Leopardstown/Limerick Christmas

Let me rephrase; Newcastle took more out of B D'A than looked to the eye.
He was 85% fit, looked big yet put in a performance visually that was highly impressive.
Fitness as we know is a function of performance and recovery; he may not be fully recovered from Newcastle exertions.
His Kempton performance was below par for him from what we know; in time it might read a very good performance; think Sharjah / Faugheen Morgiana form and how it now looks.
 
Diamond Geezer said:
BDA made a bad mistake three out at Kempton, that's where the race was lost
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Probably true but he wouldn't have won by anywhere near as far as the respective ratings imply without the mistake. BDA clearly didn't run to his best form for whatever reason and there's already been a message on one of the threads about connections having reservations before the race about his wellbeing.
 
Re Sharjah, I'm still miffed that I backed it (7/1 and later at 33/1) for the Supreme only for it to go and win the Galway Hurdle off 146, form which would suggest it's on a par with Summerville Boy. He went up to 155 for it while SB went up to 156 for wining the Supreme.
 
Diamond Geezer said:
BDA made a bad mistake three out at Kempton, that's where the race was lost
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Don't particularly think that was the reason either he smashed through it but it didn't really stop his momentum and he's still had first run on Verdana. I think if we're all making an honest assement of the Christmas hurdle then Verdana was being ridden to finish second and certainly was not being knocked about to chase Buveur home in fact Nico only really got serious about the time he realised the stewards would be hauling him in if he didn't beat the stable mate that he wasn't supposed to beat.

No doubt Buveur is capable of better and that wasn't his best performance by far but I wouldn't think either of the reasons presented would be correct as to why. I also think Verdana is capable of better the faster the ground the faster the pace of the race the better she'll be....whether that will be as good as the level Buveur can produce under the same circumstances is anyone's guess.
 
Danny said:
Don't particularly think that was the reason either he smashed through it but it didn't really stop his momentum and he's still had first run on Verdana. I think if we're all making an honest assement of the Christmas hurdle then Verdana was being ridden to finish second and certainly was not being knocked about to chase Buveur home in fact Nico only really got serious about the time he realised the stewards would be hauling him in if he didn't beat the stable mate that he wasn't supposed to beat.

No doubt Buveur is capable of better and that wasn't his best performance by far but I wouldn't think either of the reasons presented would be correct as to why. I also think Verdana is capable of better the faster the ground the faster the pace of the race the better she'll be....whether that will be as good as the level Buveur can produce under the same circumstances is anyone's guess.
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Totally agree about the ride on the 2nd, definitely looked, from the ride in last 150 yards, that Nico was almost hoping he wouldn't get there. Put his whip down 'early' and almost looked reluctant to push too hard,
 
G-G said:
Totally agree about the ride on the 2nd, definitely looked, from the ride in last 150 yards, that Nico was almost hoping he wouldn't get there. Put his whip down 'early' and almost looked reluctant to push too hard,
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Really....Danny is a better tipster than a judge of a ride and you're as daft as him :lol: Nico rode a brilliant finish on the horse and to talk about him worrying about stewards??? come on man you got to be joking.

Barry kicks and withing a 1/2 second Nico follows suit...Buvi picks up quicker than the mare does but she quickly gets back on terms and Nico sets her up to challenge on the run in. He gives her 2 cracks and she responds and he knows he's got him and times it to perfection.

No one would be angry at Nico, certainly not JP or Nicky for winning...........disappointments are all part of the game.

To be frank they got what they deserved for fooking around.

If they had been trained in Ireland and Ruby and Davy were on board they would never ever have turned a race like this into a sprint.

How many times do we see horses who should have no chance win these races.

Ruby and Davy would have gone off at a pace to suit their mounts and the rest would have never got near them from the second hurdle

Having gone a real gallop Buvi would certainly have found and imo she would have been found wanting ...That's why the bookies make him fav for the CH and not her.
 
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Without arguing the difference in opinion on a ride which in fairness your version of events is acceptable because he did manage to win on the horse in the end so you could just say he did it quite cosily/cheekily.

The pace of the Christmas hurdle this year was by no means a jog and sprint they've gone a decent clip. Buveur admittedly quickened off of that like only the good ones can but don't make the mistake of thinking it was as farcical affair as what Newcastle was. People were more willing to accept what happened at Newcastle as "real form" because at least for fans of Buveur it's what they wanted to see the proven champ destroying the young pretenders. However most of the same Buveur fans will jump for the excuse button after Kempton, something must have been wrong, because the result was not what they expected.

The Christmas hurdle result was what I expected..but by that understand what I mean, I expected it to be very close I couldn't predict which of the pair would come out on top. Bets wise all you can do is say well I can't be sure of anything but to me the difference between the pair was not 2/9 and 15/2 far from it. That's how i treat the betting side of things. I knew at 15/2 Verdana Blue was in the right ball park after that all you can do is throw your chips in and see how the cards fall. Luckily this time it came off.

After Newcastle I said there would be at least 4 horses capable of mounting a decent challenge to him by the time the festival rolls around and it certainly looks as though it might be that way.

Let's hope so anyway as nobody would like to see him get his hatrick in a walk over.
 
Tanlic said:
Really....Danny is a better tipster than a judge of a ride and you're as daft as him :lol: Nico rode a brilliant finish on the horse and to talk about him worrying about stewards??? come on man you got to be joking.

Barry kicks and withing a 1/2 second Nico follows suit...Buvi picks up quicker than the mare does but she quickly gets back on terms and Nico sets her up to challenge on the run in. He gives her 2 cracks and she responds and he knows he's got him and times it to perfection.

No one would be angry at Nico, certainly not JP or Nicky for winning...........disappointments are all part of the game.

To be frank they got what they deserved for fooking around.

If they had been trained in Ireland and Ruby and Davy were on board they would never ever have turned a race like this into a sprint.

How many times do we see horses who should have no chance win these races.

Ruby and Davy would have gone off at a pace to suit their mounts and the rest would have never got near them from the second hurdle

Having gone a real gallop Buvi would certainly have found and imo she would have been found wanting ...That's why the bookies make him fav for the CH and not her.
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You, as usual, think what you like.
Seeing as Ruby and Davey weren't riding those horses in that race, actually weren't in that race at all, I don't see the point in mentioning them, but as you did Ruby would have been on the floor at the 3rd last.
 
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