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Art Decco
Catch CatchfireAnd taking a chance that the unpredictable Regal Blue will respond to headgear
Am not so sure Townend was happy at any point today and many big bets must have been on. Wouldn’t back him now on the back os that fall. Given the time he’ll need, they might save him for Punchestown.
Jonbon. Just a thought. Had Cobden been on he’d have been hailed a genius.
Good horses make good jockeys.
Aye, Konfusion went from precision fencing to wild leaps and, as I suspected, he doesn’t have the stamina connections thought he did. Who knows what’s affecting Myretown? Am always suspicious of horses who carry their heads the way he does from the outset, as though something is niggling or bothering him. His fall was similar to the Newbury one where, it seemed, he just did not see the fence, or concentrate on it until too late. Headgear time perhaps.
Myretown looked a bit of an accident waiting to happen at Newbury. He got in deep at most of the early fences, while still clearing them nicely (quite a task) he took a real flier at a couple, then when they entered the straight he put in two big quite stiff-backed jumps before pretty much failing to take off at the 9th. It was a very bad fall – landed on his neck and was kicked by Grandeur D’Ame as that one tried to jump over him. He has a ton of talent. I backed him for the Gold Cup, but this has to be a watching brief.
Konfusion has a Gold Cup entry too, though I have my doubts about him getting up the hill. But his jumping is getting more precise with every race and if it has come on again, it will be a deadly weapon in this field. when he gets it right, which is more often than not, it is ultra precise, helping maintain momentum and often gaining a bit on rivals. My sole reservation is the Haydock ground as I am not sure he has that ultra deep stamina of the likes of Royale Pagaille.
Harry Skelton agruably the most improved jock in the weighing room in the last couple os seasons.I doubt there’s a pound or so between him and Cobden. And I believe Darren Yates, who sold The New Lion got an agreement from JP that the Skeltons would carry on with him. I wonder if there was a definite deal on Harry?
As there have always been, there’ll be more in her position or various levels of it. It’s a reverse-ransom business: if they don’t pay you, you hang onto their horses anyway, keep feeding it, housing it etc. in case they take it away (and don’t pay you anyway).
If the BHA had a rule for owners that they paid through Weatherbys, such trainers might have half a chance. What is perhaps more surprising in the chain is how those suppliers allow the trainers so much credit given how precarious the whole caper is.
Alan, on jumping, I heard Joel Parkinson on a Nick Luck podcast saying that is his main concentration with young horses above all, from 3 year-olds, teaching them to jump. He didn’t go deep into his methods, but touched on them. Seems a proper evangelist. I’ll be interested to see how far Konfusion can go.
If this is his intention, the Jockey Club must step in and stop him. Never will so many cameras have been trained on a Champion Hurdle. If Constitution Hill breaks his neck, racing has just handed the antis all they need. Not a single defence will remain and there’s a fair chance NH racing will be gone by the early ’30s.
Just to forestall questions, I say the Jockey Club reather than the BHA because the BHA doesn’t have the balls, and Henderson is very close with the Jockey Club and they with him.
Nice work RTB. That’s him 2-2 on good ground. I’d thought it might not be quite enough of a test for him.
I read a qoute today, which applies to both sides of any ‘disagreement’: ‘Before getting into an argument, remember that a bee has never tried to convince a fly that honey tastes better than sh!t’
