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You had to be impressed today. It was a superb round of jumping and front running. An absolute joy to watch. I didn’t back him but cheered him on up the home straight
Memories of Desert Orchid came flooding back watching him enjoying himself at the head of the field.
A beautiful looking horse who has captured many hearts by his bold jumping display yesterday and a well deserved winner. Wish him well and hope there is much much more to come. ..
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...A pleasure to watch and a well deserved success. Another one here who had just about given up backing the horse. I did put him into the equations but went for HDO who ran a stinker
Probably not good enough to win the ’16 Gold Cup with the exceptional horses in this division at present and now may be too high in the weights to win the National. There’s also how much it has took out of him. Up front all the way in what seemed to be a quick pace in the going.
I did put him into the equations but went for HDO who ran a stinker
I had exactly the same thought process! Agree about him bringing back memories of Desert Orchid (but can also go left-handed!)
It was a simply lovely display – a prime example of how vital a jumping rhythm is in chases.
I was taken with Mr King’s comments about Wayne Hutchinson’s effort afterwards, implying that he certainly didn’t ride to orders. This was said with a poorly-disguised testiness in his voice, although it would have been uber-churlish of him to labour the point. As has been the case for the last x-hundred years, if you win the race it’s a ‘great ride’ and all is forgiven!
Mike
Having seen quite a big picture of him in the sporting section of yesterdays paper, it crossed my mind how important it is for racing to have brilliant performances by beautiful grey horses; they capture the public imagination so much and do seem to get more coverage [sometimes have to look twice to find any positive mention of racing in the press these days].
Looking through the form before the race identified plenty that tracked pace or sometimes made the running, but only The Young Master as an out and out front runner. Thought after that one went at the first they’d slow it down – not to be.
Been a fan of Smad Place for a while, backed him ante-post for World Hurdle (each way placed), RSA (win bet 2nd), Hennessey and Cheltenham Gold Cup…
…that’s the 2014 Hennessey!!!
My opinion of the white horse had changed. Thought the “needed his first run in 2014” one of those things trainers say; King prooved right! Smad Place seemed exposed to me, wasn’t even certain he’d get this trip in the ground. Yet evidently very well suited by it.How wrong can I be?
Still; what a wonderful sight he made out front, jumping them silly. Delighted for both King and Hutchinson, latter finally getting the rides his talent justified.
In a normal year could see him developing in to a Gold Cup horse, this is no normal year. But I’ve been wrong about this one before.
Value Is EverythingGinger,
Might have more to do with this than the issue of previous run or no previous run:
“Like last week’s Betfair Chase winner Cue Card, Smad Place has undergone surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis prior to this season and it has clearly been a great benefit to both.”
My interpretation was that the comment was more in jest as they had already decided to bowl along in front (after Kempton) but they were just going a fair bit faster than the trainer thought.
Imho they are a little bit between a rock and a hard place as they are pretty much forced to go the GC route – I don’t see him being quite good enough to win it (4th or 5th maybe) as those tactics will be hard to execute with Coneygree (and possibly Vatour) likely to also race from the front. The trainer stated the ‘owner would kill him’ if they even thought of a National entry but races like the Irish Hennessy, Denman Chase, Betfred Bowl & Guinness Gold Cup should all come into consideration for him as they might be a bit easier to win than the GC.
Alternatively, he might even be suited to races where he would have to give weight away to lesser rivals like the Scotish & Irish Nationals & Bet365 Gold Cup, which are also a little bit further than the Gold Cup distance as stamina didn’t seem to be a problem on Saturday.
He very much reminders me of Grey Abbey who finished 5th behind Kicking King in a GC but won the Scotish National, Betfair Bowl, Charlie Hall Chase and the Pillar (now renamed Cotswold) Chase.
Ginger,
Might have more to do with this than the issue of previous run or no previous run:
“Like last week’s Betfair Chase winner Cue Card, Smad Place has undergone surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis prior to this season and it has clearly been a great benefit to both.”
Alan, I’ve been banging on about this on twitter and here too, saying the non-declaration of wind ops is as potent a weapon as you could get for ‘insider-trading’. James Millman (former jock) took issue with me on twitter arguing that there are so many of these (he estimates 90% of horses in the major yards have had breathing ops), and they are of such varied types, and they are often repeat ops, that it would be ‘irrelevant’ to declare them, and an ‘admin nightmare’ for trainers.
I say that Cue Card and Smad Place offer all the evidence you need that they should be declared.
It cannot be beyond the BHA to have gradings for each op. Let’s suppose the epiglottal was at the top end of the op scale measured by ‘average effect if the op is successful’ Let’s say that’s Grade A. Then the dec abbreviation on the first run since the op would be ‘WO.A.1’ If it was a second wind op it would be ‘2WO.A.1’ etc.
I suspect the reluctance to publish might have some grounding in the welfare aspect. Should we be racing horses at all if the sport is causing damage to 90*% of horses? But that’s a separate argument. To maintain punter confidence, they should be declared. Like blinkers, they might have very limited effect in most cases, but that’s for the punter to work out. Denying him the data is not acceptable, imo
And, back on topic, Smad Place could be anything now he can breathe. Comparatively weak finishing had become a hallmark of his in recent seasons, imo, and King might be kicking himself for leaving it so long for the op.
He’s only 8, with just 10 Chases behind him. I thought he looked really well on Saturday (a hard thing for a grey) and his fencing will stand him in good stead wherever he goes. The formbook, and his action, suggest he’ll always want cut to give of his best, but if he continues to get full benefit from the breathing surgery, who knows where the improvement will end?
Ginger,
Might have more to do with this than the issue of previous run or no previous run:
“Like last week’s Betfair Chase winner Cue Card, Smad Place has undergone surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis prior to this season and it has clearly been a great benefit to both.”
Aaaaaaaarrrghh!!!!!! Had I known about that it would certainly have made a difference to how I saw the horse and who I’d made value/backed Alan!
Agreed Joe, wind ops should be declared. Am sure they can work something out.
Value Is EverythingThe operation was mentioned in the analysis on the Kempton race on the Post website, and presumably in the paper as well.
Being a cynic, I can think of two reasons why trainers would resist a requirement to report such operations – 1) it would hurt the value of the horse in the event of a future sale 2) it makes the trainer look stupid for failing to identify and resolve the problem sooner.
Hard to see why, in the second decade of the 21st century, there isn’t an online record for every racehorse on which medication and treatment details would have to be recorded. Trainers already have to document most of this stuff in the tatty paper medical book that is a requirement for all horses, so the claim of ‘admin nightmare’ is just a joke.
A prospective owner would surely have a vets report of the horse anyway? And, given that any operation could result in the horse dying people would understand why a trainer wouldn’t rush into having one done without being absolutely certain that it needed doing.
Saw the race, he is a very good horse, the word ‘gutsy’ sums him up, with class as well. It was good to see him get to the line strong. My only gripe with the races of say 25 furlongs plus when they walk to the line having given their all, it shouldn’t be…I saw one of these the other night here, the poor bugger was running out then in, utterly exhausted, we don’t need that. You have some very good jumps riders there, good to watch a class rider rate a horse.
My opinion of the white horse had changed. Thought the “needed his first run in 2014” one of those things trainers say; King prooved right! Smad Place seemed exposed to me, wasn’t even certain he’d get this trip in the ground. Yet evidently very well suited by it.
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