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Real shame. Kings Palace was such a classy horse at his best, but did not seem at all happy this season.
RIP
I’d stick to hurdles and try to dominate the division for as long as possible. To my eyes, Thistlecrack is not a good jumper – he often corkscrews in the air and ‘guesses’ at his hurdles. He only survives these mistakes (and makes them look insignificant) because he always has plenty of energy.
I would NOT like to see Thistlecrack steaming around Cheltenham’s chase course or attempting to bunnyhop the fences on a sharper track like Kempton. The horse gambles too much with his jumping and looks like a candidate for a proper pearler.
That’s just my own impression of the horse’s technique and I would love to be proved wrong, but I will be very nervous if he ever moves away from hurdling.
On behalf of Mr Han…
3.00 Aintree – Alisieur D’Irlande
3.40 Aintree – Different Gravey
5.15 Aintree – Silvianco Conti
3.10 Lingfield – Silver Quay NAP16:20 Aintree – Roc D’Apsis nb
17:15 Aintree – Shutthefrontdoor
18:10 Aintree – Sir Chauvelin NAP
15:10 Lingfield – Dutch Uncle13:45 Aintree – Urban Hymn
16:15 Lingfield – Sea Of Flames13:45 – Urban Hymn NAP (Join The Hanclan)
14:25 – Bello Conti (Yorkhill)
15:00 – The Game Changer (Alisier D’Irlande)
15:40 – Prince Of Scars (Thistlecrack)
16:20 – Roc D’Apsis (Mystifiable)
17:15 – Shutthefrontdoor + The Last Samuri (Boston Bob)
18:10 – Sir Chauvelin (Dell’Arca)Yes exactly – the rails are designed to be as flimsy as possible while retaining their shape and staying in place. They did their job here. The photographer rightly took 100% of the blame. He was specifically warned not to touch the rails in a briefing an hour before the start of racing.
Still, it’s terribly sad for Alan Crowhurst, who won one of the major gongs at the British Sports Journalism Awards just a couple of months ago. Presumably his career is suddenly in ruins, with Getty likely to dispense with his services. We’ve all made horrible mistakes or in our lives or blunders at work so you have to hope Crowhurst can find a way to bounce back.
13:40 – Tycoon Prince NAP (Theinval)
14:15 – Buveur D’Air (Bleu Et Rouge)
14:50 – Ballyalton (Blaklion)
15:25 – Vautour (God’s Own)
16:05 – Mr Moonshine + Astracad (Turban)
16:40 – Baoulet Delaroque (Tomngerry)
17:15 – Ballyandy (Battleford)You’re the man, Nathan. Up the Astracad.
Channel 4 LOL moment of the day: Alice Plunkett shrieking “this is BRILLIANT for Scotland!” at Mr T Hamilton after he had ridden Doubledisdoubledat to a distant fifth in the Fox Hunters’.
1.40 Arzal (Sizing John)
2.15 Apple’s Jade (Diego Du Charmil)
2.50 Djakadam (Don Slowly)
3.25 Nichols Canyon (Annie Power)
4.05 Pacha Du Polder (On The Fringe)
4.40 Minella Present (Vicente De Noyer)
5.15 Storm Patrol NAP + La Bague Au Roi (My Khaleesi)The sale is mainly dominated by sprint bred types, plenty by Kodiac, Exceed and Excel, Showcasing etc.
And here I was hoping to see some scratchy backward middle-distance prospects.
Heskin was arguably culpable for the two Ballychorus bellyflops at the last in two valuable handicap chases this season. Perhaps those mistakes put his position in jeopardy.
I like Heskin and think he will mature into one of the top jockeys. It’s a shame when an owner takes on a young jockey but isn’t prepared to accept the inevitable errors of a rider still learning their craft. It must be hard to have patience when you are paying the bills and buying the horses, but I think Connell had unrealistic expectations here.
Hopefully Heskin keeps getting plenty of rides.
A long ban definitely feels right, but the length of time feels quite arbitrary. On what criteria was it decided that four was the precise number?
The BHA’s statement on Best may be the most strongly-worded they have ever released. Even Howard Johnson was only labelled as “cavalier” and “reckless” in their press release despite his awful works of animal cruelty.
If Best really is that bad, why let him come back at all?
Those are some incredibly kind interpretations!
I think it makes perfect sense as a flagrant non-trier. It’s a safe assumption (given JP’s famous micromanagement of his horses) that Geraghty was told by owner/trainer that the horse would not be ‘off’ and to ride accordingly. With that in mind, you could argue the jockey was stitched-up by the trainer.
Geraghty dropped the horse out in an effort to simulate a typical “outpaced/outclassed, ridden after 3 out, kept on”. Unfortunately for Geraghty, the horse had been over-trained and still had plenty left when he went for his token shake of the reins.
At that point, Geraghty was screwed. Once the horse responded so generously to his first niggles, he could hardly stop riding for fear of making it look even worse. His only option from there was to keep pushing, revealing much of the ability of the horse he was trying to stop.
I think that’s a plausible explanation for the awkward second-placed finish. There was indeed nothing to be gained from that kind of ride, but that’s the point – Geraghty probably never expected things to pan out that way.
It’s good to see that hardly any posters think the ban was unjust. It’s exactly what the cheaters deserve and it’s refreshing to see stewards standing up to the likes of Geraghty, McManus and Martin.
The problem is consistency. The usual apathy and permissiveness makes almost makes this seem unlucky or unfair on those who got punished. These rides need to be punished heavily every single day of the year. In reality, similar non-triers (and worse) constantly pass without any sanctions.
As a side note, this is lazy training. The dark arts of non-trying and handicapping a horse can be accomplished without asking the jockey to do the dirty work.
Glad I could help Purwell, sorry about the balance though!