2018 Gold Cuppin'

Diamond Geezer

Diamond Geezer

Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
13,884
From bet365 website

Trainer Jessica Harrington says Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John will need plenty of work in him before he can return to action.

The seven-year-old roared to a stunning victory in March, seeing off the likes of Native River and Djakadam to claim one of the biggest prizes in national hunt racing.

Following that he also claimed first place in the Punchestown Gold Cup, again beating Djakadam - as well as Coneygree - having previously claimed victory in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.
Since then he has enjoyed a break from racing, but he is now back in the fold in County Kildare, but Harrington is not expecting too much too soon from one of her most prized assets.
She told the Racing Post: "I think Sizing John is going to have to go to Weight Watchers, as he's come back in looking fantastic and really enjoyed his summer break.
"For the next couple of weeks he'll do a lot of walking and will be kept on a long rein.
"He's still a long way off running and won't be ridden for another few weeks. We'll just build him up slowly. He's done very well and hopefully things continue to go to plan."
Sizing John is currently 5/1 to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup again next year, with Djakadam priced at 16/1 and Douvan 12/1.
 
Iffy schmiffy.

The whole 'never been to Cheltenham' argument is massively over-played, imo. Any such form is a bonus, of course, but I would never let it put me off backing a horse there.

The Gold Cup is absolutely tailor-made for Our Duke, imo, and I think he will run the established lot ragged.
 
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Fair points, and he's not as short as I thought he was:

SJ 6s
Thistle 6s
Yorkhill 8s
Might Bite 10s
Our Duke 11s

The front three are terrible value at this stage.

This is all very distracting though in mid July. I have the Ascot KG and Goodwood to think about.
 
Euronymous said:
Fair points, and he's not as short as I thought he was:

SJ 6s
Thistle 6s
Yorkhill 8s
Might Bite 10s
Our Duke 11s

The front three are terrible value at this stage.

This is all very distracting though in mid July. I have the Ascot KG and Goodwood to think about.
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Yorkhill is one of the biggest monkeys I have ever seen on 4 legs

Might Bite and Our Duke are pretty decent prices in comparison
 
Would Arkle be the only Irish National winner since the war to go on to win a Gold Cup afterwards? Desert Orchid did it the other way round and Tied Cottage lost his very poor edition later. I'd tend to think that a horse that stays 3m5f so well at 7 may be more of an Aintree type.
 
granger said:
Yorkhill is one of the biggest monkeys I have ever seen on 4 legs

Might Bite and Our Duke are pretty decent prices in comparison
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I think it's fair to say that Might Bite wouldn't look entirely out of place at any chimps tea-party Yorkhill chooses to host.

I'm also on OD at 14's, Benny, and have involved him heavily in my early ante-post multiples too.
 
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archie said:
Would Arkle be the only Irish National winner since the war to go on to win a Gold Cup afterwards? Desert Orchid did it the other way round and Tied Cottage lost his very poor edition later. I'd tend to think that a horse that stays 3m5f so well at 7 may be more of an Aintree type.
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It's a fair point, I suppose, but I wouldn't rule him out on that stat alone. It's also worth bearing in mind the manner in which Our Duke won the Irish National. He looked like he'd joined the race a half-mile out, and won with an absolute stack in hand. I'd say he is way classier than the type that usually wins the race.

What's the record of novices in the Irish Nash? I've tried Google, but nothing explicit.
 
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Not sure if they were novices but, in the last 20 runnings, there was one winner aged 6, eight aged 7, six aged 8, two aged 9 and three aged 10 so it's a fair bet that there were other novices including the last one to carry 11-4 to victory, Commanche Court.
 
Again, fair enough arcie, but worth noting that OD won from a mark 19lbs higher than Commanche Court did.
 
I don't think there is very much at all between MB and OD........it's the seemingly much-more straightforward attitude of the latter, that pushes him ahead in terms of my Gold Cup preference.

Might Bite will hack-up at Kempton though.
 
Euronymous said:
Fair points, and he's not as short as I thought he was:

SJ 6s
Thistle 6s
Yorkhill 8s
Might Bite 10s
Our Duke 11s

The front three are terrible value at this stage.

This is all very distracting though in mid July. I have the Ascot KG and Goodwood to think about.
Click to expand...

Aye, it's sad that some can't see anything less than 9 months away.:blink:
 
Grasshopper said:
It's a fair point, I suppose, but I wouldn't rule him out on that stat alone. It's also worth bearing in mind the manner in which Our Duke won the Irish National. He looked like he'd joined the race a half-mile out, and won with an absolute stack in hand. I'd say he is way classier than the type that usually wins the race.

What's the record of novices in the Irish Nash? I've tried Google, but nothing explicit.
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He'd have to be classier than class to win this Gold Cup..........He didn't have enough toe to beat Disko over a shorter trip then he certainly wouldn't see the way Mite Bite went nor would he run SJ or Thistlecrack ragged who have bags of speed and stamina.

Future Aintree horse if he can learn to jump
 
Might Bite back in the yard yesterday

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Photo credit to Tracy Vigors
 

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Love this horse!! Before he got spooked he was doing to the talented Whisper 153 at Cheltenham to what Our Duke did to a 12 yo 138 rated past his best animal in the IGN

I agree the IGN improved in class but compared to the Hennessy it's a dog race.

It attracted only half a dozen rated above 140 whereas the entire field in Hennessys' are usually rated above 140 and at least half a dozen each year will be 150 plus and it hasn't even produced a placed horse in the Gold Cup since way back.

The extra money may have attracted a slightly* better class of horse but one has to emphasize the word*
 
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If Our Duke ran in the Hennessy off 167 this season, I'd fancy him. I think this horse is the real deal
 
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