nice to see him get his head in front although about 4 years too late for meGaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Melons the intriguing one…keen most of the way, but to me isn’t quite good enough. For me he should go fencing…..still time in an open Arkle…he might not win there either, but he wont have too many options over hurdles either?
What else comes and beats TNO or tent to finish 3rd ths year? hard to find one for me!
Twitter: Jackh1092
Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!The fact that you could almost throw duvet over the front 6 at the finish suggests that it wasn’t exactly a frenetic pace set by The New One, and the way they travelled in behind throughout probably helped highlight this too.
My Tent for the past few years always seemed to find himself with a deficit to claw back on a leader approaching the last and just could never do it. This year’s Champion he tried to go with the winner rounding the turn but lost 3 lengths and could never make them up, the year before it was the same with Annie Power and 2 years before that the same with Jezki. He’s a peculiar character and yesterday for once he found himself without a backside to look at over the last and the rest is history.
Personally, I’d love to see him go for the Irish Champion but I appreciate the ground will probably be against him.
He’ll still find a way to finish second in the Champion Hurdle, irrespective if Faugheen and Buveaur D’air show up!
More chance of enable running in the king george than MTOY going over a fence
Always thought he’d be a mighty fine chaser given how he’s such a big tall horse for a 2m hurdler. Presumably he schooled at Seven Barrows at some point without taking to it. Those strong-travelling bridle horses often like the rhythm of chasing better than hurdling too.
A bit late for that now though – not much point at this stage.
you could also say has age improved him 
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