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I don’t know what exactly was proven by Canford Cliffs at the Curragh. He beat the third best Guineas field of the year for mine. How is that so special? I always said Xtension would be risky at a mile. The likes of Steinbeck and Fencing Master have proven very little and do virtually nothing to confirm or deny a level of form ( for the Irish Guineas )at this stage. Canford Cliffs has much to prove in a slowly run tactical contest over a mile. I can’t believe anyone is already considering a step up in trip let alone mentioning the Breeders Classic. That’s a very long bow to draw.
I agree with the poster and his comments about cherry picking placegetters from Guineas races as a means of form evaluation. Often useless. Year after year you get horses who seemingly run the race of their lives in a Guineas and can never repeat the performance on a ratings level.
Makfi is three from three and had to travel from France to take the prize. Not too many ever do that. The last few that managed it had extensive 2yo campaigns by comparison. This fellow may have more left to offer than Pennekamp or Zafonic who were both tried at the highest level at 2yrs and were somewhat spent forces subsequent to Guineas day.
I’m sure we’ll all keep arguing about the relative merits of our respective favourites. Regardless of individual opinions the SJP is shaping up as the race of the week for Ascot enthusiasts. I hope we’re not disappointed by a number of absentees. I’d think there’s a real chance one of the Hannon pair ( DT ) will not show up and be aimed at the Sussex instead.
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Chiswuckian
Pray explain how it is cherrypicking to take the ONLY 4 horses to run in both races and compare how they ran?
Peruvian Chief accused others of ignoring the form book, yet the form book clearly shows 2 of the 3 horses finishing much further behind Canford Cliffs, with the remaining one having obvious and easily justifiable reasons for not doing so.
Fwiw – and I’d suspect it has little to do the unplaced horses – RPR show Canford Cliffs to have improved 7lbs from one Guineas to the next, and T/S have him improving by 4lbs (to a s/f of 119 – which is a long, long way from the pace you’d expect in "slowly run tactical contest" btw).
Given that both trainer and jockey gave a valid reason (before the Irish Guineas) for the horse disappointing at Newmarket, and the nature of CC’s victory at the Curragh, only the parblind or the stupid wouldn’t accept that the horse had made at least some improvement from one race to the other.
Imvho, of course.Fair play to Canford Cliffs and connections,the horse got the mile comfortably and nothing including Steinbeck will reverse the form with the easy winner from that race! However the real yardstick is
Dick Turpin
who holds a 2-0 lead over Canford Cliffs,the next match will hopefully be the St James Palace stakes.I feel Dick Turpin is a consistent but improving colt,so if Canford gets past him,then he will have shown improvement!Bearing in mind connections have openly declared he is "The Best they have ever had" did they know Canford would show improved form from one Guineas to the other,or was it just that the horse has only just come to himself and poor Dick Turpin has been beating a half fit Wonder horse!We shall see on June 15th!!
Well, Dick Turpin’s an April 30th foal so in theory he should have far more improvement to offer than Canford.
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Careful Reet your humility might hit someone in the face. Any assumption that Canford Cliffs improved between Newmarket and the Curragh can be tempered by a counter assumption that others went backwards between the two races. There is also the issue of course layout which may have suited CC more than others who performed better at Newmarket than in Ireland. Pace and draw are also factors. You can analyse it all day.
There is nothing to prove that the Irish race was not the third best Guineas of the season. That’s my opinion, it wont change soon and I wont BS you about being humble either. Now go find someone else to put words into the mouth of and insult. Next time do a lot better than Chiswuckian, blind and stupid if you want any response.
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BTW trainers give "valid reasons" every day of the week. When it comes to Gr1 horses I pay little attention. I have a pair of eyes that can form an opinion as well as any trainer. Most "valid reasoning" that comes from a trainers mouth these days is heavily laced with maketing spin for a future stallion career.
Any improvement attributed to CC has to also be applied to Viscount Nelson. He also had a valid reason for the Newmarket performance.
I think the real question to come out of Ireland is "What will the margin be between CC and Steinbeck when they next meet"? Now that’s a poser worth considering.
Corals go 7/4 Canford, 2/1 Makfi, 5/1 Dick Turpin & Steinbeck – prices you wouldn’t want to be betting ante-post at, though, on the day, I’d certainly be backing Canford Cliffs if he remained in the same area.
I’m more interested in the 10/1 available about Siyouni.
You can put a line through his last run. Last season he beat Pounced, Buzzword, Lope De Vega, Dick Turpin and Beethoven to win the Lagadere after running Special Duty close in the Prix Robert Papin.
He’s the type to enjoy Ascot and, contrary to breeding, I think he will at his most effective on a quick surface.
Makfi’s success in the 2000 reminds me of Kris Kin’s Derby.
Glad that wrong has been righted!!!
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