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In fairness to Ferdy, that may be because he now has better animals that can run in the higher class of race. Kalahari King was 4th in last years Supreme which is arguably the best hurdles form of any of the main protagonists for the Arkle. Must be solid each way.
No, Christian Williams will be on Neptune Collonges I would guess. Which leaves Sam to sit in the weighing room.
Have to disagree re Exotic Dancer not going for the Gold Cup though. If he wins on Sunday then I cant imagine Jonjo and Robert Ogden would bypass the Gold Cup. The temptation would be too strong, especially as he only has a length or two to make up on Kauto Star on the Gold Cup 2 years ago.
Of course Thomas has lost his confidence, Nicholls has made sure of that with his "Big Buck’s would have won the Hennessey but for Thomas" outburst the other week. Initially (in December), Nicholls probably did the correct thing in taking Thomas off Master Minded in the Tingle Creek. But surely, a couple months down the line and after getting back on some Nicholls winners, is not the time to shoot Thomas again?
And like Equitrack says, it does make me want to see some form of bad Karma befall Barber, Findlay and Nicholls. If they cant handle "the pressure of the media" then they shouldn’t train good horses.
In football the best managers always know how to handle there stars and the media.
This scenario really is descending into farce. 10 months ago it was the clash of the titans between Kauto Star and Denman – Two brilliant champions. Harry Findlay and Paul Nicholls were waxing lyrical about the Thomas ride on Denman. The opinion remained the same until November…then bang.
Its crass, underhand, backstabbing by Paul Nicholls, Paul Barber and Harry Findlay. Thomas does not deserve to be treated like an outcast just because he made a couple mistakes in a couple of races in November. And even then, he never got Big Bucks beat, the horse did that himself.
I really think the pressure has started to get to PN of having all these good horses and wealthy owners to satisfy.
Surely saftey of spectators, owners, trainers, staff etc should have been the issue? Even if the track had been raceable, what about the surrounding infrastructure? Can just imagine the spectators going to the races in reasonable conditions, seeing loads of snow fall during an afternoons racing, and then finding they couldn’t get home!
I am not exactly a huge "form book man"! As i back at 5-1+ in lucky 15’s, canadians etc then i prefer to see where the value lies based on general form, trainer form, course, ground etc. A good day will yield 1 winner and 3 places from my each way lucky 15. I dont put in hours of study, dont have the time for it.
Kalahari King looks a good each way shot. Palomar is an enigma…cant see him lining up on the day. Not a race to bet in before the day in my opinion though. See who’s there, see what the odds are and then play.
Good stuff Gerald. Liked reading your train of thought. I am a bit doubtful, having watched the race, that the ground was good though. It was cutting up a bit and European Dream, a strong finisher on stiffer tracks, was the winner. Which I am using as my excuse for my selections flop (Folk Tune). Good race by Musselburgh standards mind.
Why dont we ask the horses what they want??? As us humans will never agree on how many, which type, how far apart, how tall, how short, how thick obstacles should be.
Chaser: Desert Orchid
Hurdler: Rooster Booster, Inglis Drever
Flat: Shergar, Bosra Sham, Persian Punch
Jockey; R Dunwoody, A P McCoy, Pat Eddery
Trainers: M Pipe, H CecilWell, its been won by one punter. Or no sorry, there has been one winning line by a syndicate that staked a perm costing £18,900 by all accounts. I had no idea the syndicates put in such obscene amounts of money. Even 5 syndicates playing to similar levels brings in £100k to the pooled fund. Pity the poor bloke who was at doncaster and had a £2 line with 5 winners and a second. Oh how I would have loved him to be the winner over the syndicate!
And if some £2 punter wins they will be branded lucky (That Haddock woman), and made to feel like it was all fortune over skill. When one of the syndicates win, its made out that they are very clever punters. Go figure! One has 1 selection per race, the other has many selections per race!
Been here before but I think Nicholls has been un-professional towards Thomas. And I too had noticed he wasn’t riding much of late for Nicholls. I just assumed Thomas had grown a set and told Nicholls to shove it!
