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Were the Henderson and Nicholls horses undercooked??
We are constantly told that you can only get a horse race fit on the track and neither have raced this year, whereas the three who finished in front had all raced in the last 5 or 6 weeks.
Both the favourites emptied pretty quickly after the last, especaially SC who if it wasn’t the Gold Cup you’d say had blown up.
Surely they don’t all have to be trained like Best Mate….
https://theracingforum.co.uk/horse-r … =3&t=94700
I raised this issue three months ago. Looks like I was the only one to express any concern at the time?
Does that tape flap about slightly? Only wondering because I’m thinking of horses that are completely bombproof but will shy away from a plastic bag lying in the road. I’m as curious about what happened to Bobsworth and SC as the other three, with one veering in one direction and the other away from the tape. SC wasn’t eaten by as far as I’d thought and he didn’t have horses to race against.
I’m as curious about what happened to Bobsworth and SC as the other three, with one veering in one direction and the other away from the tape.
Yes, it has been bugging me too Moehat. Sounds potty but I’m even beginning to wonder if there was some bugger in the crowd who possesses one of those ultrasonic dog scarer devices
Yes, it has been bugging me too Moehat. Sounds potty but I’m even beginning to wonder if there was some bugger in the crowd who possesses one of those ultrasonic dog scarer devices
You can get them for horses but not sure you could direct them at individual horses although I suppose you could use them for mischief in general, though I don’t know how effective they’d be in a race.
Regarding Daryl’s horse I didn’t see in any other horses in the shot when he crashed out, is it possible he was going down last and a bit fast to catch up and this made the horse spook going down a narrow funnel?
My half baked theory
SC may have been in front plenty early enough. Having seen him as the one to beat and going a shade better than BW, Geraghty may have gone a bit too hard in pursuit for BW to fill his lungs for his customary finish. The horses on the outside may have found better ground up the hill.
Bobsworth in particular seemed to want to veer off to take another circuit though even Thommo wouldn`t have said `he could go round again` .
A far more exciting race than could have been expected. As for not delivering the result hoped for by those who like it all neat and orderly for the class horses, there`s nothing unusual about that.
Davy Lad, Master Smudge (eventually), Charter Party, Norton`s Coin, Cool Ground, Garrison Savannah, Cool Dawn. None likely to have been the best of their time but great that they had their big days.
My half baked theory
Davy Lad, Master Smudge (eventually), Charter Party, Norton`s Coin, Cool Ground, Garrison Savannah, Cool Dawn. None likely to have been the best of their time but great that they had their big days.
Fair point on the winners, but what of the placed horses? I don’t recall a Gold Cup where the first three were all outsiders. The fact that they all raced up the same strip of ground on the run-in (you can see it’s a lighter shade than that on the inside – at worst it’s compacted from use on previous three days and therefore, I’d have thought, firmer) adds to the fresh ground theory imo.
Also, On His Own, was going nowhere from after they turned in. He took a bump jumping the second last and found himself on the used strip jumping the last, at which he began picking up again – maybe the hill brought stamina into play, or did he, along with first and third, find better ground?
Not convinced with the better ground theory, as it could also be applied to SC, who arguably started the the drift across process and also finished on the left hand side. Jumping the last fence LW was clearly in with a chance and had saved energy the whole way round, even if he looked beaten for most of it. OHO would be a Grand National horse if liked Aintree, which he clearly doesn’t. There are several examples of stayers looking beaten on the turn in and then staying on again for place or win.
In my view the result can be explained by BW not running to form, SC not fully staying up the hill, with the first and second not getting the credit they deserve rather than getting lucky.
I was very disappointed with Bobs Worth after his re-appearance in the Betfair Chase this season. There was a big question for me as to whether he could retain his crown after what was comfortably the poorest run I have seen him put in. However, after his Lexus win I thought 7/2 was a value price for the Gold Cup and so it would have proved if he had managed to pull it off. The biggest single factor for me is how Lord Windermere managed to turn around an eleven length beating in the Lexus into a four length advantage over Bobs Worth in the Gold Cup?
The obvious place to start is the different ground conditions this year. The winning time this year was given as 6m 44.5s, compared to a winning time of 7m 4.9s last year. This means that Bobs Worth would have had to complete in a little more than 20 seconds faster in order to win this year and therefore have had to cover each mile in more than six seconds faster (on average) than last season. This seems to tie in with Barry’s comments after the race.
Looking at the form after the Lexus, Lord Windermere never landed a blow behind Last Instalment and he’s pretty much been "bobbins" since winning at Cheltenham last year, with three defeats totalling just under
sixty
lengths. According to the ratings he needed to find two stone to match Bobs Worth, and although many will say they "fancied" Lord Windermere, it takes some believing that this horse, who saw off a two-time National failure by a short-head, has suddenly improved.
All in all a highly dubious looking piece of form and I’m going to don a clothes peg on the nose and lay Lord Windermere at 8/1 for next season before lying down in darkened room to try to get rid of the shudders.
ps I backed On His Own at 25/1 for last years National and watched him all the way. He went out like a light.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
My half baked theory
Davy Lad, Master Smudge (eventually), Charter Party, Norton`s Coin, Cool Ground, Garrison Savannah, Cool Dawn. None likely to have been the best of their time but great that they had their big days.
Fair point on the winners, but what of the placed horses? I don’t recall a Gold Cup where the first three were all outsiders. The fact that they all raced up the same strip of ground on the run-in (you can see it’s a lighter shade than that on the inside – at worst it’s compacted from use on previous three days and therefore, I’d have thought, firmer) adds to the fresh ground theory imo.
Also, On His Own, was going nowhere from after they turned in. He took a bump jumping the second last and found himself on the used strip jumping the last, at which he began picking up again – maybe the hill brought stamina into play, or did he, along with first and third, find better ground?
It seemed to me that the defections of Captain Chris, Harry Topper, and in particular Mr consistent First Lieutenant left the field lacking any middle. No surprise that Last Instalment was unable to show his form. Triolo d`Alene had it all to prove and was badly baulked by Casey`s rough house manoeuvre at the second last which also caused loss of momentum for TGB.
The only positive I could find for the winner since the RSA was the very nice win of Spring Heeled. The Morning Line did have the opportunity to ask Cullotty if that signified a major revival for the yard but Sam Thomas chose to mumble a few platitudes about Best Mate.
We had to endure War Of Attrition and Kicking King as admirable yet mediocre winners, .
Tad Harsh on Kicking King I would suggest. His CV was pretty up to scratch.
Indeed a tad harsh on both horses. Iirc both had injury problems and may have won more big prizes if not for that. Loved war of attrition.
They did both have injury problems, but they were hardly stellar Gold Cup winners.
Kicking King was in the right place at the right time if you look at the horses he faced in his King Georges (beat non-staying Azertyuiop + Kingscliff, then fortunate to nose out Monkerhostin). With Take The Stand, Royal Auclair and co up close in his Gold Cup (devalued even further by Grey Abbey’s late scare), there have probably been better runnings of the William Hill Chase than that race.
War Of Attrition ran to a similar level. Both admirable horses who did their simple tasks well, but they fall some way short of the modern greats.
Silvinaco Conti doesn’t lack for stamina as we saw in the King George but the ground was a different ball game that day and Cheltenham would of been quick enough to not suit his strengths. Bobsworth for me would of liked it a bit softer aswell but that’s just my opinion also he has had some tough races down the years and despite a light campaign it can take it’s toll. The pace angle is tricky to assess as Lord Windermere was far back and at one stage didn’t look to be travelling and I thought he might pull up whereas On His Own was up with and making the running yet they finished together.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
And OHO had started to back peddle. Which makes me think that SC and Bobsworth kicked for home a tad early and then hit ground that didn’t let them sustain their momentum? I wonder what the jockeys that finshed out the back thought of the ground? Hopefully we might have a couple at our next Racing club meeting [although they might all be too busy covering for injured jockeys to make it].
Phil Smith has commented on the BHA site:
Definitely one of the most exciting but perhaps not one of the most outstanding would be my verdict on this year’s Betfred Gold Cup. The first five finished less than a second apart and I would have been overjoyed with the result if it had been a handicap.
It seemed a very straightforward race to rate. You can set your clock by The Giant Bolster at Cheltenham in March. He is always placed. In both 2012 and 2013 I had him performing to 164 and have assessed him at that level again this year.
As a result Lord Windermere improves from 153 to 165. Time was that observers criticised the RSA Chase claiming that its winners didn’t go on but Bobs Worth, Albertas Run, Denman, Trabolgan and now Lord Windermere in the last nine years have shown that winning it is no barrier to success the following year.
For the first time Hollie Watts from Turf Trax provided me with sectional timing at the Festival and they made interesting reading. There were 16 sections in the Gold Cup and Lord Windermere was the fastest in section 14 and 15. Compare that to Silviniaco Conti. He was fastest in sections two, six, 10 and 12. He was clearly travelling sweetly but was he doing too much too soon? It is no surprise that he performed about a stone below his best. In the last three sections he was only sixth, fourth and fourth fastest.
The most amazing sectional was by On His Own who was fastest in section 16 having made most of the running. He would now be 10lb well in for the Crabbie’s Grand National but there is an acceptance stage today and he may not still be in the race by the time you read this blog.
I had two marker horses in the RSA. The first was Sam Winner who went in on a rating of 147 from his last two runs and Morning Assembly. I am cheating a little with the latter as I only had him on 146 but Noel O’Brien my Irish counterpart insisted he was better than that and had him on 149. He was clearly correct as he beat Sam Winner by two lengths.
As a result O’Faolains Boy performed to 156, a 12lb improvement on his Reynoldstown win. How to account for the improvement? A look at the Turf Trax sectionals helped again. The overall time was a fast one and there were 15 sections. O’Faolains Boy was settled in rear and benefitting from a Gerraghty master class produced the fastest sectionals in 13, 14 and 15. He will always be better in a big field top race where they go quickly and he can out stay the rest.
Overall my Handicapping team had a very good week. Pride of place goes to Martin Greenwood who handicapped the Pertemps. Getting the first four to finish within half a length after three miles at Cheltenham takes some doing never mind the first 10 to complete in less than two seconds.
There were some surprising results in the Championship races and at first sight for only six of our BHA top rated horses to win out of the 16 non handicaps was disappointing. However you would still have made a healthy profit if you had kept the faith.
Maybe the false starts took a bit out of the horses, making it more of a test of stamina.
They did both have injury problems, but they were hardly stellar Gold Cup winners.
Kicking King was in the right place at the right time if you look at the horses he faced in his King Georges (beat non-staying Azertyuiop + Kingscliff, then fortunate to nose out Monkerhostin). With Take The Stand, Royal Auclair and co up close in his Gold Cup (devalued even further by Grey Abbey’s late scare), there have probably been better runnings of the William Hill Chase than that race.
War Of Attrition ran to a similar level. Both admirable horses who did their simple tasks well, but they fall some way short of the modern greats.
With regard to Kicking King and his Kempton King George win. This was run on ground officially given as good to soft. He recorded a time a full 11 seconds quicker than Kauto Star managed in 4 of his KG wins on the same official ground conditions and that was with trying to take the last fence with him. Now I know times can be misleading but 11 seconds is 44 lengths ( I think ), a not insignificant distance.
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