Hurdling or Chasing

Chasing or Hurdling

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  • Poll closed .
Henderson's latest quote on the subject from the Sporting Life

Henderson said: “It’s possible Aintree could be his last run over hurdles. Everything is possible.
“There are more opportunities over fences to start with, which would lead to the Arkle and the Champion Chase or maybe even the Gold Cup if he stays. A real superstar is horse that can adapt to everything.”
 
simmo said:
Henderson's latest quote on the subject from the Sporting Life

Henderson said: “It’s possible Aintree could be his last run over hurdles. Everything is possible.
“There are more opportunities over fences to start with, which would lead to the Arkle and the Champion Chase or maybe even the Gold Cup if he stays. A real superstar is horse that can adapt to everything.”
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What time of day was he quoted? This is generally relevant when it comes to Hendo. :)
 
Ha ha - well the article says he was speaking today, it was posted at 16:10 and we can take off an hour for the journo to write his spiel (maybe 30 minutes - most of it is quotes).

So lets call it sometime before 3:30 this afternoon.

Of course, the journalist could also have partaken of a liquid lunch so it might just all be made up.
 
"There are more opportunities over fences to start with, which would lead to the Arkle and the Champion Chase or maybe even the Gold Cup if he stays. A real superstar is a horse that can adapt to everything."
 
Tanlic said:
Since the SL article the one move in the market has been Constitution Hill for the QMCC right across the boards.....Imagine that:whistle:
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I think the question you need to ask yourself is: "Are any market movements happening 50 weeks before any of the potential target races are held, meaningful?".
 
Tanlic said:
Since the SL article the one move in the market has been Constitution Hill for the QMCC right across the boards.....Imagine that:whistle:
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not sure i'm seeing the same

exchange lmp
champion chase 11
arkle 3.3

realise one is harder to win than the other but feels like the money has been for the latter

i may be being naive but i feel like if a horse is gonna take to fencing it either happens or it doesn't. by all means start him off in novice company to get his feet wet but this lad winning an Arkle doesn't do a lot for me. i know he's still young but it'd feel like a waste of a year. he has all the tools to kick any horse aside so why not go straight for the big prizes. do people really feel him having a full year in novice company moves the dial much in terms of his chances of winning a champ chase and subsequently a gold cup if he gets further?
 
For me, it's less about what Constitution Hill could achieve in open company over fences, and more about the trainer's generally-cautious approach, that will dictate where he ends up. Another important factor (imo) is his age. He is still a very young horse, and I don't think connections will necessarily feel they need to rush him into anything.

Clearly, if he goes chasing and proves as good over a fence as he is over hurdles (and there's no obvious reason why he shouldn't), he could potentially end-up running in any of the open G1 chases at the Festival next season. I just don't think it's possible to be dogmatic about any potential target, at this stage.
 
Absolutely, Grassy, but he’ll have to convince Buckley who may not be so cautious. The best bet imo is just to enjoy the moment every time he appears and hope he doesn’t break down. I’m counting myself lucky that I’ve lived long enough to see him.
 
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barjon said:
Absolutely, Grassy, but he’ll have to convince Buckley who may not be so cautious. The best bet imo is just to enjoy the moment every time he appears and hope he doesn’t break down. I’m counting myself lucky that I’ve lived long enough to see him.
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Where do you get this idea that Nicky is over cautious.

Buveur D'Air, Altior, Sprinter Sacre were all potentially champion hurdle winners then they're was Shishkin and Jonbon and to a man they all went chasing without a moments hesitation..


He looks after them when they are babies as he did Sprinter Sacre and as he did with Constitution Hill who turned 6 only 2 days ago but when there ready it's fences here we come.

What do the bookmakers think? I count 8 bookmakers offering odds against he goes for and wins another Champion Hurdle.

5/4 about a 1/8 shot tells me they don't think for a moment he'll stay hurdling.
 
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Grasshopper said:
Agree with that sentiment entirely, barjon. It will hopefully be a demolition job again at Aintree.
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I hope so too but I worry it is just a farce and nothing turns up......At least French Hollow turned up against Istabraq...ok it was Charlie Swan's cheekiest ever ride but at least it was a bit of a race.
 
Tanlic said:
Where do you get this idea that Nicky is over cautious.

Buveur D'Air, Altior, Sprinter Sacre were all potentially champion hurdle winners then they're was Shishkin and Jonbon and to a man they all went chasing without a moments hesitation..


He looks after them when they are babies as he did Sprinter Sacre and as he did with Constitution Hill who turned 6 only 2 days ago but when there ready it's fences here we come.

What do the bookmakers think? I count 8 bookmakers offering odds against he goes for and wins another Champion Hurdle.

5/4 about a 1/8 shot tells me they don't think for a moment he'll stay hurdling.
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The Unibet-sponsored trainer says exactly what the bookmakers want him to say. 6/4 and 6/4 amounts to 1/4.... and he hasn't won any of them yet with a year to go!!!
 
Tanlic said:
Where do you get this idea that Nicky is over cautious.

Buveur D'Air, Altior, Sprinter Sacre were all potentially champion hurdle winners then they're was Shishkin and Jonbon and to a man they all went chasing without a moments hesitation..


He looks after them when they are babies as he did Sprinter Sacre and as he did with Constitution Hill who turned 6 only 2 days ago but when there ready it's fences here we come.

What do the bookmakers think? I count 8 bookmakers offering odds against he goes for and wins another Champion Hurdle.

5/4 about a 1/8 shot tells me they don't think for a moment he'll stay hurdling.
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Again, no-one is suggesting sending a hurdler chasing is anything other than ordinary. It’s the suggestion that he’ll send CH into open company as a novice-chaser that would be out-of-the-ordinary for this trainer.

If you can give me an example of when Henderson has done this in his 40+ year training career, I’ll perhaps consider revising my view.
 
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Grasshopper said:
Again, no-one is suggesting sending a hurdler chasing is anything other than ordinary. It’s the suggestion that he’ll send CH into open company as a novice-chaser that would be out-of-the-ordinary for this trainer.

If you can give me an example of when Henderson has done this in his 40+ year training career, I’ll perhaps consider revising my view.
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Not one of Hendersons 6 Champion hurdle winners saw a fence once they had the crown...
 
Maxbet said:
Not one of Hendersons 6 Champion hurdle winners saw a fence once they had the crown...
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Does that suggest that if he wins a Champion Hurdle, he will stick to hurdles with said horse? He never tried CH route with such as Altior, which most of us would have seen as a CH winner. Sorry if I am missing something here. Interesting point you make there.
 
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Maxbet said:
Not one of Hendersons 6 Champion hurdle winners saw a fence once they had the crown...
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Indeed, though to be fair, none of them had the precocity of Constitution Hill.

To be honest, I don’t mind Tanlic dreaming about seeing the horse run in next season’s Champion Chase…..it’s the straw-men he builds trying to justify his bet that I mainly take issue with.
 
Grasshopper said:
Indeed, though to be fair, none of them had the precocity of Constitution Hill.

To be honest, I don’t mind Tanlic dreaming about seeing the horse run in next season’s Champion Chase…..it’s the straw-men he builds trying to justify his bet that I mainly take issue with.
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He has backed them to win all three races at odds approximately the same as what he will go off at in a year's time, crazy...
 
Surely if you have the best horse in training there are only 3 options at the festival

Champion Hurdle
Champion Chase
Gold cup

To run him in any other race is taking the **** out the sport
 
That is how he works though Grass, in mysterious ways..sometimes :)

He starts at some ending point that means £s in his account, then just back ends everything to arrive back at today. To be honest, it is genius how he does it. He so should have been in politics. He is wasted on here:D
 
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Truncheon said:
Surely if you have the best horse in training there are only 3 options at the festival

Champion Hurdle
Champion Chase
Gold cup

It's not though -it's going through the grades and not asking a horse to do too much too soon.Gloria Victis is the ultimate horror story of a novice being asked too much at the festival.

To run him in any other race is taking the **** out the sport
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