Champion Hurdle 2014

MTOY has all the ability in the world but just doesn't like a fight. I'd never back him on that basis.

As for the OC tactics. They weren't too different to the Triumph last year. I had backed him and was quite happy to see him ridden in such a way until that sickening fall.
 
Yes. Got to see it again dj but hardly ridden with total confidence. Is mtoy that determined though?

I thought sam on tno did a wonderful job in not panicing and getting him back into it gradually. Hampered like that so often means pulled up or trailing in. Such a likeable and exciting horse.

Shame about OC. Will just never know now
 
Desert Orchid said:
Don't get too carried away with The New One's misfortune.

He was as close to the runner-up three out as he was at the line.
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Just watched it again but missed the bit where he was hampered. It looks like Sam got him back there without asking too much and he was right on MTOY's heels at the top of the hill.

He lost ground going down the hill, either by a deliberate manoeuvre on Sam's part or he couldn't quicken when the others stepped it up and only found his stride as the others slowed down again having already hit their max, exaggerating his finishing effort.

I suspect he'd have been alongside and may even have won but the fact three would have been together tells its own story. They're all good but they can't all be brilliant. And the finishing time was only 9lbs faster than the Supreme.

I have no quibble with the ride OC was getting. The pace didn't look over-fast (maybe EC1 can tell us otherwise) and I'd have been happy to see him lob along at his own pace. I really fancied him to hammer those three.
 
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DO, didn't Vautour break the track record? In which case that makes Jezki's time a helluva run? I haven't looked or confirmed the times though.

As a backer of TNO and Champagne Fever it's been a tough day. TNO will beat the front two next time they meet I reckon.

Much tougher day for the Connell/Mullins axis though. RIP Our Conor.
 
What do we make of Ruby's comments about Our Conor?

It's very unfortunate what happened to Our Conor but Our Conor is still a horse. He's an animal. What happened here last year with John Thomas McNamara made your heart sink - he has a wife, three kids. That made my heart sink. Jason Maguire yesterday, he's got a wife and she is expecting and last night he was fighting for his life. That is heart-breaking. Our Conor has no family, he's a horse, it's sad, but it has to be kept a little bit - in my eyes - in reality. He lives outside your back door, he doesn't live inside it."
 
The track records are now irrelevant tbh due to the new timing method...i've found that generally if you add 3 seconds to all races you will get what they used to time out as.

This is due to the length of time taken from when the tape goes up to them passing the starter..approx 3 seconds ...especially here where they don't dawdle..like in these races

The idea of timing from the starter is ok to overcome where the horses started a long time after the tape went up...but in these races all its done is knock 3 seconds off all the times ..making past records incomparible
 
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TheBear said:
What do we make of Ruby's comments about Our Conor?

It's very unfortunate what happened to Our Conor but Our Conor is still a horse. He's an animal. What happened here last year with John Thomas McNamara made your heart sink - he has a wife, three kids. That made my heart sink. Jason Maguire yesterday, he's got a wife and she is expecting and last night he was fighting for his life. That is heart-breaking. Our Conor has no family, he's a horse, it's sad, but it has to be kept a little bit - in my eyes - in reality. He lives outside your back door, he doesn't live inside it."
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I think its a bit harsh

We could make any tragedy seem less significant by comparing it with a larger one.
 
TheBear said:
What do we make of Ruby's comments about Our Conor?

It's very unfortunate what happened to Our Conor but Our Conor is still a horse. He's an animal. What happened here last year with John Thomas McNamara made your heart sink - he has a wife, three kids. That made my heart sink. Jason Maguire yesterday, he's got a wife and she is expecting and last night he was fighting for his life. That is heart-breaking. Our Conor has no family, he's a horse, it's sad, but it has to be kept a little bit - in my eyes - in reality. He lives outside your back door, he doesn't live inside it."
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I do see his point - he does the job day in, day out. The jockeys that get the injured are his colleagues (his friends too in some cases). When accidents like those mentioned happen and they have life changing consequences there must be an element of "it could happen to me" - in that sense the loss of a horse is quite minor. Having said that, Our Connor might have "only" been a horse but somewhere there's a stable lad or lass to whom he will have meant an awful lot and he/she will probably have been/is very upset right now (as well as potentially other staff in the yard/owner/trainer etc).

I think people often find the death of a horse during racing hard to take because they feel the horse doesn't have a choice and they are "made" to race for our entertainment (not necessarily my opinion, horses like Mad Moose tell me it's very difficult to force a horse to race if it doesn't want to).
 
i'm not sure he does have a point

if we take his argument to its conclusion then only the destruction of mankind would be classed as a tragedy

whats an injury to one man compared to the Aberfan disaster?

whats Aberfan disaster compared to a Tsunami that kills thousands?

i think to use his way of demeaning upset by comparing it to a larger upset doesn't really achieve anything

if an event hurts peoples feelings it hurts them...its like saying to someone who loses an arm in accident...well could have been worse..might have lost both
 
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One thing that probably should be pointed out. We don't know what question he was asked to evoke this response.
 
EC1 said:
I think its a bit harsh

We could make any tragedy seem less significant by comparing it with a larger one.
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It's a bit harsh on the connections of Our Conor (bearing in mind the money Connell spent on the horse). But, that's Ruby for you..everything is either black or white..no in between.
 
its also a massive own goal against the sport..on top of being insensitive.

most people i work with know little about racing..when i say that the jump jockeys risk their lives at the sport...the general response is,,,they chose the sport...the horses don't

so when they read that a top jock thinks that horses getting killed is minor..and thats how it will be taken...it ain't going to do much to encourage them to go racing

his best bet..is to concentrate on riding...and keep his gob shut
 
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I just feel Ruby was being pragmatic. He is a professional and has lived his life around horses. He is allowed his opinion, he is asked it often enough.
 
Yeah not even a five year old could be praised for that kind of logic. I wonder what he'd say if Hurricane Fly had gone over under him.
 
Re read the first 15 words in his statement. Thats were his perspective comes from. As it was stated earlier, what was the original question. I might be junior but a aint green
 
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I think the timing was the key to why he said what he said. Had Maguire not been injured yesterday then he probably would have sympathised and not alluded to JJM
 
skisdouble said:
I just feel Ruby was being pragmatic. He is a professional and has lived his life around horses. He is allowed his opinion, he is asked it often enough.
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Sure he can be pragmatic but as a figure head in racing he's also got to be diplomatic. If he gets asked these questions all the time he should know how to answer them a bit better than that.

Who pays his wages? Sponsors. And sponsors won't be hanging around if racing leaves itself open to criticism regarding animal welfare. Any suggestion that those in the game don't have anything but the highest regard for the horses are just fanning the flames for racings detractors.
 
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