Lexus Chase

Looking at it again...the pace of the race was remarkably similar to that of the Hennessy. Very slow early on and gradually winding it up.
 
I think that's possibly Denman's greatest weapon Gal - as he has an enormous engine and can gallop relentlessly whilst jumping flawlessly, he can wind it up and crank up the pressure whilst still bombing along with a gear to call on.
 
Originally posted by Ardross+Dec 28 2007, 04:00 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ardross @ Dec 28 2007, 04:00 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by tdk@Dec 28 2007, 03:38 PM
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@Dec 28 2007, 01:49 PM
Beating Beef or Salmon seven lengths on yielding ground would not give him much chance with Kauto Star . A good enough performance but it puts the Hennessy hype into perspective .

Kauto Star is likely to be close to evens after that - I wonder if anyone ever took that 6-4 Denman with Corals ????
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It was a slowly run race, Ardross and slowly run races will always see inferior horses finish much closer to their superiors than they "should" (especially when the superior horse's main asset is stamina)

Denman still has something to find with Kauto Star on the book, but nothing he did today suggests that he isn't capable of doing just that.
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No really :eek:

Somehow I remember Beef or Salmon in his pomp quickening away to win slowly run Grade 1 races far more impressively. :rolleyes:

I agree with Galileo - 2 Denman and 12s Exotic Dancer - those prices strike me as bizarre on what we have seen so far. [/b][/quote]
Exotic Dancer is thoroughly exposed as not being good enough to beat Kauto Star. Denman is unbeaten and improving all the time. You don't price horses up based purely on their bare form to date. You have to factor in the potential for improvement and as far as I can see, while he still has a few pounds to find with KS, we are all still guessing as to how good Denman may turn out to be...
 
I thought Denman was impressive enough today. He jumped great and never looked in any real danger. I think he'll be better suited to a stronger gallop although with the likelyhood of a small field for this years Gold Cup he'll probably have to set that gallop from the front himself. Personally, I think whatever pace he goes he's going to be a sitting duck for Kauto Star to pass at the business end of the Gold Cup and I think he could be vunerable to Exotic Dancer as well. I don't really think Denman should be so much shorter in the betting than ED and at the current prices I think ED is good value.
 
we are all still guessing as to how good Denman may turn out to be...
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Which is the problem when he is best priced 2/1 against the best 3 mile chaser since Desert Orchid and perhaps beyond.
 
And Ardross - yes Beef or Salmon was a superb beast in such small field races in Ireland.

He was and is useless at Cheltenham though - maybe my memory is going but I don't recall him winning a Sun Alliance chase by half the track?

To attempt to pigeon hole Denman in this way is laughable....
 
"I personally think if he was the same horse today as he was 2-3 seasons ago he would have been a comfortable winner of todays race given the way it unfolded."

:what: :D
 
If Denman had beaten Beef Or Salmon at his prime in a race like todays it would have been an excellent performance for sure. He was very hard to beat in slowly run soft ground chases - ask all those Best Mate fans :laughing:
 
I thought the most impressive aspect was the confidence Ruby had that Denman would quicken away when the others came to him just before the home turn, he never went for him before he had to and knew he had the race in safe keeping, impressive.
 
Originally posted by tdk@Dec 28 2007, 07:04 PM
And Ardross - yes Beef or Salmon was a superb beast in such small field races in Ireland.

He was and is useless at Cheltenham though - maybe my memory is going but I don't recall him winning a Sun Alliance chase by half the track?

To attempt to pigeon hole Denman in this way is laughable....
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In a constantly changing world how nice it is to see how some things don't change - tdk's postings are as facile as ever :P
 
Lads keep it on the subject at hand...

The public really seem to have latched on to Denman with plenty of help from the press. The RP tonight on its front page states "Denman Destroys Lexus Field"..er no he didnt...he won well but the description is just hype hype hype.

If Denman wins his Aon well and KS runs stuffy like he did in his Gold Cup trial last year it wouldnt surprise me to see Denman challenge for favouritism on the day.
 
Which leaves ED as a cracking e/w bet at 12/1 provided there are 8 in the field... You might get more for the place than backing either KS or D to win. And there is always a chance that - God forbid - Denman's relentless gallop will put KS's jumping under pressure and he might fall - tho his incredible cat-like balance and agility will probably save him from the worst of any errors.

Will there be anything left for us to discuss come the day, the week, the month even :eek:
 
In any realm of possibility, the last thing you could ever call tdk's posts is facile!!!!!!!!!! I realise that was allegedly tongue in cheek, but per-lease......!!
 
Kauto Star's jumping problems seem to be behind him judging on his run at Haydock and even more so at Kempton.
 
On a wider note how gutting will it be if one of these horses miss the Gold Cup. It will be a complete anticlimax considering they could have met at Haydock earlier in the year....thats the danger of keeping them seperated until Cheltenham I guess.
 
He might not have ploughed through them, but he was jumping left in the KG, particularly in the latter stages when under pressure and running down them.
 
That shouldnt be a problem at Cheltenham.

Its hard to crib his jumping this season...particularly impressive at Haydock down the back straight.
 
Yes he was; and he doesn't have Denman's 'care' over them - he can still brush through a few, and almost bank them as I saw in a couple of the overhead shots on Boxing Day... I don't think he was put under max pressure in last year's GC, so it's still a bit of a worry. He's just a bit casual, whilst Denman seems to have an unerring 'eye' coming into them.
 
He may have improved but if under pressure I would not be surprised at all to see any jumping problems resurface.
 
If were going to crab their jumping (I dont think either horse has a problem jumping) it could be argued while Denman has jumped well this season he has had handy leads off a slow pace allowing himself to get into a nice rythm...basically he has had the run of his two races to date.

Kauto Star was put under pressure at Kempton....it was a strongly run race, he had to go after Exotic Dancer. He was left in front a long way but there was not a semblance of a mistake.

We (including myself) were all waiting for mistakes to cost KS races last season, even when he did make them they had no impact. This season he is not making them and doesnt look like it.
 
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