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In fairness to Quevega’s connections – the mare suffered a serious suspensory ligament injury at Auteil in May 2009. They feared she’d never race again and promised that if she did, she’d be kept for only the best races.
Whether that ‘promise’ was made because of the potential for further damage to the suspensory, or simply to reduce the chances of some other mishap befalling her on course, I don’t know. But the owners are entitled to honour their promise to themselves/the horse, without being castigated imo.
On Sprinter Sacre, I’d be pretty confident he’d get the 20 furlongs at Aintree all right, but much less so the 3m of the King George.
In the QM, he was fairly keen till after the 4th when he settled nicely. He took hold of his bit halfway along the back but BG had little trouble settling him again. Whether he’d behave so amenably in a slower-run race (as you’d assume anything above the minimum trip would be, all else being equal) remains to be seen.
Two things struck me at Cheltenham: it was the worst round of jumping I’ve seen him put in, and BG was able to pull him up quite easily (I’d say Sizing Europe took a few strides longer to pull up).
I’ve never thought him a great jumper. He’s often a spectacular jumper but he’s seldom economical. I suspect those leaps take a fair bit out of him; he’ll regularly show noticeable lateral movement in the air too. Maybe that style of jumping, in the energy used V ground gained, is not ideal.
It’s to be hoped that he is not one of those whose jumping deteriorates with racing (Voy Por Ustedes would be a classic example).
His key weapon, imo, is that huge stride with which he can put a race to bed some way out. Geraghty, perhaps as part of his general strategy on such good travellers, seems to ride Oscar Whisky (over 20 furlongs) using similar tactics: track the leaders, take it up around 3 out and put them to the sword from that point.
For those who wish to see the horse ‘tested’, I suspect like many ultra-strong travellers, SS will find little off the bridle.
The Flemenstar camp seem keen to take him on at Aintree despite their doubts about their horse not being a good traveller (as in making the trip from Ireland). The wily Mr Tizzard seems much less inclined to face SS at Aintree and says he might reroute Cue Card to Punchestown, although I think he’d relish a crack at the big horse in the King George.
Mr Tizzard says the decision on Aintree will rest with the owners. It would be worth going a long way to see those three horses, assuming all were at the top of their form, battling it out round the tight Mildmay course where the layout should be to Cue Card’s advantage.
Whatever happens, let’s hope they all stay healthy so we can look forward to next season’s battles.
I believe the best thing the new man could do is leave Mr Bittar to get on with his quiet revolution
It ain’t half hot mum!
Greg Wood reports that the ban need not be reciprocated by BHA if M Dwyer can persuade them that the Indian stewards "failed to observe the principles of natural justice"
I’m trying to find data on how many times these situations – with any rider – result in a horse being declared a ‘non-starter’, esp after punter protests
I think Futurism’s point about the ground is a fair one. Timeform rated the going ‘soft’. The horse is unproven on good ground although his action suggests a sound surface won’t trouble him – I suspect he will be even better on it, but that remains to be seen.
Even if easy ground turns out to be his preference, he’s pretty much guaranteed to get that in the CH, with Cheltenham’s stated policy of ground no faster than good to soft on day one.
He’s a very short price all right, especially for a 4-y-o, and it’s often folly to judge a horse on such a visually impressive performance (I resisted the post-race big quotes for the CH on that basis).
But I’ve looked at his races a few times now and one thing that might have accounted for at least some of his improvement at Cheltenham was the hill.
He travelled supremely well, highlighting another massive benefit for him – his demeanour. Few horses who travel with such menace, especially juveniles, do so without racing keenly (My Tent or Yours would be a fair example and he is two years older than OC).
Our Conor seems most tractable, at least under Bryan Cooper. Although impressive in his previous races, what stood out, for me, last week was that when he met the rising ground, he began drawing away with his jockey still sitting still. Once he was 5 or 6 clear, young Cooper had a look through his legs then tapped the horse down the shoulder – literally tapped him with little more than a wrist flick – and OC moved up a couple of gears.
Landing over the last Cooper crouched and pushed with hands and heels and Our Conor cruised even farther clear. On reflection it was probably more visually impressive than Golden Cygnet’s romp in The Supreme 35 years ago, albeit GC would have beaten better horses.
By dint of winning the Triumph Our Conor chalked up another key attribute for future festival winners, he himself became a festival winner. I’m not a stats student, but I’d be surprised if there were a stronger or more profitable stat to follow in jumping than backing past festival winners to go in again.
He’s hugely exciting. I’m sorry Cooper has lost the ride. Pocket-wise, I hope The New One beats him and wins the Champion, (like The New One, OC is a very athletic mover for a jumper) But as a jumps fan, I’d love to see Our Conor become the hurdling Frankel.
Although I can offer no evidence for it, more than 40 years watching racing leads me to the conclusion that few horses run two races alike, as far as being able to depend on a definite measure (like 1 lb for a length) is concerned.
Taking a broad brush approach you could say that some do run two, or more, alike – Sprinter Sacre always wins easily for example – but sufficiently consistent to measure by the length or the pound?
There have been some pretty rare occasions when two horses who regularly meet at levels, seem to produce their form almost to the pound, but I find it hard to believe that racehorses, as a species, produce consistent enough performances to be rated within such tight margins.
It seems a cliche, but every horse is indeed an individual. No matter the sophisticated ‘tools’ available to trainers, nobody can say, on a raceday, what or how a horse is feeling.
I have long suspected that the majority of horses branded ungenuine, have a physical rather than mental ailment, which simply has not been diagnosed. If there is some ‘lack of will’ in a horse, I believe it is most likely to be linked to the horse’s general mental wellbeing (equine anxiety?), rather than a premeditated intention to shirk in a finish.
If only they could talk!
I’d be interested to know what degree of subjectivity goes into ratings – Timeform, OR, RPR, any recognised system.
How much weighting is given to yardstick horses and how much to theorising about the merit of individual performances – 70/30? 80/20? Does it differ from race to race and if so, why?
Yeah, well done for sticking with him – although you did say he was best over 2 miles
Could be some superb races next season if Simonsig steps up in trip
Staying division in the UK lacks quality for 2nd season chasers though
Ha! I think I was wrong there, although I wouldn’t mind seeing him have another crack at the trip if S Sacre ever decides to take a holiday.
I’ve a feeling Simonsig might revert to hurdling. NJH thinks he’s a pure two-miler, SS is in the yard, and, most significantly imo, he’s not a natural jumper of fences.
aye cue card one of those horse’s that has been given a bad press, won’t stay, bridle horse and all.
what a load of bollox.
good call steeplechasing
Thanks EGS. Despite that win, I’m sure he’ll still have his detractors; when some folk take against a horse, they can be pretty stubborn.
I knew how bad it had got when supposedly professional summarisers, specifically those writing the post-race analysis for the RP, claimed that C Chris would probably have beaten him at Ascot bar his mistake.
Now it’s all about opinions, but that was simply disregarding what was in front of your eyes: Cap Chris had been under strong and sustained driving from the 3rd last while all JT had done was change rein.
At least the RP had the grace after the Ryanair to admit they were wrong, but when analysts at that level are writing tosh, you know how bad it’s got.
Still, it fattens the price!
All the best
JoePerhaps OC wasn’t the best example, but certainly wouldn’t call him a banker for the Triumph.
Really know your onions fella.
He does, and like everyone one here, some more often than others, called it "wrong". Erm, sort of.
Moving on……..
Cue Card
Well done Joe, you’ve stood by him through thick and thin, he won well for you.
Thanks mate. I hope you had a good week.
Great to see Cue Card and his much maligned jockey (who’s been the making of the horse) finally silence the doubters.
The bias against this top class performer, especially among racing ‘pros’, has been laughable at times, although credit to the RP’s summarisers tonight for admitting their risible assumption (Cap Chris would have beaten him at Ascot) was well wide of the mark.
People see what they want to see, ignoring what suits – in only his third chase he failed by a nose to give half a stone to the year-older Bobs Worth who will very probably win the Gold Cup tomorrow. On his debut he thrashed Silviniaco Conti.
Well done Cue Card and the Tizzards.
Some good judges on this thread
He should scoop a couple of Champion Hurdles before his Gold Cup wins
Good luck today
JoeWith the first day going now long odds on to be soft and the vibes for Pont Alexandre increasing hourly, I suspect NTD will be cursing himself as a fool for taking The New One out of The Supreme
Their PR man, Simon Clare responded to criticism re those who’d been restricted to a tenner (on an already restricted offer) by saying that they’d averaged a stake of £18, so ‘most had got on for £20’.
Reality is that, on those figures, they risked some bad blood and bad PR for the sake of saving £2 a punter.
I’d bet they’ll abandon the studio base and do as much as they can on a voiceover basis.
They say the camera loves you or hates you; none of the present team seem confident staring into that cold detached lens – it’s a rabbit-in-the-headlights effect which unsettles the viewer, understandably.
Even long-time media pros like Terry Wogan could never look comfortable on TV.
Most of the team talk well enough and are knowledgeable although Mick Fitz’s schtick can get repetitive and wearing. Ruby Walsh would be a gem: incisive, non-bullsh1tter and highly articulate.
I cannot see how cheekpieces are going to benefit Long Run. His jumping can be chancy enough under pressure without a new piece of kit to think about . . . risky to introduce them in Gold Cup imo
