- This topic has 48 replies, 23 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
Watson Lake continues to shape like a horse with a physical problem to me. If he can’t win this on the bridle, expect him to fold tamely 2 out.
Can’t see past WoA today, who won this race last year on his seasonal reappearance. Strong Project was beaten 28l in that race so can’t see him improving despite being relatively fit.
WOA did it nicely although I’ve never felt that Watson Lake gets home over further than 2 1/2 miles so the winning distance may flatter him a bit.<br>But it’s a good start and should put him spot on for his next race.
Yep JD.. my ante-post bet at 6/1 is looking good at the moment but as found last year there is a loooooooooong time before the big one in March and a lot can happen! :o
I think oyu hit the nail on the head DJ. It travelled strongly behind War Of Attrition and I was thinking he just had to push the button for the horse to go past. However when the jokcey was still waiting with only 1 to jump I came to the conclusion the jockey knew the horse wasn’t good enough to go past WofA. Having said that the distance may have been too far given the way it travelled but didn’t pick up.
I can’t remember who said it………apparently Watson Lake very quickly throws in the towel when he gets tired. He’ll go from being a danger to almost pulling up in a few strides.
seems to be a common thing with meade/ carberry runners that they travel well and find nothing when asked, they have a dismal cheltenham record but still a great trainer and jockey,i have to believe that they were confident of a good run today given that the vibes from woa camp were low key,watson lake was heavily backed today.
was at punchestown last thurs to see War of Att win as he liked, anybody fancy anything else to beat him?
He is the most complete race horse i think i have ever seen ..He reminds me so much of Best Mate with out all the s**t
ty hype and cotton wool…If a horse doesn’t run to form on heavy ground then why persist in running it on heavy ground? We saw it last time and we saw it today, the horse doesn’t have anything left for a finishing kick. Why is the trainer so reluctant to send the horse to England for better ground? Surely continuously running the horse on heavy ground will leave its mark eventually? What was wrong with the King George?
Does anyone actually agree with the campaigning of War of Attrition this tear?
It is exactly the same campaign, step by step, that he had last year but this year he has argueably performed better. Connections were at pains to point out from the start of the season that he would stick to the same route as last year in his build up to the Gold Cup (bar the brief mentioning of a King George bid).
- Total Posts 17716
Maybe he’s superstitious?<br> After all, dese goiys still believe in Leprechauns!:biggrin: <br>
Totally agree FSL
Since when have trainers had plans set in stone from beginning of season? Surely there has to be flexibility unless the horse is one of those rare beasts equally happy on all going?
Depends how much flogging round on heavy will take out of him. Ive no idea, but the winning habit (however relevant that may be…and many trainers will say that a horses confidence is affected) has now been totally lost
I wonder if they might have run at Kempton is KS wasnt in the race… If not, then that would have beggared belief
Maybe ‘flogging’ him on heavy ground is actually beneficial in raising his fitness levels and developing/maintaining his stamina capacity?
Interesting point about horses developing a winning ‘habit’. Horses, of course, do not understand the abstract concept of ‘winning’. Their only concerns in life are innate instincts and conditioned instincts.
The psychology of the horse is interesting. A herd animal with dominant individuals within the herd, there are possible pysychological factors which are innately wired in to the horse which may have relevance to their performance as racehorses.
Also, it is clearly possible to condition certain behaviours into the horse.
Whether you can condition horses to know when they’ve ‘won’ is another matter. Trainers, I think, do like to ensure certain horses finish in front on the gallops, hoping, one assumes, that this will cement that behaviour into the horse so that when it goes on the course it will try to ensure the same outcome.
This approach though would need repeated reinforcement so whether War of Attrition finishing behind a couple of times would have any effect on his mental attunement to ‘winning’ is extremely doubtful.
Since when have trainers had plans set in stone from beginning of season?
Henrietta Knight and Best Mate spring to mind.
- Total Posts 17716
Clivex<br> Any decent trainer with a target for a horse will also have a plan of how to get there. Yesterday’s race was undoubtedly more part of the plan than the actual target for at least half of the field,imo, the going being incidental.<br> Generally speaking, the higher the target, the less flexible the plan also, so it matters little where the horse finishes in the context of the long-term objective.<br>Just my opinion, of course, but not without substantial support from the form book.
Seeing as War of Attrition is showing himself to be nothing more than just a good ground Beef or Salmon, I do hope he won’t be lauded to the rafters if he wins 9 Grade 1 chases on his preferred going.
To be fair to the Hen, she proved adaptable enough to switch Best Mate to the Lexus at late notice when he won that.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.