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Can’t see anyone mentioning that Yanworth wasn’t even 100% and he still managed to out-battle them in a final furlong fight.
1 more thing not mentioned: the Champion Hurdle is over a furlong further than the Kingwell…
Also Charles, how big a deal is that? In 2005 Inglis Drever won this (Kingwell) on good to soft ground on his way to winning the Stayers.
Puts the track not suiting him comment into some sort of perspective
Can’t see anyone mentioning that Yanworth wasn’t even 100% and he still managed to out-battle them in a final furlong fight.
1 more thing not mentioned: the Champion Hurdle is over a furlong further than the Kingwell…
But you have to remember this is a trial for the Champion Hurdle. I can’t imagine any of the top 3 were 100%, why would they have been? Any trainer worth his salt will have left something to work on for the big day.
The 90% fit comment is a big fat red herring in my view.
Yesterday remind me of binocular the season he won the champion hurdle.
Binocular had injury problems and an interrupted season and hendo managed to get him for enough for the kingwell, which is a similar scenario to yanworth.
Binocular wasn’t 100% fit but won by 1 length in workmanlike fashion, just like yanworth yesterday. But he came on bundles for the run and won the champion hurdle.
Can see the same happening with yanworthWas the Contenders Hurdle, not the Kingwell. It was the year he had the “MOT” over in Ireland after disappointing at Sandown.
I like him too Joliff. Henderson said he did very over the summer and was very complimentary about him in the RP stable tour.
I also like Chesterfield. Handicapper dropped him 7 lb about 10 days ago which was a real bonus. I’m sure the trainer wouldn’t start him here if he wasn’t 100% ready. I do know he took him for a racecourse gallop st Kempton last week.
I loved the way he travelled when he won at Cheltenham, though he’s not the most fluent hurdler. No doubt the trainer has been working on this.Anyone heard if Drumacoo is turning up for this?
Had him marked down as a chaser to follow after his romp at Huntingdon last year and although he disappointed next time out (possible bounce),prepared to give him another chance especially as I assume he would be off a virtual featherweight.
How has he got a chase handicap mark? I thought he had to run in three chases in order to get a mark? He’s only run in two?
Please can someone enlighten me
Actually interesting quiz question- when was the last horse to be supplemented for the Derby actually win the race?
Golden Horn
Moonlight Magic is my idea of the winner, trained by a master, won well LTO and form has been franked by Beacon Rock, by Cape Cross, should stay and like fast ground…just wish he wasn’t owned by Godolphin!
I’m in full agreement Joliff, I think he looks solid and still overpriced at 12/1. I put him
up a while back on this thread, Darren was singing his praises well before that, and I’m
surprised you can still get 12/1, that’s the value in the race for me. His only loss was on
heavy ground at Leopardstown, he won’t encounter that ground at Epsom, his other 3 races he
won well. Unlike many here, there are no question marks against him. I hope we’re both smiling
come a week on Saturday Bolger said he has a dirty scope after the Ballysax as well
Aidan pretty much ruled The Gurkha out of the Derby today and into the St James Palace Stakes instead.
Air Force Blue was said to be heading for the Commonwealth Cup, where he is 10/1. That makes no appeal to me and I feel this will be the race where they finally admit that the horse just hasn’t trained on from 2 to 3 years old.
Harzand was said to need soft by connections and they also feel he’s a big horse who will not be suited to Epsom.
Beating Cook Islands doesn’t look like one to put in the CV as an achievement anyway. That horse looks as pacey as Boaty McBoatface.
Shogun was woeful in the Guineas and while Beacon Rock won the Gallinule today, it looked an awful field and the runner up was rated 88 coming into today’s race.
With Saafaar a well beaten favourite behind 84 rated The Major General in maiden company today, the overall picture of Moonlight Magic’s Derrinstown win is not that of an oil painting, more of a hastily sketched and out of focus watercolour that looks like it will get smudged a lot more by season’s end.
Wings Of Desire would seem the most likely winner if he can make any improvement from the Dante and I would respect Cloth Of Stars, who I had a few quid on at 25/1 after his last win.
Steve, I can’t help but think you are barking up he wrong tree when identifying Saafarr as the horse to hold down the Derrinstown form.
This is a horse who does not act on ground with cut in it, that’s clear from his record. We saw how well he could run once given a decent surface
The ground was soft on Sunday and lo and behold he runs poorly again.What a position you are in Darren
Very well done 
I hope Moonlight Magic wins for you rather than Midterm as I am on the former!
Great punting by you.
Steve any views on derringstown big day for MOONLIGHT MAGIC ground stays fast which is good for him a much better performance on sunday i expect.Any views on Weld horse and Moore on Shogun.
I fancy Idaho for the Derrinstown Darren. I am not biased towards him because I have two bets on him at 25/1 for Epsom, he simply struck me as a horse who looked to be coming to win the Ballysax in quite taking style but then got tired on the heavy ground and got caught.
You could see today’s show from Cook Islands as letting the Ballysax form down but I felt the trip and the Chester track were all against Cook Islands today. I felt that Aidan would have run US Army Ranger in the Dee Stakes and left Cook Islands for the Vase race but perhaps US Army Ranger needed the Vase trip.
Cook Islands was never going the pace and I noted in his maiden write up that he took a full two furlongs to steadily reel in the leaders that day, before going on from them in the final furlong. He looked every inch a St Leger horse to me and he either needs further or he’s not gone on from last season.
The thing with Idaho is that he showed a good turn of foot in his maiden win and he was then pitched in late season into a Group 1 race on mud against better horses. It seemed folly, particularly as O’Brien had said the horse didn’t need another race. What was more folly is that the maiden winner went of favourite against group horses proven on the ground. In the circumstances Idaho ran well enough.
The ground was against Idaho again in the Ballsax but again he ran well, easily outpointing Cook Islands and Beacon Rock, who were both more fancied.
I am shocked to see Ryan Moore on Shogun here. I think the horse is a bust myself and if he’s Aidan’s best hope for the Derby then they may as well give up now. Why would Ryan be on a horse who is 50/1 for the Derby when Idaho is 16/1 at best?
Bookies have Idaho 2/1 favourite on early shows and 9/2 on Shogun for the Derrinstown and as far as I am concerned they have it right, not Ryan. I think Shogun’s a cuddy myself but we will see.
It’s a good looking race,on a par with the Dante in my opinion in terms of strength in depth. Tirmizi went into a lot of notebooks last year and Hannon showed today that his Ventura Storm might be worthy of respect with his Viren’s Army lifting the Dee Stakes.
I wish I could be more upbeat about Moonlight Magic but I expect him to be held on the Ballysax form. All the arguments you can make for why he might improve from it can equally be applied to those who were ahead of him that day and Jim Bolger is totally out of form with 0/27 this past fortnight and, to be honest, he’s not really been living the high life the past couple of seasons anyway.
Moonlight Magic is 10/1 for the Derrinstown and he just doesn’t appeal to me at all, even at those odds.
Tirmizi is poor value at 3/1 for the trial in my opinion. He could be anything as the saying goes but Stellar Mass and Claudio Monteverdi hardly franked the form of his maiden and he has presumably been a bit slower to come to hand.
The ground is currently good and I feel that is going to suit Idaho. I marked him as a potential middle distance horse with a turn of foot last year and backed him for the Derby ante-post. I went in again at the same odds recently and hope he can prove that was worthwhile on Sunday.
I’ll take 2/1 Idaho and expect that he will win this trial quite well.
If you watch the Ballysax again below, you will see that Idaho sweeps through from last place and comes past the eventual winner, going at least two lengths up on him. It is clear that Idaho tires and the other horse then wears him down. That sweeping move could be a valuable asset at Epsom if the horse progresses and get’s decent ground to run on. He comes past Cook Islands and Beacon Rock with ease.
Goodness me! He’s not gonna like Epsom. Flat tracks strictly in my view
