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He is no G1 horse and the Grand National is a step too far for him.
I could imagine him being targeted at another Welsh National, maybe the Haydock GN trial/Denman Chase and then a possible tilt at the Scottish National. Connections won’t take him to Ireland again as he’ll be vulnerable to some unexposed Irish trained horses and even a softer Grade 1 like Betfair Chase isn’t exactly within his range. However there will be Veterans’ Chases along the way once he turns 10.
A horse rated 166 with no real G1 ability is quite difficult to place nowadays.ERL,
The veterans chases qualifiers are all rated 0-150, so he’d need to run badly for about two years to get down to a mark that would let him run in those.
Quite difficult to place becomes almost impossible to place!
Thanks for that Alan, but I thought after his last two efforts he might be dropped a few pounds anyway. The maximum rating of 150 wasn’t on my mind.
He’s had a long season in some hard races. Summer break then reaccese for next season, though in handicaps he will be in handicappers grip
As ap suggests veterans could be good route
Vf x
He’ll win some more graded races on his favoured ground
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
These were my thoughts after the GN Ruby. Obviously not good enough to win a GC.
Would he have run better if he had been up with the pace? Maybe a little more enthusiastic?
He seems to have had a long, hard season. Maybe campaign next season focusing on the GN. As Ruby says hopefully he’ll be dropped a few pounds after his last two runs.
Hennessey, Cotswold, Grand National again?
Down Royal, Lexus , Denman, Grand National again?
Hennessey, Welsh National, Denman, Scottish National. He’ll finish exactly where he finished this year. One year older he’ll be vulnerable to dozens of Mullins or Elliott horses. I mean you have to be realistic about his abilities.
His biggest asset is his jumping so there’s more chance of the hill running in the Gold Cup than him in the stayers
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Haiti’s Chase rating will prevent him running in veterans races, and his age next season suggests that Gold Cup’s & Grand National’s will be beyond him (I Am Maximus clearly an exception this year).
The stable has a bit of history in the Stayers Hurdle. Lisnagar Oscar won the race at 50-1 off a rating of just 146 (Haiti is currently rated 154 over hurdles 10lbs lower than his rating over fences).
As we’ve seen in the last month Home By The Lee (and recently with Sire Du Berlais) older horses can be really competitive in the stayers division.
I think they really should explore that avenue next season.
No reason to be despondent with a 9yo handicap chaser who has only run 17 times, won over half of them and nearly half a million in prize money. How many 9yo handicap chasers have done that? He should come down a few pounds for Saturday but obviously Gold Cups etc should be out.
I would think they will aim at the Welsh National first. I would do that unless the half million bonus is offered again, in which case I would go for the Becher first followed by the Haydock trial and have a fresh horse for the Grand National. If winning the Becher wouldn’t need to bother with the Haydock race unless it was needed.
A hurdle race as a prep run could be a good idea. Like the 3m at the Hennessey meeting.
The Welsh National should remain on the agenda and they’ll take it from there.To be honest I think running him was an after thought as they were all about finding out whether he was a Gold Cup horse this season (he isn’t) and his race pretty much went south at the start when he got left a little bit and was a long way back in the field compared to his usual tactics of being up with the pace.
I do think Nationals are his level (having won two of the four) so I wouldn’t be looking to change anything in that respect and with connections now knowing that he isn’t Gold Cup class they can now gear next season specifically around Aintree (probably a prep before a tilt at the Welsh National and then maybe a National Trial before Aintree).
The stable has a bit of history in the Stayers Hurdle. Lisnagar Oscar won the race at 50-1 off a rating of just 146 (Haiti is currently rated 154 over hurdles 10lbs lower than his rating over fences).
As we’ve seen in the last month Home By The Lee (and recently with Sire Du Berlais) older horses can be really competitive in the stayers division.
I think they really should explore that avenue next season.
Unless the pick of this year’s 3m novice hurdle cohort all improve significantly, that stayers’ division looks absolutely there for the taking next term. I’ve seen in cheerily described as “dire” in the press more than a couple of times in recent weeks,
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.
Won the Irish National off 141 and Welsh National off 154 which suggests to me he’s going to struggle to follow up in the Welsh National or any Class 1 Chase even off his revised mark.
I still think the Staying Hurdle division is very weak, even more so this side of the Irish Sea and he showed at Newbury this season he’s no mug over hurdles.
Rebecca Curtis is never frightened to try something different, so with Haiti turning 10 next season this is the ideal time to give it a go.
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