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Captain Cutter died of a heart attack while in his box.
Not that it affects the arguments either way, but this statement is untrue. Captain Cutter fractured his pelvis in last year’s Spa Hurdle and had to be put down several weeks later following complications, thus becoming the 5th Festival fatality.
Strangely enough, JP’s only other Challow Hurdle winner Backspin (trained by Jonjo O’Neill) did die of a suspected heart attack while in his box.
Sorry Highflyer you are right, I read it wrong. Mistaking Backspin for Captain Cutter.
Value Is EverythingThat’s just my point though GT. I think Nicky Henderson has such resources that his yard should be at the apex of veterinary science and in a position to incorporate the most dynamic new training methods. We should be looking at his yard in admiration of how he defies injury and fatality statistics. Instead, practically all of his best older horses are performing poorly, injured or worse. That is an appalling failing for someone in his position imo. With respect to the smaller yard, he should not be operating at a lesser or comparable level to Simon Earle in horse welfare.
Simon Earle was my example of someone with more meagre resources, who seems to be getting some tangible results from the adoption of more advanced methods. Less expensive horses are usually available more cheaply because their legs are splayed outwards and they are generally less impressive specimens, thus less likely to stay sound. The cheaper horses are often also the progeny of stallions who were fragile themselves and unpopular with owners of top-tier mares unwilling to take the risk of getting overly fragile offspring.
Apologies for not addressing the Oscar Whisky v Big Zeb comparison. Colm Murphy reverted Big Zeb to hurdles after two falls, which seemed to be the catalyst for bolstered confidence and improved fencing from that horse. No such steps were taken with Oscar Whisky. Regarding Captain Cutter, see the post above.
On poor Homer Run, it’s true, he didn’t manage to avoid the loose horse. Not being able to see the incident out of the picture in the ATR replay, it’s hard to speculate whether he actually had any hope of getting out of the way. To me it still makes sense that a horse who has been trained at switching direction in rough terrain has a better chance of avoiding disaster in those situations. Nothing is a certainty though.
Homer Run had no chance of avoiding the loose horse TYF, just the same as any other horse trained by Henderson or any other trainer would not have done; whether trained the Earle way of “switching direction” or not.
A comparisson with an 11 runner string to 157 is questionable to say the least. Comparissons surely have to be made with other top yards to be meaningful.
Why is Simon Earle held up to be so good? Just because he talks the talk. Reminds me of the Jenny Pitman days “I love my horses”, repeated over and over again, in a way that implied other trainers did not. Do his methods really produce results?
1 winner in the last 6 months, an 8% strike rate suggests not.
Only 1 horse (Headly’s Bridge) has managed to win since December 2013. Suggests not.
So all the things Simon Earle has done have not produced winners. Why do you expect Henderson to do all the things Simon Earle does when it does not produce results?
Not one other trainer has gone over to Earle’s “no shoes” policy. It could also be argued that “switching direction in rough terrain” at home – can cause more injury.Truth is neither you or I know what Nicky Henderson does with his horses. He could have tried “dynamic new training methods” for all we know… that have failed. This has been one year Henderson has had these problems, it may or may not be coincidental, may or may not be repeated. Suspect myself the problem is not entirely coincidental, but the apparent size of problem might make it seem bigger than it really is. Have my own theory, but it would be wrong to point the finger because have no real evidence to back it up.
Value Is EverythingExcellent reply again GT, I really appreciate how you reply in such a calm and logical way even when we disagree. I mean that sincerely.
I don’t think Simon Earle is held up as a genius trainer by many. I certainly haven’t seen many mentions of him in the racing media or from racing fans. He’s just someone I personally hold in high esteem because I see insight in his methods. To criticise the raw results of a small yard is tricky, as they don’t have the marketing power to make connections and get much talented stock. Still, I do believe that he maximises the results from the horses that come his way. Even if those results only manifest in a good record with soundness, or a reputation for improving horses from other yards, it is worth praising.
Indeed, we are just speculating about everything and atrocious bad luck could easily explain what has happened to Henderson’s older horses this season. Likewise, Earle could be a crackpot doing more harm that good. Given the totality of the underperformance at Seven Barrows, it felt like the right time to at least raise a few questions in this thread.
Young Fella, I am enjoying your debate with GT. As a matter of interest have you any statistics on the ages of the horses Henderson yard? Comparing with perhaps Nicholls whose horses are mainly a lot younger, with a massive turnover and mainly French recruits. I speak as an owner of NH horses for over 30 years. It seemed the more classically bred NH horses floundered faster than the more flat bred jump recruits. We have seen a noticeable number of injuries increase with the new fibre all weather gallops which came into England about 10 years ago, mainly they used to be wood fibre. There is virtually nothing in common with the French training and the British. French trainers say our British horses are hard trained and that is why they do not last, they must have a point, there are plenty of horses heading to England from France, but virtually none the other way. You will not see a waxed surface in Chantilly or Mason Lafitte. We ask so much more of our horses now, years ago they were asked to reach peak race fitness about race 3/4 of the season, now they area ready to win after a year or so off. The horses has not changed, but what we expect of them has, ten fold and many do not last. As I said in my other post, lets see some of these trainers produce some statistics as to what happened to who at the end of the season and then maybe we could judge.
Not one other trainer has gone over to Earle’s “no shoes” policy. It could also be argued that “switching direction in rough terrain” at home – can cause more injury.
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