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Zulu Chief is the horse Aidan O’Brien named at a press day back in March when he was asked to nominate an unraced three-year-old to watch out for this season. He seemed to be the first string at the Curragh on Sunday even with King Of Rome in the race. On the contrary, I would be surprised if he doesn’t end up running at Group One level.
All talk of deliberate swerving by Murtagh is laughable rubbish.
Horse swerved, Curtain Call was stopped in his tracks, Tartan Bearer’s cause was severely damaged.
Frozen Fire was launching what would have been in any case a winning run.
Without the incident, my guess is a 1-2-3 of Frozen Fire, Tartan Bearer and Curtain Call, with Casual Conquest fourth.Newbay Prop is not the favourite for no good reason.
Very lightly-raced up-and-coming chaser who landed a good prize at Fairyhouse in December and was well fancied for the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown, but didn’t complete (had it to do at the time).
Had a hurdles spin to prepare for this subsequently, and is trained by Tony Martin, who can get them ready.
Looks the answer to me.<br>
I know it’s tempting to analyse and think you’ve come up with an answer to the age-old puzzle about how to turn a profit, but isn’t it just swings and roundabouts in the end.
I had what appeared cracking ante-post bets (Aran Concerto at 25-1 for instance) but made a massive loss, but got out of it with on-the-day bets on proven performers.
I think it’s a question of being absolutely rigorous with what you’re prepared to back, but having no fear when you’re convinced you’re right.
I totally agree with the each-way thing; I too give far too little credence to the place part of a bet, and just try to cover my win stake.
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Wouldn’t it be fantastic if once, just once, all the top staying chasers would turn up at Cheltenham at the top of their form for the Gold Cup.
Too many were missing this time, as usual, with War Of Attrition, Kicking King, In Compliance and Star De Mohaison among them.
Fabulous performance from Kauto Star, who looked different class when he swept past everything else. I don’t think Exotic Dancer will ever beat him.
What impresses me about Kauto is his ability to dominate at every distance, with two Tingle Creeks in the bag. Reminds me very much of Desert Orchid. He’s yet to achieve the legendary grey’s longevity, of course, which is another measure of greatness.
Isn’t it wonderful to see a top-class chaser campaigned aggressively, though, which didn’t happen with Best Mate, unfortunately.
Nicholls has already said Kauto will have the one race as a target next season (the Gold Cup), plus a third Tingle Creek, which I’m guessing will leave the way clear for Denman in the Betfair Chase and the like.
Denman against Kauto on soft ground at next year’s Festival, now there’s a race to look forward to.
Couldn’t fault Denman, but it’s tricky knowing the strength of the form as there didn’t look much in it apart from the Irish mare, who fell.
What does Nicholls do next season with Kauto, Denman and presumably Star De Mohaison?
Now if he was Michael Dickinson…..
This is a very easy one, as has been said. No worries at all for Captain Christy as long as he jumps round.
Good grief, some pretty modest horses have won the Gold Cup, haven’t they?
Desert Orchid easily the best of these, but not over the Gold Cup course, so I’ll go with Jodami, who looked awesome when he won. BHL second.
This is bizarre and ought to backfire on them, because Haydock’s jumps meetings include some terrific chases, while the Flat is largely boring.
The ground gets bad when it rains on the Flat track and you get horses spread across the course, which destroys the spectacle.
The Sprint Cup has never gripped the imagination like the July Cup or the Nunthorpe and it’s often run on soft/heavy ground.
They may rake in more cash from the booze brigade, but the track will slide backwards in terms of prestige, and 10 years down the line they’ll wish they hadn’t done it. I hope.
The judgement is supposed to be on when they were at their peak, and I reckon Best Mate shades it, but there’s isn’t a vintage winner among them.
Kicking King would have a shout and on his day Looks Like Trouble was very good. Makes you wonder just what Nick Dundee might have been, though.
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For me there has never been anything to match the great duels between Sea Pigeon and Monksfield.
Little Monkey had the heart of a lion and never gave up, but Sea Pigeon was the classier, though a difficult ride as he had to be delivered just at the right time.
Once the distance of the race was reduced Sea Pigeon’s stamina held out and his turn of foot was decisive. He gets my vote, just.
Spare a thought for Birds Nest, who beat all the greats of the time, but never in the Champion.
He tried six times, but the races were won by Night Nurse (twice), Monksfield (twice) and Sea Pigeon (twice), so he grew up in the wrong era.
He would have been a proper rival for Istabraq.<br>
Aran Concerto is the most exciting novice hurdler going to the Festival, but is he a banker? It’s a leap of faith, surely, at this stage. For one reason or another he has beaten only one proven high-class performer so far, and that is Footy Facts. He won a poor bumper, and when we were about to find something out against The Railwayman in his first hurdle, he was KO’d in the most bizarre style. I was looking forward to a real test against Catch Me at the weekend, but again it didn’t happen, and again that wasn’t Aran Concerto’s fault. He has been hugely impressive and definitely has a change of gear, but he’s going to the Festival without ever having been challenged, and that has to be a worry.  What will he find?
No Drone, it was Kenneth Wolstenholme, he of the ‘they think it’s all over … it is now’.<br>
TMM<br>It is indeed strange, on the face of it, that three such highly rated horses should be around at the same time, and I can understand why you would find it hard to believe.<br>I would point you to the year 1970, when the Flat scene was graced by Nijinsky (then three), and both Brigadier Gerard and Mill Reef (then two).<br>The latter two are the best Flat horses I have ever seen, with the other snapping at their heels.  Yet they all raced in the same year, and two of them were exact contemporaries, so it can be done!<br>I’ve had a good look at Arkle’s career, and some of the things he did were absolutely astounding. I’ve no doubt in my mind he was not just the best ever, but by some way.<br>Flyingbolt’s career lacked longevity and while some of his performances could rightly be highly rated, he didn’t really get the chance to dominate over a period, as Arkle did.<br>
