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How now is Phil Smoth going to treat the Aon Chase? Clearly that win has done Madison de Berlais no good and all but ended his hopes, but what kind of mark will Denman get. I can’t believe they run him, but if he took longer to get ready for Cheltenham and they decided not to bother, and if Smith drops him 10lbs or more, he would be on a handy enough old mark and there would be a lot more horse running off different marks to what they may have thought, even if he ran.
Not a good weekend for Phil Smith what with being trapped in the lift at Kempton for an hour with Mike Dillon. Guess they will have worked a few things out
Roddy: See my post @ 9.25 a.m. today under the SAM THOMAS thread.
Sorry Ken,never saw it,in any case this thread all about Knighthoods and Natinality it seems
Quite agree. Vintage AP and vintage Plumpton. How did he keep his silks clean? Should do it in this next race. Desperate conditions.
Well I`m going to run Iron Man. Can`t find anything wrong with him and Jamie said he felt he was coming back a bit after his last run. I see I can get 100/1 . Thats interesting.
PWN introduced another interesting prospect in his column today Nictory Vote . Rated 124 . Third twice at Auteuil including to Bucks Boum ,brother of Big Bucks. Going straight to the festival apparently.
Noland messed up my TTF also so switching to Imperial Commander . Tidal Bay seems to have lost something also. He`s in my TTF as well. Miracle I am still going really
Meanwhile, back on topic, and a "fat as a barrel" Ballycassidy hosed up today in an Open Point in Wales
…and that, I’m guessing, on ground a bit softer than he’d like, too.
There’s 28 days or thereabouts left for him to score another Open win if the Bowens want him to qualify for Cheltenham. Quick as you can, Bally – Zome’s travel plans depend on it!
gc
Rumor seems to be they’re aim with Bally is to go to Aintree and bypass Cheltenham. So maybe he’ll get his win over the National fences afterall!
Have seen pictures of him from his p2p win yesterday. He really looks tubby, but looked like he was glad to be back racing! And he apparantly also ditched his jockey on the way to post!Nice to see your using my colours and my horse as your avatar Mome. Impressed
And so would I . There is something missing in Pandorama. Miracle if he gets close to HF. Trainer seemed to accept this in the interview a few days ago.
I can tell you guys,as the joint owner,that we are definitely targetting Chelt first followed by Aintree. He goes well on both tracks but we will get our other win in hopefully then see you Friday at Cheltenham.
I can see it might be a concern that possibly it has taken a lot of work to get Punchestowns to where he is so far this season and all that work could take its toll on the horse in the second half of the season. But there is perhaps too much speculation in making that observation for it to be a major consideration when it comes to deciding what, if anything, to punt on in the WH.
I think I would though give a lot of weight to experience and maturity over the promise of youth when looking for a winner of the WH. Punchestowns and Big Bucks could both go on to have brilliant careers as chasers and both have won what are considered trials for the WH well enough this season. But there is still a gap to bridge between winning trials, mainly on winter ground, and winning a major championship race at Cheltenham on what could well be much quicker ground. Fair Along and Kasbah Bliss have the advantage over the other two in terms of experience and maturity and that could be very important in influencing the outcome of the WH. Both of those horses have proven form in key races at the Festival, albeit not yet winners of a major championship race at the Festival. And both have shown reasonable form in stayers races on the flat. They have marginally the more experience over hurdles.
Fair Along I like because he is tough, has a good Cheltenham record, is a better horse for spring ground and would be suited by a strong pace (though with the caveat that he has still to prove he can last home over the stayers distance in a fast run race). Kasbah Bliss I like for similar reasons, but with the addition that he ran Inglis Drever close in the WH last season. While Inglis Drever might not have been absolutely top drawer, he has set the benchmark for what it takes to win a WH in recent seasons and Kasbah Bliss was very close to toppling Inglis in last year’s race.
Maybe Big Bucks and/or Punchestowns can set a new, higher standard in the stayers division and leave Kasbah Bliss (and by implication Inglis Drever) well behind, but I would be surprised if that were the case on what I have seen of the two younger horses so far this season, impressive though both have been. I can see the outcome of the WH this season again being very close to call, but on ground no worse than good to soft I feel the experience and greater turn of foot of Kasbah Bliss (or, less likely, Fair Along) may just prevail. Kasbah Bliss may also have the advantage of being a fresher horse going into the race (there is always a danger of being too fresh for the Festival races, of course). He does seem to be a
spring horse
though (insofar as that term makes any sense), and so it might not be great news for his supporters if we get a late spring this year.
Whatever I bet,and it is almost certain to be Big Bucks, I will certainly take Fair Along out of the race. A prolific Chelt horse like him you ignore at your peril I have found over the years. Kasbah Bliss, I share Grassys views,he needs a pilot,but he won`t trouble Big Bucks.
Most things that Dai Walters organises are sweet. He is a lucky guy if a bit unpredictable. He has a huge amount of pride in this and it should work. We will have some runners there first meeting thats for sure. My wife is not happy in missing ladies day at Royal Ascot but for me I`d rather be at a jump meeting anyday. I understand Peter O`Sullevan is going to do the opening.
I know backing a novice could be considered heresy but Big Fella Thanks at 50/1 is very tempting.
He seemed fairly certain it would be Chelt and I know the owner thinks he`s going there. Let`s hope so. If the going became desperate this may change things but I think we`ll see him there. While there is no racing on Racing UK keep showing reruns of Saturday ,Mussel and Sandown,showing all the races and the interviews. Can throw you somewhat .
Let`s hope he has decent going because Ferdy was quite clear he would be better for it in his interview on Racing UK today.
