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Newmarket has the 1000 Gunieas, Epsom has the Oaks, Doncaster has the Park Hill Stakes, so why isnt there a Grade 1 race at the Cheltenham Festival run over the Champion Hurdle course and distance open only to Mares?? Indeed why are the very few races on the National Hunt calendar thats open just to mares certainly not many pattern races (Grade 1/2/3 and listed). I know theres going to be a new race open only to the mares at next years festival then why is it going to be run over 2m 4f and not 2m 110 yards and over the Champion Hurdle. I would also like to see a Grade 1 chase at the festival run over the Gold Cup course and distance thats open to mares only as well. Its a shame whlie theres plenty of top class races for fillies/mares over the flat but hardly any at all over jumps. Of course the winners of Mares only races over jumps will make good broodmare prospect for the future.
Actually, there’s a series of new or upgraded races for mares over hurdles this season outlined on the BHA website.
Starts at Wetherby in November with a Listed race over 2M, then Wincanton (2M 6F Hcp), Kempton (2M 5F Listed), Kempton again at Xmas (3M Hcp) Sandown (2M 4F Listed), Ascot (3M Grade 2) and Doncaster (2M Grade 2, leading up to the big new race at Cheltenham.
All those races have at least £30k prize money and the two Grade 2 races offer £50k.
AP
I wonder is the 2m listed race at Wetherby will mark Turbo Linn’s hurdling debut? Its interesting that betfair have her quoted for next year’s champion hurdle. Lets hope Graham Wylie makes an offer for Turbo Linn so we see her rightfully run over hurdles in preperation for next years Superme Novices Hurdle and then the Champion Hurdle in 2009. I think its sad that a horse that is unbeaten in bumpers can then have its back turned on the jumps game.
I seriously doubt that TL will be seen over hurdles now she’s proven to be so successful on the flat
I wonder is the 2m listed race at Wetherby will mark Turbo Linn’s hurdling debut? Its interesting that betfair have her quoted for next year’s champion hurdle. Lets hope Graham Wylie makes an offer for Turbo Linn so we see her rightfully run over hurdles in preperation for next years Superme Novices Hurdle and then the Champion Hurdle in 2009. I think its sad that a horse that is unbeaten in bumpers can then have its back turned on the jumps game.
Turbo Linn is a massive price to go hurdling this season. I expect that Alan Swinbank has never considered her to be genuinely involved in the jumps game at all, however traditionalists view bumpers.
I would also like to see a Grade 1 chase at the festival run over the Gold Cup course and distance thats open to mares only as well. Its a shame whlie theres plenty of top class races for fillies/mares over the flat but hardly any at all over jumps.
Regarding Chases, I don’t think the number of mares in training justifies a Graded mares-only race at Cheltenham, or anywhere else. The occasional high class mare such as Dubacilla or Lady Cricket may turn up but they’re rare beasts.
The Mares Only Novice Chase series is a long standing event and has a fairly valuable finale but the standard of runner contesting it and the series in general is nowt special.
Presumably the lack of chase-mares is due to the fact that if they are to carve out a racing career they will be 10/11yo by the time they’ve proved themselves and retire which diminishes substantially valuable time producing foals, whereas Flat mares can have a ‘long’ career and still be only 5/6 when they retire to breeding duties. And adding in the inherent danger of Chasing means the owner/breeder of a choicely bred NH mare may be loath to risk her on the racecourse at all.
It would be interesting to know what percentage of NH bred horses are born to an unraced mare.
I’m sorry about this but I have a nasty taste in my mouth regards to Turbo Linn; she runs and wins all her Bumpers, runs on the flat, quite successfully,(until Thursday), yet Ibet there has never been any intention to run her over jumps. NHFlat races are for young green horses in prep for a future over jumps, using them as a prep for a flat career doesn’t seem right.
The Mares Only Novice Chase series is a long standing event and has a fairly valuable finale but the standard of runner contesting it and the series in general is nowt special.
Both the chase series final AND the hurdles series final are contested by fair to good performers rather than future superstars – I thnk most winners of either in recent years have had ratings in the 110s. You wouldn’t imagine a typical recent winner like Penneyrose Bay popping up at the Festival any time soon.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
I’m sorry about this but I have a nasty taste in my mouth regards to Turbo Linn; she runs and wins all her Bumpers, runs on the flat, quite successfully,(until Thursday), yet Ibet there has never been any intention to run her over jumps. NHFlat races are for young green horses in prep for a future over jumps, using them as a prep for a flat career doesn’t seem right.
For the greater part, sure, but in essence I don’t see too much wrong with Swinbank’s behaviour here – in a climate where stealing a march by whatever means is becoming increasingly hard, getting a bit of race practice into Turbo Linn by the bumper route, and racking up a few wins without being forced into the Flat handicap route too soon, just seemed very shrewd.
Notwithstanding Thursday’s defeat, I think the almost certain imminent retirement of Collier Hill has pretty much snuffed out any chance of Turbo Linn being sent hurdling now – she would appear to be the animal of choice to step into the former’s shoes as the yard’s globetrotter hereafter.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
I heard that Turbo Linn originally had an aversion to starting stalls, so she was started in bumpers to give her racecourse experience and take advantage of the fact that in every other respect she was ready to run, while they worked on getting over her ‘phobia’ or whatever it was of the stalls at home.
Further to the theme about bumpers being a place for inexperienced horses to learn, can anyone tell me what the point of junior bumpers and polytrack bumpers are? By and large they are contested by cheap throwouts from Flat yards that aren’t good enough to make the grade in that sphere, and have little or no scope to make jumpers. There are odd exceptions granted such au Aux Le Bahn but generally the races are poorly contested.
Regarding Turbo Linn, I don;t really swallow the line that she only started in bumpers because of her phobia for stalls. Her sire had produced nothing else of note on the Flat in the UK and seemingly not anywhere else in Europe whilst the dam is a bumper winner and made his first racecourse appearance in a juvenile hurdle rather than a Flat maiden.
One thing that has baffled me so far during the 2010/11 jumps season is there is a lack of top quality mares at the highest level. Why can flat racing produce top quality fillies and mares that can beat the colts at group 1 level year after year but over the jumps we cannot produce any decent mares that can beat the geldings in grade 1 races or at the championships at Cheltenham or Aintree is there any reason for this? Jump racing does need its very own Goldikova. I am not talking about the next Dawn Run just some need quality mares that can beat the best geldings about at the top level.
Are there any up and coming mares at novoce mares to look out for in the coming months? What has happend to promising bumper horse Tus Nua? Why is she not listed in the Ante Post betting for the Champion Bumper even though she won both here bumpers?
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I really like Nadia De La Vega, she’s a mare from the Henderson yard that could go onto special things mate.
I agree theres not many mares out there, plenty around on the flat this season who needed to go into the NH game.
Maybe time will tell
There are plenty of decent mares around:
Back Of The Pack
Blazing Tempo
Olilly
Araucaria
Askanna
Our Victoria
Quevega
Carole’s Legacy
Banjaxed Girl
L’Accordioniste
Risaala
Sparky MayAll of the above look decent – the problem in the past has always been that there haven’t been any "mares only" races for them and they are more valuable at stud, with the addition of the David Nicholson this has changed somewhat and IMO we’ve seen a year on year rise in the quality of mares in the race.
Normally a horse like Quevega would have been retired to stud after her first season in Ireland which included a G1 placing so in terms of Black-Type there was little more for her to achieve yet her owners have kept her in training to take two Mares Hurdles and the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown.
Martin
Don’t forget Voler La Vedette IS
. She’s capable of mixing it with the boys.And Mullin’s mare Tarla, who was impressive when winning at Punchestown last year. Not sure what her plans are.
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