Cheltenham Handicaps

Not unless they are going to ban mobile phones. I haven't had a bet with an on course bookie for at least 5 years.
 
A lot of people especially on the big days, or days when a band is playing after the action attract people who aren't gonna bet on their phones. We need to funnel the money they spend betting into racing rather than independent bookmaker satchels.
 
littlelad said:
Prize money isn't all that great.

Last year the county and coral hurdles were 56k to the winner. The betfair a month earlier was 87k to the winner.

The ultima on the Tuesday was only 62k to the winner. Nowhere near the money you would get for the paddy power at Christmas (110k) or the ladbrokes trophy at Newbury (142k).


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So skip Cheltenham and win a handicap at Plumpton?
 
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Slim said:
So skip Cheltenham and win a handicap at Plumpton?
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Cheltenham clearly has massive appeal to owners, hence many would prefer to win Cheltenham handicaps for much less prize money.

I remember a couple of years ago there wasn't even a full field for the betfair hurdle, but there was a long list of horses balloted out of the county!!

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littlelad said:
Cheltenham clearly has massive appeal to owners, hence many would prefer to win Cheltenham handicaps for much less prize money.

I remember a couple of years ago there wasn't even a full field for the betfair hurdle, but there was a long list of horses balloted out of the county!!

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I'd guess most owners don't even know what the prize money is.
 
In 2020 Cheltenham didn't suffer the same median drop in prize money compared to 2019 that some courses did and actually had a small uplift across the year.
 
Speaking of the Grand Annual, Chosen Mate, last years winner, with a very careful ride there at Fairyhouse. **** knows what he’s being aimed at.
 
Double J said:
Speaking of the Grand Annual, Chosen Mate, last years winner, with a very careful ride there at Fairyhouse. **** knows what he’s being aimed at.
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So blatant it's laughable, yet nothing will ever be said. Wins with any amount in hand last year despite the race not even being the main target and then isn't put into a race over obstacles since. No doubt the 10-15lb he had in hand last March will be evident again from the back of the last in the Grand Annual.
 
Bonjers said:
So blatant it's laughable, yet nothing will ever be said. Wins with any amount in hand last year despite the race not even being the main target and then isn't put into a race over obstacles since. No doubt the 10-15lb he had in hand last March will be evident again from the back of the last in the Grand Annual.
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Turning in I thought he was going to kick on and **** up, Keith then got busy when the race was lost and he was 20 lengths down.

Steering job when hes on his going day, ive just invested in him for the Grand Annual again.
 
I’m amazed Jonjo has let Sky Pirate run & win today. I just don’t get why. Wasn’t a big purse and he’s looking at another 6 or 7 lb. Now he’s proven his mark was exploitable but is going to struggle to win a Grand Annual off a low to mid 150s.

But what surprised me more was bookies shortening him for the race. Perfect opportunity to steal some money, especially if you’re not NRNB.

Was really keen on him for the Annual, even before LTO - in another thread - but think he’s blown his mark
 
wilsonl said:
I’m amazed Jonjo has let Sky Pirate run & win today. I just don’t get why. Wasn’t a big purse and he’s looking at another 6 or 7 lb. Now he’s proven his mark was exploitable but is going to struggle to win a Grand Annual off a low to mid 150s.

But what surprised me more was bookies shortening him for the race. Perfect opportunity to steal some money, especially if you’re not NRNB.

Was really keen on him for the Annual, even before LTO - in another thread - but think he’s blown his mark
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I couldn't agree more. I suspect you, I, and many others backed him for the Grand Annual after the International Meeting, believing there was more to come at the Festival. I expected Jonjo to run him in a hurdle if he needed a run. When I saw him entered yesterday I assumed it was for a jog around to keep him ticking over, and even backed Amoola Gold against him. Confidence rising when there was no real money for Sky Pirate.

Now though I'm a layer, and over the next day or two I'll take the profit on the Exchange. There's just no way he'll be far enough ahead of the handicapper now. There will be several horses plotted at this, and he isn't looking like a plot, and when he gets a revised mark he'll surely be close to his ceiling.

However, perhaps there's a feasible Plan B, and they have their eye on something else because JP or Fran Berry has told him one of his is going to be a stone or more well in. We know JP loves the race and he has several likely types. Given the closeness of the relationship Jonjo would be told this I'm sure, so has he just taken the win while he can? He has a very attractive looking hurdles mark now, and maybe a switch to the County Hurdle is on the cards perhaps?
 
Maruco said:
However, perhaps there's a feasible Plan B, and they have their eye on something else because JP or Fran Berry has told him one of his is going to be a stone or more well in. We know JP loves the race and he has several likely types. Given the closeness of the relationship Jonjo would be told this I'm sure, so has he just taken the win while he can? He has a very attractive looking hurdles mark now, and maybe a switch to the County Hurdle is on the cards perhaps?
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I was thinking along similar lines.

As I said yesterday, that's a bit of a wild card entry he holds for the Betfair Hurdle but I haven't checked back on his hurdles form yet, mainly because it's hard to see him being well enough handicapped for it but he doesn't pick up the penalty. Jonjo only has one other entry, Soaring Glory, who doesn't look an obvious plot either. It was in my mind that Jonjo has had word from Ireland about one or two, not necessarily owned by JP, who are very strongly fancied for the Grand Annual and has decided he might as well make hay in Div II races. There's another one at Doncaster at the end of the month that's usually quite valuable but never as ferociously competitive as the GA.
 
Maybe Jonjo was just being realistic, and doing right by his owner?

Hoovering-up £18K in an uncompetitive handicap at Warwick, whilst all the big yards are vaccinating horses, rather than chance it in an admittedly much more valuable race, but one where you’ll run into any amount of horses, that have been specifically laid-out for it.
 
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Grasshopper said:
Maybe Jonjo was just being realistic, and doing right by his owner?

Hoovering-up £18K in a (largely) uncompetitive handicap at Warwick, whilst all the big yards are vaccinating horses, rather than chance it in an admittedly much more valuable race, but one where you’ll run into any amount of horses, that have been specifically laid-out for it.
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I could buy into that scenario Nick but for the fact the horse was so easy to back . If it was a shoe in there's no way the stable would have let it trade at over 2/1 on BF
 
If it was easy to back yesterday, then it’s hard to imagine they’d be confident he was a kick for a race like the Grand Annual, no?
 
And therein lies the problem. It's just plain odd all round. You can normally find a reason, but in this case the only rationale would be part of a wider or different less obvious plot.

What we do know is the circles Jonjo moves in, and the information he's likely to be privvy to, and the answer to Sky Pirate running and winning yesterday lies in there somewhere you'd think. It's surely possible the Tedham's have been told something like Aramax wins the Grand Annual so don't waste your time, and Jonjo has decided on a different plan.

I think it's feasible that they've taken a race while they can, although I can't explain why he was unbacked or why this one. And then they will try and exploit Sky Pirate's hurdle mark at the Festival or in a big race somewhere. The only other alternatives I can offer is Jonjo Jnr messed up by winning and it wasn't the plan, which I doubt because it didn't look that way, or that Jonjo has had an aberration which I wouldn't completely discount.

If I'm honest I'm not 100% convinced by any of those theories, but I'm left scratching my head for any other plausible explanations.
 
Pundit Ben Linfoot at the sporting life has floated the idea he may be entered in the Arkle.
 
And he raises something that I suspect we'd all forgotten. He's a very experienced novice. I think that could well be the answer.
 
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If he goes up 8lbs for yesterday he'll still only be on 153, a fair bit off what you'd anticipate of an Arkle winner.
 
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