Black Jack Ketchum

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At the Start
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May 2, 2003
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If he hacks up in the two mile race will they be tempted to keep him to that trip….particularly as the stable has W Lineman for the staying races?
 
What does everyone think????

I wasnt impressed at all, he is definitely worth a try over 2miles.
 
If he was a dog, or even just a complete bridle horse, he'd have lost today. He obviously found something - at the end of 3 miles, does he still not stay? - to give the runner-up 8lbs.
 
He won`t stay in top company. He gave Faasel 8lbs but in a handicap he`d have given him twenty. I`ve backed him at big prices for the Champion so i`m biased i suppose but he`s surely worth a try over shorter.
 
I dont think sending him over 2m is the answer. I dont think he is much better than what we saw today. He isnt a dog. I think he does what he can for his jockey, just isnt as good as some thought. I think that anyone with racing knowledge was expecting it to be a bit tough for the horse once Faasel was travelling on the turn in. The CHannel 4 tam suggesting that BJK was cantering all over them and that it was surely a matter of how far, are well wide of the mark. He will iwn a couple more of uncompetitive conditions races before being exposed in better class IMO.
 
Good point about the weights, Euro. Do you really think he'd cope with having to travel a clip faster in the Champion Hurdle?
 
I'm not trying to be contrary but I was quite impressed.

It wa a muddling race and he was giving a horse withdecent form over shorter trips weight in a five furlong sprint. He got involved in an eyeballing match and outbattled the other one, the pair drawing miles clear.

Welcome back, Jack.
 
Originally posted by Gareth Flynn@Nov 3 2007, 04:02 PM
Good point about the weights, Euro. Do you really think he'd cope with having to travel a clip faster in the Champion Hurdle?
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I really don`t know, i suppose it`s possible he`d be taken out of his comfort zone. But he looks like he travels a lot better than Detroit City. Do Sadlers Wells line animals get stamina or speed from their male line over jumps? Or does BJK`s stamina come from his dam side?
 
That is about all he is. The staying hurdlers are moderate though, so he will remain over exposed relative to his real merit.
 
I thought this horse was a superstar as a novice but this performance for me was probably about as good as his Aintree effort behind Mighty Man which will leave him plenty to find through the season. He looks worth trying over 2 miles though I wouldn't know whether or not its the key to him, he just doesn't look quite the same horse to me.
 
I've frankly come close to giving up discussing this horse and am at a bit of a loss to explain why he seems to command so many coulumn inches and such affections. Even as a novice there were enough question marks about him for me, and I duly drew down no shortage of incredulity when I first suggested so. My opinion hasn't really altered to be honest. He benefits from the fact that he's in the weakest division (almost be default staying hurdlers are poor relations). I'm sure once again when he's pitched into top open company he'll be caught out, it's just a shame that the cupboard is so bare. Let's be honest, it's not as if Faasel hasn't thrown the towel in now and then and gutsing it out against that particular benchmark is hardly the most ringing endorsement. He was entitled to win today, and to do so more convincingly than he did
 
What the hell is wrong this forum

Good days racing today even if Ollie Magern managed to win a poor Charlie Hall. We had Taranis at Down Royal. Some good racing at Ascot. A few decent novices both today and yesterday.

And the only jumps thread is about this bloody beast!!
 
I think Taranis will win plenty this year. Really like the horse. Nicholls could have the top three in the Gold Cup betting before in Feb. Super jumper.
 
Originally posted by Bobbyjo@Nov 3 2007, 05:05 PM
What the hell is wrong this forum

Good days racing today even if Ollie Magern managed to win a poor Charlie Hall. We had Taranis at Down Royal. Some good racing at Ascot. A few decent novices both today and yesterday.

And the only jumps thread is about this bloody beast!!
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So what are you waiting for?
 
I tried on the Down Royal thread from yesterday, alas, it petered out.....asked for reaction to Megans Joy and there was none. I despair!
 
In fairness there is never many posts on a Saturday. Ardross used to start all the threads on Saturdays racing. Plenty of replies my the morning.
 
I must admit, I'm not totally unsympathetic to Bobbyjo's assertion on this one. It strikes me that certain horses generate an irrational obsession with people that their bare performances often don't merit. I've given it some thought and have decided that it has its roots in a frailty in the human mind and a conditioning that punters adopt by forming recalcitrant early opinions and then seeking to justify them regardless of which way the evidence is starting to mount to the contrary. I mean, its not as if you're going to get particularly rich with this particular animal without exposing yourself to chronic risks, yet it seems all he has to do is go for a racecourse gallop and someone starts a thread on him.
 
Don't worry lads, I'm sure once SL finds her way back to her laptop there'll be something about the Charlie Hall to discuss :D
 
Originally posted by Warbler@Nov 3 2007, 05:32 PM
Let's be honest, it's not as if Faasel hasn't thrown the towel in now and then and gutsing it out against that particular benchmark is hardly the most ringing endorsement. He was entitled to win today, and to do so more convincingly than he did
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Your right about Fassel throwing in towel Warbler, but he probably has performed well here in beating Lough Derg 18L and St Mathew 28L off levels.

Lough Derg is a tad in/out but not useless, as he has shown behind Mighty Man and Hardy Eustace and if you take it that St Mathew has run as he normally does at Wetherby, then that would suggest Fassel has run somewhere near last years mark of 154, and the 8lb given by BJK would mean he's run almost to his mark of 164 too



I'll treat race with caution because of it being seasonal debuts for all bar one, but i've a feeling we saw BJK run near to his best today. He probably needs to improve on this to win World Hurdle , but that best would probably see him framing in World Hurdle
 
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