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I’m not saying Denman should be spared a National entry just because i and many other people find him endearing and a joy to watch, yet another horse with the same problems as Denman should be risked because i haven’t heard of him. I felt the same way about Butlers Cabin and i’m happy that he will not be lining up in this years National.
Personally i have no problems with the Grand National, i enjoy watching and betting on it, therefore, i have no problems with horses that are enjoying racing, are jumping well and are in top mental and physical condition being declared. Had Denman been entered in his prime i may have felt differently, or even if he hadn’t had his heart problems but he’s not in his prime and he has had his difficulties and IMO he is high risk for the National. Don’t forget after his fall at Aintree and his unseating at Newbury had was deemed higher risk and had to be checked by a vet before Cheltenham, some people may think this was an over reaction but i don’t believe we can ever be seen to be doing too much for horse welfare.
It’s tragic and heartbreaking when horses that seemed to be in fine physical, mental and jumping form fall and die, but if no one could see it coming we can’t prevent it. However, to knowingly enter a horse that has a greater risk than others of falling or having a heart attack in the National is just plain wrong, and it will give racing a bad reputation. Denman is one of very few horses in recent years to be featured on the ITV news, many people who aren’t into racing have heard of him and if, hypothetical, he did run in the National and the worst happened it would not go unreported. Many people who are not into racing will only see a black and white picture, a horse of eleven years old with a history of heart problems comes to grief in the National, why was he there? Lets ban the National and NH racing completely.
Now i could be very wrong here, these are of course just my own opinions, Denman may well run around Aintree at the age of eleven years old over 4m4f and Grand National fences for the first time carrying 11st 10lbs like a spring buck, winning by lengths, but somehow i doubt it.
We slag the flat owners off for retiring their horses too early before they have the potential to earn legendary status because they fear losing them to an accident etc, but now a jumps owner wants to run his well-suited horse in the world’s most famous race and give him that shot at legend status…he gets slagged off!?! Makes no sense to me. This isn’t some bad jumping, injury prone Champion Chaser. Run him!
This thread is not about slagging Harry Findley or Paul Barber off, they are Denmans owners and at the end of the day it is their decision to make, but owners don’t always make the right decisions.
In my opinion Denman has already reached legendary status, he may only have won one Gold Cup but his win in 2008 was spectacular and awe inspiring and he’ll never be forgotten, he has nothing to prove. It’s not like his career has been aimed in the long term towards being a National horse anyway, as far as i’m aware. To me it looks like a last ditch attempt at glory for a horse who is looking like he may never win another Gold Cup again. Although he put up a fantastic heart warming performance on Friday, it does to me look as though his ability is starting to tail off slightly, whether that’s because of age, his health or his heart not being in it any more i’m not sure, but i feel entering him in the National in this frame of mind and at this later stage of his career would be a bad idea.
For all i know Denman may well get round Aintree safe and sound, however, if something did happen to him it would be a very high price to pay and an extremely sad end to a horse who has given his all to his owners, trainer, jockeys and fans alike.
Unfortunately, as far as i’m concerned, this is not the first time Mr McLernon has given a horse a rather, shall we say, questionable ride. I remember his ride on Mr Presley at Huntingdon. The horse clearly didn’t want to play ball right from the off, receiving very early and sharp reminders from Mr McLernon to move from a midfield position to a more up-front position, from which he proceeded to toil and struggle before dropping back to the rear, with no chance of making an impression on the leaders. I kept thinking all the way round, surely he will pull the horse up now, but he never did, he insisted on completing the course.
I was very suprised the stewards did not take him to task over this ride, but it looks as though a horse has to injure itself or worse before stewards will get tough on irresponsible riding.
I also don’t think an eight day ban is longing enough, not if Mr McLernon new the horse was struggling and it is hard to believe that he didn’t, most jockeys have it upstairs to know when a horse has had enough. So why did he cary on??
Very sad news indeed.
Does anyone know what exactly happened, and if so, would they be kind enough to post?
As far as i know Inchidaly Rocks last run was in February, when he finished third of three, i wasn’t even aware that he was injured.
Poor Inchidaly.
Poor Lodge Lane, it looked to me as though he may have suffered a fatal spine injury when he came down, he landed so awkwardly.
Does anyone know why he still hadn’t been put down when the rest of the runners passed him on the final circuit?
Could it have something to do with his connections deciding what best to do for the horse?
I ask, because it looked as though there weren’t enough screens to cover him fully, and i’d hate to think the decision was given to euthanise him earlier than he actually was.
"As regards the whip, I was brought up on Lester Piggott as a child, and I just regarded it as natural. However, I find it very unsavoury in NH racing."
What other animal is it ok to whip within public view.
The racing industry cannot be exempt from certain standards in our society.
It’s rather unfair to place all the onus on the racing industry when leisure riders carry whips all the time, perhaps we should just ban whips all together if thats how you feel. At least in racing, use of the whip is more closely monitored than in leisure riding.
I’ve had to use whips on horses many times when i used to ride, and i don’t believe if done with a certain amount of cosideration un-natural aids such as whips are cruel. Believe me, many horses can be stubborn and/or lazy, and no amount of squeezing down a half ton of horse is going to get it to do something it doesn’t want to do.
Other than getting lazy and stubborn horses to move, whips are also useful for helping horses keep a straight line when they drift and controlling headstrong dominant horses.
Granted some jockeys can be a little over zealous when it comes to the whip, but i believe the BHA are going down the right line by handing out bans.
"As regards the whip, I was brought up on Lester Piggott as a child, and I just regarded it as natural. However, I find it very unsavoury in NH racing."
What other animal is it ok to whip within public view.
The racing industry cannot be exempt from certain standards in our society.
A pool full of sharks, i must sound like a fish in distress.
Thank you for the kind post Onthesteal, i might just take your offer up at some point.
You know i’m not completely useless when it comes to form, i know it doesn’t sound like it lol, but even when i choose horses that have never run before i still take certain trainers and jockeys into consideration. Even though i think every or most of the horses have a chance, i have never closed my eyes and picked a horse out randomly. I always consider the age, previous form, trainer, weight and jockey, and i’d like to think i make a somewhat informed decision. I may not always get it right, but such is life.
When i do get it wrong i learn from my mistakes, like when i backed Optical Illusion, he had been stepped up in class and i didn’t take that into consideration. A novices mistake, but hey what do expect from a novice.
Also i am convinced my picking of Mon Mome for the National was not just luck or coincidence, that is the first time i have ever picked a National horse based on form rather than the name or the trainers name, and the way he jumped last year caught my eye. Besides, that is my only triumph as a gambler, so i need to hold on to it, otherwise i might just pack it in completely and go a little mad.
Hi Doug, thank you for the helpful advice.
I hope you don’t mind me asking, but just to make sure i am clear about this, do the higher numbers denote higher class or lower class?
I know i look really thick now, but in for a penny in for a pound.
I’m only a novice when it comes to gambling, the Grand National being the only other race i have put money on until recently, and i have become completely miffed with form study. I do try to study form and the only time it has worked out right is when i backed Mon Mome in the National, otherwise form that seems so obvious to me just doesn’t work out.
For example, i did a toteswinger on this one race at Hamilton, i think. I banked one horse called Tangerine Trees because he seemed the obvious one to win, having won off 9-7 last time out and being dropped down to 9-5 this time out, and another horse called Opitcal Illusion who having won off 9-5 earlier in the year had be dropped down to 8-9. Well i didn’t expect Optical Illusion to beat Tangrine Trees but i did think he had a good chance at placing. He didn’t place, he didn’t even come 4th, he came 7th of 7.
Now i stick to Maidens, Sellers and Claimers because it’s anybodies race and the prices are better, and if all i can do is guess i might as well guess in races where the prices are bigger.
Oh it never seemed this hard when i started gambling.
