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Of VPU’s ten career wins one has been on good with the remainder all on going softer than good.
I must confess I did raise an eyebrow last week when Alan King make his comment about the going.
Part of me is disappointed the top two are not running tomorrow – I was looking forward to a good race. However the other part of me is glad King is waiting for softer going for VPU – I would not have liked him to be jarred by the ground.
Your reply shows a real lack of horse understanding ….. i’m glad you’re not a trainer.
‘"The plan is that Voy Por Ustedes will run at Exeter just as long as the ground is okay," said trainer Alan King, "and at the moment it looks like being fine for him as it is good with good to firm places." ‘
Which is exactly what the ground is currently showing as today.
Quite possibly so. But then always bear in mind that there’s good to firm ground with a good covering of grass, adequate spring to it, etc.; and then there’s good to firm that’s like a road, or bare, or otherwise less than forgiving.
Exeter frequently produces the latter variety given a sustained dry period, which is why chases frequently cut up to penny number fields there or have to be scrubbed from the card completely at shortish notice.
No major gongs are handed out in early November, and Alan King’s decision to preserve the best mid to long-term interests of Voy Por Ustedes is entirely reasonable judged on that.
We had the potential to have 3 great chases in 4 days, and all of them have turned into a shadow of what they could have been.
I expect nobody is more disappointed with that than the courses involved, but to a large extent it cannot be helped at present. Shrug, move on.
Fed up with the jumps already. Everything’s a prep race for March anyway. Listen to trainer comments. It’s all they ever go on about. ‘He’ll be spot on for Cheltenham, he’ll enjoy the hill at Cheltenham, he’ll reverse the form at Cheltenham.’
Connections of Monet’s Garden and Beef Or Salmon to name but two would possibly suggest otherwise.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Bear in mind that King’s apparent change of heart is quite likely to have been forced on him by the owner, or more likely his ‘racing manager’.
Nothing new in this – dry autumns have always presented problems for Nh racing. I can remember actually attending the opening day of the Cheltenham November meeting one year back in the 80;s and watching three two horse races on a six race card.
AP
Ultimately, trainers are understandably apprehensive about running their horses on going where the description contains ‘firm’. This is understandable when there is a long season ahead with bigger prizes. Where is the logic in risking a horse on undesirable ground? In any case, it just delays and increases the appetite for the upcoming jumps season!
didn’t he want to get a race into him thinking that he’d be up against Kauto Star in the Tingle Creek which now seems unlikely? he seems a very thorough trainer and one whose judgement I’d respect….
I think the solution here is for people to stop putting up threads, a week before a race, wetting the appetite of others, just because you see some top class horses in the decs
Yes I am only joking. But seriously, show me a race where the decs from a week or so before have all stood their ground – and I will show you this weeks lottery numbers
Mike
I think it’s great that we’ve got so many great horses to look forward to this season, and some of them have ran already! Perhaps not too many hurdlers but, on the chasing front there are so many established horses, novices and [hopefully] horses coming back from injury.
I think it’s great that we’ve got so many great horses to look forward to this season, and some of them have ran already! Perhaps not too many hurdlers but, on the chasing front there are so many established horses, novices and [hopefully] horses coming back from injury.
I’ll 2nd that
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