[Tete Rouge]

Absolutely, Rory.

In any event, as far as I’m concerned, the moans and groans about the Cheltenham domination of the season are utter twaddle.

Not only is there a good spread of decent races right through from the end of October to the end of April (and that doesn’t even take Punchestown into consideration) but we have the pleasure of the build-up towards Cheltenham – the emergence of the new stars, the move of last year’s novices into the senior ranks and the answer to the question "are they as good as we think they are", the renewal of old rivalries …. and so on.

For me, the season isn’t unbalanced, it’s a crescendo towards the best three days’ racing in the world – and then on to Aintree and Punchestown.

And, finally, gaff jump racing beats gaff flat racing into a cocked hat – even if the weather’s foul.

Each to his own, eh?

[Tete Rouge]

Terrible, sad news.  My thoughts are with his family and his friends.

[Tete Rouge]

:laugh::laugh:

[Tete Rouge]

That was Gloaming, Bricoman – the lazy cow runs tomorrow in the first at Leicester ….

[Tete Rouge]

OK, I’m p****d now, so ….

<br>:dance:<br>:bounce::bounce:<br>:armbounce::armbounce::armbounce:<br>:shocking::shocking:<br>:hump:

[Tete Rouge]

Have to say that at long last I finally got excited by the Flat season today.

A fantastic performance.

[Tete Rouge]

I think geldings should definitely be allowed to run in Group races, Championship races, whatever.

And I’m definitely in favour of keeping horses in training longer – with the obvious caveat that some don’t train on anyway.  This year could see some sublime clashes – Sulamani, High Chaparral and so on up against Dalakhani, etc?  Even I, a dyed in the wool NH fan, would love to see that ….

(Edited by Tete Rouge at 7:08 pm on May 11, 2003)

[Tete Rouge]

I wouldn’t say that Montoya was any more arrogant than the rest of them.  He was already champion of a formula that is supposed to be the equivalent of F1 (though I think F1 fans would disagree …).  Think about Schumacher.  And Senna.  Arrogance has almost become a prerequisite in F1.

[Tete Rouge]

Montoya came from Cart – oh, sorry, "Champ Cars" as they insist on calling them these days – and had been a very convincing and very talented champion there.  He’s a great driver, but impulsive.  I certainly don’t agree that he "got in everyone’s way".  He has raw talent in spadeloads, but not necessarily the wherewithal to apply it in F1.

Alonso came from F3000 – a "junior" formula and a more conventional route.  He had a few races with Minardi in 2001 and was test driver for Benetton/Renault, whatever the hell they want to call themselves, last year.  I’m VERY impressed by his approach, his speed and his technique.  If he carries on, IMO he is the potential successor to Schumacher – he appears to have the brains, the talent and the application.  Great stuff.  

[Tete Rouge]

Great stuff from Alonso, again.  He really is superstar material …

[Tete Rouge]

I had thought along the same lines as Elderberry but, lo and behold, Nil Desperandum hacks up ….

[Tete Rouge]

For me, the highs were Azertyuiop and Best Mate.

Unfortunately, day 3 brought a lot of lows – it seemed to be carnage from start to finish.

[Tete Rouge]

With luck we should get a pointer to the Rhinestone Cowboy form in the Supreme Novices …

[Tete Rouge]

Thanks for that, TDK – I shall watch with interest!

Have to say, I certainly wouldn’t ever have labelled him as a dog – I thought he ran a cracking race in last year’s CH.

[Tete Rouge]

Hmm.  Not so far different from my own views, except:

Rhinestone Cowboy<br>Could be the best thing since Sliced Bread (aka Istabraq!).  Not confident that he has enough experience, though, and would probably steer clear this time around

Like a Butterfly<br>Sorry, don’t fancy this one at all.

Marble Arch<br>I may be completely bonkers (in fact, there are those who would say I definitely am) but I don’t think MA really, really stays up the Cheltenham hill.  I think there are others that will come past him …

Scolardy<br>Don’t think this one has trained on plus I would still treat anything from the Willie Mullins stable with caution.

I do like Intersky Falcon, don’t like Rooster Booster, think Hors La Loi III will run his best race of the season and agree that Bob What is worth a silly bet, if he runs!

Finally, this could be the crappiest Champion Hurdle in the history of the Universe, or it could turn out to be a real humdinger!

Oh – and I’m not going to make this race the first one I bet on …..

[Tete Rouge]

I see that they think he may have broken the leg on take-off, and not as a result of the fall.

[Tete Rouge]

What a crappy day.

First of all heard that Davenport Milenium was out for the rest of the season and then this happened.

Poor Bacchanal.

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