Champion Hurdle 2014

Really wish they would fix this site.......I enjoyed posting here but having to use a tor browser to get on is a pain in the ass.

Back in November as posted I was all for Hurricane Fly winning again. Now I am equally convinced Our Conor will beat him at Cheltenham.

I should add : If they ride him the right way.

In the Triumph Our Conor despite some novice jumping always looked happy.

The other day he was given an impossible task IMO

He tracked Hurricane Fly all the way round then tried to do him for speed......If it is possible that's not the way to beat the Fly.

Our Conor was always traveling well maybe even better than Hurricane Fly was 3 out.
A repeat of that at Cheltenham but ridden a few lengths ahead of Hurricane Fly could very well see a turn around.

If the ground is faster than it was the other day, which is very likely, and Our Conor can be real handy and kick from the front just after 2 out I doubt if anyone will catch him.

He certainly proved the other day that giving Hurricane Fly a race isn't beyond him

The worry is they finished in a heap but then again Captain Cee Bee is no mug in any ones book.He's one of the best travelers in the game so when it turned into a sprint they're hardly going to be putting miles between him and themselves.

I have the greatest respect for Hurricane Fly but this young horse may well be the best we have seen in a very long time. The trainers a canny lad and he'll strip a lot fitter come March than we have seen him turn up so far.

I am totally amazed MTOY and The New One are shorter in price.

The New One is good but a future Champion Hurdle winner? His defeat of Zarkander who failed next time to give any sort of race to Annie Power and two separate occasion is nothing to write home about. Beating Rockon Ruby who was having his pre chasing prep is even less inspiring.

He may well have beaten MTOY at Kempton but for a mistake but what has MTOY done to warrant better support than Our Conor? His 3 length defeat of Cockney Sparrow wouldn't have me rushing to back him.

The form these 2 have shown so far falls miles short of that shown by Hurricane Fly. They looked good kicking lumps out of each other but the Fly is not cockney sparrow or a below his best Zarkandar.

I honestly think its a 2sided coin. Either you are on the side of Hurricane Fly and Our Conor or your on the side of MTOY and The New One and the bookies have it wrong.

Nothing has changed as faras I can make out and the Champion Hurdle is a straight match between Our Conor and Hurricane Fly in my book.......and I'm covinced Our Conor will win in style as he did in the Triumph

To be frank Tanlic you may have convinced yourself about Our Conor but to me you sound as though your heart is ruling your head. For the record I think Hurricane Fly, My Tent Or Yours, The New One and even Jezki would have looked equally as happy in that Triumph hurdle. You start by suggesting it was an impossible task given to Our Conor at Leopardstown on Sunday and to track the Fly was not the way to beat him, then you sound out a semblance of doubt “If it is possible” but to be ridden a few lengths ahead of The Fly could very well see a turnaround at Cheltenham. I thought they tried that in the previous encounter at Leopardstown and he got beaten even more emphatically, in receipt of 3Lb.

You then mention that Our Conor was always travelling well maybe even better than The Fly was to three out, but you also vent a concern that they finished in a heap yet your race reading failed to realise that the race was run at a crawl, Captain Cee Bee’s proximity should have told you that. My reading was that Ruby remained motionless until he pulled off the rail on the bend approaching two out, on straightening out of the bend the sprint for home began with Our Conor only ever getting in front courtesy of a better jump at the last then The Fly surged ahead to the line.

Watch last year’s Triumph and you will see that Our Conor never needed to come off the bridle, this year he is having to race at top speed from two and three furlongs from home and to me he is a year too young to sustain it. I’m sorry but he isn’t going to get a repeat of is Triumph stroll, he is going to get a gruelling test of his metal and I really hope it doesn’t leave a mark on him because I see him being a real star of the future, and don’t forget he will be 2Lb worse off at Cheltenham.

As for your amazement at the prices of MTOY and The New One being shorter in price than Our Conors goes, well that is because your opinion and not that of the general one dictates those prices, and if you think the value is there then act upon it.

As for your reasoning behind that amazement well even that too could be argued, with weight differences, ground conditions and distances covered being variable, but just remember MTOY finished the same distances in front of Jezki in the Supreme as Our Conor has this season and he would be expected to make significant improvement too. I suspect like Our Conor too these other contestants won’t have been fully tuned up until March either.

As for your last two paragraphs well what can I say except that without Annie Power and the rest of the field; there is six permutations and that would mean you need to toss six coins, and after all that you flippantly suggest he will win 17 lengths on the bridle.

Definitely the heart or the pocket ruling the head.
:lol:
 
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Stacking up the form of trial races both sides of the water and comparing them is fair enough. But it can be misleading. It seems to me that some people are forgetting that ultimately it comes down to which horse(s) is(are) best suited to the likely breakneck pace of a 2m hurdle race around the challenges that cheltenham racecourse provides.

For me I'll take TNO every day of the week over any of them at the moment, though I agree that Our Connor will improve again and the course and race pace will be more to his liking. I love the fly and will be delighted if he wins it (not a market I'll be heavily involved in betting wise), but it's head over heart this year. The 2 aforementioned are very very good. I think with improvement to come from both, the champ will have too much on his plate.

A small aside which I don't think has been mentioned, but for the stats believers, or fans of TNO looking for another positive sign, missing the last flight at Kempton could very well have been the best thing to happen...given that winners of the FF don't win the CH.

Lastly, comments earlier that TNO was ripped fit early in the season. While it wasn't my eye, I was told by a mates father who was at Cheltenham at Xmas that TNO was carrying a lot of condition. I trust the word but am open to contradiction if anyone on here was there.
 
Stacking up the form of trial races both sides of the water and comparing them is fair enough. But it can be misleading. It seems to me that some people are forgetting that ultimately it comes down to which horse(s) is(are) best suited to the likely breakneck pace of a 2m hurdle race around the challenges that cheltenham racecourse provides.

For me I'll take TNO every day of the week over any of them at the moment, though I agree that Our Connor will improve again and the course and race pace will be more to his liking. I love the fly and will be delighted if he wins it (not a market I'll be heavily involved in betting wise), but it's head over heart this year. The 2 aforementioned are very very good. I think with improvement to come from both, the champ will have too much on his plate.

Amazed that you can hold this position, given TNO has even won a G1 Hurdle at 2m.

THE FEAR.
 
Amazed that you can hold this position, given TNO has even won a G1 Hurdle at 2m.

THE FEAR.

Not yet..... But He'll have his first on march 11th 2014.

You shouldn't really be 'amazed' Grasshopper seeing as the Bookies hold the same position.

He's not joint Fav for the craic! You have him written off like 20/1 shot!

I'm sure you've posted this before , but seeing as I'm new, what is your 1-2-3 in the Race?
 
Not yet..... But He'll have his first on march 11th 2014.

You shouldn't really be 'amazed' Grasshopper seeing as the Bookies hold the same position.

He's not joint Fav for the craic! You have him written off like 20/1 shot!

I'm sure you've posted this before , but seeing as I'm new, what is your 1-2-3 in the Race?

I've no real interest in who will fill the places, DH.....though I suspect OC and TNO will claim the minor honours.
 
Ah ok Grasshopper Fair enough.

You're just Hurricane Fly and that's it...... All in !

I see you are a member since 2006. Have you always been as vocal and as bullish as this regarding Hurricane Fly winning the CH in 2011, 2012 & 2013 ?

And if so, what happened in 2012 when HF didn't win?
 
Ah ok Grasshopper Fair enough.

You're just Hurricane Fly and that's it...... All in !

I see you are a member since 2006. Have you always been as vocal and as bullish as this regarding Hurricane Fly winning the CH in 2011, 2012 & 2013 ?

And if so, what happened in 2012 when HF didn't win?

I spent more time over at The Racing Forum and the defunct Neigh until around 2010, I guess. Been hollering about the Fly since before he won the Royal Bond as a novice. :cool:

Edit: for the record, I was for fu*cking topping myself after the 2012 race.
 
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I spent more time over at The Racing Forum and the defunct Neigh until around 2010, I guess. Been hollering about the Fly since before he won the Royal Bond as a novice. :cool:

Edit: for the record, I was for fu*cking topping myself after the 2012 race.

That edit was more what I was expecting.

I assume you still came on the forum and accepted it like a Man though.....
 
That edit was more what I was expecting.

I assume you still came on the forum and accepted it like a Man though.....

He writes in a similar style to me. Note the brutal spelling mistake and ..... to finish the post.

Perhaps my schizophrenia has returned.
 
Definitely not trolling. As soon I joined the forum yesterday I had difficulty understanding terms like:

Harbourgeddon & Fishwives etc.. in relation to Horse Racing.
Which in turn led me to reading a lot of Grasshoppers post.

I am 100% a new and genuine poster.

granger put me on to this website. I know him from a work Fantasy Football league.

As for the ....... at the end of sentences? What can I say...... Just Habit!

"brutal spelling mistake" ??
 
Definitely not trolling. As soon I joined the forum yesterday I had difficulty understanding terms like:

Harbourgeddon & Fishwives etc.. in relation to Horse Racing.
Which in turn led me to reading a lot of Grasshoppers post.

I am 100% a new and genuine poster.

granger put me on to this website. I know him from a work Fantasy Football league.

As for the ....... at the end of sentences? What can I say...... Just Habit!

"brutal spelling mistake" ??

My apologies. It is just unusual for someone new to wind people up so much.
 
Definitely not trolling. As soon I joined the forum yesterday I had difficulty understanding terms like:

Harbourgeddon & Fishwives etc.. in relation to Horse Racing.
Which in turn led me to reading a lot of Grasshoppers post.

I am 100% a new and genuine poster.

granger put me on to this website. I know him from a work Fantasy Football league.

As for the ....... at the end of sentences? What can I say...... Just Habit!

"brutal spelling mistake" ??


:ninja::ninja:

this one still has time to be saved. Can see him returning to the fly with a week to go
 
Just thinking back a few years, had to laugh at this comment on Twitter by someone stuck on the M1

The M1 south at this time of the day is like Harchibald at Cheltenham...cruising nicely, come to a hill, can't get past anything then stop !
 
Trackside gets reports on this kind of sh*it direct from Edward Snowden.

He will be most vexed.

Very accurate tweet though. :lol:
 
It cheers me to think of Tanlic sitting at his laptop, incandescent with rage that he can't get connected to tell me to "Fu*ck Off!!".

Yoohoo!! Hallo pal! :thumbsup:

:D
 
Some of the reasons given for opposing TNO are laughable. More holes in their arguments than a packet of polos.

So slamming ROR is sh*te
So slamming Zarkandar is sh*te
So MTOY is sh*te
Yet it all ties in with Jezki who MTOY beat.

As for the time of a race being slower than another one. Just aswell the Supreme winner didn't run in the Champion then - Give me strength.

A few sloppy jumps, now that is a valid point.

But hey apart from that, the rest was spot on lol
 
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