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Another newby

R

RUNARACEHORSE

At the Start
Joined
Jan 24, 2026
Messages
2
Location
WEST YORKS
Hi yawl,
Been a racing fan since childhood, remember seeing Arkle on TV and Charlottown win the Derby. Spent most of my life trying to win a few bob from the sport, needless to say lost more than won. However still find it fascinating and it's the challenge and new angles to approach from.
I was motivated to join mainly to voice my opinion by the lack of any censure top jockeys and trainers face, namely the Skeltons. For example the ride given to Grey Dawning last weekend....never put in the race, in marked contrast to Protektorat the weekend before.
 
Welcome Runa

Spill those opinions, always good to see new/additional thoughts.

Re GD. I'm not so sure they were playing Skelton games here. Which, ofc, they are very good at. This wasn't the type of race you come into not wanting to win.

Yeah, they wouldn't have wanted too hard a race. But we all should have known that beforehand, and accepted that risk (if betting on him).

My understanding is the plan was to come with one run to win it. Hence the positioning. Maybe they actually got that wrong, but HS believes that, but for the mistake, he'd have been a lot closer.

Disclosure: I didn't actually watch it, so maybe talking out of rear end a bit :-)
 
Welcome too Runa! Hope you enjoy yourself on here.

Think Chaumi has summed it up well. We all try to keep an eye on the Skelton horses on here having been burnt often! They tend to stick on an inexperienced jockey, run over an inadequate trip and then send it for a handicap at the Festival with a low weight and our 'Arry back on board - Langer Dan being the obvious one.

But please keep your thoughts coming - always interesting to read new takes on races.
 
I wouldn't put anything past them to be honest. I watched Graham Cunningham slating the ride yesterday too. That said, he wouldn't be my idea of a GC winner anyway.
 
Agree, jj, I don’t think Grey Dawning sits happily at the very top table. I suppose, too, that a counterpoint to the Skelton machinations is that he’s trying hard for the trainers championship and needs every penny of win money he can amass. So he’s unlikely to sacrifice a good win if he can avoid it.
 
barjon said:
he’s trying hard for the trainers championship and needs every penny of win money he can amass. So he’s unlikely to sacrifice a good win if he can avoid it.
Click to expand...

A good perspective, BJ. And has just given me a little hope that Live Conti lines up next Saturday. If he thinks he has the County winner, then there's an argument he already has the Betfair winner. So why not go for it for the extra coins?

Unless the thinking is the County is in the bag, why risk an extra run.

PS I'm not convinced Let It Rain is the Betfair good thing the odds suggest. Though, ofc, his whole racing life may have been 'engineered' to get a little over 10 stone in a Betfair :sneaky:
 
Believe it or not, seeing the above posts prompted me to look at the card. I wasn't even aware the weights were out.

WTF is wrong with me????

Anyway, I can see how LIR is so short. There's obviously been a huge word for it and when you see what else the yard has in the race for this seemingly to be 'the one' it must be a very serious contender.

I'd thought they were hiding LC for something like this - maybe it's going for the Imperial Cup or Moorebattle bonus - but LIR had very decent bumper form and is conceivably a 140+ horse getting in off 124. If Harry rides, it's a hint I would be loath to dismiss.

But I would also keep a close eye on whatever the Moores or Chris Gordon send for this.
 
ofc, I'm exposed to Conti at 33s already, taken before Windsor. And that run was perfectly promising, as hoped.

But yeah, the way you've put it there DO, hopes are receding further. They probably do actually believe they cracked it with Rain, and he'll skate up.

The best I've seen so far for Conti for the County is 12s. I'd suggest everyone and their dog already knows what the game is there (or thinks they know).
 
PS DO, the last known word from the Skeltons (post Windsor) is the County is Conti's next target.

But you may well be right, and there's a 'bigger' plan that didn't need to be communicated.
 
Another couple of angles have caught my attention.

JP doesn't have an entry at this stage ... in a race in which he often has more than one fanciable contender.

And there are no Irish entries.

Has word got out that they'd be wasting their time?
 
Desert Orchid said:
Another couple of angles have caught my attention.

JP doesn't have an entry at this stage ... in a race in which he often has more than one fanciable contender.

And there are no Irish entries.

Has word got out that they'd be wasting their time?
Click to expand...

Too close to the 2m race at Leopardstown tomorrow.
 
Desert Orchid said:
That occurred to me but Newbury is 50%+ more valuable and I'd have thought McManus and the bigger Irish yards would have had two or three viable candidates for both races.
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Well your point about The Great Man is spot on, he always has a couple laid out for this.
 

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