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Philip Carberry will miss the ride on Sublimity after breaking his shoulder in a fall in France today. No word on any replacement jockey yet.
I’ve heard that they’re leaning towards letting Cousin Vinny take his chance in the Royal Bond rather than the maiden on Saturday Carvills.
Hot enough race to be having your first run over hurdles but as you say, the smaller field should help him. Could be a very short price for the Supreme come Sunday night.
I think its a race to watch for future reference to be honest Hubris. If I was to have a bet at the current prices I’d probably side with Trafford Lad at around 5/1.
The Tony Martin horse might not have the big reputation that some of the market principles have, but he’s done nothing wrong in his two chase wins and as Carvills states; he’s a good jumper and he’ll relish the conditions. I’d be very surprised if he was good enough to win this but it would not surprise me if he ran into a place.
I suspect you could be right David in suggesting that we do less with our horses at an early age. The French on the other hand do have their horses racing and jumping at a much earlier age. The likes of Master Minded had plenty of experience in France before coming over here and it is definitely a contributary factor as to why French breds tend to be more forward at an earlier age.
Whether the breeds themselves have markedly different characteristics though, I do not know.
You make a good point about the success of 5yos in novice races at the festival AP, but most if not all of these horses (Voy Por Ustedes, Star De Mohaison etc.) are French bred. Irish bred horses tend to mature and develop at a later stage and therefore a lot of trainers, rightly or wrongly, tend to keep them over hurdles for a season before going chasing.
I take your point about War Of Attrition, Kicking King and Best Mate all running in their first chase as 5yos, but all three of these horses had a year over hurdles to develop physically and learn about the game before tackling fences.
There are compelling arguments to sending a horse chasing at the earliest opportunity. Florida Pearl, who went straight from bumpers to novice chases, springs to mind. But for every success story like Florida Pearl, there would be a horse like Missed That, who probably would have benefitted from a years hurdling before going novice chasing.
There is an awful lot of hype surrounding Pandorama but I get the impression that Noel is trying to keep a lid on it. I think he regretted saying that Aran Concerto could be the best he’d ever trained after he won his bumper. That tag followed the horse around for the rest of that season but in fairness, the horse may well justify his reputation over fences.
Getting back to Pandorama, the word from the point-to-point crowd was that this was one of the most promising horses they’ve seen in years. Noel did say that they considered putting him straight over fences so you’d have to think that anything he achieves over hurdles is going to be a bonus. If he gets testing conditions over hurdles he’ll be very difficult to beat, but I feel he could be vulnerable to speedier types on a decent surface.
He might not win a novice hurdle at Cheltenham but he’s one you could well see running in a Gold Cup in the future. He reminds me a bit of Denman as a novice hurdler – real chasing type with the raw ability to gallop other horses into submission.
http://www.racingpost.co.uk/horses/card.sd?r_date=2008-11-30&race_id=468464&card_choice=colour
No Cooldine or any Nicholls runners left in but it still looks to be shaping up very nicely. Aran Concerto looked like he might justify his huge reputation over fences with his chasing debut at Navan. Forpadydeplasterer put in a workmanlike display at Punchestown but he’ll improve for that run and the step up in trip will suit. Tranquil Sea looked very good at Cork but he did jump out to his right at a few. Trafford Lad has the benefit of two runs over fences but he tended to jump out to his left in the straight which wouldn’t help him around here.
Looks between those four but Tony Martin’s Northern Alliance will have his supporters and Rare Bob should improve for the step up in trip.
http://www.racingpost.co.uk/horses/card.sd?r_date=2008-11-30&race_id=468465&card_choice=colour
The feature on Sunday could see Hardy and Brave Inca clashing yet again. Catch Me put in a good performance in the Lismullen and will probably go off favourite. Aitmatov and Sweet Kiln fought out a thrilling finish last year, but both were disappointing at Navan even though Aitmatov would’ve needed the run. Noel could also run Muirhead who won the Royal Bond on this card last year. He compared the horse very favourably to Jered a few weeks ago so he could be a fascinating runner stepping up in trip.
http://www.racingpost.co.uk/horses/card.sd?race_id=468456&r_date=2008-11-30
8 left in for Sunday. Cousin Vinny also holds an entry in the maiden hurdle here on Saturday but its interesting they’ve left him in, especially considering Willie also has Hurricane Fly. Noel has a strong hand as usual with Donnas Palm and Fisher Bridge. He’s won 3 of the last 4 renewals.
Like what I’ve seen from Lethal Weapon so far, but as you’ve said he hasn’t really beaten anything of note.
I’d say there’s a very good chance that we’ve yet to see the Triumph winner jump a hurdle in public yet.
Robbie Hennessey is Bill’s son. He used to ride the horse out at John Carr’s in Maynooth before deciding to take out a training license himself during the summer. Think he’s got a yard near Ratoath. He’ll also train the ex-Andrew Balding trained Donegal for his father, who they’re hoping will develop into a contender for the Triumph Hurdle.
Sublimity is in danger of becoming a bit of a forgotten horse as far as these big hurdle races are concerned. He looked to be going best of all in the Champion rounding the home turn but he just couldn’t quicken up the hill in ground that was against him. If he get’s his conditions at any stage during the season I wouldn’t be writing him off.
Pandorama was very impressive today. Alpha Ridge is no bad horse and he was made to look ordinary. Real relentless galloper this horse and he’ll be very hard to beat on soft ground. He’s definitely the type of horse you could see lining up in a Gold Cup one day if he stays sound. I know its a cliche but everything he achieves over hurdles is going to be a bonus.
Will be interesting to see if he meets Hurricane Fly before the spring. I have a feeling that Willie’s horse might just have the gears to beat him over two and half miles on decent ground.
Ballistraw gave you a good run for your money Cavelino.
Typical Dreaper horse that Notre Pere. Will stay all day for you. You’d have to feel a bit sorry for Operation Houdini especially after what happened at Cork the last day.
Surprised that Davy has ditched Chelsea Harbour for the Nicholls horse. Showed he was in good form over hurdles at Clonmel last week and Tom Mullins’ horses are in great form at the moment.
Looks like HRI are battoning down the hatches. Was to be expected I suppose.
Bit of a curate’s egg of a performance by Cooldine. We won’t be seeing the best of this horse till he goes over a trip though and Willie normally is more than happy to let one come on for the run. If anyone recalls Missed That’s chasing debut for the same connections and over the same course and distance, you would be very pleased with Cooldine’s win today.
The Drinmore will probably come a bit soon for him so the next target could well be the 3m novice chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.
