Aintree 2019

edgt said:
Bad habit for a horse chasing.
Was it Ryeman had a similar habit and must have fallen three or four times in a row, after winning Arkle chase 1981.
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Such a pretty horse though. I really liked him at Cheltenham in the paddock and backed him today.
 
In defence of the CoC, the amount of rain on Thursday was against all the forecasts and, even so, the ground was just proper NH ground. On Friday, those who walked the course said that it was lovely ground and Paul Townend called it good to soft after the Topham. After a drying night it should be perfect today.

By and large the course have treated owners very well this week. The only limitations are for the Foxhunters, the Topham and the National where there is a strict limit of 8 per horse in the parade ring. This is understandable but we were assured that everyone (14) would be allowed in the winners enclosure if things went our way with Cadmium. It looked like that promise would not be fulfilled but this is as good a place as any to record thanks to Alice Plunkett who intervened on our behalf to make sure that we could all enjoy the moment.
 
Some week Archie! I'm really pleased for you, Not least for what you, Ben (and the others), put in to the sport. But also that you take the time and trouble to help us all feel that little bit involved too.
 
Lalor. New trainer or just not good enough anymore? That was woeful really, something must be wrong with him. Great run and ride on Ornua though.
 
Great run from Kildisart there. JLT form looking strong


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Diamond Geezer said:
Stewards report for Saturday

https://media.britishhorseracing.com/pdf/stewardsreport/?fixtureId=1114&year=2019
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"The Stewards held an enquiry adjourned from Aintree, 5 April 2019, into Harry Skelton,the rider of ARDLETHEN (IRE), placed eighth, appearing to ease his mount in the finalfurlong to be beaten a head for seventh place. After being interviewed and shownrecordings of the incident, Skelton explained that after the last hurdle, he felt the geldinghad little left to give, however was conscious that he was riding for seventh place, as hewas giving ground. Skelton added that in an endeavour to obtain the best possibleplacing, whilst being aware of ARDLETHEN (IRE)’s welfare, he allowed his mount tocoast home, with a view to a final push nearer the line. Skelton was cautioned andreminded of his responsibilities to always ride out to the line."

Declan Lavery would be interested in this bit....
 
I've had a look through the form for the three days and my immediate conclusion is that a lot of the races fell apart but the handicappers appear to be taking the view that the form is meaningful and I wonder how many of the prominent finishers will substantiate their new marks.

The brother was on the phone to me yesterday or the day before asking what I made of the form and was expressing a similar opinion. He isn't a number-cruncher. I don't think I've ever heard him say 'X is N lbs better off for a y-length beating' or anything like that. He talks about how horses travel through races etc. So two different approaches are arriving at similar conclusions. (Which might be wrong, we know.)

My intention isn't to diss anything in particular, just to say what I'm seeing.

Clan Des Obeaux was in trouble at halfway so I'm struggling to get my head round Kemboy's new OR of 174. That said, I went low with the Gold Cup too.

Some of the ITV team were staining their pants at Lostintranslation's performance. Again, Topofthegame wasn't travelling from some way out. This wasn't anywhere near the same horse that won the RSA and we wondered whether this run was about getting his mark back down a bit ahead of the Hennessy. It hasn't worked yet as his mark remains. The close third was only rated 147.

I'm having difficulty getting away from the conclusion that Buveur D'Air is gone, at least in his head and/or heart.

Min was genuinely impressive but you have to wonder if Politologue and Hell's Kitchen were over the Champion Chase and Waiting Patiently looks like Ascot last year bottomed him.

One thing that did strike me was how much better Tizzard's horses ran compared with Cheltenham and maybe his will be the yard to follow in the big races in the coming weeks.
 
Yes think you are right re Tizzards horses. They look in much better shape than a few weeks ago. And don't forget after LiT beat Defi at Cheltenham, CT declared him to be the next big horse in the yard so i expected him to win at Aintree without Defi there. Topofthegame is a big raw boned horse who looks like he still has some maturing to do and as such is entitled struggle occasionally. You would hope he'll fill out his frame next season but sometimes they don't and thus don't progress as you expect them to.
I heard the other day that Clan Des Obeaux is quirky at home and two weeks before his KG win was sailing over huge hedges (plus wire!!!) out hunting. That probably put him in a good place mentally and contributed to the improvement.
 
Disagree on Kemboy [DO] - I think he will easily be a 174+ animal. Clan Des Obeaux is the Paul Pogba of chasing - moody and disinterested prima donna. No yardstick, ever.
 
I don't have a problem with Kemboy becoming a 174 animal in time. I'm just not convinced the other day's performance merited that kind of figure.
 
It's the natural extension of the King George form being overrated. They don't race very often these days so it's more difficult to get a reliable yardstick.

I think that Kemboy is in the correct position in the staying chaser ratings but the actual rating for all of them remains fairly subjective.
 
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