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We know how good
Long Run
was, but how good is he now? Won “2010” King George and 2011 Gold Cup while wearing ear plugs; but hasn’t had them in on recent starts. Why change such a winning formula? He’s surely not showing the same speed at home. Connections trying to rekindle enthusiasm by doing something different. Not until ear plugs are reintroduced for the race itself (has worn them in preliminaries since but not in race) can I believe Long Run will be back to his best. Not that he’d probably need to be to win this.
Well done to team LR, but…
This race confirms to me Nicky Henderson has been losing races with Long Run when he should’ve won them. Take a look at the re-run on C4+1 in a few minutes. Particularly the replay of the last couple of fences from the camera on the inside of the track. When Long Run hits the front he pricks his ears and idles badly. Sam gets him over to Captain Chris and with another horse to race with picks up again, but still with ears pricked. In my opinion the roar of the crowd is putting off Long Run. If connections were to go back to ear plugs worn in the race itself, he’d go clear of his field and probably be capable of his old form.Value Is EverythingPoorest King George since Edredon Bleu; the only real stayer won it. A proper jockey and LR could be a force in the Gold Cup
Poorest King George since Edredon Bleu; the only real stayer won it. A proper jockey and LR could be a force in the Gold Cup
I am not a big fan of Long Run but he had to be the pick today under the conditions and with so many question marks regarding the others. I don’t like the way Long Run travels or jumps but he’s got guts. I won’t back him at Cheltenham regardless of his jockey on the day though.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
I honestly thought captain Chris was going to win that after the last.
Credit to both horses for making such an exhilarating finish.
It really was a war of attrition, but I couldn’t have Long Run in the Gold Cup.
He and his jockey showed guts and I was glad his jockey took the race by the scruff of the neck after a circuit. You’ve gotta be positive with this horse. He still didn’t jump that well, and that has always got to be a consideration when backing him.
The ground made a massive difference there. Grand Crus also ran with credit and looks on the way back.
Can’t believe William Hills went 3/1 this morning – can’t have lasted for long (?). I checked the prices late last night and they were no better than 2/1, so they must have decided to take a big stance.
Fair point about the ear plugs by GT. When I watched it again it did look like he had something left in the tank but was getting lonely/bored – however you want to put it – he lost concentration.
Zip
Did NH say that they always work him on his own? Far from a straightforward horse to deal with but look what he’s achieved [and at an age where a lot of horses are just thinking about winning a Gold Cup]. Captain Chris should never have been 20/1. Has Phillip Hobbs ever trained a KG winner? I know he’s had some very good placed horses over the years. Can’t help but wonder if there might be a whip ban looming though for SWC? The S.O. had backed Captain Chris and I would have backed him if he hadn’t but I still wanted Long Run to win. Wonder how we’ll look back on him in years to come; very enigmatic?
Wonder how we’ll look back on him in years to come; very enigmatic?
The Binocular of the staying chasers division maybe…..?
To think if LR could actually jump!!! You got to hand it to him, he’s got a motor if he can jump that badly and still win! Get the feeling today he was runninh against horses that either had doubts or we didn’t know fully what they were capable of e.g cue card stamina and grand crus after his operation – imo these horses (apart from captain chris) were able to put it up to long run. You now have to surely believe silvianico conti is a great bet for the gold cup. Maybe on quicker ground it will be a different story but today for sure it seem’s that way.
Bos, well done again, fine call and your summary of CC’s weaknesses look spot on. I hope you made a few quid.
Long Run a very talented out and out grinding stayer. If he could jump he’d be a fine National prospect.
Congrats to all who bet the winner.
Gold Cup and Champ Hurdle markets now look more open than I can ever recall at this stage of season.
Joe
Again, many thanks, Joe.
Let me first say that Sam Waley-Cohen is a fine horseman. He has won a Cheltenham Gold Cup, narrowly missed out on winning a Grand National, and this afternoon added a second King George to his CV.
There were occasions during the latter stages of the contest, however, when Waley-Cohen demonstrated just how much more effective Long Run could be with a top class professional on his back. I emphasise the word ‘top class’ because he is arguably just as good as the majority of professional jockeys riding today.
When Long Run is looking for some assistance at the business end of a race, Waley-Cohen too often just sits and allows the horse to make the decision at an obstacle. He needs to be more confident and assured in the horse beneath him, and Long Run will reciprocate these emotions just like he does when asked to battle.
I was delighted to see Long Run win this afternoon, but I couldn’t fancy him for the Cheltenham Gold Cup unless it came up testing. If you take Kauto Star out of the last two runnings of this contest, Long Run had thrashed some very good horses both in victory and defeat.
I’m not as convinced by his Cheltenham credentials, though, based on his RSA defeat, victory over a post-prime Denman and Kauto Star, and a satisfactory third behind two good, but far from top class individuals last season.
I’d be very surprised if the winner didn’t come from either Bobs Worth or Sir Des Champs based on what we’ve seen. Flemenstar will find it a different test to what he has encountered thus far and I’m not yet convinced that Silvinaco Conti will be at his best around Prestbury Park.
There is one horse that could give them something to think about – Captain Chris. I’ve always been a fan of this horse, yet he surprised me this afternoon. He ran an incredibly similar race to last year – outpaced when the race heated up, only to stay on stoutly from way out the back.
Plenty of analysis to be done on the proximity of Captain Chris to Long Run this time around. Despite conditions favouring the eventual winner, Captain Chris made a significant dent in the 17L beating he was given in the race last season. I have come to the conclusion that he is most definitely a ‘confidence horse’, which can also influence his erratic jumping on a left-handed track.
It is soemthing that has been allowed to develop, rather than something innate and I can guarantee that if he goes to Cheltenham in the right frame of mind you won’t see a repeat of what has happened at the track before. He can be very effective around the undulations of Prestbury Park – just as he demonstrated in the Arkle – and he finds it less demanding than the sharp configurations of Kempton, where he has to work extra hard just to keep himself in contention.
He was staying on in the Ryanair last season and the trip would not be a problem.
Grands Crus is still something of an enigma. I’m convinced he’s still a better horse than both Silviniaco Conti and Bobs Worth, and todays effort was a step in the right direction. I believe Mick Fitzgerald said that a horse who has endured a breathing operation needs a couple of runs to have enough confidence to put everything in at the business end and Grands Crus epitomised this belief. He travelled well, appeared to hold back, but stayed on again. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here because, in more ways than one, he is entitled to improve.
Champion Court and Cue Card both ran respectable races – the former really came of age this afternoon. Cue Card jumped out to his left at the first and you can’t make a mistake like that and expect to win – the field aren’t going to wait for you. It is testament to his ability that he got back into a winning position, but his headstrong tendancies also got the better of him and a strongly run two miles / two miles-five is perhaps more suitable at this stage of his career.
I wasn’t convinced that The Giant Bolster would enjoy the ground, nor that McCoy was a suitable partner. It is safe to put a line through that performace, while Kauto Stone never looked happy. Riverside Theatre ran a respectable race on his return, but looking at him alongside Captain Chris early on and you realise why he is quite fragile. Junior was understandably outclassed.
The positive remarks regarding Long Run are understandable at this stage, as most post race comments are before there’s been too much time to assess the race. I think though that once the dust has settled and people can see the race for what it really was we will begin to see that Long Run really is a mere shadow of his former self, if indeed this was anything special at all. Before the race if we’d have known that he’d beat Captain Chris by a neck he’d be lambasted and thrown on the fire in any regard. To me it’s quite obvious that everything else in the race had an excuse. Personally I backed Grands Crus in the hope that we’d see him back to his best, something which appeared to be on for three quarters of the trip before he emptied quicker than Santa’s sack on Christmas Eve. In truth there was nothing left that should have served it up to Long Run and he should have won by a street given the conditions. I think in hindsight we could well look back on this race as his true last hurrah as I’m not sure there are many future glories left remaining.
I doubt Long Run has deteriorated. He just seems to need the mother of all stamina tests at top level. His GC win was off a killing pace. His first KG wasn’t as tough as yesterday’s but there were valid excuses for a number of his fancied opponents that day.
If he could jump he’d be a serious bet in the National.
His jumping is one of the reasons SWC gets a lot of stick imo. I’m doubtless boring people to death now but he’s always had the same jumping problem – can’t get his back end high enough when under pressure. Yesterday was the first time I’ve seen him make a mistake with his front end.
I think SWC can look a bit ungainly going into fences late on because he knows what the horse is likely to do and he tries taking a defensive position. LR tends to hit the fence with back legs, sometimes as high as at the stifle area; this not only slows him suddenly but jolts his rump upwards, usually pushing the jock up with him.
SWC knows him very well and I think that makes up for the gap between him and a top-notcher who might just find himself the victim of an embarrassing unseat.
Didn’t Phillip Hobbs say Captain Chris wasn’t right last season? And that he’s one of the best he’s ever trained [not sure if PH tends to do an Aidan O’Brien in that respect, but I think not]? He even looks like a GC winner
. Think he was very underrated going into the race yesterday and hope he can build on that.
Poorest King George since Edredon Bleu; the only real stayer won it. A proper jockey and LR could be a force in the Gold Cup
I am not a big fan of Long Run but he had to be the pick today under the conditions and with so many question marks regarding the others. I don’t like the way Long Run travels or jumps but he’s got guts. I won’t back him at Cheltenham regardless of his jockey on the day though.
Yes, he was easily the best stayer in the field under the prevailing conditions.
However, also agree with the statement about earplugs and also would rather back Bobs Worth or SDC at Cheltenham
I doubt Long Run has deteriorated. He just seems to need the mother of all stamina tests at top level. His GC win was off a killing pace. His first KG wasn’t as tough as yesterday’s but there were valid excuses for a number of his fancied opponents that day.
If he could jump he’d be a serious bet in the National.
I think many trainers in GB and Ireland would love to see him entered because their national types would be running off 10 stone instead of 11-10 or the like.
He’d have no chance in a National.
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