Hennessy

Well that was hard work.
Fair play to Many Clouds. Clearly very smart.
There will be other days for some of the others.
 
Desert Orchid said:
That was a proper staying race. Phenomenal run by The Druids Nephew to get back into contention after an awful blunder in the first half.

Also a compliment of sorts to Edouard and Holywell.
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Eduard should be back out soon
Missed the Amlin to head to the Peterborough I believe.
 
Desert Orchid said:
I don't think it is unusual (but am willing to be corrected) to have a horse run in a more valuable race than its true target. Often they can run better than the bare form of a heavy defeat, allowing them to go under the radar to an extent next time.
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King was delighted with stablemate Midnight Prayer, who has the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow as his main target. The nine-year-old was last of the nine to finish but King said: "He was always going to get tired, but he ran well for a long way and hopefully that will put him right for Chepstow. We always wanted him to have a month between races, and he was fine this morning,"
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Connections of Midnight Prayer had to pay for their experdition unlike those of Shotgun Paddy who collected over £1072 for a nice blow out.
 
It's a fair cop, reet......and kudos to DO for sticking with the trainer's comments.

I just find it a little odd that they would use the Hennessy as a prep for the Welsh National - which I generally consider a silver-medal-outing, for horse's too slow/low-class for the Hennessy. I just thought Midnight Prayer was a little better than that, but maybe he isn't.
 
There are better "prep"races than that and plenty of races that are a lot less likely to bottom a horse out. Doesn't make sense to me
 
If my horse had just bombed out in a race..i'd also say it was a prep.

We will have to monitor this now..if it wins next time then DO is correct. If it doesn't win..then it could be another prep race for the one after:)

trainer talk eh?
 
Alan King trainer talk "she's having an educational run" discussing the chances of a 3-y-o filly making her debut in a juvenile hurdle at Hereford. She proceeded to pull Warren Marston's arms out and lead all the way to win at 11/2.

Immediately after the run she was made favourite for the Triumph.

It took her two years to win another race - a class 3 handicap hurdle at Huntingdon.

Just saying like.
 
EC1 said:
We will have to monitor this now..if it wins next time then DO is correct. If it doesn't win..then it could be another prep race for the one after:)
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That isn't how I'd read it, EC1. It could still lose the Welsh National but it doesn't mean that wasn't its target. After all, the Chepstow race is usually targeted by nearly all. Targeting the race and winning it are quite different things. (Not that I need to tell you that.) Again I'd cite T4-3 as a recent example. I reckon if the horse had a Hennessy in it it wouldn't have run in the 4-miler at the festival.
 
Colin Phillips said:
Alan King trainer talk "she's having an educational run" discussing the chances of a 3-y-o filly making her debut in a juvenile hurdle at Hereford. She proceeded to pull Warren Marston's arms out and lead all the way to win at 11/2.
Immediately after the run she was made favourite for the Triumph.

It took her two years to win another race - a class 3 handicap hurdle at Huntingdon.


Just saying like.
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Great stuff, Colin.
I tend to look out for body language when they appear on camera nowadays, rather than actually looking at what they say.

The methodology goes something along the lines of...
'the more nervous and edgy they look before the event, the more likely their horse is to run well'.

On the contrary, when you see a trainer of a leading contender in a race looking too relaxed it's usually because they are there for a day out.
 
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By the time I get to see it its too late but I've mentioned before, the more advertising on the jockey the more I reckon the horse is off.

Some owners don't seem keen on any advertising on their silks (but it looks like the conditions of some of the bigger races oblige them to wear sponsors stuff).

I'd like to hear an insider view of this.
 
Colin Phillips said:
Alan King trainer talk "she's having an educational run" discussing the chances of a 3-y-o filly making her debut in a juvenile hurdle at Hereford. She proceeded to pull Warren Marston's arms out and lead all the way to win at 11/2.

Immediately after the run she was made favourite for the Triumph.

It took her two years to win another race - a class 3 handicap hurdle at Huntingdon.

Just saying like.
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What was the name of the horse Colin?!!!! I can't remember and its annoying me!
 
His luck has to turn sometime .
An amazing stat; if you said that a major Irish racing personality had that stat nine out of ten cats would name Barry Connell.
WPM and Ruby a major lay in handicap chases at Cheltenham Festival (until the next winner of course !)
 
Desert Orchid said:
I think it is at least par for the race but maybe no better than that. Shame the ground stopped lots of others from getting as competitive as they could have been.
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I've juggled a few figures about and now thing it was a good race.
 
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There was no hiding place, especially on that ground. Smad Place was also beaten along way out aswell for it to have been purely the trip.
I would certainly give Djakadam a bit of time to get over that before getting him out again. I still hold the faith though.
 
Ruby pulled his whip through before they'd turned in, and was flat out and going nowhere well before he hit the 2nd last.
Ground wasn't really all that bad imo, and I'd say a sharp 3m would be his absolute maximum - for the foreseeable future, leastways.
Smad Place had no such excuse, and his trainer blaming it on his maybe needing the run is laughable.
 
granger said:
Hit the second last hard enough and that was his race. I'd say more a mix of inexperience and no prep run.

in hindsight, the Paddy Power was his race.
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Simon Holt in the Weekender:

By comparison with the hard-fit Houblon Des Obeaux [on what was his seasonal debut], it was surprising to see the much-vaunted Djakadam looking burly in the parade ring. I wondered if my eyes were deceiving me, but better paddock experts were of the same opinion.

The long-term ante-post favourite, who had reportedly been targeted at the race, travelled well until early in the home straight before struggling home a weary eighth.

It could be Djakadam doesn't stay the trip, but the post-race remark of his owner that "he'll come on a ton for the run" must have been galling to read for those poor punters who swallowed the hype and backed the horse.
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Ken Pitterson also expressed doubts about the horse's fitness.

Feel free to vent your ire.
 
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Desert Orchid said:
By the time I get to see it its too late but I've mentioned before, the more advertising on the jockey the more I reckon the horse is off.

Some owners don't seem keen on any advertising on their silks (but it looks like the conditions of some of the bigger races oblige them to wear sponsors stuff).

I'd like to hear an insider view of this.
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The sponsorship is a condition of the scheme under which racehorse owners can reclaim their VAT. A sponsorship agreement must be registered with Weatherbys for a minimum amount and the horse must wear logos on any one or combination of permitted sites, including silks, paddock sheets and attendant's clothing. There are compliance officers at courses to check that sponsored horses display logos, and that unregistered logos aren't displayed.

Some owners set up their own sponsorship and some trainers have 'yard agreements' which owners can join.

Occasionally for a big meeting a race sponsor will override the usual arrangements and have all horses wearing their logo. An example would be the grand national.

So it has nothing to do with whether the horse is off, and everything to do with reclaiming VAT.

I know all this because in 2005 I worked for Weatherbys administering the scheme. Any more questions just ask!


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