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May be harsh but I seem to remember Phil Tuck getting Randolph Place
on the ground quite a lot along with a number of other promising
GWR horses of the day.News to me too. Very sorry to hear it.
Not at his best over fences but a great trier with a fair bit of ability at his peak.Although Brennan may well have made a big difference I think he`s
had luck on his side with the stable form. Few yards seem to hit
such peaks and troughs of form as NTD. I think MP`s assessment
of David England`s contribution both last season and this ( with an
intervening broken leg) is well wide of the mark.Sorry to say Carl Llewellyn`s had a pretty thin time apart from bumper
horses, Noel Chance`s fortunes could certainly do with an upswing ,
suppose you could include most of Lambourn really though
Sherwood`s making a decent fist of a revival.IMHO Machin does a pretty good job as a commentator and makes a
reasonable all rounder too.I would concede that his vocal timbre is not a favourite of mine and his
vocals seem to get too tight in a finish, few complaints on the content
of his calls though.Before you all get too carried away with talking about subsequent
improvement. I would refer you all to my post of the 5th Feb on National
weights. I was not the only one to mention Comply or Die.Thought the One Show lot did OK with such a grim subject.
Rather better than BBC Wales TV who in an immaculately researched
10 second piece said it was a sad weekend for West Wales trainer
Peter Bowen whose horse McKelvey died after a very bad fall in the
Grand National.I`m not sure about a minimum rating – the consequences for Alan Berry
don`t bear thinking about.I saw the ESPN 74 and 77 stuff too See More. I can understand most
people would have found it slow going but I preferred that style of
presentation. Would have been the first time I`ve seen the `74 race in colour anyway.At least the BBC didn`t blow the budget on presenters
and background music in those days.I agree with Steven F that Darren Owen did well even if they did cut his
microphone on Saturday. Very neat summing up at the end of his section in the Topham too.Well they clearly haven`t succeeded if the horses at the top of the handicap are good old performers with retirement beckoning and decent
handicappers that Mr Smith has seen fit to weight punitively for
showing track form.The perceived improvement in quality stems mainly from a much greater
number of Irish trained runners of a certain level of ability being entered
possibly reflecting the boom years of the Irish economy.The redevelopment of Aintree as a course probably stems from
acquiring good sponsors with a longer term commitment and from
some outstanding contributions from the likes of Charles Barnett rather
than on a point of handicapping IMHOThe aspect of the BBC coverage that has annoyed me is they cut away
from the action straight after the first couple of horses are over the line
in order for us to see the elation of the winning connections.
Bugger the other runners!The riding arrangements for the Twiston Davies runners have had me
wondering what schools of thought are at work.
Bit surprised that PJ selected Fundametalist as I thought TD had really
been talking up Knowhere`s chance ( Tizzard`s booking has made me
remove all thoughts of backing him).
Thought Naunton Brook might have had better credentials than
Ardaghey for David England too although Naunton Brook was listed
as ‘doubtful’ a few days ago.
Odd IMHO.Well what sort of bumper gate would you expect for a GF race meeting?.
Full of non paying irritating little kids not being supervised I`d suggest.
There`s a distinct lack of quality over Easter anyway.
Why water it down further.
For the record Paul Nicholls has had nothing entered on Sat/Sun and I
believe just one on Monday. That says it all for me.I think we`ve had a bloody long time to get used to the idea and should
just get over it.All very subjective stuff to say what would/should win a race.
Sadly soundness is a pretty big factor in the hurly burly of the race and
experience should teach us not to overlook it.I find Mac amusing from time to time but he does need to be taken in hand a bit to get anything worthwhile from him.
There`s plenty to criticise on C4 but surely it`s not nearly as bad as the
BBC who have not made one good acquisition in a decade.Incidentally, Mac`s BBC counterpart Loughran hopes to be back for
Aintree. On what basis?Punting shrewdie?
Tremendous character?
Easy on the eye?
Easy on the ear? ( Well he might be using his spare time attending
adult literacy classes)The BBC should never entertain using him again
