Cheltenham 2017/18

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Finally decent ground, would imagine it would be good all over with the forecast.
Looking forward to spending a couple of days in the sun up there.
 
I had a look and and right at the top of the page Poetic Rhythm.

Paddy Brennan thinks a lot of him and pointed him out as his best chance at the festival.

It wasn't to be but this is much less demanding.

He's an EW price so could be a solid bet to nothing.

Poetic Rhythm. 5/1 ew
 
Had a look through race earlier, Tanlic, and came to pretty-much the same conclusion.
 
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A lot of horses in distress here today because of the heat. The course staff have been brilliant but some stable staff need some education: one girl thought kissing her distressed horse and keeping him standing still was good for him. Very unpleasant to see some of them struggling even given that the temperature is a severe exception to the rule today.
 
Me too!

Mia's Storm would have been the highlight, but surprisingly she's ducking the listed chase. She's entered at both Ayr and Punchestown next week and expect her go well on the better ground
 
3.50 this afternoon abandoned on animal welfare grounds because of the heat


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They were saying it was due to the relative suddenness of the rise in temperatures; that the horses weren't used to the heat after a long cold winter and hadn't had the time to acclimatise to it. The distance of the race was a factor too. A number of horses were finishing the earlier races with signs of heat stress.
 
Desert Orchid said:
They were saying it was due to the relative suddenness of the rise in temperatures; that the horses weren't used to the heat after a long cold winter and hadn't had the time to acclimatise to it..
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I think this has to be the reason. Typically horses can acclimatise to high temperatures pretty well; it is only when there is a combination of high temperatures and high humidity that they have issues. The humidity today was 'only' 51% so that should not have been an issue; the quick change in temperature and winter coats does make sense and they clearly took the right decision based on how the horses in earlier races were finishing. It does seem anomalous but,that being said, it still creates a precedent and the BHA had better work on developing an effective communications strategy and get on the right side of what could be a tricky PR ride.
 
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They nearly abandoned the rest of the card after the 3rd race. All the horses were by then being dismounted at the finish and doused with water and taken back to the stables after the 2nd race where, yet again, stable staff were literally trying to push horses up the horse walk who were suffering. Luckily the racecourse staff and vets were brilliant as some grooms had no clue what they were doing.
 
It was with multiple horses in distress but there was more of a breeze on Wednesday, which helped. Yesterday was warmer and humid.
 
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