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There is (correctly and understandably) a desire for more open communication from trainers & owners, particularly around high profile horses & targets.
If we encourage owners/trainers to issue timely information regarding running plans, well being of horses and such like then we also have to accept that some of the info will be based on opinion & "best knowledge" at the time. Accordingly, it is subject to change.
The one thing that is NOT subject to change is the official "scratching" of a horse…once that is done there is no going back.
I believe that it was valid to question (in both cases) why the horse had not been scratched but that this questioning could/should have been done pre rather than post race.
"Why have you not scratched the horse officially if he doesnt run Nicky/Jim?" would have been a valid & appropriate question in the run up to both races.
In short though, surely the lesson is this – if it ain’t scratched it could still run.
I think that owners/trainers can provide more info but if each time they do, they subsequently feel unable to change their mind then the inevitable & undesirable outcome may be that more & more decide to say nothing at all.
It would be remiss of me to address points in this thread without referring to the accusation at its base. Lydia Hislop has not employed double standards on this matter as she has explained why she took the positions she did in each case. Some may agree, some may disagree with those positions but I do think that she has more than satisfactorily articulated why she did so -namely that she sees a marked difference in the reasons the trainers gave for rating their horse "doubtful".
One could argue that believing one had a "sick horse" is more reason to scratch it than having an alternative target race for a healthy horse but that debate is not one that adds to the discussion about Lydia’s supposed lack of integrity.
She has taken up two positions, explained how & why she chose to do so and has been consistent in her argument.
Finally, on the subject of language, words and eloquence I do believe that we should not mock anyone for the way that they choose to express themselves…BUT I do wish some of Lydia’s RUK colleagues would moderate their tone when discussing horses. Jonathan Neesom in particular is disrespectful, rude & arrogant in the way that he mocks and sneers at some horses that he is supposed to be offering insight on. Somebody pays for that horse to be in training Mr Neesom & they deserve a bit more than a sarcastic comment. It doesnt’t have to be positive but polite and based more on fact than perceived comedy value would be appreciated!
dprp – I’m sure you’re very proud he ran an absolute stormer given some of your reservations. Thanks for sharing. Has he come back okay and any plans for the rest of the season? Could be some horse.
He was balloted out of the William Hill Trophy though in reality, our choice was between the Kim Muir (3m1f at Cheltenham for amateur riders) or the Midlands National (4m at Uttoxeter).
An overcast day on Wednesday & knowledge that they were going to water was enough to encourage us to run at Cheltenham, though any rain would have been welcome.
In the event, the rain did not arrive until after the race but the ground appeared to be riding dead & was, at least,definitely not lightning quick.
Galant attracted lots of money & went off the 11/2 fav, backed in from 8s. I can honestly say that, just like when he won at Cheltenham in November, I had not put a penny on him. He was towards the top of Timeform’s list, the racecard had tipped him & there was support for him amongst the pundits…I just wanted him to jump around & not be discredited!
He was settled in mid div by Nina Carberry & jumped beautifully throughout. Turning for home he was in about 8th but still travelling. "He has run ok, David" someone said over my shoulder. "He isn’t finished yet!" I said, "He will run on from there!"
He did indeed run on & with the eventual winner stopping on the run in,he was 3rd beaten only 1 and a quarter lengths. Another furlong would have made things interesting…he would definitely have beaten the winner & just how much more the 2nd (Faasel) would have been prepared to give is anyone’s guess…though that is mere conjecture.
What is fact though is that for the 3rd time & for the 2nd year in succesion, DPRP visited the presentation area at the Cheltenhma Festival. Our two previous times being with Nine De Sivola (3rd in NH Chase 2009) & Aces Four (4th in 2007 Sun Alliance Chase).
Nina was thrilled with him; "He dances, he just dances at his fences!". She reported that when the pace quickened on the far side, he was outpaced for half a furlong before picking up & running on. She said that he was a clever, nimble jumper & that he was very honest & brave.
He was a little stiff on Friday morning , less so on Saturday & was perfect by Sunday morning.
The official handicapper will judge the tomorrow.
He may run again this season though I would prefer to give him some soft ground next time. He will not get into the English National this year & whilst he he is entered in the Irish one, Easter Monday is probably too soon. He is in the Betfred (April 24th) & we will probably put him in the Scottish National (April 17th) too but there are no firm plans. There is a really nice listed handicap at Aintree on Grand National day but being another 3m1f we would definitely want soft ground for that – he was 2nd over C&D in May.
A final thought…having seen the Midlands National run on heavy ground with just 3 finishers & an exhausted winner I think that we made the right call.
KIM MUIR:
A more overcast morning encouraged us to declare Galant Nuit. Soft ground is not going to happen but the conditions this morning added to the knowledge that the course would be watered 4-5mm overnight meant that we were prepared to let him take his chance. Obviously any rain between now & 4.40pm would be appreciated!
Positives:
Galant has run well here 3 times.
He is in very good order having been aimed at the (abandoned) Eider Chase
He looks reasonably well handicapped on 133 (7lb higher than when winning here in November
Great amateur jockey booking…Nina Carberry.Negatives:
Ground could be softer
Trip of 3m1.5f is short of the 3m3f he won over last time…and he didnt get to front in that race until after the last
Much more competitive race than the 2 that he has won so far.
Relatively inexperienced
We are thrilled to be running him & with the yard in form we are hopeful of a decent run. To place would be fantastic.Really looking forward to it.
http://www.grossick.co.uk would be another good source.
I don’t claim this to be "one great idea to sort racing out" but just some thoughts that would hopefully improve things long term…and yes it is unashamedly focused in my own area of involvement.
OWNERS need to be better looked after than they currently are and the trend needs to be to improve rather than erode the ownership experience. Whether one views owners as privileged individuals, as betting coup organisers or as the "old guard" they do supply horses to race. For most owners, it is not prize money that matters (or they wouldn’t do it!) but more the "ownership experience" and all of its elements;
Owners & Trainers bars need to be comfortable, spacious and the bar & viewing areas need to be kept exclusive. There have to be perks of owning horses and having ones own areas on course is part of that. Haydock, Aintree amongst others do it well. Ayr is generally good but the decision to combine owners bar with members bar is not a good one in my view.
Winners should always receive a trophy & presentation. We won a race at a course in the north & received nothing…no trophy, no presentation!
Kelso take connections of placed horses (as well as winner) for a review of the race & glass of wine..nice touch.
Media coverage..apart from Harry Findlay, Andy Stewart and Clive Smith which other owners receiive any regular coverage? Very few.
Food & drink on course…Haydock,Doncaster ,Aintree & Ayr look after owners well with meals & coffee. Elsewhere, having paid £100 to enter a race, a few hundred more to get there + jockey fees etc an owner is welcomed with a cup of coffee charged at £2.50. Yes, most can afford it but is it really too much to ask for an urn of coffee to be provided?
Owners badges…owners/trainers need to be more organised in letting courses know in advance who will be collecting badges etc. That said, course could be more welcoming and not assume that everyone asking for an owners badge is trying to con their way in!
I know that many will see this as owners wanting more of a free ride on the back of racing. It is not…it is a recognition that finding owners that want to invest in the sport by providing the base product (horses) is not a straightforward "given".
I love being an owner & love providing the ownership experience for my syndicates but if that ownership experience continues to be eroded (and is not compensated for by prize money) then the incentive to be an owner will be hard to detect.
Galant Nuit will run providing that he works well on Thurs. Horses need to be 100% for such a test. This has been his target since November but if he is not right, he won’t run.
He is only 6 and he has only won two chases. That doesn’t worry us though as we ran the then 6yo Nine de Sivola in it to finish 2nd and the two horses are not dissimilar.
Soft ground is important to Galant – he ran very well at Aintree (2nd) and Cheltenham (1st) when getting it.
He won off 125 at Cheltenham in Nov & races off 133 on Saturday. Hopefully Halcon Generlardais will stay in & keep Galant on 10st9b.
He runs best fresh and so the break since November is not a worry.
Trip wise, he should get it fine. He needed all 3m3f of the Cheltenham race last time out.
This is always a very competitive race and so "hopeful" rathe than "confident" is the mood…though if he does run it is because we think he can run a big race.
As an aside, why do people bother entering horses like Kilbeggan Blade who are 100-1 to get a run? I can think of better ways to squander £750!
Because until you see the entries you can’t be sure that you will not get in .You can strongly suspect but if for some reason it turns out to be that you could have got a run but you are not entered you would look/feel pretty silly!
The £750 entry fee, along with the extra £1200 for future declaration stages is refunded in full provided that you are balloted out (as opposed to simply not declaring).Thus, its a gamble to nothing.
Official press release:
Trio top National weightsAlbertas Run, Madison Du Berlais and Notre Pere head the weights on 11st 10lb for the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree on April 10.
The handicapper has not been able to split the trio, who are trained by Jonjo O’Neill, David Pipe and Jim Dreaper respectively. Paul Nicholls’ Argento Chase winner Taranis is next in the list on 11st 9lb, while Pipe’s Our Vic would carry 11st 8lb if he lines up in the four-and-a-half-mile spectacular.
Last year’s shock 100-1 winner Mon Mome has been handed 11st 7lb, compared to the 11st he shouldered in 2009, with Dessie Hughes’ pair of Black Apalachi and Vic Venturi on 11st 6lb along with the Colin Tizzard-trained Joe Lively.
Nicholls’ ante-post favourite Tricky Trickster just pipped Bob Buckler’s Niche Market to victory in last week’s Aon Chase and both have been allotted 11st 4lb at Aintree, the same weight as Tom Mullins’ Made In Taipan.
Other previous winners entered include Pipe’s 2008 victor Comply Or Die (11st 5lb) and Gordon Elliott’s 2007 hero Silver Birch on 10st 5lb. Mouse Morris’s War Of Attrition had undergone something of a renaissance this year and he has been given 11st 1lb, while Welsh National winner Dream Alliance has 11st 3lb.
Others with 11st or more include Don’t Push It (11st 5lb), Irish Invader (11st 5lb), Casey Jones (11st 3lb), Cloudy Lane (11st 3lb), Nozic (11st 3lb), Possol (11st 3lb), Siegemaster (11st 3lb), My Will (11st 2lb), Pablo Du Charmil (11st 2lb), One Cool Cookie (11st 1lb), Backstage (11st) and Ballyholland (11st).
Welsh National third Le Beau Bai has been given 10st 13lb, 1lb more than leading hope Big Fella Thanks and 2lb more than John Quinn’s Character Building.
Last year’s fourth State Of Play has 10st 11lb while 2008 National runner-up King Johns Castle (10st 9lb), last year’s Scottish National first and second, Hello Bud (10st 6lb) and Gone To Lunch (10st 11lb), and 2008 Ayr victor Iris De Balme (10st 6lb) are further noteworthy contenders.
Jimmy Mangan enjoyed National success with Monty’s Pass in 2003 and he could field Conna Castle (10st 9lb) and Whinstone Boy (10st 4lb) this time. Francois Cottin’s French challenger Louping D’Ainay shoulders 10st 12lb and he is the 40th runner in the field, which means any horses below that mark are not yet guaranteed a run
If you buy the Denman scarf, it will be like supporting a Premiership football team…need to buy a new scarf when he changes "kit" next year!
The Hollinwell is being aimed at the 4 miler I think Rich – certainly more likely to be the next Addington Boy than the next Kalahari King (distance wise anyway)
The Hollinwell is not entered in 4 miler. Will run in Jewson Novices 2.5 mile if anything.
yes sorry, Monkerhostin is not entered.
Don’t let me put anyone off producing a complete list…mine was done hastily, only goes down to OR 134 & as Gerald has spotted is not bombproof!!!
Entries down to a rating of 134 (the Irish horses are shown with Irish ratings. List does not include Louping d’ainay as I don’t know his rating.
name chaserating
Albertas Run (IRE) 164
Notre Pere (FR) 163
Madison du Berlais (FR) 162
Taranis (FR) 161
Our Vic (IRE) 158
Dont Push It (IRE) 155
Joe Lively (IRE) 155
Black Apalachi 155
Comply Or Die (IRE) 154
Vic Venturi 154
Air Force One (GER) 153
Mon Mome (FR) 153
Star de Mohaison (FR) 152
Cloudy Lane (GB) 151
Dream Alliance (GB) 151
Monkerhostin (FR) 151
Nozic (FR) 151
Casey Jones 151
Made In Taipan 151
My Will (FR) 150
Pablo du Charmil (FR) 150
War Of Attrition 150
Big Fella Thanks (GB) 149
Ollie Magern (GB) 149
Tricky Trickster (IRE) 149
Beat The Boys (IRE) 148
Gone To Lunch (IRE) 148
Le Beau Bai (FR) 148
Niche Market (IRE) 148
Backstage (FR) 148
Siegemaster 148
Cant Buy Time (IRE) 147
Seven Is My Number (IRE) 147
Snowy Morning 147
Deutschland (USA) 146
Character Building (IRE) 145
Ellerslie George (IRE) 145
Kornati Kid (GB) 145
State of Play (GB) 145
Possol 145
Ballyholland 145
Cane Brake 145
Chelsea Harbour 145
Preists Leap 145
Lennon (IRE) 144
Royal County Star 144
Ballyfitz (GB) 143
Bible Lord (IRE) 143
Erics Charm (FR) 143
Razor Royale (IRE) 143
Mr Pointment 143
Conna Castle 143
Kilcrea Castle (IRE) 142
Maljimar (IRE) 142
New Alco (FR) 142
King Johns Castle 142
The Package (GB) 141
Officier de Reserve 141
Hello Bud (IRE) 140
Arbor Supreme 140
One Cool Cookie 140
Abbeybraney (IRE) 139
Flintoff (USA) 139
Knowhere (IRE) 139
Mumbles Head (IRE) 139
Palypso de Creek (FR) 139
Parsons Legacy (IRE) 139
Cerium 139
Coe (IRE) 138
Beroni 138
Trabolgan (IRE) 137
Faasel 137
Silver Birch 137
Chief Dan George (IRE) 136
Piraya (FR) 136
Trust Fund (IRE) 136
Offshore Account 136
Irish Raptor (IRE) 135
Kilbeggan Blade (GB) 135
Oodachee (GB) 135
Battlecry (GB) 134
Boychuk (IRE) 134
Parsons Pistol 134Entries for the Grand National closed today and interestingly there are fewer entries this year than for some time – 111 entered.
Last year (Mon Mome) there were 122 entries & the cut off for a run was a mark of 139, 10st5lb.
2008 (Comply or Die) 149 entries, cut off rating 137, 10st7lb
2007 (Silver Birch) 119 entries, cut off rating 134, 10st2lb
2006 (Numbersixvalverde) 150(?) entries, cut off rating 134, 10st4lb
2005 (Hedgehunter) 152 entries, cut off rating 134, 10st5lbOf course it depends upon how many highly rated horses are amongst the entries as to where the cut off may be. It is entirely possible that the entry number is down as those rated below 130 have not even bothered this year. We won’t get a feel for it until names of entries are revealed & until hey are handicapped but I wonder if horses rated 134ish are going to get a run this year, unlike in the last two years??
From 7th Dec 09:
Aces had stem cell treatment on a tendon problem & had been near to a return but he has unfortunately developed another problem. As he is 10yo,nearly 11yo we have decided to retire him.
It is a sad day in an obvious sense but it is also a happy day – he will retire to a very good home to be pampered and spoilt with his health relatively good.
It would be easy to wallow in self pity about "what could have been" with Aces but I prefer to reflect on just what he did for us.
We bought him in December 2005, Ferdy having bought him at Doncaster Sales a month earlier. He had been "sold"a couple of times by Ferdy but the deals were never completed and so I was surprised to find him still avaialble in December. Surprised because he looked the part & because I knew how much Ferdy thought of him. Before Ferdy got him, he had run in 4 bumpers (placed second twice) and four novice hurdles (placed each time). He had always run on good to soft ground or softer but Ferdy was sure that he needed quicker ground. Additionally, he had had a little bit of corrective work on his breathing immediately after joining the yard.
I really liked him but at the time he was significantly more expensive than anything we had bought so far at £23K. However, we decided to take a "risk" with him & bought him in Dec 05. A couple of weeks after I bought him, Ferdy told me that he would probably win first time out and that he thought that he was potentially high class….but as a chaser not a hurdler.
Eight weeks later, he made his debut in a modest maiden hurdle at Ludlow- a venue chosen as it provided good quick ground. As promised he duly won by 7 lengths….rewarding the one owner that had made the trip! In truth, only 4 shares had been sold & so the win was a great boost in terms of sales!!!
From there he went to Ayr 4 weeks later & won again. By now he was rated 125 & we ran him in a handicap hurdle again at Ayr. He finished only 3rd of 4 …but we probably ran him in a handicap before he was ready and we did so on good to soft ground. The defeat was more about our bad planning than his ability! To prove the point, he ran a week later at Perth – on good to firm ground & back in novice company. He won easily. Three hurdles wins from 4 starts…the syndicate finally "sold out"!
That was the end of his novice hurdle campaign – 3 wins from 4 – and we put him away for the summer remembering what Ferdy had said – he is a chaser not a hurdler!!
He made his novice chase debut at Fakenham in October 06 and fell when very tired at the last. Not the best start! However in the next 6 weeks he went twice to Necastle and twice he won – both times very impressively. Great days for the partners! Graham Lee reported him to have made a noise & suggested that we try to help his breathing a little….though the issue was not serious.
We then went to Cheltenham in December 06 and on soft ground he ran a blinder to be 2nd to Patsy Hall. Graham Lee again reported the breathing issue & said that he would have otherwise won. He had a small operation on his nasal passages and the next time that we were to see him was in The Sun Alliance Chase of 2007. Denman won the race and Aces finished fourth….having stumbled on landing three from home. The memory of him bombing down to the third last upsides Denman with everything else off the bridle will never leave me!! Graham reported him to have been "hard on the steel" when stumbling and so we felt that he would certainly have been 2nd…though 4th in a Cheltenham Festival championship race was great!
We took him to Aintree next for the £70K Midmay Novices Chase and this was the best day of his career. He destroyed a good field and won by an eased down 8 lengths. Most of his owners were there and it was a memorable day.
His next race was to prove to be the start of a run of bad luck. He took a crashing fall at the last at Punchestown when looking like winning and was then injured in the next seasons Charlie Hall. The following 18 months saw him battle with injury & see the track only once until, this weekend, we retired him.
A fantastic horse, rated 157 at his peak and a real superstar for us….13 runs, 6 wins and some great days out!Enjoy the retirement Aces, you deserve it!!
