2016 Gold Cuppin

TheBear said:
......sometimes you need a Volvo to win a Gold Cup.
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Agreed.......if the best horses in the race are similarly sedate and unspectacular.

But if there are two Rolls Royces in opposition? You either need to trade up your car, or have an awful lot of luck.
 
Grasshopper said:
Are we really going to do this again? :lol:

Kauto was never travelling after the fourth fence that day - long before comfort zones were an issue.

As was said earlier, to finish where he did that day was a Herculean effort.
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Bang on. His bravest run.
 
edgt said:
Remember that in 2015 Thursday had the quickest going all week and Friday the slowest after less than 12mm rain.
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Which happens about once every Preston Guild, maybe?
They normally water the New Course for Thursday and invariably leave it alone for Friday. Since they altered the drainage, the ground dries quickly and I doubt there is one other instance of slower ground on the final day.
 
Euronymous said:
Funny he always had excuses every time he got beat at Cheltenham. Yawn.
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Now you are getting silly...When horses like Kauto Star, Sprinter Sacre, Arkle are in their prime they don't get beat unless there is a very good excuse excuse.

The whole racing world knows Kauto Star was not himself and was never travelling when beaten by Denman, only Denman fans will never admit that to themselves.
 
About getting the trip>

It's weird when you think about it. All the Champion Hurdle trial are run over 2 miles as are the QMCC trials.

Then they run the Championship races over the same trip.

Then the richest prize of all is run over 2 furlongs further than races like The King George on the toughest track in the country and some plodders is crowned champion.

I wonder which fookwit thought that one up?

To thought of some plodder winning because a class animal like Vautour or Cue Card didn't last home leaves a bad taste in the mouth
 
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Tanlic said:
About getting the trip>

It's weird when you think about it. All the Champion Hurdle trial are run over 2 miles as are the QMCC trials.

Then they run the Championship races over the same trip.

Then the richest prize of all is run over 2 furlongs further than races like The King George on the toughest track in the country and some plodders is crowned champion.

I wonder which fookwit thought that one up?

To thought of some plodder winning because a class animal like Vautour or Cue Card didn't last home leaves a bad taste in the mouth
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you could say the same about the Derby though..most relevant trials are over shorter than 12f...so you could say that the true 10f class hosses getting beat in it by some plodder leaves a bad taste...not sure people would view the Derby in that light

you can't really run Champion Hurdle trials over shorter..well they can now race 15.5 or what have you...but they have to be very near to 2 miles

The King George is a test on its own..as is GC..as is the 2000 Guineas..the Derby..you seem to be suggesting we should have only one test distance for stayers..ie 3m2.5f.
 
Cue Card reported in "excellent shape" by Colin Tizzard. He is starting to build him up for the GC, and is likely to have a racecourse gallop somewhere before the race (no further detail provided).
 
The Derby is a different ball game. The Derby winners don't often go for the St Leger these days because they are not bred to go 1m 6f they stick to 1m2f or 1m4f races.

We take the cream like Wayward Lad Pendil Desert Orchid Kauto Star etc and ask them to go that extra mile. Some can but some simply can't....It used to be more popular with the Whitbread being the last big race of the season but look at that race now. It's almost 30 years since the last big name "Dessie" won it no one is interested in running their best horses in it anymore.

Do you realize how few top rated or peoples champions win the Gold Cup we had Mill House, Arkle (3), Captain Christie, Ten Up, Silver Buck, Dawn Run, Burgh Hill Lad, Desert Orchid, Best Mate (3) Kauto Star (2) ..you could add Denman but not in this post because I said so. That's 10 horses in 53 years,

You just need to look at the King George results and it's like a who's who's of top class winners.

If you compare the Leger to the Derby you get the same sort of result.

So for me the Championship distances should be 3m and 1m4f but we're stuck with it now and all we need is another Lord Windemere to pop up and we got another false champion
 
Grasshopper said:
Cue Card reported in "excellent shape" by Colin Tizzard. He is starting to build him up for the GC, and is likely to have a racecourse gallop somewhere before the race (no further detail provided).
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Epsom would be as near as he wants to get to Cheltenham :lol:
 
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Tanlic said:
The Derby is a different ball game. The Derby winners don't often go for the St Leger these days because they are not bred to go 1m 6f they stick to 1m2f or 1m4f races.

We take the cream like Wayward Lad Pendil Desert Orchid Kauto Star etc and ask them to go that extra mile. Some can but some simply can't....It used to be more popular with the Whitbread being the last big race of the season but look at that race now. It's almost 30 years since the last big name "Dessie" won it no one is interested in running their best horses in it anymore.

Do you realize how few top rated or peoples champions win the Gold Cup we had Mill House, Arkle (3), Captain Christie, Ten Up, Silver Buck, Dawn Run, Burgh Hill Lad, Desert Orchid, Best Mate (3) Kauto Star (2) ..you could add Denman but not in this post because I said so. That's 10 horses in 53 years,

You just need to look at the King George results and it's like a who's who's of top class winners.

If you compare the Leger to the Derby you get the same sort of result.

So for me the Championship distances should be 3m and 1m4f but we're stuck with it now and all we need is another Lord Windemere to pop up and we got another false champion
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some fair points there Tanlic..i'm struggling to argue against that..and i have tried to think of something really hard:D
 
Grasshopper said:
Cue Card reported in "excellent shape" by Colin Tizzard. He is starting to build him up for the GC, and is likely to have a racecourse gallop somewhere before the race (no further detail provided).
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This is standard preparation by CT for Cue Card, before the Supreme he galloped at Newbury, before he won the Charlie Hall he galloped at Wincanton and he has galloped at Exeter (prob a KG)
 
The Gold Cup, National and Derby are our three biggest races of the year bar none - whatever personal preference - and they all have one key attribute; their uniqueness.

and you could argue that if you really wanted to see the season's champion chaser then the race should be over 2m4f so we see the top 2 milers go up against the stayers, a bit like the 1m2f International on the flat.
 
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reet hard said:
Desert Orchid too, though I don't recall any of them losing ground at the end of a King George.
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That is the nub of it reet.

Dessie had a Whitbread in his collection at that stage so it was more his poor course record more than stamina doubts.
KK had the santa running across the track before his last fence mistake and Kauto had powered home and halved a fence as well.

I might have asked the question better by asking how many Gold Cup winners were better suited to shorter trips; it would probably yield much the same answer.
 
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JamesRB said:
appears no entry for vautour at newbury
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Have you been looking at the Friday card, James? They don't declare for the Saturday until tomorrow.

FWIW, it seems a decision on whether Vautour gets a prep, will be made after he has worked tomorrow morning.
 
Grasshopper said:
Have you been looking at the Friday card, James? They don't declare for the Saturday until tomorrow.

FWIW, it seems a decision on whether Vautour gets a prep, will be made after he has worked tomorrow morning.
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they had to re-open the denman chase as only 4 were entered. highest rated entry was 158 so assumed he wasn't in the initial decs.

or so i heard anyway.
 
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