2016 Gold Cuppin

Grasshopper said:
My principal worry with DC, is that his jumping can go a bit to pot, when he comes under pressure (King George, Ryanair).

When he dominates in smaller fields, he isn't put under pressure, hence is jumping is more measured. But given the way he races, and the class of the opposition he faces in this Gold Cup, he has to come off the bridle sooner rather than later, and he could end-up making errors. I think he can get a little clumsy/unbalanced (jockey issue?) at his fences, when he is getting up to full pelt, and I can see it being a bit of a harum-scarum ride inside the last mile, for whoever takes the mount.

Maybe it's a combination of being unbalanced on an undulating track, that's been the issue with his jumping on his previous visits to Cheltenham?
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That's not very likely Grassy. He was under no sort of pressure in the RSA and racing on an even keel when he fell in the RSA. Looked a simple enough mistake typical of a novice.

In the Ryanair he was barely out of a canter and again racing on an even keel when he pecked on landing.

I reckon that was a bit of a bonus for his Gold Cup fans the way he ran on in the end gave hope he'd be even better at the Gold Cup trip.

There's no excuse for his fall in the King George but had he not fallen he would have been the clear winner IMO and you can take a positive from that knowledge.

Some might argue with that but when you see how much pressure he was under at the last in the Irish Gold Cup and what he done to Djakadam in the end I reckon it's hard to argue with the assumption. He finds bundles under pressure

Djakadam has managed 2 falls in 9 chases

Don Cossack 2 falls in 2 falls in 18 races 11 completions between falls

Vautour has never fallen but did manage to walk through a fence and lose the race.

Don Poli zero falls zero mistakes

The all seem to be fairly reliable.

Djakadam's record looks bad having been on the floor nearly 25% of the time but he's barely out of the novice stage despite having finished in the Gold cup last year.
and could be the one to show most improvement.....not my cup of tea but it is very possible
 
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Sounds as if they might have run Djakadam this weekend if the horse had been unscathed.. When the vets arrived after Djakadam's fall Ruby wanted to trot him back but the vets advised against it because of the cut to the horse's chest, so Ruby borrowed the vet's phone, called WM and asked the vet to speak to WM direct. Vet told WM they would have to staple the horse's chest so WM asked them not to give the horse any drugs as they might run him again this weekend.
 
Tanlic said:
That's not very likely Grassy. He was under no sort of pressure in the RSA and racing on an even keel when he fell in the RSA. Looked a simple enough mistake typical of a novice.

In the Ryanair he was barely out of a canter and again racing on an even keel when he pecked on landing.

I reckon that was a bit of a bonus for his Gold Cup fans the way he ran on in the end gave hope he'd be even better at the Gold Cup trip.

There's no excuse for his fall in the King George but had he not fallen he would have been the clear winner IMO and you can take a positive from that knowledge.

Some might argue with that but when you see how much pressure he was under at the last in the Irish Gold Cup and what he done to Djakadam in the end I reckon it's hard to argue with the assumption. He finds bundles under pressure

Djakadam has managed 2 falls in 9 chases

Don Cossack 2 falls in 2 falls in 18 races 11 completions between falls

Vautour has never fallen but did manage to walk through a fence and lose the race.

Don Poli zero falls zero mistakes

The all seem to be fairly reliable.

Djakadam's record looks bad having been on the floor nearly 25% of the time but he's barely out of the novice stage despite having finished in the Gold cup last year.
and could be the one to show most improvement.....not my cup of tea but it is very possible
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Maybe I'm being too critical of the Don. Maybe I'm just looking for a way to get him beaten?

Can't have it at all that Djakadam has more scope for improvement than Vautour.

Interesting reading the stuff DG posted about Djakadam and Mullins. Presumably they didn't fancy going to the GC on the back of a fall, and wanted to keep the option of the Irish Gold Cup to get his confidence back.
 
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A prep-run for Djak has been conclusively ruled-out now, yeah? I didn't imagine that?
 
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Straight to Cheltenham was what I've read.
Initially thought they would get a run into him but after reading what DG has mentioned then clearly not ideal.

This is not the path I envisaged on his quest.....
 
I agree that Vautour must have more scope for improvement than Djakadam. I just think a Gold Cup test is more likely to suit Djakadam. If Vautour does indeed stay I'd say he wins. He's the one with the gears. I just can't get this nagging feeling that the trip will find him out of my head though. The fall and the lack of a proper prep can't help Djakadam though, so I'm undecided which way to go with the two Don's. The way the race is run is key here and I don't see either of the two of them crying enough.

In fact with Road To Riches as well, unless they divert him to the Ryanair, I reckon Gigi are holding the aces and not Willie/Ricci. If you think about those three, they're perfect for riding the three different type of races that could unfold.
 
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Maruco said:
I'm undecided which way to go with the two Don's.
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Just watch last years RSA again and it will probably make your mind up as it did me. Cooper was nudging away on him constantly down the back because he was losing lengths at each fence. He got away with it in that race because quite frankly the opposition wasn't all that. In a Gold Cup he'll lose too much ground to recover.
 
I take a different view. Despite his fall in the King George, his jumping has been pretty good particularly out of better ground since then. Probably the best example of which was Aintree where the fences are much stiffer than Cheltenham, where they are becoming amongst the softest in the country. I'd revise that view slightly if it came up softer and I'd be in the DP camp if it did.
 
i think he wasted him at the front..it looked a ridiculous pace throughout..relentless..and where winner came from seems to confirm it..be interesting to do the figures on that..certainly looked overly strong throughout the whole race..would have been very hard to stay at the front of it late on i think..winner has come from a bar in Dublin to win it
 
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Maruco said:
I take a different view. Despite his fall in the King George, his jumping has been pretty good particularly out of better ground since then. Probably the best example of which was Aintree where the fences are much stiffer than Cheltenham, where they are becoming amongst the softest in the country. I'd revise that view slightly if it came up softer and I'd be in the DP camp if it did.
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Sorry, in hindsight my post wasn't abundantly clear. I was referring to Don Poli's jumping in last years RSA.
 
RTR belted a few today, and wherever he goes, he will be soundly beaten if he doesn't sort out his jumping.
 
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There's hope for us all yet....Do these people get paid for writing this junk from the RP "CARLINGFORD LOUGH made it back-to-back victories in the Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup, coming from last to first to land a highly eventful race under a well-timed ride by Mark Walsh".

A well timed run? He clouted the 3rd last losing about 3 lengths jumped the second last so badly he nearly came to a standstill and Mark Walsh had to ride him like he was a clone of AP McCoy to get him going again. Well timed ride my giddy Aunt
 
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