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Exactly that, if the photo was fake it would have been denied immediately, simple as that.
It’s not a huge surprise, I’m not saying horses dying is day to day business for trainers, but at such a huge yard, it’s not going to be such a shocking and saddening experience to the likes of Elliott as it would be to us or the general public. Compare it if you like to doctors turning to jokes to deal with the death of patients, it doesn’t mean they don’t care for the patients and get hurt by losses. Context, context, context. Sadly people selling or reading news care little for context.
I’ve never thought a huge amount about Elliott as a man, he has always come across very much business comes first. But, the image is not contextualised, it is a snapshot in time where he may briefly have made light of the situation, so while I think the image is real and I think the bloke is an idiot, I don’t think it’s fair to label him much beyond that without context and understanding.
Bringing it back to what it does to racing’s reputation, who knows, time will tell, not great is it?
“He was making a bit of noise” or “Found to be lame the next day” would be an excuse, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen “He’s out for the season” used in that manner…
My gripe with Geraghty is that I think he’d rather win 5 races looking cool and producing a horse just in time to win by a head, than win 10 in the correct manner and ride the horse to it’s best merit.
He’s obviously a talented jockey, but the amount of times he’s asked a horse too late, or luckily just in time when it’s had enough in the tank to win by ten lengths is laughable.
To keep it’s handicap down, to not overtax the horse, to look good when winning…. No, just get the bloody thing home first!
Whether he got it wrong in this race I don’t know, but I do know with a different ride BVD wouldn’t have had a lump of wood stuck in his leg. Personally I think he should have asked BVD for more on the turn, he would have been closer and less stressed at the second last for the mistake. It seems the mistake was just one of those things, Cornerstone Lad clipping the hurdle in front of him was probably what did it, Geraghty’s fault???
I know she doesn’t owe anyone anything and has been pushed through plenty of hard races, but she hasn’t been pulled up and there’s nothing to suggest she’s distressed by racing. She’s a sound jumper who has never fallen, so you can’t argue that racing is an unnecessary large risk to her welfare.
All I’m saying is there is no way I would give up on her based on what we know, she’s had quirky periods followed by unbeatable periods in the past and if she’s training well and the connections have ideas for her going forward, then why not at least see where they lead.
She’s a 7 year old, it’s been less than a year since she was beating Supasundae by 16 and 20 lengths!
I’m not saying she will definitely roar back to her former best, but it’s worth trying things and figuring it out. She’s had weird dips of form in the past, you don’t write off that good a horse that young unless you know that there is a problem and have a good idea what it is.
Crazy decision, unless he’s jumping like a stag and running better than he ever has. After what has just happened to Wicklow Brave, they should really just let the horse retire. I look forward to seeing him run again, but he’s never going to reach near his best, he never really showed his true ability in my opinion and he’s not going to do that changing discipline at 11.
Good point GM, but perhaps that says more about how good Altior is.
What I guess I meant, is that keen runners will always catch the eye and produce more dominant displays. Ar Mad springs to mind and similarly rose 31lbs after two eye-catching runs.
Altior’s gait is leisurely, and to me he appears to only do what he is asked and nothing more, hence the flat spots he hits, it does his rating no favours.
I don’t think it’s the rise in handicap that’s in turn rising eyebrows, after all, 28lb rises from say 130 to 158 aren’t uncommon. It’s the fact the horse has been declared the best in the country after being deemed only decent a couple of runs earlier.
I could poke holes in the horses he beat for a fair while and with nothing concrete to go on, then high 160s is more than enough of a bump in my eyes.
The handicappers have their hands tied a bit, they also tend to stick too tightly to winning distances and sometimes ignore important context.
One horse beats a 140 rated horse by 15 lengths, therefore is now rated 155, lets move on… It’s a shame as the more importance placed on winning distance, the fewer horses we see pushed out and extended, hiding their true talents and personalities.
Altior likes to win by a length or two, Sprinter Sacre was always happy to try and win by a furlong, that fact flatters horses with the latter’s personality when it comes to rating, I don’t know Altior’s real talent, because he rarely wants or has to show it. I suspect he would be a fair bit better over longer, he simply is good enough to win everything at 2m and so doesn’t need to step up in trip and take the risk, I suspect he is better that Cyrname at all distances.
Altior had to win 9 times in a row before he was rated 170, Cyrname’s win streak is at 2, Altior’s now at 17, but the win distances excite handicappers.
Fantastic, cheers guys! It’s not quite as convenient a layout as skysports was, but it works and I think has all I need. Perfect!
Thanks again VTC, when I tried it seemed to suggest you needed to deposit in order to set up an account, but perhaps that was just a misinterpretation by me.
Maybe this thread could expand in to recommendations as to where people go to look at advice / timing figures / replays / latest news etc etc, it’s all important stuff to a punter or spectator, would be good to know what people do and what they rate.
For me it is crucial that I can see past replays of horse’s runs, I need to get something in place in preparation for Cheltenham, that’s for sure!!
Thanks VTC. It does look like they still do, but I don’t know how much it covers and don’t really want to deposit a fiver to find out just yet…
Not sure how people can get much of an opinion on things without watching plenty of replays!
I’ve never used SP’s, so again, excuse my ignorance, by how are they set?
I can understand fixing nice profit margins with a small number of book makers at quiet tracks, but surely at large meets, a bookmaker can make a killing by offering reasonable odds if the rest are ripping punters off, or is that getting in to “watch your kneecaps” territory.
Definitely interesting, it’s a shame to see that they targeted a ladies’ day, pretty shameless. I would love to look at the industry, their prices and where and when the majority of the money is spent, can’t ever imagine much transparency though.
Pardon my naivety, but what do you mean by the effect on off course bets?
Interesting that Brian Hughes said the ground was quick enough even though it was soft.
Wonder if we ever see the horse at Cheltenham.I thought they were flying, I thought Cue Card would be pulled up 3 out the pace he was going at times… but that was after watching the GN trial at Haydock, where they looked like they were swimming through treacle.
Looking back at the end of the race, I’m surprised there wasn’t an enquiry, I was sure Waiting Patiently had it in the bag first time I watched it, but with the KG finish with Vautour still in the memory, I don’t think it was a completely done deal, he wasn’t going away at the line and Cue Card is very capable of digging in and winning a head bob.
Shame Hughes felt the need to cut to the rail so aggressively and stop Cue Card in his tracks. Diluted the battle at the end, which would have been great to see and would have seen him win anyway.
Great to see Cue Card go well, I don’t think he quite has it in him at 12 to win at Cheltenham, he’s always going to be flagging at the end, but I’ve always fancied him as more of a 2 1/2 mile horse, it just always surprises me when he goes well over further, so maybe one final spin in the Ryanair may bring the best out of him, he clearly still travels well.
