Best piece of 2 year old form

Not surprising since he's a dual Group 1 winner (and on different going). The Curragh form looks stronger than Paris.
 
Naaqoos's form is the best for me, he pummelled Mastercraftsman and you can slate the Dewhurst form all you want but it's still a Group One and Intense Focus finished a decent distance behind Naaqoos and won the Dewhurst with Shaweel behind who Mastercraftsman had to work hard to beat at the Curragh.

Agree about Donatavium though, it's a shame he's a gelding really.
 
Taken at face value, Mastercraftsman's victory in the Phoenix is the best piece of juvenile form from last season. That said, I would tend to doubt whether either Bushranger or Art Connoiseur gave their true running that day.

No surprise to see Mastercraftsman Champion 2yo though - hard to say he didn't deserve it.
 
Gamla Stan said:
Naaqoos's form is the best for me, he pummelled Mastercraftsman and you can slate the Dewhurst form all you want but it's still a Group One and Intense Focus finished a decent distance behind Naaqoos and won the Dewhurst with Shaweel behind who Mastercraftsman had to work hard to beat at the Curragh.

Agree about Donatavium though, it's a shame he's a gelding really.
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Mastercraftsman beat Intense Focus on all of his starts bar his French run - the idea that Mastercraftsman ran to form that day is pretty hard to swallow. Shaweel ran Mastercraftsman to a head on bottomless ground at The Curragh...again hardly the type of going to be a reliable marker.
 
ItalianStallion said:
I think Crowded House was one of the worst RP Trophy winners in recent years
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Can't agree with that at all. Though I would tend to doubt Jukebox Jury's resolution (will be interesting to see how he gets on next year) his win in the Royal Lodge set a decent benchmark going into the race.

To absolutely leave him for dead as Crowded House did was most impressive (even more so considering the gallop was far from testing) and by far the strongest piece of form in the context of the Derby from last season. That's not to say he will win the Derby, of course.

You wouldn't have to go back too far to find a "worse" winner of the race IMO - last year perhaps?
 
Mastercraftsman was beaten very far out in France; and clearly ran way below his best. Should be a very cleear favourite for the Guineas, imho.

Rip Van Winkle will be lucky to win a Group 3. A talking horse, who has no piece of form or noted potential to justify the hype surrounding him.
 
Hamm said:
Rip Van Winkle will be lucky to win a Group 3. A talking horse, who has no piece of form or noted potential to justify the hype surrounding him.
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Bold statement, Hamm!

Certainly none of his form justifies his position in the Guineas market, though I find it hard to see how his run in the Dewhurst wouldn't fall under the category of "noted potential."
 
I think it was the worst Dewhurst I have seen, and noted potential would be beating the other Dewhurst runners with a look of something in hand. To finish behind many horses who will not be top of the three year old tree is disappointing for fans of the horse. His defeat of Cuis Ghaire looked worse and worse as the year went on.
 
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When Crowded House won The Racing Post Trophy those of us there had one of those ' :blink: Did that just happen ? ' moments. It was pretty stunning, the form is good with Jukebox Jury and previously with Donativum. The horse has a really impressive stride to go with his turn of foot.

Rainbow View was much the best of the fillies as far as I can see.
 
Very true Shadz, just a shame he can't run in the Classics as a gelding.

His form and Naaqoos's is the best for me. I wonder how much Mastercraftsman really under performed and whether he just didn't improve after the Curragh and whether the slog in heavy ground left its mark.
 
uncle goober said:
When Crowded House won The Racing Post Trophy those of us there had one of those ' :blink: Did that just happen ? ' moments. It was pretty stunning, the form is good with Jukebox Jury and previously with Donativum. The horse has a really impressive stride to go with his turn of foot.

Rainbow View was much the best of the fillies as far as I can see.
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Agree with all of that.

I've never seen a better juvenile filly than Rainbow View, and I very much doubt I ever will.
 
I think Naaqoos will turn out to be a sprinter, if you look at the time he recorded when he won the Grp 1 in France, you can see it was more like 6.5 furlongs rather than the stated 7f, plus Longchamp is a flat track so a speed horse is more likely to win. He wont last over a fast run mile at Newmarket.
 
I'm delighted having Euro on my side this year, I think between us we have picked the last three or four winners of the 1000 without one another knowing from reading the forum over the years.
 
milo said:
I think Naaqoos will turn out to be a sprinter, if you look at the time he recorded when he won the Grp 1 in France, you can see it was more like 6.5 furlongs rather than the stated 7f, plus Longchamp is a flat track so a speed horse is more likely to win. He wont last over a fast run mile at Newmarket.
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He's bred for it, if he turns up it'll be a procession up the Rowley Mile and Newmarket best have a copy of La Marseillaise on hand for the weekend should the Head family do the right thing!
 
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