Champion Hurdle 2014

clivex said:
Would have been somewhat surprising if he hadn't been

Mtoy without doubt did not run as well as he could yesterday. Pulling like that he couldn't have done so. No way.For instance at Xmas he settled and travelled far better. And regardless of that, it would be somewhat surprising if mtoy was at the same peak as march.personally i always factor a few lbs off a post Cheltenham run.

Can fiddle around with ratings all day long, but that was not him at his best
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He's run like that all season though, McCoy just went for home earlier.

Until he stops pulling like a lunatic MTOY will continue to be a bridle horse/weak finisher. If I was a fan of the horse I'd back him in running the day he finally consents to settle. He clearly has bags of class and pace.

It would not surprise me if he showed up at Royal Ascot or on the flat somewhere.
 
Heading for 3000 posts here.
The race is done and dusted a month ago.
The form is considered to be not very good by a few of ye.
Why all the interest ?
For my part I thought it was an absolutely cracking race.
That a blanket would have covered the first four if Our Conor stayed standing makes it all the better.
Everything may have fallen right for Jezki on the day that did not fall for him all season does not reduce his ability one iota in my eyes.
MTOY the next Binocular to my eyes: if things fall his way he wins any hurdle race he is aimed at; he just needs the rub of the green.
TNO ditto.
 
Aragorn said:
He's run like that all season though, McCoy just went for home earlier.

Until he stops pulling like a lunatic MTOY will continue to be a bridle horse/weak finisher. If I was a fan of the horse I'd back him in running the day he finally consents to settle. He clearly has bags of class and pace.

It would not surprise me if he showed up at Royal Ascot or on the flat somewhere.
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Agree and despite what's being touted in the thread I never backed him in either race. Not that that bloody matters

But I will say he settled reasonably wel at Xmas and was more edgy on Saturday

I think what's annoying people here is that "figures" based oin end of season afterthoughts are being used to knock the ch main contenders and prove this and that about oc

Can't have that at all.

On another note, without knocking McCoy I think the jockey might be a factor with jezki. I'm not a jockey obsessive but McCoy simply doesn't suit some horses. And anyway, bg is best of lot for me
 
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On another note, without knocking McCoy I think the jockey might be a factor with jezki. I'm not a jockey obsessive but McCoy simply doesn't suit some horses. And anyway, bg is best of lot for me
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Well I'm certainly prepared to criticise MCoy for his riding of Jezki this season.

It also strikes me that this thread is dominated by the merits and otherwise of those that finished behind the actual and worthy winner-Jezki!
 
They were all trained to peak for the Champion.
Reading too much in to the form after Cheltenham is misleading. Reading the form between Diakali and TNO, then comparing that to last years Triumph is crazy imo. But I will say that if the race was over 2m at Aintree then TNO wins with Sam motionless.

I wouldn't be quick to slate AP on Jezki. Jezki was never going to be seen in best light this season until he got to Cheltenham. The pace of the races in Ireland are generally slower to that of the Champion.
Tent is clearly talented and if he had settled then he would have dotted up in the Champion. Hopefully UDS stays hurdling to give Tent a nice lead and just maybe help him settle (not holding my breath).
Ofcourse Vautour is Key here. I hope he goes chasing, and so had the Tent and the rest because if he stays hurdling then the rest are racing for 2nd imho.
 
Ironically, it was the hood that improved Jezki, and BG said after the race that it made a big difference and allowed him to settle.
Didn't work with MTOY though, and now they've exhausted their options over hurdles, I'd be very surprised if his next outing isn't over fences. As James points out, he'd probably have more respect for the larger obstacles - and less chance to build a head of steam between them. Maybe then he'll start and realise his full potential.
 
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Just came across this while footering around.

It's the BHA handicapper's blog following the 2014 Champion Hurdle:

Deciding how to rate the race was less than straightforward. However, My Tent Or Yours has now beaten The New One twice, so I took the view that he should be rated the higher. I have raised My Tent Or Yours 1lb to 168 and therefore have Jezki on 169. As I wrote in an earlier blog, Captain Cee Bee was going to be a challenge if entered for the County Hurdle. He was, and I settled on a mark of 154 for that race. Miraculously using five lengths a second, that is the mark he ran to last week. Back handicapping and now using him as the marker horse in the Irish races won by Hurricane Fly, I now don’t have the latter running better than 166 this season. That can all change come Punchestown of course.
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I'd say it's interesting in that it, if anything, supports the argument that Our Conor hadn't done anything much this season to suggest he'd have won but it also supports the argument that MTOY wasn't that well handicapped the other day, and that Jezki is the best hurdler on British shores.
 
I can see how what I wrote can easily be misinterpreted:

Desert Orchid said:
Jezki is the best hurdler on British shores.
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It would obviously have been clearer had I included 'to have raced' and, for that matter, 'this season' after the word 'hurdler'.

As for More Of That, I think RPRs were higher for Jezki et al. I have MOT on 168 for his win so that is indeed 1lb higher than my mark for Jezki.

Good spot, grasshopper.

It makes me think this season's novices could well end up wiping the floor with the current lot when they get to take them on next season, although MOT looks likely to improve a fair bit more.
 
Euronymous said:
The Stayer's race has been overrated. Zarkandar holds the form down big time. He's deteriorated quite a bit this season.
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Not sure it's quite as straightforward as that myself, though agree Zark hardly franked the form at Aintree.

The OH has rated MOT and Jezki bang-level on 169. I'm not convinced either horse has run to that level myself, though I wouldn't be in inclined to drop either by too much myself. Maybe 3-4lbs tops, but no more. Both the Stayers and CH are hard to figure out; with ageing champs comfortably despatched, but with the placed horses not exactly giving the form a boost thereafter.

Looks like a classic transition-season to me, and I'll be happy to oppose all of this season's championship principals next season. The novices have a narrow gap to bridge, imo - in both the CH and the Stayers. Time to dig the new breed.
 
Nothing wrong with the Champion Hurdle form imo, and I'd expect Jezki to frank it anytime there's a decent pace on.
 
granger said:
Nope and hurricane will start fav
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many punters were saying HF is now past it..after his last run...a view that i don't understand one bit seeing as how he looked the usual rolls royce of a horse just a matter of weeks ago.

and yet now...he is near enough tied in the betting with what many seem to think is a really good CH winner

something doesn't add up here surely?

surely if the CH is really good form then Jezki should be 1/2 with the Fly 5/2 3/1 ish

don't you guys that think the CH is good form think the betting is a bit odd?

Or is the truth here that HF isn't past it and that the ground and track are the cause of HF losing the CH?
 
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Pace of the race will be totally different compared to Cheltenham EC. And it's not at Cheltenham which benefits the Fly.
 
EC1 said:
not according to some views on here...many don't believe it was the ground and track..they think he's past it..if you read back on this thread
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He still wasn't beat in those slower run races though. Maybe he hasn't shown the same class of old, but he was still only beat at Cheltenham which was no great surprise imo.
 
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