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He’s probably in the Greatwood to have a look and see if it’s winnable which it very often can be. In that case why not? it won’t stop him returning to fences afterward, which I’m sure he will do, as he falls well short of top class over hurdles.
He’d probably have too much weight for the likes of the Tote Trophy handicap so their options are limited.
On reflection I wouldn’t read too much into him racing over 2m4f I don’t think the purpose of the exercise was to prepare him for the RSA and he’s probably going to head for the Arkle.
If he jumps really well, we know he can gallop and his style of running would soon separate the men from the boys in a race like the Arkle. David like his father before him are great believers in the policy used by Michael Dickinson and his father….if you have a good 2 miler who stays and they want to give you a 10 lengths start take it.
It will be 2 years since he last ran at Cheltenham and ran out of puff against Crack Away jack but him being that bit older they probably wanted to check if he stays a bit further these days……so they run him over 2m4f……That way when he goes for the Arkle they can be fairly sure, if the adopt the let’s make all policy, the chances are he’ll stay better than he did in the Fred Winter and possibly win this time.
Great thinkers the Pipes and they seldom run good horses in strange races without reason and putting a lot of thought into it.
Gullible Gordon is the one who stands out to me at this very early stage. Just watched a replay of his chasing debut and it seems Barber and Findlay might just have found themselves another gem. The fluency of his jumping I thought was nothing short of remarkable. If he can progress a few pounds between here and march which is highly likely, he should be in with a cracking chance.
Check him out while the price is attractive. Probably wont be after his next race whenever that is??? Any thoughts?
Willie Mullins’ stable tour:
MIKAEL D’HAGUENET
5 b g Lavirico – Fleur D’Haguenet
"Showed plenty of speed throughout last season and looks a top-class chasing prospect following his Festival wins over hurdles at Cheltenham and Punchestown. He threw a splint a little while back and also sustained a cut, which meant him missing a month’s work, but it’s not the end of the world as he ran over fences in France so has the experience. I’ll try to run him early in December in preparation for Christmas andwe’ll start off thinking he’s an Arkle horse, although he’ll also have the RSA Chase as an option.
He seems to handle decent ground, but prefers some cut."
http://www.attheraces.com/article.aspx?hlid=504236&raceid=&title=Willie+Mullins+Stable+Tour&lid=nav+-+features&ref=At+The+Races+Features&nav=features&sub=&day=Fri
I think Graham Roach will own this years winner i just cant make my mind up with which 1 of 3 it will be .
Gullible Gordon is the one who stands out to me at this very early stage. Just watched a replay of his chasing debut and it seems Barber and Findlay might just have found themselves another gem. The fluency of his jumping I thought was nothing short of remarkable. If he can progress a few pounds between here and march which is highly likely, he should be in with a cracking chance.
Check him out while the price is attractive. Probably wont be after his next race whenever that is??? Any thoughts?
He probably goes in Wincanton’s Rising Stars Novices’ Chase on Saturday. He’ll have a much tougher ask against Kangaroo Court, Fiendish Flame and Bakbenscher there, especially as he’ll be taken on for the lead. It’ll be interesting to see how he jumps under pressure.
Long Run won the Prix Maurice Gillois at Auteuil today, and will now apparently move to NJ Henderson to be trained for the RSA Chase.
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I see Ashkasar goes over 2 1/2 miles tomorrow in the last at Cheltenham.
An expirement to see if he stays? As it seemms another stranged distance if they did intend to drop him back for the Arkle.
As far as I can see he is not even in the betting and yet arkle bound Sizing Europe is 12/1 with Stan James.
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I, like many, was a huge fan of Pandorama last season and agree that there’s undoubtedly more to come from him over fences. However, given the frailties of the similarly profiled Aran Concerto it remains to be seen just what Noel Meade can coax out of him.
The other obvious (potential) recruit from hurdling is Punchestowns. I don’t know that leaving the World Hurdle to Big Buck’s is a great idea (although Fair Along looks capable of playing a part in March if he’s handled correctly), but if Nicky Henderson does favour the novice chasing route then he has to be feared. He’ll handle any ground, already has top class hurdle form and is certainly built to excel over the larger obstacles.
Bensalem and Diamond Harry are of some interest – though I remain sceptical about the latter’s chances of succeeding under the care of Nick Williams – but the horse that catches my eye is
Sullumo
. I don’t think he appears in any ante-post markets at present, but he’s an animal of immense potential and will hopefully be quoted following his fencing debut at Uttoxeter this afternoon. He’s always looked like making up in to a top class chaser and is certainly thought of in the very highest regard my Charlie Mann.
He’d be my speculative pick at this stage, with Punchestowns and Bensalem not too far behind (I can’t entertain Long Run at this moment in time, with every graded chase in France apparently contested by only three horses).
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Not much chance of Ashkazar running in this now but the horse that impressed me no end was Little Josh. Nigel Twiston Davies pinpointed him as one to follow and I can see why. He was jumping brilliantly until he got one all wrong aand came down.
You could see him go into panic mode about 4 strides from the fence as if the horse new himself he had it wrong. He cocked his old head to the side and said "fook me I’m gonna fall".
Looks one for the future and could end up a contender IMO so I asked and got 100/1 which probably means it’s not on his agenda but you never know. Anyway bookies only got my cash on loan as he’ll win next time out no matter where he runs.
Diamond Harry runs today at Haydock, he is one of the morely likely RSA winners imo
Breeding wise Diamond Harry does not fit the profile of a likely RSA horse. I’m not sure this horse is even cut out for chasing. He would need to jump straighter over his fences than he does his hurdles.
Very impressive from Diamond Harry, I would imagine they will keep him hurdling now. A potential challenger to Big Bucks maybe?
Possibly yeah, that was a fairly serious performance. He ran very keen all the way and I thought that might dent his chances but he just kept travelling.
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I didn’t see Diamond Harry’s victory yesterday – has he strengthened any over the summer? I seem to remember him going to the races noticeably light on a couple of occasions last season and not finishing his races off as well as had, at one time or another, looked likely.
Given Nick Williams’s suggestion that the staying hurdle division might not be all that strong – I don’t understand that remark at all – is he likely to bother going over fences in such a strong novice year? Ante-post betting is hard enough when making it to the course is in doubt, but when you have to factor in the possibility that he might just stick to hurdles I can’t see that he’s a worthwhile bet at all.
I was interested to read that Charlie Mann thought Sullumo was no more than 75% fit for his recent return at Uttoxeter. I’ve availed myself of more of the 33/1 available about him for the RSA Chase, though appreciate that he’ll need ‘soft’ in the going description in order to run.
He did run very keen but he obviously has a big engine in there. I imagine that will be his last handicap for some time.
This may have been a pipe opener for a chasing career? Very eye-catching performance wherever he goes next.
Punchestowns looks set to make his chase debut this Friday at Newbury.
Howard Johnson’s monster, Quwetwo, and Emma Lavelle’s talented Kangaroo Court are also entered.
I’m not a big fan of staying hurdlers as potential top class chasers (My Way De Solzen didn’t too badly, I know) but this chap has plenty of gears and looks the type to do well over fences.
Nicky Henderson told RP online "He has schooled great and worked bloody well on Saturday morning."
I’m not convinced this will be a strong renewal. Mikael De Haguenet will be taken down the Arkle route and I wouldn’t be surprised if Diamond Harry stayed over hurdles (He is entered for a novice chase at Newbury this Thursday, but I’d be very surprised if he goes)
Long Run looks a nice prospect, but I notice that all his efforts have come on testing ground and three miles is a long way to go for a 5YO.
Punchestowns is available at 8/1. There’s sure to be improvers between now and March, but he looks head and shoulders above the majority.
Personally the only horse i be thinking about for this race is Mikael d’Haguenet. I can’t imagine willie will go back to 2miles with his good 2milers around.
This horse put up a superb performance on RSA day. He was imperious. He was checked on the turn but cruized by the rest with ease. He wasn’t even a decent jumper of a hurdle which is amazing considering that he won a superb renewal of the Ballymore.
I personally think he could be anything as Ruby Walsh has been saying after everytime he rides him. Gold Cup winner for me in a few years and is so young there could be more to come.
Mikael d’Haguenet over a fence is what i would travel the world to see i have such excitment over this animal.
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