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Harzand is too short for me (which isn’t to say that I think he won’t win). I’m inclined to give Moonlight Magic another chance. Clearly didn’t run his race at Epsom and, if you discount that, he’s pretty good value
After paying 75k supplementary for Epsom, they’ve paid again to put Red Verdon in here. His owner has just 6 in training and though he won’t be short of a few quid, he must have considerable faith in the horse who ran into a fair bit of trouble at Epsom before finishing 6th.
He’d be the each way at 11/1 for me.
You have to wonder at the logic of Ronnie Joe!! Maybe Ed Dunlop has told him the horse is a superstar in waiting??
I am on the Port Douglas bandwagon each way but I DO HOPE the Favourite wins!! I am not biased (well I backed him at 25/1 for the Derby) but I do love to see Derby winners carry on winning!!
I prefer Red Verdon to Moonlight Magic as the each-way bet.
Moonlight Magic was tailed away back at Epsom and I thought he looked like a horse who was due a nice, long, break to regather for later in the year.
I can’t see Red Verdon winning this and it would be a bit of a blow to the quality if he did win it, but he should run his race and holds several of these on his last run, so he’s little bit of each-way value I feel.
I’ll take a pop at the 1-2-3 as a bet.
Harzand
Idaho
Red VardonThanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Harzand is all stamina and toughness. Though I’ve already backed him for it, I think he’ll probably need a really soft ground Arc to win it. Might be just a shade short of what’s needed on anything faster.
x
I’ll take a pop at the 1-2-3 as a bet.
Harzand
Idaho
Red VardonNearly there Steve!
It was a tough race but in my opinion not a top level affair.
Harzand is a willing partner and a fighter but sometimes in racing that won’t be enough.
I almost had the 1-2-3 but Red Verdon failed by a short head.
Red Verdon ran a funny race, every time it looked like he might start to make a run, he seemed to drop back again. Ultimately he came flying through and seemed sure to secure third but couldn’t quite get there as Stellar Mass found just enough to cling on.
I feel a bit lucky to have collected on the win with Harzand at 6/4 because US Army Ranger had a setback. Amazing to me that Harzand remained 6/4 with the O’Brien number one out and that Idaho was favourite in places at that time.
The style of Harzand’s win today suggests to me that all the theories, posturing and accusations of jockey error in the Epsom Derby may have had no truth. You can have all the sectional analysis you want but sometimes the horse with the biggest heart and gut wins out. That looked the case today but because you can’t put a number on it, some will prefer to mention times measured down to an utterly ridiculous 100th of a second.
Note to the time boys:-
These are horses, not Formula 1 cars.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Having just watched the replay, Harzand is certainly a ‘street fighter’; look at how he leans in towards Idaho in the last half furlong to intimidate him. But he’s not slow either. He’s the type that will just keep finding, and in that respect he reminds me of Shirley Heights (another to do the Epsom-Curragh double in ‘tough’ style) – not surprisingly, when one looks at his dam’s breeding!
I’m not sure he’s an Arc winner either. He looks all over a Leger horse to me, especially given how he ran on through the line. But clearly AKS want to go the Sinndar route.
It will be interesting to see how both colts come out of that battle. It wasn’t quite Grundy v Bustino, but with the pacemakers blazing out front it had echoes of that epic.
What a great race and isn’t he tough?? I love it how he battled when challenged!!
Great performance from Harzand and the second wasn’t bad either
Would us army ranger have won. We will never know. Great battling by the winner and much improved by the runner up. Interesting to see where they go next. Idaho could well develop into a top 4 year old.
Does anyone know why Aidan O’Brien is still running Shogun in these races?
Claudio Monteverdi is another horse who is clearly short of top class.
Quite a poor standard from horses bred in the purple and/or costing a fortune.
I wonder what the percentage of dross there is amongst the odd champion?
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Would us army ranger have won. We will never know. Great battling by the winner and much improved by the runner up. Interesting to see where they go next. Idaho could well develop into a top 4 year old.
Sharper track,smaller field. Yes I think US Army Ranger would’ve won.
Ryan Moore should have took Idaho much wider in his challenge and delayed it longer. Harzand revelled in that battle and is one not to get into a duel with. Reminded me of Dawn Approach and Toronado in the St James Palace stakes but when they met in the Sussex Richard Hughes took my advice in coming late, wide and fast.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
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