Dublin Racing Festival, DRF

Ian_Davies said:
I really enjoyed the first day of the Dublin Racing Festival and I'm looking forward to the second day tomorrow.

Plenty has been said about Galopin Des Champs, but I thought there were some really eye-catching performances in behind him in a contest that was packed with quality.
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I was thinking the same I thought Inothewayyourethinkin was one of those considering tactically he wouldn't have been favoured by how yesterday's race was run and given some jumping errors he's done well to get that close from as far back as he was I'd expect a better show at Cheltenham.

Now if you could stop saying things I agree with I'd find it a lot easier to get onto your ignore list and I am trying.
 
Same as that - Inothewayurthinkin was my main take from the race.

I actually think, granted a fair mark, he's ideal for the modern Grand National, but his trainer seems to think the Aintree National fences are still scary so I doubt he will get the chance this year when imo he's still a young horse on an upward curve.
 
Ian_Davies said:
I love how Solness is 9/1 against shorter-priced horses he beat over CD, on fairly similar ground, at the same weights, last time out.

He did race wide to get the best ground, but he won well enough and maybe he'll go wide again.

Some horses just don't fit the media narrative.

Well, either that or JJ Slevin to Danny Mullins is perceived as a significant jockey downgrade.

Go on, Solness!
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Nice one
Well done
 
Hope Lossiemouth is ok after that bad fall. Possibly misses Cheltenham now; but where does that leave BDA? I’d like her in the CH to give Constitution Hill a proper race; but the Mares now looks like a penalty kick.
 
The real unknown about the Festival is whether , as they usually are, H de B’s horses will be back in form . Monty’s Star faded into fifth but he was about the only horse that didn’t run like a complete drain or come to a sudden halt off the home turn .

I am not saying he is likely to beat GDC but I suspect he may well be in the frame.
 
Ardross said:
The real unknown about the Festival is whether , as they usually are, H de B’s horses will be back in form . Monty’s Star faded into fifth but he was about the only horse that didn’t run like a complete drain or come to a sudden halt off the home turn .

I am not saying he is likely to beat GDC but I suspect he may well be in the frame.
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I would tend to agree with you.
 
It was a very good two days

Absolutely would be better if Gordon has more runners but Willies two Nov hurdle look like very exciting beasts

GDC is the best we have seen since Kauto and refreshing to see how he is campaigned

Backstory from the weekend..if it were not for Goshen collapsing in that triumph, who knows where GDC would have ended up. GDC connections were the lucky beneficiaries and told Willie to buy them a nice one
 
granger said:
It was a very good two days

Absolutely would be better if Gordon has more runners but Willies two Nov hurdle look like very exciting beasts

GDC is the best we have seen since Kauto and refreshing to see how he is campaigned

Backstory from the weekend..if it were not for Goshen collapsing in that triumph, who knows where GDC would have ended up. GDC connections were the lucky beneficiaries and told Willie to buy them a nice one
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I have to say, Galopin Des Champs is up there with Denman for me now, in my own fondness of national hunt horses. Don't think I have liked a horse as much as I do GDC, since the days of The Tank!
 
A weekend that nearly had it all, from a break down on the ramp off Junction 14 M50 that stopped traffic enough for us to miss the opener Saturday to Jody Townend showing the men how to win a bumper Sunday evening.
Bumper crowds, massive atmosphere, tip top performances including Galopin showing how good he is once again.
Keith Donoghue's riding is getting more and more polished; My Mate Mozzie and Inothewayurthinking have Festival written all over them; Emmet Mullins is the BEST to place a handicapper around ; Kopek Des Bordes reminded me of Carvill's Hill's Novice Hurdle win back here in 1988, The Guinness was good and fairly priced ; the company was fantastic, (Frontrunner says Hello ) the rain stayed away and the rugby did not disappoint. ( Met up with one Andy Farrell Saturday night ; seeing him downing a pint while munching a pack of crisps should console couch potatoes everywhere that they are not alone ; just don't quote me )
Really and truly any racing fan should get on board and come and join us for this weekend while their/ our health allows.
Triple rooms for next year are not extortionate as we speak, a mate booked three triple rooms in Dublin 4 for 495 Euro today.
 
edgt said:
A weekend that nearly had it all, from a break down on the ramp off Junction 14 M50 that stopped traffic enough for us to miss the opener Saturday to Jody Townend showing the men how to win a bumper Sunday evening.
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Jody is a bloke, surely?

Sorry, my bad. Was think of Jody McGarvey
 
Weekend Musings

Lovely meeting it was.

If Majborough improves his jumping I’m going to be hard pressed to choose between him and Sir Gino for the Arkle. Should be a cracker of a race.

Unless something extra special jumps out of the woodwork Kopek Des Bordes surely has the Supreme as good as won. Very impressive he looked.

Can’t be many doubters left about Galopin DesChamps, he’s got to be one of the best we’ve seen and the Gold Cup looks a formality. It was good to see Grangeclare West back in the fray - he’s got a good race in him.

It’s a shame we didn’t find out anything with the big clash. We already know about State Man, it was how Lossiemouth fitted into the picture that we wanted to learn about. Not to be. As an aside, someone in the Racing Post questioned how come Daddy Long Legs finished so close - didn’t he see Paul Townend turn off the engine when Lossiemouth departed!
 
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I don't think GDC's win amounts to much in terms of numbers but I also got the impression he was only ever being asked to do just enough (with Cheltenham in mind).
 
Desert Orchid said:
I don't think GDC's win amounts to much in terms of numbers but I also got the impression he was only ever being asked to do just enough (with Cheltenham in mind).
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Oh, ye of little faith :). It not the trundling round that matters, it’s the getting down to business after the last. That’s his strength and it looks undiminished to me, even when not getting a hard time.
 
I think we should all focus more in living in the moment, or as a friend once advised, 'be where your feet are.'

An uncomfortable amount of contributions (btw, forum is fantastic at present) are judging the weekend merely as a precursor for Cheltenham in March. Why don't we just embrace the weekend for the discreet feast of goodness that it was and enjoy it while its still warm in our memory.

Plenty of time in the next five weeks to feed forward.
 
barjon said:
Oh, ye of little faith :). It not the trundling round that matters, it’s the getting down to business after the last. That’s his strength and it looks undiminished to me, even when not getting a hard time.
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I have had faith in GDC for a long time and think I said beforehand that I didn't expect him to be asked to do any more than win and it was reassuring to see his kick from the last. I do hope the opposition in March is strong enough to take him to a mid-high 180s performance but I don't want to see him bottomed by doing so.
 
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