2016 Gold Cuppin

JamesRB said:
mullins is a creature of habit. look at what he's put in the ryanair in past years. i'd be very surprised if he re-routed what is probably his favourite horse from a championship race he has not yet won and probably covets more than any other to it.
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He's never been in a position where he has so many top quality horses to find prizes for though. He's got two absolutely cracking shots at the Gold Cup without Vautour who is a penalty kick for the Ryanair. Surely sense will prevail!

I suspect Ruby would rather he went for the Ryanair as well so he's not forced to choose between him and Djakadam. After Cheltenham they can try Vautour back over 3 miles at Aintree or Punchestown and let that dictate where he's campaigned next season.
 
ruby was happy to talk up vautour's prospects as a staying chaser after the kg. blamed himself more than anything and said he thought the trip wasn't really the issue.

the djakadam conundrum is definitely a factor in so much as ricci himself seems to just want as many winners as possible and walsh being on board is a key factor to him as he alluded to in the annie power champion/world hurdle saga 2 years ago. if walsh did say he wanted to pilot djakadam in the big one then i think that would be the only thing to stop vautour going there but i don't think that's going to be the case and i don't think there's anything djakadam can actually do between now & then that changes that. uds on the other hand.........
 
Ruby has to be diplomatic with his comments to the press because ultimately it's not his decision and he doesn't want to **** the owner off by backing him into a corner. You're right that if Ricci put his foot down and opted for the Gold Cup there's absolutely no way Ruby would choose Djakadam over Vautour.

I think another issue is Djakadam's style of running being so contradictory to that of Vautours. Ricci will obviously want both of his to have the best possible chance of winning but they will need the race to pan out entirely differently. The end to end gallop played to Djakadam's strengths last year but you'd think Ruby would want no part of that on Vautour.
 
I hope Cooper does ride Don Poli. Despite the doubts expressed I'm still keen on Don Cossack for the Gold Cup. He's an infinitely better horse on better ground, and I'd rather have Davy Russell on in the Gold Cup anyway.
 
rory delargy raised the opinion on the ff podcast that cooper doesn't seem to get the best out of DC

mccoy was on at aintree last year and carberry at punchestown. his two best performances............
 
JamesRB said:
rory delargy raised the opinion on the ff podcast that cooper doesn't seem to get the best out of DC

mccoy was on at aintree last year and carberry at punchestown. his two best performances............
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There's a man who needs a good festival or he'll be down the job centre. His boss isn't exactly known for his patience.
 
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I've said before that Vautour's next run will be in the Ascot chase. Then he will got to Cheltenham and unfortunately will not stay in the Gold Cup.
 
Tiggers, do you really think connections will drop Vautour back to 2m4f on a right-handed track, and then up him to 3m2f in the Gold Cup?

I don't think there is any chance whatsoever of that happening.

It's not a huge surprise that Vautour isn't quoted for the Irish Gold Cup either. I wouldn't be at a shock if they went straight to Cheltenham with him, considering the problems they had getting him ready for the JLT last year, after his run at Leopardstown.
 
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I'm just trying to think where else he will go Grasshopper, won't run in the Irish Hennessey or at HQ on trials day, that leaves either the Denman Chase or Ascot. The reason i think Ascot is that it will be a Grade 1 penalty kick and he won't have a hard race. if he doesn't run at Ascot they will go straight for the big one.
 
Yeah.....I kind of see what you're saying, as I don't really think he will get an entry at the Trials meeting either. The Denman was something I'd mentioned before, and I think Newbury would likely suit Vautour's style of running, and I'm hopeful he will appear there before the Gold Cup.

The great unknown is whether they actually want to get a run into him or not. He had a mid-February prep for the JLT last season, which self-evidently put him spot-on for the Festival.......but then again, Mullins said he had to hard-train him after that race, to get him ready. It's all a bit vague.

If Vautour does take a lot of work, then you would think that they probably will want to get a run into him. If not the Denman, then maybe you're right, and they will just use Ascot as a way to get fitness into him, before sending him to the Gold Cup.
 
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The first boy is 24 days too late for the party, and the second boy calls it wrong! :lol:
 
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