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I think as has been mentioned, this was Monets Garden’s day. Nicholls emphasised Kauto needed the run, and he ran as if he did; very rusty and not looking sharp. Yet ultimately, the performance by going down a length with the weight concession still looks a good performance. Exotic Dancer needs a run to put him right as showed last year. I’ve lost no faith in either.
Just on a sidenote, does Kauto’s performance auger negatively for Denman’s reappearance in the Charlie Hall on saturday, especially considering he takes a lot of getting fit to race?
Having said that, just read on the RP website that Nicholls is thinking of rerouting him to Carlisle the following day due to unnacceptable ground conditions at Wetherby.
Just on a sidenote, does Kauto’s performance auger negatively for Denman’s reappearance in the Charlie Hall on saturday, especially considering he takes a lot of getting fit to race?
It doesn’t, and for the reason you’ve already given! Nicholls was fairly explicit in the press a couple of weeks ago that Denman is unlikely to enter that race 100% match-fit, so I’d expect that unless the race cuts up into being otherwise entirely devoid of quality he is there for the taking on Saturday.
That was always likely to be the case even if Kauto Star had trailed in a distance last yesterday, to my mind.
Our Vic, conversely, has been prepared with a repeat Charlie Hall win in mind for a long time by David Pipe, and assuming he’s not on one of his "I’m bloody mad, me!" days (admittedly far less frequent last season than those that had predeced it), he appeals to me as much as anything at this stage.
I’m not sure whether Nigel Twiston-Davies is intending running anything in the race; but judged on the yard’s seering form at this time of year, plus a dogged victory at Chelters last time out, I wonder if Knowhere might line up. He’d be one of the lesser winners from an Official Rating perspective in recent seasons if he did prevail, but I’m not minded to rule him out altogether.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Monet’s Garden could be one of the stars of the season if he’s put in the right races. Talk of the TC or Peterborough next. I’m pretty sure the later would suit him a little better, but I’m still adamant he should still be aimed at the Queen Mum this season.
I think today was Monet’s Garden’s Cheltenham, to be honest. Even in the Peterborough Chase, First Ascot Gold Cup, Melling Chase or whichsoever of the best 2m4f contests he may be aimed at hereafter, he’s not going to get any comparable concession of weight from top-class animals.
I think that’s unfair. Rememeber his win in the Melling Chase last year, he beat top-class animals from the 2m-2m4 division off level weights quite nicely.
Bear in mind further that he is also regarded by connections as a horse not always given to travel to races very well – whilst the 3m trip probably didn’t suit him at Kempton, the lather (culminating in dehydration) that he got himself into on the trip down didn’t help a right lot, either. They did well, therefore, to get him down to Ascot happy and contented last season, but that can’t rate as a given.
This is a slight worry, although he has performed at Cheltenham in the past, albeit only once (but significantly, for my AP tip anyway, it was in the Arkle). I would hate it if connections were put off Chelts altogether by last year’s Ryanair, as IMO he just didn’t stay. If a horse can’t stay 3m at Kempton, don’t be entirely surprised if he doesn’t stay 2m5 at the Festival.
Seeing as I missed the entire last NH season on my world trip I suspect I´m a little less emotionally involved than many with Kuato and may have a more dispassionate perspective. I´ve seen his races last year and this wasn´t the same horse. Despite the weight concession and the trip, he didn´t travel at any stage and his jumping lacked enthusiasm, like the whole performance.the form may be solid but the substance wasn´t. He looked like Ruby had to bully him into trying. I may be proved totally wrong but I´ll be against him this season unless he has a penalty kick, as looks possible in the Betfair. Don´t forget all he did last year- he may be deciding it´s a bit like hard work now. French breds sometimes have a shorter shelf-life than our traditionally bred NH horses and this is possibly the case here.
Monets King George run was nothing to do with lack of stamina. He was beaten in strides so quickly that he must have been amiss I think.
I must admit that I had a few bob on Monet’s Garden. I know I said it was a race to watch rather than get involved in from a betting perspective – but the more the race drew closer, the more convinced I was that Nicky Richard’s course loving grey would take full advantage of the weight concession.
But I am no fool ( honest guv ) and know full well that when they next meet (probably at Kempton on Boxing day) on equal terms, Kauto Star will more than likely put him firmly in his place – as he did last term.
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I know this thread has largely been about how Kauto did, but you have to give credit to Monet’s Garden, his jumping was fantastic, fluent, etc… and he looked in excellent shape.
A fine performance from a horse which loves that course, did what he needed to do and did it very well.
I know this thread has largely been about how Kauto did, but you have to give credit to Money’s Garden, his jumping was fantastic, fluent, etc… and he looked in excellent shape.
A fine performance from a horse which loves that course, did what he needed to do and did it very well.
Can’t disagree with the above KS
I thought he seemed very prickly when interviewed afterwards…is this usual?
I can never quite understand why those in the media fall over themselves to praise Nicholls. He is fine as long as you ask the questions he wants to hear. Let’s face it Persad is hardly Paxmen.
If you take the four leading trainers – Nicholls, Pipe, O’Neill and Hobbs – for me Hobbs is the only one who seems both relaxed and willing to provide useful information. I have written to all of them on occasion for information (not Fort Knox stuff) and Hobbs is the only one who has replied.
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Interesting to note that Racing Post Ratings have credited the front two with marks approaching their best. Monet’s Garden is deemed to have run within one pound of his Melling Chase form, while Kauto Star has been given a mark seven pounds higher than his Gold Cup run and within two pounds of his previous best RPR, recorded in the Betfair Lancashire Chase. I simply can’t agree with these ratings: the winner looked to be carrying a little excess condition and the runner-up looked rusty, in both the way he travelled and jumped. Exotic Dancer, to my eyes at least, ran an almost identical race to his reappearance last season: held up, crept closer, then emptied out. Yet he was rated a "mere" 148 for that run behind Turpin Green at Carlisle, while he gets a whopping 164+ for Sunday’s effort. Looks like RPR have overrated the race to the tune of about a stone.
I’ll be very surprised if all three of the main protagonists don’t leave Sunday’s form behind as the season progresses but Tom Segal makes the point that Kauto Star’s effort was made to look better than it was by the winner’s tiring in the closing stages and he is of the opinion that Ashley Brook would have won had he completed the race. We can’t be certain on the latter point, of course, but we would have been able to get a more accurate idea of the value of the form had the trailblazer not departed.
The point about Kauto Star’s being an early-developing French-bred is an excellent one. I still rue backing the equally precocious Escartefigue for the 1999 Gold Cup after his spectacular win in the 1998 Martell Cup. For those who don’t recall, that French-bred looked for all the world a future champion at Aintree and was still only six, yet he failed to win another race and palpably lost his appetite for the game. Let’s hope that Kauto Star and My Way de Solzen don’t go the same way!
I don’t think Escartefigue lost his appetite for racing, I think he had a physical problem.
Colin
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Tom Segal makes the point that Kauto Star’s effort was made to look better than it was by the winner’s tiring in the closing stages and he is of the opinion that Ashley Brook would have won had he completed the race. We can’t be certain on the latter point, of course, but we would have been able to get a more accurate idea of the value of the form had the trailblazer not departed.
Given Ashley Brook’s history at the end of all the chases he has contested you would have to seriously doubt he would have lasted much further on Sunday.
With one exception, all of his jumping errors have come toward the end of his races, which would suggest a tiring horse rather than a careless one?My take on it exactly. I’m pretty sure Katchit wasn’t entitled to win this one at the weights, but by Christ his bottle got him out of bother. Full steam ahead for the Fighting Fifth, then.
[gc
Aren’t all horses in handicaps "entitled to win" by the very nature of the concept of a handicap?
Monets King George run was nothing to do with lack of stamina. He was beaten in strides so quickly that he must have been amiss I think.
Monet’s Garden will NEVER run beyond 2m 4f again.
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Monet’s Garden will NEVER run beyond 2m 4f again.
Not so sure about that. His debut win over hurdles came over 2m6 1/2 and he subsequently won at Perth over 3m1f in his novice hurdling season. The following year, he was campaigned as a staying hurdler and was a fine second to Crystal d’Ainay in the Rendlesham before winning the three-miler at Aintree. If it weren’t for his King George flop, I don’t think that anyone would have reservations about his ability to get the trip.
Colin (Seabird), I know that the Nicholson team left no stone unturned trying to find a reason for Escartefigue’s below-par performances and nothing physical came to light. There may have been something undetected but the evidence points to it being a mental problem, rather than a physical one.
Nicky Richards told me at last year’s Cheltenham April meeting that they are convinced he doesn’t get 3m and that they would never ask him to run over that trip again. I made the point about his hurdling exploits and Richards said that it was just his class getting him through in those early days.
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Fair enough. You could have mentioned that before, though!
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