Irish Chasers

He did look to empty very quickly today (was out on his feet by the line), though I reckon they probably went a touch too fast in the ground.

Clopf will be exposed as a bridle merchant once again over fences when he faces stiffer opposition IMO.
 
Character Building is now out for the season too - nothing serious, pulled muscles behind, but won't be ready by the time the ground goes against him so they have pulled stumps this year. It seems they weren't sure about going of rthe GN this year anyway, fel the needed more experience
 
CAPTAIN CEE BEE, winner of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, is to go chasing this season rather than being aimed at the Champion Hurdle, for which he is quoted at prices ranging from 10-1 to 16-1.

Eddie Harty, who trains the seven-year-old for JP McManus, said: "We have discussed plans for Captain Cee Bee, and it has been agreed that he will be sent over fences this season.

"He's been back in training for the past fortnight, and I'd imagine it will be October or November when he returns to action."


Captain Cee Bee led home a one-two forMcManus - and gave Harty his first Cheltenham Festival success with his first runner at the meeting - when beating Binocular by two lengths in the Supreme Novices'.

That victory was his third success from as many starts over hurdles but his season ended on a disappointing note when he was pulled up in the Top Novices' Hurdle, for which he started favourite, at Aintree in April.
He was reported to have burst a blood vessel. "It never happened before and, hopefully, it was a one-off situation," said Harty.
 
This is more like it.

It's hard to knock Captain Cee Bee's achievements over hurdles, but there was always something very slightly unconvincing about him, for me.

I can't put my finger on why that is, to be honest, and his form - Aintree apart - stands plenty of scrutiny. But he just didn't strike me as a horse that was going to go to the very top over hurdles, so this is a smart decision, as far as I'm concerned.

He should make a handy chaser though, and there's probably not too many novices in Ireland that will give him trouble over 2m on decent ground.

One I'm looking forward to is Gem Daly in deep-ground staying novice chases.
 
Last edited:
Grasshopper said:
One I'm looking forward to is Gem Daly in deep-ground staying novice chases.
Click to expand...

Remember you were sweet on him after his bumper win, Grasshopper. Nice prospect in staying chases alright.

We also have the likes of Aran Concerto, Nicanor and Snow Tern to look forward to over fences this year as well (hopefully).
 
For what its worth, I wasnt very impressed by Pedrobob's leopardstown win, especially given that he was 2 or 3 years older than most of his opposition. Good, but no better than that for me.

Type maybe to be buried while getting experience before being set up for a chelt handicap.
 
The Ballymore Properties form has shown up to be a bit weak. If he goes chasing he may well be decent enough but I'd be surprised if there weren't quite a few better than him.
 
Not sure I would entirely agree with that, Melendez.

I don't think subsequent races were ever going to show the Ballymore placed horses in the greatest of lights, for a variety of reasons (some ground related, some trip related).

A couple of those placed horses looked all-over chasers to me last season (I'm thinking Trafford Lad and Venalmar in particular) and the fact that they were able to run at the top-level over hurdles, bodes well for their chances over fences, imo.
 
The 5th horse, whose name escapes me, seemed to travel a lot better at Aintree and still got swamped. I'm not clever enough to figure out which horses are going to improve in bucket loads for the transition to fences. I get hopeful for some more than others but whether I'm right or wrong is pretty much random. I would acknowledge that there is a chance any of the first four could be stars, but I'm not going to get too excited yet about horses that already look slow. I'll leave it to others to say "I told you so" if they excel.
 
For Paddy the Plasterer will make his chasing debut at Galway in October I believe. Same meeting he won at last year.
 
Melendez said:
The 5th horse, whose name escapes me, seemed to travel a lot better at Aintree and still got swamped.
Click to expand...

Group Captain. Ex-Flat so defeats probably down to him mincing rather than galloping at the business end.

Melendez said:
I'm not clever enough to figure out which horses are going to improve in bucket loads for the transition to fences. I get hopeful for some more than others but whether I'm right or wrong is pretty much random. I
Click to expand...

Me neither, but half the fun is in the speculation, is it not?
 
Back
Top