Champion Hurdle 2014

I've never been a fan on the horse and I think the trainer is a c@@@ but if it wins this renewal with how competitive it is and at 10 I will give him his dues he will be up there with the best in my eyes.I will also cut off my right nut,prepare to be disappointed,there ain't no fairytale.
 
Euronymous said:
I'm gobsmacked. What would be your definition of a good renewal, 1976 or something? No offence but this does strike me as a grandad in his slippers type nostalgia viewpoint. It's an immense renewal.

The ground conditions this winter have hardly been condusive to TNO and MTOY putting up mega efforts.
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With a benchmark of 168 (my own figures but at that level they're pretty much on a par with ORs/RPRs) for a possible winner, I'd want to see a good half-dozen with ratings above that for it to be 'good' and for one or two to be pushing 180 for it to be one to savour (in terms of pure class rather than competitiveness).

Hurricane Fly's best Irish form could be ranked around 172-175 but he's never put up a fast time over there and has never really had a hard race.

Rock On Ruby and Zarkandar are 165-168 types. Nobody really sees them as possible winners any more.

Nothing else in this year's race has been posting form ratings backed up by times to put them in that bracket apart from Annie Power (once the allowance is factored in). Our Conor might be a 175-180 if he's as good as I think.

If he can post that kind of mark and if MTOY or TNO can do so then I will say it is a top race but they've been more seriously tried this season then OC and have come up short so far.

It's like so many G1s on the flat these days. The racing media and fora get themselves into a froth in anticipation but take a cold hard look at the form and if the best they can run to is around 120 then it's really just a G2. That's why we can get genuinely frothy when the likes of Frankel comes along and pushed the 150 mark. I'm happy for a G1 to go to a 126 performer and I love it when the break the 130 mark.

If something can break 175 in this year's Champion Hurdle I will be happy. If not I won't.
 
Links, let's face it.....anyone who is still unconvinced of Hurricane Fly's place in history, clearly has small testicles.....the equivalent of 4 Zimbawean Dollars on the Buster Gonad Betting Exchange.

You need more collateral. :D
 
links781 said:
i've never been a fan on the horse and i think the trainer is a c@@@ but if it wins this renewal with how competitive it is and at 10 i will give him his dues he will be up there with the best in my eyes.i will also cut off my right nut,prepare to be disappointed,there ain't no fairytale.
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saved
 
Been reading the debate with interest. MTOY would be my preference at the top of the market, but I'm getting sweet on MELODIC RENDEZVOUS, think he's the surprise package in the race. Stranger things have happened.
 
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The list of things 'stranger' than Melodic Rendezvous winning this Champion Hurdle, could be written on the back of an atom in very large font.

Complete no-hoper.
 
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I'm putting a line through his run at the dog track Gosforth Park, done nothing wrong in his limited career. Certainly a decent left field choice in the race. And I reserve the right to quote the nonsense above at my leisure after the race, sir.
 
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Everyone is entitled to their pic, Marb......but this is trench-warfare this thread, and a take-no-prisoners attitude prevails.

MR = No Chance. :cool:
 
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Im not sure if MR will even run if it turns up good/soft. All his form has been on a bog. If it's soft he has a good ew chance but I can't see him winning it.
 
Kauto Abu said:
Im not sure if MR will even run if it turns up good/soft. All his form has been on a bog. If it's soft he has a good ew chance but I can't see him winning it.
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He's rated 163 now, he has to come here whatever the ground.

He hasn't shown the speed of other horses yet, with the ground he's been running on that's no surprise, but I like the fact that a strong-paced, end-to end gallop as we're bound to get here will play to his strengths in terms of seeing the race out. Soft ground probably be perfect for the horse.
 
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MR would have a great ew shout IF and only IF its bottomless on the day. He'd still be 20L behind the Fly tho.
 
Desert Orchid said:
If he can post that kind of mark and if MTOY or TNO can do so then I will say it is a top race but they've been more seriously tried this season then OC and have come up short so far.
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I don't think they've been seriously tried at all. Small runner events against inferior opposition. I would think they will both improve for facing other top class opponents. Much like Treve did from the Vermeille to the Arc.
 
marble said:
He's rated 163 now, he has to come here whatever the ground.

He hasn't shown the speed of other horses yet, with the ground he's been running on.
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He got totally outpaced in the Fighting Fifth on good ground once MTOY cranked it up a notch or two. He's very ground dependent to be fair.
 
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Kauto Abu said:
He got totally outpaced in the Fighting Fifth on good ground once MTOY cranked it up a notch or two. He's very ground dependent to be fair.
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Melodic Rendevous ran terrible that day in the Fighting Fifth. He didn't travel, he didn't jump and he didn't finish his race off. Characteristics he has shown in abundance in all his other races.

I'm not suggesting that MR can win the CH, but there was clearly something wrong that day! Trainer reported afterwards that he had pulled a muscle. So you would have to forgive him that run.

And he was still ONLY 7 Lengths behind MTOY............
 
Melodic Rendezvous beat Zarkandar by 1l > Zarkandar beaten 7L by Hurricane Fly in the Champion Hurdle.. That puts HF 5L ahead of MR in my book.
 
Yes, MR clearly not right in the FF but his subsequent form with Zarkandar is his career best. I think he's better than that bare form but the fact they don't see Zarkandar as being competitive enough to even line up would have to temper any enthusiasm for MR.

MTOY an TNO's races were small fields but I don't think they were particularly falsely run. They may well still have more to offer - I'd be disappointed if they didn't - but it's still very hard to get them on marks in the mid-high 160s. Our Conor was already up there - unheard of before, I reckon - as a juvenile.
 
The Champion Hurdle song.

Baracouda, do you remember what you were told.
When you was only ten years old
They said that boy he’s no fool
Way back in primary school
Are you faster than you used to be
Are you still first grade
Grab a pencil and a piece of paper
Cause there's gonna be a test later.

Is Hurricane Fly as smart at ten years old
Is he first grade and as fast as we have been told
Grab a pencil and a piece of paper
Here’s an equation for you later
Think first or you’ll sound a fool
Does he still hold all the tools
Will it be two lengths or three
Cause its obvious you don’t have a degree
Up the hill he will role
Slamming Our Conor by twice as he is old

Remember Baracouda, what you have been told.
 
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