King George VI Chase

Bar the Bull said:
...and Euro, with whom would he club together? There aren't that many horses going back and forth and most of those seem perfectly fine with sending them on a boat (Elliot for example).
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Well, he has almost 2500 friends on Facebook, and as one of them I'd have sent a tenner in.
 
Does anyone here think that Broomhead has actually made the very best of this horse then?

The expense issue is rubbish. This is the number two staying chase in the calender and how many chances doe sthe average small time trainer get to run a real contender during his (or the horses) career?

I personally wouldnt question Henderson's first time out record at all. Some will always need it a bit but hes less prone to running wheezing lardy jumpers for a "pipe opener" than some
 
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Yeah the expense thing is a red herring. It seems he sometimes doesn't travel well so I have no problem with the decision not to come over a second time with Cheltenham and a third trip on the horizon. I think the flying option should have been looked at however.

I think he's handled the horse perfectly well, he's won Grade 1's over hurdles and fences and the bottom line is that he'd have been a major contender for the King George if the weather hadn't let us all down leading up to Christmas.
 
Henry got a half brother to The Spoonplayer to win a Greatwood Hurdle,Irish Champion Hurdle,two grade 1 novice chases and according to an earlier poster 413k in prize money.
 
I asked the question, didnt make a statement. Of course it probably upsets you (as with others here) that any questioning of an irish trainer could be made at any time

Euro..ok but cant help thinking that you grasp the nettle etc etc. The race clearly isnt there for the taking, but still seems an odd one to me. Track would suit too wouldnt it?
 
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LUKE said:
Henry got a half brother to The Spoonplayer to win a Greatwood Hurdle,Irish Champion Hurdle,two grade 1 novice chases and according to an earlier poster 413k in prize money.
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What does it matter who he is a brother to? If it were that simple racing would be a lot easier to predict. Breeding is a guide, nothing else in NH racing.
 
He bought the horse himself from a field in Galway.That deserves a certain amount of credit-it's not like an agent spotted him in France and paid 300K for him.
 
Hamm you have focused on the most insignificant piece of luke's post and ignored the rest. Clearly the trainer has done very well with a horse that has had it's physical problems in the past.
 
LUKE said:
He bought the horse himself from a field in Galway.That deserves a certain amount of credit-it's not like an agent spotted him in France and paid 300K for him.
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Absolutely, couldn't agree more with that sentiment.

But my point was only about breeding.

What price range does Alan Potts generally buy in?
 
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Galileo said:
Hamm you have focused on the most insignificant piece of luke's post and ignored the rest. Clearly the trainer has done very well with a horse that has had it's physical problems in the past.
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Jeez, give it a rest. The emphasis in his post was on getting a horse so poorly bred to do what he did. It doesn't need to be said the trainer has done very well previously with the horse - my only issue is his campaign this season and more so him missing the King George.
 
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He is missing the King George because he doesn't like travelling. Maybe de Bromhead thinks he wouldn't like any type of travelling. Even planes. He looks as if he is going to race him in Ireland in the next month or so. What's the problem?
 
I raised the possiblity of flying and was told it was unrealistic and all other things.

Either he can travel, in which case come across, as the race is comfortably the second best for a staying chaser, or if not, then surely he misses Cheltenham too. Obviously this is not the case and he has been over several times so I don't see the issue myself.
 
To me it is pretty clear - horse had a bad trip back from England and while happy with the horse now they probably want another couple of weeks before running the horse again prior to Cheltenham.

They clearly wanted to run in the King George - when plenty were saying it was pointless - so for them not to they must have a good reason.
 
Hamm said:
Absolutely, couldn't agree more with that sentiment.

But my point was only about breeding.

What price range does Alan Potts generally buy in?
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Alan Potts owned an all weather horses when he rang HdB about a point to pointer who he has seen in the weekender-Oscar India.A deal was agreed but at the last minute the horse went wrong and he told Potts that he couldn't sell him a horse that had gone wrong.Potts was impressed with the honesty and decided to buy 3 unraced horses including S E.
As a result of the horses success Potts has invested significantly in the yard and has spent a fair amount on unraced horses-including more then one sales topper.
 
Most interesting insight there, Luke. I wish we could have a few more of those posted when people know of them. It adds to the fleshing-out of relationships between trainers, owners, new owners, and why people go with a particular yard, or, conversely, why they might pull out of one.
 
Here;s another one of Mr Potts, Queiros Bleu, looked great the last day, didn't try an inch, any idea where he's going next ?

For the record, saw SE up close one day, don't know he keeps the hoor sound at all !
 
LUKE said:
He bought the horse himself from a field in Galway.That deserves a certain amount of credit-it's not like an agent spotted him in France and paid 300K for him.
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how many horse has he picked from fields though?

if its one..he is fookin genius..if its 1000 then he hit lucky
 
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On The Bridle said:
Cannot think of another decent race for him giving him a break before Cheltenham on this side of the sea.
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There's the Kinloch Brae at Thurles on 27 Jan or the Red Mills at Gowran on 12 Feb. Both are Grade 2 chases over 20f. There's even the Bobbyjo over 25f at Fairyhouse on 19 Feb but I doubt they'd want a race over the full trip so close to Cheltenham.
 
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