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Alex Noren really stood out for me at 90/1 with Sky Bet who are paying 8 places and a 1/4.
Also took the 160s on the machine. I think the world number 11 is going into this quite under the radar, despite it being his first ever Masters.Also done Fowler 20s and Snedeker 50s. Hopefully get a nice run for my money, what a fantastic weekend of sport ahead.
Yes he really needs that prize money to retain his crown.
On a side note, how can Betfair go 16/1 on MYTOY? 16/1??! Have they learned nothing? Going in with a vengeance.
I am not quite convinced that EoD is a top class chaser, especially at 11/4, but on bare form yes he would have a good chance.
Do you think we breed too much with speed in mind these days? Does a high class hurdler need to be a big, slow, jumping type horse? Looking at past examples you wouldn’t think so, but, bloodstock is not an area I am expert in so I would love to educate myself more.
I wasn’t actually familiar with Annie’s pedigree to see the cross-duplication of Northern Dancer. But in Quevega’s case what would discourage a match up? Would it solely be the price, as TheGun said?
With the likes of Walk in the Park emerging as a top NH sire, over two miles anyway, I ask the question why not go one better? Galileo to be exact.
You can’t argue that WitP had more stamina than Galileo, so why has he, Galileo, never covered any NH brood mares? Is it a case of sticking to the tried and tested sires? Or is it more that Coolmore want to keep him very much under lock and key? It certainly couldn’t be a case of him being too costly.
The thought of a match between Galileo and Annie Power/Quevega is frightening to entertain.
Yes he wasn’t terribly keen, but still keener than you would like for a maiden winner going into the Guineas, assuming he does, especially with a very strong finisher like Churchill in the race.
You are probably right about the Guineas coming too soon, added to the fact Godolphin looks to have a respectable team assembled for the race. However you feel we might have seen the best of these horses, with very few unexposed. Dream Castle could be anything, and having missed out on a 2yo season, I hope they take the risk.
It’s a shame we won’t see Carravaggio over 7 in Dundalk. It would have been quite informative, regardless of the opposition.
Yes he’ll certainly need to settle better if he’s to run well in a Guineas, unless he really is his father’s son !
What did you’s make of Dream Castle’s win earlier? Too early to get excited, after just a maiden win, but he really did have a touch of Frankel about him. I’ll have a bit of the 33’s on offer.
Meanwhile Churchill’s form is franked yet again. He really should be odds on and probably will go off that way.
I think firstly it should have to be a level track that gives a good test of speed as much as stamina, in order to preserve the essence of a ‘King George horse’. This would also make it easier to compare with previous winners.
That would narrow it down to:
Haydock
Wetherby
Aintree
Newbury
FontwellFrom a facilities point of view some of these tracks would be unfeasible, further narrowing it down to Aintree.
Given the standard of facilities at Aintree, it really should be used more throughout the season and would be a perfect candidate for a race as prestigious as this.
I would also like to add on Yorkhill, just because you have been vindicated by his impressive win in the JLT, does not make other people’s original assessments wrong.
He did jump poorly in his prep race and he did make a couple of mistakes in his schooling session. These were notably ironed out and in need of a good ironing they were.
We could be here all year. The only time I remember Kevin Blake questioning his jumping was before his Arkle run, where he said he “wasn’t totally convinced yet”. Douvan went on to jump them to death in the Arkle, not so much at Aintree (where he still won by 13 lengths), and certainly again at Punchestown. He has been foot perfect this season except for the occasional last fence blip. Now for the Champion Chase, that was his first ‘real’ race in open company and understandably he was under pressure from the get-go. Mullins should have prepared him better for that pace by running him in the Tingle or Clarence.
Just because your opinion differs from the ‘herd’ does not make it more valid, or make the herds any less valid. People see what is right in front of their eyes. As for Douvan’s poor jumping form, the way I see it, he carries so much forward momentum into his jumps and has so much scope that he simply has no need to bend his back the ‘proper’ way. He has a style that resembles a simple shrug of the shoulders and he’s up and over.
You can take the americanised phrase any way you want, but by calling you out I simply wanted to engage in a debate on your statement, there is no proper definition for it.
Douvan is not a perfect jumper and he certainly lacks experience in Championship pace races, but to categorise him as a ‘sloppy’ jumper is daft.
I don’t agree with that assessment of his jumping whatsoever. For the most part he is totally effortless over the obstacles and looks an absolute natural. Willie Mullins has never had an issue with his jumping nor has anyone else of note for that matter. I know for a fact you would not have voiced these criticisms before last Wednesday, and if you did you would have been laughed at.
I am not saying Douvan is incapable of making mistakes as he clearly is, explaining his injury, which yes, most definitely affected his run. No matter how small, a fracture is a fracture and just because the horse showed no outward signs of discomfort it clearly affected his athletic ability. Form just doesn’t reverse that drastically.
You are entitled to your opinion but it is incredibly biased and I am simply calling you out on your original statement of Altior ‘smashing’ Douvan. On all known form and ability, both horses have an equal chance of winning.
