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The Road to the Queen Mother

granger said:
Anything above evens on the day for Sizing will be big.
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6/4 NRNB is a tempter but I'm inclined to sit tight with my 11/4 (and pieces at 5/1) for the time being. If I have a good first day then I can play up my winnings and get stuck in good and proper on Wednesday. If I have a bad first day then I can recover my losses and get stuck in good and proper on Wednesday.

:ninja:
 
LUKE said:
I respect Big Zebs acheivements but he must be on the verge of retirement.
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Retirement? He's won or finished 2nd in his last 10 races there will be no retirement for him.

These Irish trainers fall out of bed laughing at us and you should never believe a word they say.

Big Zeb was nowhere near fit today and his trainers escuse that it was the ground was complete bollox.

Instead of going all out for this they've let him down and are going for glory at Chelteham unlike last year when he was fit as a fiddle for the race but lost at Cheltenham.

That became very clear when there wasnt 5 shillings for the horse and instead if him starting fav he drifted like a barge.

HD had said Sizing Europe wouldn't be 100% and every pundit I listened to were saying Big Zeb should have been shorter than the 1.9 he was at the time and one Irish fella on TFR said he expected the price would shorten considerably nearer the time of the race.

Everything said Big Zeb should start favourite but he didn't and ran like a drain. He blew up miles from home probably hadn't been out his box for a week:lol:

Those that backed Big Zeb early got stiched up like kippers thankfully I wasn't one of them.

He'll be right there fighting at Cheltenham don't worry about that.

Still think SE will win again but I wouldn't be backing anything else to finish 2nd other than Big Zeb
 
Zenyatta said:
6/4 NRNB is a tempter but I'm inclined to sit tight with my 11/4 (and pieces at 5/1) for the time being. If I have a good first day then I can play up my winnings and get stuck in good and proper on Wednesday. If I have a bad first day then I can recover my losses and get stuck in good and proper on Wednesday.

:ninja:
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To save you getting confused with all those different prices I'd be happy to take those 5/1 bets you have off your hands......... I'll even say pretty please? ;)
 
I thought I could sense vulnerability about Big Zeb despite winning at Leopardstown over Christmas.Maybe Colm has some masterplan but he needs Sizing to underperform to have a chance of winning-better ground should suit him in theory but I can see him being well beaten at the festival-place lay material.
 
Tanlic said:
To save you getting confused with all those different prices I'd be happy to take those 5/1 bets you have off your hands......... I'll even say pretty please? ;)
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Eeerrm, let me think. I've thought. No. :lol:

On a more serious note, the paddock watchers were saying Sizing Europe looked like he would improve for the run. Big Zeb might too but even so a form reversal is very hard to imagine.

Like others, I'm not sure his other form this season amounts to very much to be honest. He's been beating Noble Prince (needs 2m5f and beaten by Blazing Temp) and Forpadydeplasterer (beaten further by Somersby and Finian's Rainbow). He's been winning but not in the manner of a Champion Chaser IMO. Sizing Europe has been winning and looks all over a Champion Chaser and he'll take all the beating in March. I would also suggest that Big Zeb might not be the EW banker that some have said. Not sure who might beat him but I do think his form this season is weak.

I could see an outsider running a big race in this given the weakness of those at the top of the market, Sizing Europe aside. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Somersby came here now seeing as his form is probably the second best on offer. With a clean round of jumping he might finish 2nd. I might have a little look and see if anything catches the eye at a big price. I somehow suspect not.
 
I thought Sizing Europe impressive today and I was a little nervous beforehand, sitting on a 14/1 slip for him to win the Tingle Creek & Champion Chase. It really is a struggle to find credible opposition for him, much the same as in the Champion with Hurricane Fly. Along with Big Bucks these 3 look very good to me at the moment, but they should, shouldn't they, given their Market position & prices.
 
Other than Sprinter Sacre, is there any new talent on the horizon that could pump a bit of new blood into this year's Festival? It surely can't be the old guard winning everything again, can it?
 
I have to say, top marks to Henry De Bromhead. To bring the horse back after that champion hurdle, which many of us must of doubted immediately after the event could even happen was an achievement in it's own right. John Francombe said on the morning of that day that this horse would be a proper chaser and how right he was.

He's also had to contend with owners who've tryed to get the horse to be a 3miler, and I've always admired the way he seems to know his horse better than anyone else, inside-out in fact. His comments pre and post race are always worth taking note of. A really gifted horse and if he wins next month I really hope the stands give him a really rapturous ovation.
 
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moehat said:
Other than Sprinter Sacre, is there any new talent on the horizon that could pump a bit of new blood into this year's Festival? It surely can't be the old guard winning everything again, can it?
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The novice chasers were a bad bunch last year. This year they are anything but.
 
LUKE said:
I think Sizing Europe wins today and I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him winning by over ten lengths.Big Zeb is a good horse but
in my opinion Sizing is better.I think the expectation that Sizing will get the same kind of run as he got in the race last year is responsible for his price but last year he was stepping down from 3 mikes and a difficult Christmas where he was trained for a run that didn't happen.
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Good call Luke, to think he was almost the same prices last night to win a match as he is now to win the QM. Had a few quid on ante-post in the likely event you were reading it correctly!;)
 
I think there is mileage in Big Zeb's price now. He wouldn't have been totally spot on the last day and should he really be at longer odds for this than Finian's Rainbow?
 
I wonder was Big Zeb under the weather at Punchestown.Robbie Power said he was beaten after they jumped a fence and I never saw him getting competetive at any stage of the race.
If QDLR has been ruled out of the Gold Cup what are the chances of Big Zeb having the same complaint.The Irish winter has been unbelieveably mild-I'd say a lot of viruses and infections are lingering.
 
Owner Raymond Mould insists unbeaten novice Sprinter Sacre won't be supplemented for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.

The Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old is a short-priced favourite for the Racing Post Arkle Chase after stretching his 100% record over fences to three with a superb performance at Newbury on Friday.

"It's hopefully the Arkle this year and then go on to the Champion Chase next year," Mould told At The Races.

"I'd rule the Champion Chase out this year and Mr Henderson has never mentioned it. He's got Finian's Rainbow in it anyway. We'll stick to the natural progression.

"If we're lucky enough to win the Arkle then we'll hopefully go for the Champion Chase and there's no reason in my opinion this horse won't get further.

"I have thought about the King George for him in the future at some stage, but we'll take it one step at a time. We're not going to rush him - he's not very old."
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