Doncaster Mile

My take on it is that Munro has got to the front easily enough against the others and has been picked off by a better rival with a superior turn of foot. The betting patterns certainly wouldn't suggest there was some sort of coup going on there. Don't Panic's best efforts to date had come in big fields off good gallops, whereas the winner has shown at Nottingham and Kempton he can quicken up in small fields.
 
Originally posted by davidjohnson@Apr 12 2008, 03:11 PM
My take on it is that Munro has got to the front easily enough against the others and has been picked off by a better rival with a superior turn of foot.
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Agree with your take DJ
 
Originally posted by davidjohnson@Apr 12 2008, 04:11 PM
My take on it is that Munro has got to the front easily enough against the others and has been picked off by a better rival with a superior turn of foot. The betting patterns certainly wouldn't suggest there was some sort of coup going on there. Don't Panic's best efforts to date had come in big fields off good gallops, whereas the winner has shown at Nottingham and Kempton he can quicken up in small fields.
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After a furlong I thought Don't Panic might be in trouble as immeadiately the pace was sedate enough....a far cry from what he experienced last time at Doncaster. But he worked his way through the field well enough to be looking the winner a furlong out. Have looked at it again and I think the best horse won.
 
Agree that the best horse on the day won.

The point about the pace is interesting - I wonder how many horses that fail to bridge the gap between big handicaps and Listed races do so because of the different conditions the races produce (in terms of field sizes, pace etc.) rather than anything to do with class.
 
Good point Gareth. Take a horse like Mine for example. Some people will see him as just a handicapper, and mean that in a derrogatory sense, but some of his performances in big handicaps where he got his ideal conditions were definitely pattern standard.
 
That's a very good point and not often enough discussed
Would be interesting to see some statistics but it would be a huge labour I expect
 
Don't Panic looked very small compared to the winner, and to my eye he was never travelling very well, had his head to the side and looked as if he might have been hurting.
 
Those points ocurred to me too, Colin, and I was remembering Munro's comments about not wanting to hurt the horse's mouth on pulling up after the Spring Mile. All the more reason for allowing the horse to run faster if it meant it was in more of a comfort zone.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the best horse didn't win and I'd like to think I was wrong about how I saw the race.
 
Originally posted by davidjohnson@Apr 12 2008, 04:54 PM
Good point Gareth. Take a horse like Mine for example. Some people will see him as just a handicapper, and mean that in a derrogatory sense, but some of his performances in big handicaps where he got his ideal conditions were definitely pattern standard.
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what horse do you own D-J......????
 
Certainly nothing that is putting up pattern standard performances in handicaps. I was referring to the 3-time Bunbury Cup winner trained by James Bethell!
 
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