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1. Denman – decent effort in the Hennessy (had to win well off that mark against that lot), better effort at Leopardstown and better still at Cheltenham.
2. Our Vic – finally won at the festival after some game efforts in the past. Put an end to the claims he’s not 100% and genuine and that he can’t put back-to-back good runs together.
3. Kauto Star – showed 3 times in defeat that he’s not just a flashy bridle horses. Still managed to win 3 grade 1 races including a devastating turn of foot in the King George.
4. Master Minded – best performance at the festival to be 1st ever 5 year old winner of Champion Chase. Only wish I’d backed him off 145.
5. Katchit – showed real courage to win the Champion Hurdle and though the race wasn’t the best ever (like the previous year’s), nothing can ever take away the fact he won it.1. Kauto Star (King George was awsome)
2. Binocular (The most perfect hurdling debut in years)
3. Denman ( The perfect season )
4. Master Minded (Best QMCC winner since Dunkirk )
5. Crack Away Jack ( Very exciting prospect will go to the top)Others worth a mention
Tidal Bay,Thyne Again, Nevertika, Brook No Argumant,Turko, Captain Cee Bee and Rippling Ring all look to have great futures.
This is a bit tricky on two counts – only five and there is a tendancy to put an emphasis on what happened at the end of the season:-
(1) Denman – I still think he is over-rated and there is a question mark to the level of his ability on quicker ground but impossible to leave out.
(2) Our Vic – So long a nearly horse but I can’t leave him out after the Festival double.
(3) Tidal Bay – Wayward, awkward head carriage, dodgy jumper but tons of ability and again completed the double.
(4) Katchit – Proved me and a few others wrong and deserves his inclusion over the potential of Sizing Europe.
(5) Carruthers – For me the subsequent consistent performances of Nenuphar Collonges are enough indication that his Warwick win was the best performance by a novice all season.
For me it is the following in no particular order
Denman, Such an improver from top weight in the Hennessy and easy wins in the Lexus and AON chases to a grandstand performance in the Gold Cup in which he stamped his authority in a way in which second season chasers very rarely do these days.
Voy Por Ustedes, Very sad when he lost his 2m crown to Master Minded but it was a case of not passing on two defeats by him when slamming him good and proper in the Melling in what for me was the best race of the meeting and now a chance to take on KS in the King George could be in the balance on a course he loves just as much as Cheltenham
Ingles Drever, 3 World Hurdles which was a fantastic achievement for such a fragile horse and a real tough sort when he does have to battle, he may not travel on the bridle as much but he is one of the few sporting heroes in the North East at the moment who can lay claim to having a hat trick on a big occasion.
Souffleur, Back at Bangor in October i saw him on the card and looked like the sort of Peter Bowen horse who was slowly coming to hand and he ran a cracking race to win his first over hurdles,After that i saw him over 3m in a novice handicap at Aintree and he bolted up easily pulling Steptoes Cart and seemed to be a fine horse in the making then his amazing win over 2m4f at the Northwest Masters showed that he was still on the upgrade and despite his slight flatspot in Jan and Feb he will be a good sort if he goes chasing and is in the care of a good trainer
Monets Garden, At Aintree in October this horse was primed and ready for the fact that on his welterweight this would be the only chance he would have of ever beating Kauto Star and boy did he do it with a fine display of jumping that even Gordon Richards would have been proud of in the way his son Nicky turned over the champ in their adopted North West.
Other horses include Christy Beaminsh for a deserved Fox Hunters win and Faasel for his great run in the Liverpool hurdle and when you consider how close he ran BJK to back at Wetherby then 20-1 was a steal of an each way price.
The only bad points where my local Haydock with this new sadly too far away jumping course and Wetherby which i hope will bounce back into being a top steeplechase venue as opposed to a hurdle one.
This has been a grand season and i look forward to the finale at Sandown but more importantly to October when i book time off work to go to the small jumping venues which always get the blood flowing in anticipation of more fantastic National Hunt racing which is the best sport in the world and one which has all the love and pain and still leaves u wanting more
say hello to us at Bangor in October then; our ‘start of the jumps’ meeting. Mike and I are the ones always stood at the last fence with a flask of coffee [oops, not allowed that sort of thing at Bangor!]…..
1 – Denman. Awesome
2 – Katchit. Such a wee battler defying the odds!!
3 – Inglis Drever. Legend
4 – Master Minded. Sublime Champion Chase.
5 – Fiveforthree. Got me out a massive hole thanks to guts and a great ride!Some good opinions there, Binocular was another i could easily have picked.
Any thoughts on Jockeys of the season? Mine would be in no order…
1. Denis O regan – Had a cracking season with howard johnson.
2. Sam Thomas – Some great rides this season, especially on Denman
3. Graham Lee – Was doin really well until injured.
4. Mick Fitz – Glad he didnt hang up his wip.
5.Ruby Walsh – Ever consistant.1. Denman- there hasn’t been such a specimen of an ideal Gold Cup horse in years (unfortunately many had to see the Gold Cup to realise this!), and taking the hottest GC clash in 40 years must make him horse of the season.
2. Inglis Drever- take Aintree away, and he’s shown himself to be head and shoulders above all comers in the- arguably ordinary- staying hurdle division. This season has cemented his place in NH folklore.
3. Master Minded- From a fairly impressive (althought not earth-shattering) handicap win off 145 to an 19 length Champion Chase victory in just 68 days, making history in the process. Aintree fails to take much gloss off given his age IMO, and surely a real star of the future.
4. Tidal Bay- Not often can it be said that a horse could have taken any novice chase he liked at Cheltenham, but such is his class I think it would have been possible. Made all the jumping doubters at least have a nibble at their words with two clear rounds culminating in two very impressive wins in his spring runs.
5. Our Vic- Racing’s flawed genius, revitalised this season with no small thanks to his new headgear. Perhaps a shade fortunate in his KG 2nd, and ran out of steam in the Cotswolds Chase, but two bold front-running wins since the application of blinkers- taking a Grade 1 win and the scalp of Kauto Star- have made most forget that prior to this season the horse was perhaps the biggest monkey in training.
1. Katchit
2. Katchit
3. Katchit…. OK I’ll stop, you get the pointOn a serious note…
1. Katchit – tough season in with the bigger boys but still never out of the first 3 in a hurdle race and all those other great stats about 5 yr old CH
2. Denman – brilliant underdog… relentless!
3. Tidal Bay – another brilliant horse, written off earlier in the season as a poor jumper but he’s seriously game and pretty quick too!
4. Inglis Drever – lovely horse, genuine and talented
5. voy por ustedes – what a great way to finish a season of 2nds…
There were some nearly’s…
Kauto Star – just a shade off this year but still great
Halcon Genelardais – great great runs in the welsh national and the gold cup
Souffleur – looked awesone early in the season and then just went a bit flat.. hopefully one for the futuresay hello to us at Bangor in October then; our ‘start of the jumps’ meeting. Mike and I are the ones always stood at the last fence with a flask of coffee [oops, not allowed that sort of thing at Bangor!]…..
I always go to that meeting as for me it is when the better quality horses start to slowly flex their muscles and it is a reciprocal for me on my Haydock Park badge.
2 days before it on the Thursday i have a reciprocal at Worcester so i may go down their aswell as i like the place and it is one of the few courses which has the Prawn Curry stall
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