Apt Approach

G

Guest_

At the Start
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
14,178
Location
Ireland
The talking horse delivers in some style on his debut. Loved his head carriage...down low and sticking his neck out.
 
Just watched a re-run of the race on ATR, it was a very impressive showing..Backed him at decent prices for the Champion bumper, so am fairly happy at the moment
 
Reminds me of Alexander Banquet winning his bumper in Gowran. Looked in trouble half way up the straight and the whoosh he was gone. And it wasnt as if the others were stopping. Not sure what the form was like but in my view the two most impresive bumper performers have been Zaarito and this fella. Roll on Cheltenham and I reckon these two will be very short on the day.
 
Interesting to hear Mullins say after the race that he hadn't been showing them an awful lot at home given his reputation.

Recall him making similar comments about another talking horse in Ballytrim after he made a winning debut a couple of years ago.
 
He says it about a lot of his horses TS - I'm sure he's said the same about Fiveforthree and Fred's Benefit in the past too.
 
I was taken by Horner Woods today in the bumper at Navan. Travelled really well throughout and quickened up nicely without his rider having to get too serious with him. Only been with Harrington for about a month, so hopefully can be expected to improve considerably as well.
 
Time Electric may be having another run at Naas on Sunday. It probably will be a tough enough race given that there is a bonus for winning there and at Cheltenham. Some nice entries - Gonebeyondrecall, Corkskeagh Royal, Juncol, Judge Roy Bean, Bantry Commons and the usual host of Mullins entries.

He could be a very short price for Cheltenham if some of those mentioned turn up and he does the business. You would imagine the extra 3 furlongs would suit him but surely it is a bit close to Cheltenham not to hinder his chances of winning there.
 
Bless your memory.

Hairy Molly did, Missed that won a 2 miler at Naas a couple of weeks earlier.

And yes, I did look it up.
 
Time Electric won't run at Naas but Corkseagh Royale will and hopefully will confirm his wellbeing before running a big race in the Champion Bumper.
 
Didn't see the race but lumped on Cousin Vinny (major after timing here) - look at the trainers past two winners of the race and how far they won by, clearly targets the race with something quite useful :)
 
I tipped that up on another forum this morning - then forgot to back the beggar
That's what a hangover will do for you :angy:
 
Originally posted by Cantoris@Feb 16 2008, 08:24 PM
Reminds me of Alexander Banquet winning his bumper in Gowran. Looked in trouble half way up the straight and the whoosh he was gone. And it wasnt as if the others were stopping. Not sure what the form was like but in my view the two most impresive bumper performers have been Zaarito and this fella. Roll on Cheltenham and I reckon these two will be very short on the day.
Click to expand...
Isn't it more reminiscent of Alexander Prize's debut victory at Navan when he scooted clear to win by a similar margin to Apt Approach?

Apart from 2000 when Joe Cullen caused a major shock beating Inca at 14/1, in every subsequent year that Mullins has gone mob-handed to the Champion Bumper ALL of his runners have finished unplaced (4 runners in each of 2003/4/6; 3 runners in 2007).

All bar one of his successes in the race came when he only had the one runner. It is possible that this indicates in seasons where he makes multiple entries none of his charges "stand out" as head and shoulders above the rest, whereas when he has a sole entry (most recently 2005 when Missed That won) it is worth taking notice.

As a betting medium I suspect The Champion Bumper is about the worst non-handicap all week. It has yielded just 3 winning favourites in 15 runnings and some notable market leading scalps include Tiananmen Square (6/4) Heist (9/4) Red Blazer (2/1) Joe Mac (6/4) Inca (2/1) and Rhinestone Cowboy (5/2).

Anyone considering a bet in this race needs all the luck going.
 
Originally posted by useful@Feb 21 2008, 11:34 AM
All bar one of his successes in the race came when he only had the one runner. It is possible that this indicates in seasons where he makes multiple entries none of his charges "stand out" as head and shoulders above the rest, whereas when he has a sole entry (most recently 2005 when Missed That won) it is worth taking notice.
Click to expand...
I have heard a few people saying this. I don’t buy it…all are in different ownership and I would imagine he goes there to keep his owners happy as much as anything rather than him thinking they don’t have a chance.
 
I do buy it. When one of the crew is outstanding there is little point in sending a mob over that has little chance of beating the outstanding horse. When he has nothing that stands out amongst the rest you are probably hoping for a poor race in order that one of them might win (i.e Joe Cullen).

The bumper probably has the biggest variance in level of performance from year to year than any other race, some years being won by horses who could hold there own in group class flat company and other years won by horses who struggle to win maiden hurdles. Very difficult to know what sort of race it is until the following year.
 
Originally posted by Melendez@Feb 21 2008, 11:49 AM
I do buy it. When one of the crew is outstanding there is little point in sending a mob over that has little chance of beating the outstanding horse. When he has nothing that stands out amongst the rest you are probably hoping for a poor race in order that one of them might win (i.e Joe Cullen).

The bumper probably has the biggest variance in level of performance from year to year than any other race, some years being won by horses who could hold there own in group class flat company and other years won by horses who struggle to win maiden hurdles. Very difficult to know what sort of race it is until the following year.
Click to expand...
If I owned Ballytrim, Freds Benefit, Equus Maximum, Fiveforthree etc etc I was would be disappointed if my trainer (a bumper training specialist) didn’t send my horse to Cheltenham after looking a world beater on the track.
 
If I owned one of those horses and the trainer patiently explained he had another in the race that was probably a stone better, I might be persuaded to look for better opportunities. The prizemoney for second in the cheltenham bumper isn't worth a whole heap when you consider there are plenty of decent bumper opportunities just around the corner.

At the end of the day it is the owners decision not the trainers. I'm sure Willie wouldn't stand in the way of any owner who wanted a runner, he sends over plenty of curious looking entries, but when you have something promising I think you would take heed of the trainers advice and wait for another day.
 
Given the poor subseqent record of Mullins' Champion Bumper runners at the Cheltenham Festival (Florida Pearl the only one to win there again in the 1998 Sun Alliance) could it be concluded he is guilty of "obsessing" about this race, possibly at the risk of over facing immature young horses?

Indeed of the 340 horses to have run in this race since its inception, only 10 went on to further Festival success. It is also significant that no winner of the Gold Cup, Champion Chase or Champion Hurdle even ran in a Festival Bumper. Iris's Gift remains the only Championship winner to have contested the Bumper.

If I was an owner of an expensive purchase I would be inclined to advise my trainer to get experience into my horse gradually and only expose him to a cauldron like Cheltenham when we both agreed the animal was mentally strong enough. I certainly wouldn't want him running in bumpers of any description, I would want him getting as much jumping experience as possible.
 
Back
Top