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Sweeps Hill hardly looks entirely straigtforward either sitlvi. His head carriage is somewhat suspect and he flashed his tail when winning his maiden hurdle at Limerick Junction.
Sweeps hill has already been slaughtered by Dunguib once. No reason to think anything else but the same will happen.
Not sure why you think he doesn’t look straight forward. Only thing i’ve seen is that he wants to run 2x faster throughout his races because he’s so far superior to his opponents!
Clearly it doesn’t always follow that bumper form translates to hurdles so your comment doesn’t make any sense.
Also you are basically saying the horse pulls too hard which in my mind equates to not straightforward.
Horses that have shown ability in bumpers have proved they have an engine. Bumper form usually is a good sign of a horses ability.
Dunguib is unexposed he could have improved since last year and beat sweeps hill double the distance this time. Equally Sweeps Hill cold have improved and get closer but that a guessing game that none of us know so i’ll stick with the facts which are Dunguib won by 9L on the bridle last year.
I don’t really understand how you can say he pulls to hard. I suppose there is always people who try devalue amazing horses though. All he has every done is travel supremely well in his races. Nothing can get him off the bridle so it looks like hes keen when the fact is his natural comfortable crusing speed is just 2x faster than most other horses!
I was just discussing the race from a betting angle. Personally, I would rather take each-way Sweeps Hill at 9/2 than Dunguib at very short odds.
I was one of the first, if not the first, to give Dunguib a mention on here and I have no reason to knock the horse. He was a brilliant bumper horse and he might translate that ability but at the moment there is enough of a doubt not to take the short prices.
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Thanks IC I didn’t know to be honest as I’ve been busy.
I could think of a better way to dispose of my money than backing something ew that has very little chance of winning Stilvi.
Very often in these races the main challenger runs himslef into the ground trying to beat the hot pot and finsihes out of the frame.
I’d rather have a 20 quid straight forecast than a 10 quid ew as the best he can expect is to finish 2nd IMVHO
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Ears pricked, easy as you like.
Super stuff.
Just too easy.
If I was Philip Fenton, I’d seriously consider aiming Dunguib for the Champion Hurdle.
I definitely bellieve he’d give all the top 2 mile hurdlers a race.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Has anyone under 55 seen a better NH horse? I have years to spare and only Arkle impressed me more and I am not even sure of that.But my memory is fading.
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Just too easy.
If I was Philip Fenton, I’d seriously consider aiming Dunguib for the Champion Hurdle.
I definitely bellieve he’d give all the top 2 mile hurdlers a race.
I dare say he would run well but in truth he hasn’t even met a top novice hurdler yet.
I’d rather see him continue down the trail he’s on and hopefully finish the season without coming off the bridle.
Going for the Champion Hurdle which has the makings of being a very good race this year could ruin him for life.
The Supreme Hurdle like all races at Cheltenham takes a lot of winning and if he won it easily I’d try and find a decent 2m 4f race for him to find out how well he stays.
If he stayed well then he’d be straight over fences next year and hopefully go for the RSA.
I think the way he handles himself his future is over fences not trying to out speed Champion Hurdle horses round Kempton and the like.
Kauto Star and Denman may rule the roost for another two years yet but by 2012 there will be room for a new kid on the block.
Amazingly people are already talking Arkle……yet again.
However I tend to agree he does look very very special and I am sure Mr Fenton will look after him and not be listening to any Champion Hurdle talk……His phone will be ringing like a church bell on a Sunday for the next 24 horses asking him again if he is thinking of running him in the Champion Hurdle…great position to be in
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Has anyone under 55 seen a better NH horse? I have years to spare and only Arkle impressed me more and I am not even sure of that.But my memory is fading.
My Gran once saw Pegusus in a dream does he count?
Istabraq, Kauto Star, Denman and Master Minded ring a bell?
Take your time mate and let him walk before he can run.
I must admit the horse blows me away too but if he can win the Supreme Hurdle the way Master Minded won the QMCC then and only then can we start talking Arkle……the potential is there but you need luck to get there unscathed. That on it’s own is a huge task.
Be great to think he could become the best of all time but if does half as much as Kauto Star has he’ll be hailed a champion anyway.
Didn’t people say similar things about Black Jack Ketchum the other year after he ducked Denman?
hugely impressive, he travelled well throughout the race and strode clear effortlessly. You couldn’t ask anymore than he has done so far, but I’ve seen so many morning glories in my time that I will reserve judgement.
hugely impressive, he travelled well throughout the race and strode clear effortlessly. You couldn’t ask anymore than he has done so far, but I’ve seen so many morning glories in my time that I will reserve judgement.
Agree with that but I have to say that I wrote online here that I thought he was the best bumper horse I had seen in Ireland for a while and was winning good bumpers in ireland under conditions in which his breeding would suggest might not have suited him. His form on the whole has been quite robust but the question remains whether championship pace might bring out some flaws in his hurdling.
SHL
I think he’d benefit even more if he were given a lead for as long as possible – not that he seems ungenuine when he hits the front or anything, as much as just being able to use his incredible travelling gallop for longer.
I get the feeling two miles is about as sharp as he wants it, which is frightening considering he often looks like he wants to get on with things.
A healthy tug, but no more.
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He’s a frightening talent, he really is.
I’ve watched the race perhaps a dozen times now and have, somehow, been slightly more impressed on each occasion. Barry O’Connell has had no option but to take up the running on the turn for the simple reason that nothing else could go quickly enough for him.
And that’s been the case in each of his three races over hurdles to date. Granted a fast pace and a patient ride, which Cheltenham will surely grant, there isn’t a novice in the land capable of beating him (though I have had an each-way interest in Finian’s Rainbow for the Supreme).
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I see the press have had another Champion Hurdle go and Mr. Fenton has once again played down the idea by saying keep novices with novices.
He added that he could go for the Champion Hurdle next year but I would imagine that depends on what wins this year. If Hurricane Fly won in Istabraq style or Binocular did to Celestial Halo at Cheltenham what he did to him at Ascot then he’d be crazy going that route.
I really hope he goes chasing and he could easily be taken off his feet in a Champion Hurdle as he looks more of a chasing type than he does a hurdler. Looks more like Denman than he does Istabraq that’s for sure.
Those weren’t exactly mules he beat yesterday and he was cantering all over them but these horse would be tailed off in a good Supreme Hurdle let alone the Champion Hurdle.
He looks amazingly relaxed in his races and jumps well but he isn’t a slick natural jumper like Binocular who is 100% a hurdler.
I would take the cowards way out and give the Champion Hurdle as wide a berth as possible. If anything is going to beat Dunguib it will be a speed horse like Hurricane Fly or Binocular. I’d let them get on with it and go elsewhere.
Put fences in front of this horse, add his relaxed style of racing, the way he travels and the fact he would most likely jump like a stag and he’d be a bigger certainty for the Arkle or the RSA than he would in the Champion Hurdle IMVHO
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From Fenton’s blog, Fist:
"…Had you seen Dunguib the first few times he saw a hurdle youwould have never expected he’d ever get around, let alone win the Royal Bond.
It was a jump we packed with tyres in our loose scooling ring that got him jumping, but I never want to have to try him over a fence and that’s why there is no talk of a Champion Hurdle run this season, as with a bit of luck he’ll be good enough to go next year…"
How tongue-in-cheek it is, if at all, I don’t know.
From Fenton’s blog, Fist:
"…Had you seen Dunguib the first few times he saw a hurdle youwould have never expected he’d ever get around, let alone win the Royal Bond.
It was a jump we packed with tyres in our loose scooling ring that got him jumping, but I never want to have to try him over a fence and that’s why there is no talk of a Champion Hurdle run this season, as with a bit of luck he’ll be good enough to go next year…"
How tongue-in-cheek it is, if at all, I don’t know.
The plan was to go over timber last year but he schooled so badly after the bumper run behind On Raglan Road at the ’08 Punchestown Festival, that they decided to keep him to bumpers last season.
People must remember that this horse is a box-walker so there is always the possibility that something will go wrong with him. Touch wood he gets to March safe and sound because he is a truly special horse.
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