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Has been taken to Cheltenham General Hospital following his earlier fall where he took a kick in the stomach.
Originally he was being treated at the course medical centre but has been transferred to hospital for further tests.
I do hope he doesn’t miss his ride on Voy Por Ustedes tomorrow; it wouldn’t seem right someone else riding him.
I do hope he doesn’t miss his ride on Voy Por Ustedes tomorrow; it wouldn’t seem right someone else riding him.
AP McCoy is on standby if Thornton cannot ride – McCoy has ridden, and won, on Voy Por before.
Alan King, interviewed on RUK, reported that Choc had received a kick in the kidneys, that it didn’t look good for a while but that he was fine and determined to ride today.
Colin
Aye, being interviewed on RUK as we speak – seems pained but determined.
gc
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.
I like John Francome’s comment that Choc had passed the doctor – he thought he probably passed him in his car on the motorway!
Choc won’t ride on the race at 4 because he’s ‘standing down for the day’. In other words he isn’t 100%. So why the hell was he on a banker ?
I won’t lie, i had a couple of bob on VPE(not much), so i’m talking as someone who may be biased. But surely he should have put the horse and not his own ambitions first ?
I agree with this, talking through my pocket as well of course, but if he was not fit enough to honour his booking for the next race why would he take up arguably the most important ride of VPU’s career when he was not properly fit?
The horse didn’t jump as well as it could and that might have cost it the race (although I detected looks of worry or no confidence when the camera was on the tacking up of the horse so maybe the horse wasn’t right) and if you’re in pain because of injury this has to affect your performance?
The reserve booked McCoy could have won on it today as opposed to an injured and not properly fit or able to concentrate fully Thornton – discuss.
Remember Choc has ridden the horse before with a dislocated shoulder [and won]; hindsight is a wonderful thing
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When injured and in pain you cannot perform to your best and if the horse is unable to carry you like it may have done before when it didn’t need so much help from the saddle, then you need to give it as much assistance as you can to give it a chance.
It can’t be in dispute that this did not happen today, as a fully fit and totally concentrating AP must surely give more assistance to a horse than a not fully fit or totally concentrating RT?
(still talking through my pocket also but I’ll shut up if Kauto wins tomorrow)
I commented on this earlier.
Choc was working on the difficult Pennek from a long way out in the Pertemps Final and was rewarded with a fast-finishing third.
He looked more than fit enough during that contest.
Perhaps that hard ride, coupled with the far from smooth ride on Voy Por took its toll.
So, it’s agreed then – a selfish choice to insist on the ride when not able to give one’s best when it was likely needed at the expense of the horse getting the maximum assistance available certainly affected it’s chances and probably cost it the race.
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