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An £80,000 race and once again the Southern trainers cant be bothered. If it werent for Mark Johnston and Fahey this would have ended up like a class 4 handicap !!
It really gets me annoyed when trainers bleet on about the types of races and prize money and the when a track puts on quality races the fields end up being rubbish. This happens regularly in the North over both jumps and flat.Great to see Fahey producibg horses to challenge the big Southern yards. The north needs some flag bearers on the flat and with the exception of Dandy Nichols sprinters we have missed a really powerful challenge. I think RF and Hanagan are the start of big things. Lilys Angel looks a serious horse, to win from that position round Chester was very impressive. If she goes to Beverley a big bet is going to follow her from my pocket.
Cant see Merigo being out of the first 4. Looking at the entries a lot of the horses ran at Aintree, i dont think this will be the strongest of fields on Saturday.
Strange, the bookmakers cut Ballabriggs for winning a couple of hurdles and then leave him unchanged when he gets beaten over fences? Even allowing for the winner having a new lease of life, he found disappointingly little off the bridle and I think there are big doubts about him staying the trip and even if he did whether he is good enough.
I was at Kelso and i wouldn’t read anything too much into it. They went no pace early on. The front two are nice horses. Whether they have the stamina for the National is guesswork. One thing that strikes me about the National these days is that apart from Amberleigh House, nothing has come from a mile back to win. If the ground is quick you need a horse with a bit of pace to keep up in the first half of the race. The winner is usually in the front group by Beechers second time. These two could cope with that. Not sure the likes of Silver By Nature would be within 25 lengths at this stage on decent ground.
every now and then (not very often !!) i get lulled into thinking i know a wee bit about racing
Cue Card from looks very solid. The stats may be against him but all the form points to him and the form of the opposition looks unconvincing. His hurdling is very good and the faster they go the better it will be for him (lets face it this one is not going to be tactical !! ) reading between the lines i think Tizzard has been itching to have a crack at the Champion Hurdle but the owners have lowered his sights.
I am loathed to have a big punt on the first race of the festival but i am sorely tempted with Cue Card, i have a feeling he could win this with plenty to spare.Strange, the bookmakers cut Ballabriggs for winning a couple of hurdles and then leave him unchanged when he gets beaten over fences? Even allowing for the winner having a new lease of life, he found disappointingly little off the bridle and I think there are big doubts about him staying the trip and even if he did whether he is good enough.
I was at Kelso and i wouldn’t read anything too much into it. They went no pace early on. The front two are nice horses. Whether they have the stamina for the National is guesswork. One thing that strikes me about the National these days is that apart from Amberleigh House, nothing has come from a mile back to win. If the ground is quick you need a horse with a bit of pace to keep up in the first half of the race. The winner is usually in the front group by Beechers second time. These two could cope with that. Not sure the likes of Silver By Nature would be within 25 lengths at this stage on decent ground.
I had a hunch Murphy would go for the Ryanair with Kalahari and had a punt at 20’s. If the ground comes up on the quick side (sabotage that watering pipe !!) i can see Lee being glued to the rail and coming as late as possible. I think he has a big chance. Hopefully Riverside will head to Aintree instead.
To my eyes Captain Chris is a Jewson horse. Has an engine but also has a guess at his fences (Finnians Rainbow is the same) The more i look at this race the more i like my fiver at 25’s on Starluck. Why run in the CH and finish 5th or 6th when he can go for this ? I cant see anything in the field with his speed and i cant get excited by the opposition.
Great to see a Champion Hurdle as competitive as this again. I was but a lad when I used to watch Cheltenham with my dad and the CH was always the race i liked to watch. Comedy of Errors, Lanzarote, Sea Pigeon, Monksfield, Night Nurse,great races ! I think it is the highlight of the meeting this year as we dont really know how good some of these young horses are.
I had an ante post on Peddlers at the start of the season. Seeing him at Kelso yesterday i’m not expecting to be collecting. The long range forecast looks pretty dry and on quickish ground i think it will come down to the finishing kicks of Binocular and Hurricane.
Looking forward to it.Starluck, 25/1 with Coral ?? never jumped a fence and finds nothing for pressure, but if he can jump and the ground comes up quick ? i can think of dafter ways to blow a fiver !!
If he wins his prep race at a canter he’ll be 8’s on the day.I was there too and he is a nice looking animal. He is going to have to find plenty of improvement on this however. I can see him being flat out at the home turn while Hurricane and Binocular are still on the bridle.
On a side issue i think there is a big prize in Bygones of Brid somewhere. Not quite top class but he has engine and he has been unlucky this season.Tough card for punters. I’ll be taking on Nafaath in the Novice chase. Best over 10f on flat, 21/2 on soft ground is a big ask and at evens i’d rather go with Gilbarry who has a lot of potential and looks like a step up in trip will help him.
Two i fancy here are Ballabriggs and Merigo. Ballabriggs is getting the canny McCain preparation and Merigo has the right profile. Both are best on decent ground and should be around 140 , so less than 11st to lump round. Worth a small AP at about 25’s. I can see According To Pete ending up in the Scottish National this season where he should have a shout.
