Diamond Harry

Sounds like something I should be drinking tbh...

Difficult to gauge his chances at the festival, but would surely be premature to rule him out given that we don't know (and probably won't until he is tested come March)how good he actually is.
 
This horse is the real deal. My only worry with him at the moment is him running up too light; he still has yet to fill out and with him not being an easy horse to train due to his highly strung temperament I wouldn't want him to run up too light by over-running or over-training him. The Williams are well aware of this though and he is probably in the best hands, they won't overcook him.
 
8.6 for the World Hurdle
17 for the RSA

I hope they go the chasing route. His jumping in the Baring Bingham wasn't brilliant and I think fences will be the making of him.
 
Tonking? He'd have been a lot closer but for one or two mistakes. Mistakes I don't expect him to make over fences.
 
Ardross said:
Are but cliches can have a core of truth :p

I thought he was stunning at Cheltenham and Haydock - he was running away both times- he was pulling Timmy Murphy's arms out at Cheltenham .

He seems to have lots of speed as well as staying well .
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I shall have to hide that crystal ball :lol:
 
Euronymous said:
8.6 for the World Hurdle
17 for the RSA

I hope they go the chasing route. His jumping in the Baring Bingham wasn't brilliant and I think fences will be the making of him.
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He stays over hurdles, according to one of the lads in the partnership; expect a run against Big Bucks in the Cleeve Hurdle in January before a tilt at the World Hurdle itself.
 
Irish Stamp said:
Surely they'd be a bit keen to duck Mikael though? Particularly after the tonking him gave him in the Ballymore.
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Diamond Harry looked terrible at Cheltenham.

His coat was not right and a good paddock judge said that he looked a lot lighter than he did at the Pillar meeting.

I personally do not believe that he gave his proper running that day.
 
I think Diamond Harry left his cheltenham race with his run in the Pillar chase day on heavy vs Bensalem, maybe he is at his best fresh.


I fhe were mine, he would run one more race in December or January before the Festival , and would stay in hdls.
 
DistantView said:
Diamond Harry looked terrible at Cheltenham.

His coat was not right and a good paddock judge said that he looked a lot lighter than he did at the Pillar meeting.

I personally do not believe that he gave his proper running that day.
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That's half true. He ran up light when he won on Trials Day where he struggled for the first time; he looked much the same at the Festival. I believe Nick Williams would have foregone the prep run in hindsight.
 
sunybay said:
I think Diamond Harry left his cheltenham race with his run in the Pillar chase day on heavy vs Bensalem, maybe he is at his best fresh.


I fhe were mine, he would run one more race in December or January before the Festival , and would stay in hdls.
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That's exactly the plan, suny. I'd imagine it would be the Cleeve Hurdle, but time will tell.
 
Hello Jane, didn't realise you were posting on here as Rory! :lol:

Personally I'd love to see him go over fences. I'm not so sure that over regulation hurdles his jumping would be good enough to be able to beat horses of the calibre of Big Buck's et al. His jumping was different class yesterday over the brush hurdles compared to having been sketchy over the regulation hurdles. He didn't really seem to respect the traditional style hurdles last season and clouted a few. The fixed brush hurdles - which are basically mini-fences in style - he jumped properly and very well, respecting them a lot more.
 
Any word on how he has schooled over fences? Seems a strange possibility to keep him over hurdles at this stage but even stranger that they have not actually made a firm decision one way or the other.
 
Given that he ran to 160+ yesterday I suppose it's understandable to think of the World Hurdle. But like Sizing Europe it's obvious looking at him and looking at the way he jumps hurdles that he'll be better over the bigger obstacles. Maybe it'll depend on whether MDH goes the Arkle or RSA route.
 
Virtually impossible to be anything other than hugely impressed with Diamond Harry yesterday, especially considering that he virtually carted Timmy Murphy through much of what appeared, to the naked eye admittedly, to be a relatively generously run affair in the conditions.

Very difficult for me to compare his physical development over the summer but he is a sparingly made, naturally lean type. Concerns of him running up light certainly seem understandable.

My biggest concern about him in top-class staying hurdles would be his hurdling fluency. Whilst he didn't jump by any means poorly on Saturday, he wasn't particularly fluent to my eye either. What is particularly noticeable is that he tends to get away from a fair few of his hurdles awkwardly, which could cost him valuable momentum against the likes of Big Bucks.
 
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On the subject of fluent hurdling, has anyone watched Big Buck's technique closely? Love the horse, but he makes Diamond Harry look like a prima ballerina!
 
Can't say that I have tbh, Rory, but I do agree with Shadow Leader that Diamond Harry seems to disrespect hurdles - he seemed to be better over the fixed brush obstacles. Will be interesting to see how he takes to conventional obstacles once again.

As an aside, at the risk of agreeing with Shadow Leader again, I have to concur about the Haydock track. Absolute hairpin bends - more suited to a flapper meeting than a Grade 1 steeplechase. In stark contrast, I found the racecourse itself well up to scratch - a thoroughly enjoyable day despite the conditions.

The two day Northwest Masters is certainly a viable alternative to the Paddy Power in my book - similar quality of racing (Cheltenham probably shades it on the whole but the Becher is a worthwhile spectacle) at half the price. Much more active nightlife (we managed to go from Wigan to St. Helen's to Liverpool on the Saturday night - didn't want any stone left unturned!).
 
Bloody hell, I'll have to go for a lie down!!! :lol:

With regards to how Diamond Harry has done over the summer, he's done tremendously (as has Reve de Sivola; yes, he really was a lot more gangly than that in the spring!!!!) and I was really impressed when I saw him in late summer with how he'd filled out, strengthened out and put on a nice bit of weight. Of course he's still a relative shell though as he is a big old horse and still has some maturing to do.
 
rorydelargy said:
On the subject of fluent hurdling, has anyone watched Big Buck's technique closely? Love the horse, but he makes Diamond Harry look like a prima ballerina!
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Spot on Rory, I can't believe people are questioning Diamond Harry's hurdling!!! Big Bucks is only a marginally better jumper of a hurdle than a fence and it's only that they're smaller which stops him falling more often... He bunnyhopped the last in the world hurdle last year...
 
If Diamond Harry does indeed stay hurdling, he rates a cracking bet at current prices for the World Hurdle.
 
Hamm said:
If Diamond Harry does indeed stay hurdling, he rates a cracking bet at current prices for the World Hurdle.
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Connections seem set on sending him chasing now. He'd take a bit of beating whichever way he goes though, I reckon.
 
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