Champion Hurdle 2014

Kauto Abu said:
He picked MTOY last year. He comprehensively beat Jezki then and his reputation has been more than enhanced since then.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say comprehensively at all, the distance between the two I'd put down to McCoy alone he would of ridden him more positively around the bottom turn, also if Jezki pinged the last instead of going through it he would have been right in the mix with CF at the finish. Whoever McCoy was riding was going to finish infront of the other last year looking back on it.

I would agree he will pick MTOYs as he knows HF and OC have the beating of Jezki, MTOY is something of an unknown to HF.

MTOYs is something of an unknown to me, does he want a quick pace to settle but end up having the finish ran out of him ala last year or does he want a slower pace to show his speed late on but risk running too freely early on and ruining his chances.
 
Last edited:
Just watching the Racing News on ATR. Showed a few interviews.

Henderson on MTOY: Definitely no prep race. Freshness is a worry. Did hint Geraghty riding MTOY is a strong possibility.

NTD on TNO: Top class, did a very good bit of work the other morning, Confident of reversing form with MTOY - Track and Stamina test and true run race suits his horse better.
 
There seems to be mixed signals coming from the Twiston Davies camp too. Sam was in the paper the other day saying it wouldn't be a disaster if he didn't win the CH this year, he's still a young horse and has hopefully many years ahead. NTD on the other hand seems very bullish as he was before the xmas hurdle.
 
Kauto Abu said:
There seems to be mixed signals coming from the Twiston Davies camp too. Sam was in the paper the other day saying it wouldn't be a disaster if he didn't win the CH this year, he's still a young horse and has hopefully many years ahead. NTD on the other hand seems very bullish as he was before the xmas hurdle.
Click to expand...

He will have to improve his jumping as he will be off the bridle from a long way from home. TNO in fairness finds plenty once off it but he was off the bridle coming round the home turn in Kempton and towards the bottom of the hill in the neptune last year off a crawl of a pace when you'd expect a CH horse to be travelling all over those horse. I'm sure he'll stay on strongly but that kind of pressure may just cause him to hit a few hurdles. Maybe NTD is so bullish as he's pinging hudles at home but we won't know until the day.
 
BigTea said:
He will have to improve his jumping as he will be off the bridle from a long way from home. TNO in fairness finds plenty once off it but he was off the bridle coming round the home turn in Kempton and towards the bottom of the hill in the neptune last year off a crawl of a pace when you'd expect a CH horse to be travelling all over those horse. I'm sure he'll stay on strongly but that kind of pressure may just cause him to hit a few hurdles. Maybe NTD is so bullish as he's pinging hudles at home but we won't know until the day.
Click to expand...

He's botched a few hurdles this season no doubt. But I just re-watched the Neptune and he wasn't off the bridle near as early as you suggest. He absolutely pinged the last and I hope he's going to do that again this year.

As Regards the pace description of a crawl. Maybe the very early part of the race was slower but no way the race overall was slow. Chatterbox, who had the SPEED to beat MTOY over 2m that same season was still in the mix.

And to Compare it to the champion hurdle the previous day.

From the back of the second last hurdle to the line:

Hurricane Fly - 43.20
The New One - 38.45
 
Last edited:
Double Handful said:
He's botched a few hurdles this season no doubt. But I just re-watched the Neptune and he wasn't off the bridle near as early as you suggest. He absolutely pinged the last and I hope he's going to do that again this year.

As Regards the pace description of a crawl. Maybe the very early part of the race was slower but no way the race overall was slow. Chatterbox, who had the SPEED to beat MTOY over 2m that same season was still in the mix.

And to Compare it to the champion hurdle the previous day.

From the back of the second last hurdle to the line:

Hurricane Fly - 43.20
The New One - 38.45
Click to expand...

Re the Neptune I said towards the bottom of the hill which I think is fair from what I saw.Regarding the pace, it was the early part of the race I was referring to that was slow, then when the pace quickened I would have expected CH horse to be travelling much better.

I have no problems about TNOs ability once Sam has gone for him he has stayed on very strongly, I just think he will be off the bridle alot sooner in the CH this year than some of the others which will put alot of pressure on his jumping which this season hasn't been great.
 
Double Handful said:
Just watching the Racing News on ATR. Showed a few interviews.

Henderson on MTOY: Definitely no prep race. Freshness is a worry. Did hint Geraghty riding MTOY is a strong possibility.

NTD on TNO: Top class, did a very good bit of work the other morning, Confident of reversing form with MTOY - Track and Stamina test and true run race suits his horse better.
Click to expand...

MTOY is running at Kempton on Sunday in a jumpers bumper.

As is Irving apparently.
 
See that. He gets in without a penalty & should put him spot onfor the champion. Most importantly, he wont be racing on soft/heavy ground.
 
Last edited:
The only reason chatterbox beat MTOY was the combination of a good ride from Geraghty and a bad one from McCoy.
 
wilsonl said:
MTOY is running at Kempton on Sunday in a jumpers bumper.
Click to expand...

Trust me; I'm a doctor. :lol:

AP has every right to be coy about his Champion Hurdle ride, and if it looks like being attritional, no surprise at all to see him plump for Jezki. Far from being the write-off some would have him, he'd probably have a very good chance, too.
 
I'm right and everyone else on this forum (particularly Grassy and his side -kick /wingman granger are way off the mark ,as for Spoilsport he's just a calculator in human..or alien form. I've Just sunk 3 large Irish for lunch..so to speak.
 
Henderson on RUK there. Said they thought about Kelso today strongly and he'd have more than likely got away with it but the ground is riding a bit dead there and a long trip up and back to Kelso. Jumpers Bumper at Kempton over 2m on standard a much better option in his opinion.
 
Kauto Abu said:
See that. He gets in without a penalty & should put him spot onfor the champion. Most importantly, he wont be racing on soft/heavy ground.
Click to expand...

Just back from Kelso. not running MTOY today will come back to haunt them. Good to Soft all round and a poor renewal of the Morebattle... THEFEAR. We say Hendo leaving and he was visibly trembling. :D
 
There was no excuse for not running MTOY today.

The ground was very fair, with a good covering of grass, and whilst it was a little holding, they were getting home perfectly adequately. It's not like he was under any threat of a hard race anyway. He was a street ahead (one in the next village along) of this lot on form, and could have been bounced out-front, away from any dangers, and had himself a good gallop and a nice school round. A Jumpers Bumper is a total cop-out in comparsion.

When I asked Henderson about this at the track today, it went like this:

NJH: The real reason he isn't running, is because we have a virus in the yard.
GH: Really? Which one? Viral arteritis? Herpes V-1?
NJH: Neither of those. They call it THE FEAR.

:ninja:
 
Last edited:
Grasshopper said:
There was no excuse for not running MTOY today.

The ground was very fair, with a good covering of grass, and whilst it was a little holding, they were getting home perfectly adequately. It's not like he was under any threat of a hard race anyway. He was a street ahead (one in the next village along) of this lot on form, and could have been bounced out-front, away from any dangers, and had himself a good gallop and a nice school round. A Jumpers Bumper is a total cop-out in comparsion.

When I asked Henderson about this at the track today, it went like this:

NJH: The real reason he isn't running, is because we have a virus in the yard.
GH: Really? Which one? Viral arteritis? Herpes V-1?
NJH: Neither of those. They call it THE FEAR.

:ninja:
Click to expand...

''A little holding" ?
Morebattle was the quickest run race of the meeting - 25 secs over standard! :lol:
 
Back
Top