Golden mile goodwood

Robicheaux said:
Surprised Orbaan is as big as 50s. 40s generally.
Same mark now, as he was 2 years ago, when he ran away with it.
Won a decent handicap at Carlisle recently, so still capable.
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Ffs. An absolute nightmare run !
Did they do away with the cutaway ( was distracted for a few seconds ) ?
 
Dog's dinner of a race but brilliant from Murphy on the winner. I said a week or two back that Menuisier is as shrewd as they come and that was a terrific job landed.

Blue For You lost it in the first 100 yards, not breaking well enough and being shuffled right back out of it before they'd gone two furlongs.

No cutaway today or tomorrow. I think the cutaway was there in the past. Maybe they'll go back to it otherwise the low draw might actually be a disadvantage. I'll check last year's race to see if it was there.

Edit - there was no cutaway last year either but Johan was fast out and had got over to the inside within a furlong. Blue For You last year broke in the first half-dozen and stayed in the first eight until the race developed. At halfway he was a good ten lengths further forward than he was today. No surprise if he comes back to form at York in a couple of weeks.
 
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Desert Orchid said:
Dog's dinner of a race but brilliant from Murphy on the winner. I said a week or two back that Menuisier is as shrewd as they come and that was a terrific job landed.

Blue For You lost it in the first 100 yards, not breaking well enough and being shuffled right back out of it before they'd gone two furlongs.

No cutaway today or tomorrow. I think the cutaway was there in the past. Maybe they'll go back to it otherwise the low draw might actually be a disadvantage. I'll check last year's race to see if it was there.
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It was there the first day. Its been there the last 2 seasons.
I wonder why all of a sudden its gone 😡
A definite help, it was for those drawn low.
 
It was about 1.5f out on Tuesday & Wednesday, then moved back to 3.5f out yesterday and then removed for today and tomorrow.

I knew there was no cutaway today and reckoned it would favour the inside draws but they probably went too fast through the early stages. The sectionals will probably show a bit of a pace collapse.
 
These showcase handicaps are all about who has improved the most for being gelded.

I thought Urban Sprawl might fit the bill, although I was more hoping he would improve, as he hadn't shown the improvement yet.

You look at Toimy Son, see how he was gelded end of last season, look at the improvement he's shown since then, and it all starts to make sense.
 
I'm not convinced that stands up to scrutiny, Marb. His race record this season didn't point to any improvement before today:

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He hasn't improved since being gelded?

Okay he won a listed race in France and was highly rated after that. But he did nothing for his trainer in his first season in 2023.

Maybe the gelding operation has just revitalised him.
 
I had a little ew on Urban Sprawl But Johnston’s Horses are disappointing me this week. Mark J targeted this meeting and I assumed that Charlie would too. But I’m not overly inspired by his runners so far.
 
Marb said:
He hasn't improved since being gelded?

Okay he won a listed race in France and was highly rated after that. But he did nothing for his trainer in his first season in 2023.

Maybe the gelding operation has just revitalised him.
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His OR went from 92 to 89 over five runs after being gelded. Today's win was maybe as much due to the step up to a mile than the snip.
 
jinnyj said:
I had a little ew on Urban Sprawl But Johnston’s Horses are disappointing me this week. Mark J targeted this meeting and I assumed that Charlie would too. But I’m not overly inspired by his runners so far.
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Same here. I had a second and third and fourth look at all the yard's runners this week and I suspect a few were laid out but they've been largely disappointing. I think Arisaig is their only winner. Maybe the yard just isn't bouncing yet. They didn't do much at the July meeting either.

Maybe Charlie doesn't have the old man's touch.
 
jinnyj said:
I had a little ew on Urban Sprawl But Johnston’s Horses are disappointing me this week. Mark J targeted this meeting and I assumed that Charlie would too. But I’m not overly inspired by his runners so far.
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The sporting life did an interesting article the other day that essentially suggested that they just don't have the horses right now.

I'll see if I can find it.
 
Be interested to read it. I wonder if it’s the same scenario as the Pipes. Essentially they are not as hard trained as in their fathers day.
 
jinnyj said:
Be interested to read it. I wonder if it’s the same scenario as the Pipes. Essentially they are not as hard trained as in their fathers day.
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I reckon Jonjo O Neill doesn't push them too hard either. I'm not sure who his old man was.
 
I recall Michael Dickinson, long after he'd retired, talking about a sports scientist visiting the yard to watch the horses train. Afterwards, says Michael, he said something like, "What was that all about? Call that training? They're athletes and need to be worked much harder."

MD took the advice on board and the rest, as Charlie Nicholas would say, is geography.

Also, earlier this year after going through a rich spell, Alan King revealed he'd reverted to more old-fashioned methods, working them harder on uphill gallops.

Just as Charlie was taking over, Mark was wont to talk about how Charlie was the brains of the operation so I was holding out major hopes for him.

Alas...

At least Deirdre won summat at the Olympics.
 
When I did the trainers modules at the Racing School one of the lecturers was a vet who worked with MD, Pipe and MJ. He said there was no coincidence that at the time they were at the top training as they all looked at training with a completely different outlook to other trainers and with a scientific slant.

I think the all weather surfaces that so many now rely on have made it too easy for horses and they’re not as hard fit. WPM tends to use a round deep sand gallop which probably conditions them better.
 
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