- This topic has 25 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 7 months ago by
.
- Posts
Entries for Saturday’s big race. Im not quite sure why they have moved it from the Sunday though. Possibly down to television coverage?
Don’t Push It (IRE) 9.g
Jonjo O’Neill
152
Finger Onthe Pulse (IRE) 8.g
T. J. Taaffe, Ireland
–
Kicks For Free (IRE) 8.g
P. F. Nicholls
147
Knowhere (IRE) 11.g
N. A. Twiston-Davies
154
Laskari (FR) 10.g
P. R. Webber
137
Monet’s Garden (IRE) 11.g
N. G. Richards
159
Nacarat (FR) 8.g
T. R. George
162
Oslot (FR) 7.g
P. F. Nicholls
146
Tamarinbleu (FR) 9.g
D. E. Pipe
161
Tartak (FR) 6.g
T. R. George
154
Three Mirrors 9.g
Ferdy Murphy
140
Tidal Bay (IRE) 8.g
J. Howard Johnson
158
Denis O’ReganThis looks a cracker but I will be going in big on
Tidal Bay
. Everything looks perfect for him.
He has won first time out the last three years, he looks sure to get his favoured good ground and has three course wins to his name.
I have no doubt that Knowhere from the Twiston-Davies yard will give him a good race but I understand that his preparations have hit a couple of minor problems that have interrupted his work and he might be best left alone for until he has a run under his belt.
Of the others I fancy Tartak to run into a place. He loves the flat sharpish tracks like Aintree, Kempton and Huntingdon and is another who although has form on most grounds seemed to love the ground when winning the Manifesto Novices Chase at the course in April. He won that race really well against strong opposition and must be in there with a big shout.
Welcome to the forum NH fan. I had a quick glance at the card and thought Nacarat at this stage. I will have a better look at things soon, and if i change my mind i will post again. I’m still rusty with jumps just now because i’m still focusing on the flats.
Guess it all depends on the final decs as cant see Tom George wanting to run Tartak and Nacarat against eachother.
Both look nice horses although Nacarat could be a challenger to KS at Kempton on Boxing Day if he has progressed over the summer.
Tidal Bay was disappointing last season and I seem to remember reading about him having a wind operation over the summer. Not quite sure that was the reason for the disappointing performances but it could help.
All in all a fascinating renewal even if it is missing Voy Por.
Nacarat or Tartak look like improving sorts who could win.
What the hell happened Tidal Bay last year???!!
I actually found it sad to watch the horse who had trounced the Arkle field run so poorly time and time again. His jumping was horrendous at times.
Hopefully he can get back on track this year.
In receipt of weight, I like the look of Tatak in this. Wants a flat track, imo, and I think he can take this en-route to the Peterborough Chase.
I think Tidal Bay may be worth a bet after having that wind operation; was interested to see if it had sorted him out a bit..was tempted to have a few ante post bets on him for other races.
Agree with you Moe. Tidal Bay, on old form, would leave this lot for dead. Tidal Bay on last seasons form would even had a chance…he wasn’t actually beaten far in the Ryanair chase at the festival! Worth noting Howard Johnson has started season in good form (was in poor form last year) and with a breathing op done Tidal Bay might be back on song.
My feeling is that if Tidal Bay jumps like he can, and not like he did for pretty much all of last season, he should take beating.
I like Tartak, but I just think Tidal Bay is more than 4 pounds the better horse.
Alot of the runners have to leave poor form behind them,, but atleast with Tidal Bay you can be sure he will keep running on, he tries his heart out.
My feeling is that if Tidal Bay jumps like he can, and not like he did for pretty much all of last season, he should take beating.
I like Tartak, but I just think Tidal Bay is more than 4 pounds the better horse.
Alot of the runners have to leave poor form behind them,, but atleast with Tidal Bay you can be sure he will keep running on, he tries his heart out.
Tidal Bay, based on ability, is easily the best horse in this race, but he has shown precious little inclination to run to his
very
best since the Arkle. He shouldn’t even be favourite for this based on how he’s run on most of his outings in the last year. The notion that he "tries his heart out" is generous in the extreme, and I say this as someone who thought he would win a Gold Cup this time last year.
- Total Posts 17716
It needs more than a breathing operation to sort out Tidal Bay’s jumping problems, and the only decent race he ran last season was over 3m1f at Wetherby, where the distance allowed him time to keep recovering from his sloppy technique.
Knowhere beat a much better field than this last season, has faced 3 impossible tasks since, and has won fto in 5 of the 6 seasons he has raced. At 9/1, I’ll take a chance on him still being good enough.Too late to have a bet today, but think I would probably have had a bet on either Knowhere or Finger. However, would also have been tempted to have a small ew on three Mirrors at 20/1 because, although he seems to have lost his way he does like flat galloping tracks and Ferdy is running him quite quickly after his last race for some reason. So thats half the field I would have backed; nothing new there then! [really looking forward to it, and my heart wants Monets Garden to win].
Purely on the basis on a very odd run last time out, I am interested in
THREE MIRRORS
here. The horse might simply have been unfit, but was given a very quiet prep even considering that, and the conspiracy theorist in me wonders whether he was looked after with this race in mind, and only given 3/4 of a run.
Quite possibly not, but at juicy odds, and with form that at times is well up with these at these weights at least, a little each way dabble looks in order!
What to make of my old friend Tidal Bay?
I’m always dubious about breathing operations. Seems like every other horse in training has just about had one.
Frequent visitors to TRF will be well aware about my love for this horse. Very talented, but a season of expectation raised more questions than answers.
Not too many horses can perform to such a good level between two and three miles. Only Kauto Star has shown such versatility over recent years.
I was somewhat confused by his efforts last season. Despite contrasting conditions at Sandown (two miles / Gd-Sft / right handed) , Wetherby (three miles-one / Sft / left handed) and Cheltenham (two miles-five / Gd-Sft / left handed) he ran almost identical races on each occasion.
Travelled well. Jumped inconsistently. Outpaced. Ran on.
You can understand the horse getting outpaced against the likes of Master Minded in the Tingle Creek, but the likes of State Of Play and Cloudy Lane over an extended three miles? Perhaps something was amiss.
That effort at Wetherby was one of the most admirable weight carrying performances last year. He gave 18lbs to the winner Nozic, but also conceded lumps of weight to the likes of State Of Play (former Hennessy winner and Charlie Hall hero) and Cloudy Lane, who went on to land the Peter Marsh Chase.
A very brave effort.
He has his own way of getting from A to B, but his engine and attitude allow him to get back into a race.
He’s no sulker – his record prior to last season was proof of this.
I hope be returns to his best. At the peak of his powers he can compete with anything in training, but he is a watching brief at the moment.
Agree that Knowhere looks the value.
I went for Tartak. Obviously Nacarat isn’t even in the running. It’s hard to know how far the trainers have come with their horses at this stage though. I don’t blame people for lookin at the higher odds.
What a wonderful performance. Jumping and enthusiasm won the day.
A pleasing return from Tidal Bay. Will come on for the run and an easy three miles is well within his reach. Would love to see him in the King George.
Never fills you with confidence during a race. His head carriage can only be described as the Paula Radcliffe of the equine world. Very deceiving.
His main problem is that he’s too slow AWAY from his fences due to his awkward style.
Well done, Monet’s Garden.
A real tear jerker,and what a start to the season! What a round of jumping. Had one of my ‘huge price and not a chance in hell of winning’ horses been in contention, I would still have been screaming him home. Methinks One Man and Gordon Richards were looking down today and smiling…great stuff!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.