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Oh I reckon Harry Cobden will cope alright, he seems a sensible sort. According to Horse&Hound, he was pony racing at 9, riding out for Nicholls from 13 and is a farmer’s son who bought cattle with his first season’s winnings, sold those and bought 12 acres to start the nucleus of a farm. Reminds me of the Irish flanker Sean O’Brien who put a deposit on a tractor with his first Leinster paycheque
Liam Heard had strong credentials, good stable connections and a bright future until Granit Jack hit the floor as well.
Nowadays he’s lucky if he gets a couple of rides per week.
Liam Heard had strong credentials, good stable connections and a bright future until Granit Jack hit the floor as well.
Nowadays he’s lucky if he gets a couple of rides per week.
Liam Heard was just a replacement for Ruby who fell two races earlier from the Ill-fated Willyanwoody.
But, I’m sure John Hales wasn’t pleased at all.Well, I thought the loyalty of Jean Bishop and the Tizzards would stretch a bit further, therefore, I was advocating blinkers for Cue Card at Haydock. That implies that I don’t think the horse should be retired and that his jumping problem is due to a lack of concentration.
That said, this is not the first gig Paddy Brennan has lost in his career. He caused Barney Dwan to fall when a certain winner on chase debut and if Exeter on Tuesday is anything to go by the horse may have to be restricted to hurdles. Furthermore, I believe Harry Cobden is the real deal, not a false messiah like Bryan Cooper, so I reckon he’ll cope well with the high pressure situation. His demeanour on and off the track indicates that.
I suppose what could have affected the horse is Brennan’s anxiety, which he has talked about before, but that’s highly speculative and all the jumps Cue Card has made between the falls belie that theory. We’re not privy to Brennan’s emotions throughout a race but I don’t think the possibility can be ruled out. He’s getting on now and has lost a couple of good jobs in the past. He’s very intense too which arguably adds more grit to the anxiety argument.
I think it more likely that something is wrong with Cue Card. Until last year’s Gold Cup he had never fallen. You’d struggle to find a more experienced and safe jumper, albeit he sometimes has his own way of getting over but that in itself only adds to the worry. No matter how he’s come at a fence prior to March 2016 he has found a way of getting to the other side; why has that ability suddenly deserted him? Why are the falls he’s had so similar? Something’s going on.
From my blog yesterday:
Cue Card has been a standing dish on this blog since 2011. He’s one of my favourite horses and I’m dismayed to see him entered in The Betfair again because I think there’s something wrong with him. I don’t know what it is. In 2013 he was absolutely running away with the King George only to stop suddenly before running on again to finish 2nd. His trainer later speculated that what had happened was a sudden epiglottal blockage (his epiglottis was operated on the following year and it turned his career around).
So, things can happen to a horse during a race and the reason is not always immediately obvious. What has happened to him to cause him to have three falls in the past two years, I don’t know, but I suspect it is more than bad luck.
Having looked again at Saturday’s Charlie Hall I’m not sure I buy Brennan’s low sun excuse. They’d already jumped 4 fences down the back all pretty much in the same ‘sun line’ as the one he came down at. Also, the shadows suggest the sun was coming side on mostly, from the infield. And the front two jumped the fence impeccably.
Any horse can fall, even Cue Card who for so many years had not done so. But it’s the manner of his falls that bother me – all 3 have been absolute eye-shutters where he has piled right into the belly of the fence at chest height – that is not right. It’s rare for a horse to take exactly the same type of fall twice never mind three times, especially one so experienced and scopey as Cue Card. It’s almost as though his concentration has completely deserted him or he cannot see.
Colin Tizzard has been lucky three times now with Cue Card. Many horses do not walk away from falls like that and Cue Card has done so on each occasion. Mister Tizzard ought to retire the horse. My heart is ruling my head perhaps but there’s evidence in those falls that should not be ignored – they are much too similar. I don’t know what they mean and I doubt anyone else does but there is something not right.
They always tend to come at the same time in the race @ 14th,15th fence? When Des fell in the KG he was past his best. He had won his previous race; everyone was eulogising about his win but Elseworth looked very thoughtful and said he’d found it hard. Horses make mistakes when they’re novices but when they get older the worry is that they go to do something that they used to be able to do and the scope isn’t there. I can’t believe that he’s walked away from the three falls he’s had; he must be a remarkable horse to have done so [well, he is a remarkable horse]. He’s been on the go for so many years now, and overcome so many problems . I just wish he could tell us what the problem is, because there is one. Maybe it isn’t just the jockey; perhaps Tizzard hasn’t got that ‘instinct’ that some horse people have that taps into a horses mind. I’m not knocking him by saying that, because not many people do have that gift.
Well I don’t think many people will blame Cobden if the horse falls or is beaten a distance or even a neck, as long as he doesn’t make a total balls of it, which I don’t think he will. If he’s good enough he’s old enough and I think he’s good enough. There would be more pressure in riding a hot young talented horse with nutter-tendencies like Might Bite or Yorkhill anyway. I agree that the pressure is on but it could be worse.
Interesting point moe about older horses just assuming they can do things they used to be able to do but lacking the edge of scope/power/athleticism that used to get them out of trouble. I think your theory probably has a lot in it.
FWIW Cobden’s chasing strike rate is the same as Richard Johnson’s – 18.75 although Cobden has had just 208 rides over fences against the champ’s 4,507.
Brennan, 3003 rides over fences, 16.95%
However you look at it, exciting times for the youngster. Good luck to him.
The earlier jumps he threw at Wetherby suggest, to me at least, that he has lost none of his scope, or at least not enough to be noticeable. And his falls are not a scope issue. He’s not taking off outside the wings and trusting his scope and athleticism to carry him over, he is almost not taking off at all and just crashing into the birch.
Weird. If it was a temporary lack of oxygen- epiglottic entrapment again or a temporary heart arrthymia or something- you would expect sudden slowdowns or a trip on the flat not just on the point of takeoff 3 times. If it is his sight one would have thought he would have made a few howlers at home. Unless there is some condition affecting sight that only manifests itself when the horse is under a lot of cardiovascular stress and closer to its limit than it would be schooling and doing fast work at hime.
Weird. If it was a temporary lack of oxygen- epiglottic entrapment again or a temporary heart arrthymia or something- you would expect sudden slowdowns or a trip on the flat not just on the point of takeoff 3 times. If it is his sight one would have thought he would have made a few howlers at home. Unless there is some condition affecting sight that only manifests itself when the horse is under a lot of cardiovascular stress and closer to its limit than it would be schooling and doing fast work at hime.
That’s a good point. Remember Master Oats?
He also had some form of cardiovascular stress during his races (used to bleed quite a lot early in his career) and was even worse a some of his fences.From memory Cue Card jumped poorly in the Betfair under Daryl Jacob.Brennan seemed to bring some improvement in that regard but he seems to have had phases where horses have not jumped well for him. Spells with Twiston-Davies and Tom George seemed to turn sour after starting well. He may have been a bit unlucky here as Cue Card often looks a bit vulnerable to an error despite having done so brilliantly
Found a couple of papers online about the reduced ability of the retina in aging humans to maintain a steady blood flow during intense endurance exercise, compared with young adults, but could not insert clickable link sorry. That suggested that retinal haemorrhages were more likely in older people doing intense endurance workouts, no idea if the same changes would happen in horses. You can see retinal haemorrhages, they’d still be visible well after a race, if enough to affect vision. Who knows what the blood flow to the optic nerves and visual cortex of the brain is doing over the last few fences of a 3m chase though?
Found a couple of papers online about the reduced ability of the retina in aging humans to maintain a steady blood flow during intense endurance exercise, compared with young adults, but could not insert clickable link sorry. That suggested that retinal haemorrhages were more likely in older people doing intense endurance workouts, no idea if the same changes would happen in horses. You can see retinal haemorrhages, they’d still be visible well after a race, if enough to affect vision. Who knows what the blood flow to the optic nerves and visual cortex of the brain is doing over the last few fences of a 3m chase though?
If this had any truth in it, all horses would be forced to retire under a certain age, 10 or something max, not to mention were only talking about 3 falls here, arguably brennan has taken a level of blame for 1, so 2 genuine falls in how many races? I think its maybe being read into a little heavily here
If he is well beaten in the next race, he will be retired, if he falls, he will be retired, there isnt an obvious reason to retire him yet is there? Is there something now wrong with an 11yo racing over 3m? Bit confused by some of the comments
Bit harsh saying his rep would be ruined should cue card not come out in one piece aswell, hes not going to lie and say the horse is finished if it isnt, i genuinely believe they love the horse, hes obviously showing plenty spark at home, so why should he be punished if the horse didnt make it out of a race, hes no different from all these other great animals
I mean he was still in contention when he fell, may have won, may not have, it wasnt exactly a tired/done in looking fall
So first it was the suns fault.
Then it was paddy Brennan’s fault.
When will Tizzard just accept this horse is 12 in 6 weeks time and his best days are behind him.
Keep running him in top class chases is playing roulette with his life all in the pursuit of personal glory that simply won’t happen, they jump at pace in the races he runs In and his timing Is going.If the tents come out on his next fall and the worst happens then I won’t be surprised and that cannot be right.
Do the right thing and let him live out his life in a field.
First won at cheltenham festival in 2010 it’s 2018 festival coming. Time to let go.It’s as if Tizzard is in total denial that his fav horse is now too old.
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