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may I ask, is it a well-known fact that Ruby chose to ride KS?
Yes it is. It was widely reported at the time that Findlay wanted him to choose his GC mount before KS and Denman had their respective final prep races, so the same jockey who would be riding at Cheltenham could ride at Newbury/Ascot also. Ruby was quoted in a number of papers stating it was a difficult decision but said "how do you get off a Gold Cup winner?"
The impression I got was that he’d hoped for longer to make his mind up, i.e. having the opportunity to ride both horses in their final preps, see what the long-range forecast for the Cheltenham going was likely to be etc, but his hand was forced.
That’s silly. He clearly wished he’d ridden Denman.
I think it’s fairer to say he clearly wished he’d won the Gold Cup, and who can blame him?
I can’t remember – did McCoy come in for this ‘disloyal’ slagging this time last year when he abandoned L’Ami for Exotic Dancer, or when he tried all ends up (albeit unsuccessfully) to get off Straw Bear in order to ride Brave Inca? Or was he in the clear because the horses he discarded didn’t go on to win?
Rich, I would disagree. An interviewer’s job is to ask questions that give an insight, something we may not have considered or don’t already know the answer to*. Ruby had already, in answer to the very first question, said he was disappointed, so why hammer home a blindingly obvious point that my cat could understand without it having to be asked?
*Admittedly Thommo has never done this in the years I’ve been watching C4 so it would have been a miracle if he started now.
The proximity of Neptunes’ Collonges doesn’t make me cynical towards the form, although the way he closed on KS up the hill says to me that KS doesn’t quite get home when the GC is run at a respectable pace..
FWIW, I wouldn’t rule out Kauto beating Denman in the future, just not in the Gold Cup on anything other than unusually lively ground
That’s my take on it too. 3m 2f on soft ground in a fast run race is too much for KS. In fact (assuming they both come back fit and well) if the ground came up soft next year I could see KS going for the Ryanair rather than the GC.
I hope someone links that clip to Youtube. In fact it should be part of the training for all budding jockeys, a masterclass in how to deal with Thommo.
What the hell was Ruby supposed to say? "Well Derek, about five minutes ago I lost the Gold Cup to the horse I could have ridden if I hadn’t made the wrong choice. My cut of the Betfair bonus has gone out the window, and now I’m wondering if I’ll ever get the ride back on Denman. No, no regrets really, best day of my life."
Anyone know her nationality? She looks Spanish, but is more likely to be from Eastern Europe.
She’s Israeli. And hasn’t half been through the mill – I think I was as delighted for her when the Drever won as for the horse.
I’m another who hopes they stick to their guns and retire him. He owes the Wylies and HJ nothing. In fact, I was hoping they’d announce it yesterday after the race so he could have been cheered out of the winner’s enclosure into retirement.
As for the re-scheduling, does anyone else have a little part of them wishing that every day was put back 24 hours, giving us a Saturday Gold Cup? That would have been the perfect way to fully expose the great clash in the GC IMO.
Nope, but purely selfishly, because I’m off to Uttoxeter for the Midlands Grand National on Saturday and I don’t want the quality of that meeting diluted because the Walshes, Murphys, Thorntons, Fitzgeralds etc are back riding at Cheltenham!
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but there is a difference between voicing an opinion and banging on like a stuck record!
Flat
Oh So Sharp
Pebbles
Soviet Song
Indian Skimmer
SalsabilNH
Desert Orchid
Spartan Missile
Kauto Star
Grey Abbey
Run and SkipAsk me again tomorrow, and it will probably be different.
People are capable of looking after themselves and making their own decisions regarding their safety
Does that include the staff? It’s all very well giving the paying customers the right to weigh up the risks themselves, but they still need people working there to serve the food and drink, dole out the racecards etc. Why should they be expected to risk their necks because a day’s entertainment is considered paramount?
Anyway, the reality of your quote is an increasing number of people who choose to ‘make their own decision’ and then employ an ambulance-chasing lawyer to sue whoever they can lay their hands on when it all goes wrong. They are the people you should be venting your wrath at, not the Cheltenham management team.
Congratulations to everyone involved with Katchit, he’s just what the hurdling division needs. I was screaming him home up the hill, not because I backed him (I don’t bet) but because he’s such a tough, honest little horse – and, more selfishly, because he’s in my Ten to Follow!
My understanding of ‘class’ is that it’s something quite elusive and hard to define. Racing tends to divide its top horses broadly along two lines: ‘class’ or ‘guts’. A ‘class’ horse will, generally speaking, have a turn of foot and win at least one big race visually impressively, ideally by a wide margin or without coming under the whip (NH example – Kauto Star). A ‘gutsy’ horse will fight hard, will run on when it looks beaten, will put its head down and give the impression of scrapping for the race rather than necessarily quickening away, e.g. Katchit!
This does not preclude ‘class’ horses not showing ‘guts’ (Kauto Star in the AON for example) or ‘gutsy’ horses not also having a touch of class (Katchit again!)
Didn’t know – when was it announced?
It’s mentioned at the end of the RP’s analysis of today’s race.
I was at Cheltenham when he won in November and he looked magnificent, so it’s good to hear connections have done the decent thing by him, since he doesn’t owe them anything.
It’s a toss-up between Desert Orchid’s Gold Cup and this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d3VzqHqMoI
as to what makes me cry more. You can’t beat Peter O’Sullevan’s commentaries.
Despite that logical observation, it was noticeable that there were no fallers in the veteran’s race today – a couple pulled up, but nothing fell or unseated.
If the seemingly endless quest for even more supporting Festival races continues, Cheltenham could do a lot worse than stage a ‘Veteran’s Final’ – would be far more of a draw (IMO) than yet another novice hurdle.