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I’ve been disappointed with how The New One has been campaigned this season. There are five Grade 1 two mile hurdles in the UK and Ireland before Cheltenham, and he won’t have ran in any of them.
Meanwhile, Jezki and Hurricane Fly have been serving up great duels and Willie Mullins has been able ease Faugheen into open Grade 1 company with the minimum of fuss.
Surely a horse of The New One’s ability should have more than two top level victories, especially when the Fighting Fifth was there for the taking.
Absolutely spot on. What on earth has Twister been fannying around at? To have a horse like him in a division lacking in depth, not running in a G1 before March is pretty ludicrous isn’t it?
I’ve been disappointed with how The New One has been campaigned this season. There are five Grade 1 two mile hurdles in the UK and Ireland before Cheltenham, and he won’t have ran in any of them.
Meanwhile, Jezki and Hurricane Fly have been serving up great duels and Willie Mullins has been able ease Faugheen into open Grade 1 company with the minimum of fuss.
Surely a horse of The New One’s ability should have more than two top level victories, especially when the Fighting Fifth was there for the taking.
Absolutely spot on. What on earth has Twister been fannying around at? To have a horse like him in a division lacking in depth, not running in a G1 before March is pretty ludicrous isn’t it?
He’s due out on Saturday in The Haydock Champion Hurdle Trial.
Yet again he is facing a small field of inferior opponents and will be a squillion to one on in the betting. The ground is currently heavy though, so I would question the value of running him on that type of ground.
One of his opponents, assuming the meeting goes ahead and they all stand their ground, is rated 45 lbs lower on official ratings and he has at least 18 lbs in hand of the remainder of the field.
It’s a poor show on all fronts really. It’s clearly valueless as a "Champion Hurdle Trial", it is valueless as a betting medium, it is valueless as a guide to The New One’s ability compared to his main Champion Hurdle rivals and also pretty much valueless as a spectacle for the viewer.
No doubt bookies will still feel the need to shorten The New One in the aftermath and I believe he’s plenty short enough at 5/2 for, what is admittedly and uncompetitive looking renewal of The Champion Hurdle.
This sort of approach to a Championship race is a big turn off for me.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Agreed Steve. I am not in the financial realms of owning horses, but it stands to reason that owning or training a NH horse good enough to run in / win Grade 1,s is a rare enough thing.
So what do you do if you have one? Don’t run him in any Grade 1’s for the 1st 3/4 of the season doesn’t sound the obvious answer to me.
It’s pretty ridiculous and no doubt related to my bête noir, the increasing obsession with 4 days in March at the sacrifice of everything else.
The headline "streight to cheltenham" appears every day in the racing post and I feel the way things are going they could shut down jumping in january&february and it wouldn’t affect the festival a jot
It could also be argued that the prime objective of a trainer is to do his very best for the owners a) by winning races and b) by picking up the maximum amount of prize money.
In which case, I’d say The New One has been perfectly placed, as he’s unbeaten this season and the races he won at Haydock and Cheltenham were both worth more than the Grade 1 races at Newcastle and Kempton.
He’ll also win easily again this weekend and pick up some more prize money. If I was his owner, I’d be chuffed to bits. It’s not their fault that the best hurdlers (of which there are painfully few, especially in the UK) have ducked out of facing him.
Perhaps connections of The New One are right and it’s the pattern that’s wrong? The Bula (International) at Cheltenham has long been worth more than any of the Grade 1 races, but whoever dictates these things refuses to consider a change. And since all the horses involved are geldings, what’s the relevance of Grade 1, Grade 2 anyway?
It could also be argued that the prime objective of a trainer is to do his very best for the owners a) by winning races and b) by picking up the maximum amount of prize money.
In which case, I’d say The New One has been perfectly placed, as he’s unbeaten this season and the races he won at Haydock and Cheltenham were both worth more than the Grade 1 races at Newcastle and Kempton.
He’ll also win easily again this weekend and pick up some more prize money. If I was his owner, I’d be chuffed to bits. It’s not their fault that the best hurdlers (of which there are painfully few, especially in the UK) have ducked out of facing him.
Perhaps connections of The New One are right and it’s the pattern that’s wrong? The Bula (International) at Cheltenham has long been worth more than any of the Grade 1 races, but whoever dictates these things refuses to consider a change. And since all the horses involved are geldings, what’s the relevance of Grade 1, Grade 2 anyway?
I’m sure the owners are happy to be picking up easy prize money and when they are pumping money into the game it’s nice to get something back out of it.
I know I am writing from a selfish point of view but it’s the only one I can write from, because I can’t share the joy of the owner’s prize money.
I can only look at it from the viewpoint that considers whether a race creates an interesting betting medium and if not that, at least a sense of relevance. The New One is 1/6 Fav for Saturday, so it’s probably going to be about as exciting and informative as watching paint dry at Haydock.
A commentator will often waffle on just before a race about how much prize money the horses have won between them. I have never been even vaguely interested in that stat, far less lick the TV screen in excitement and admiration. I doubt that The New One is going to leave a legacy of legendary status based on running up a string of odds on successes and he’s going to have to go into Cheltenham and tear that field up this season if he is to break through and start to create a reputation as a great horse, rather than a money hoover.
As far as other horses ducking a challenge with The New One, I would point out that The New One was all set for The Christmas Hurdle, until Rich Ricci stated that they were going to run Faugheen in the race. Suddenly it became a case of the race on Saturday "offering better spacing" to Cheltenham for The New One. It’s strange that this wasn’t the case last season?
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
The parlous state of two mile hurdling shown by the Champion Hurdle entries just published.
A total of 23 entries and only 11 of them are trained in the UK.
The Irish provide the quality to take on The New One, but the lack of local contenders indicates why the races have been so uncompetitive this season.
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