Novice Chasers 2010/11

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Meanwhile, Mikael D’Haguenet is reported to be in good shape as he builds towards his first official racecourse outing since May 2009. The highly-regarded six-year-old missed the whole of the last campaign due to injury, but did come close to a comeback having schooled after racing at Leopardstown in January.
Trainer Willie Mullins has been pleased with his charge since returning from a summer break and is looking forward to seeing him tackle fences in the coming months.
“He’s good and in pre-training now. He’s good and strong and doesn’t seem to have any problems yet,” said Mullins. “Fingers crossed he stays right and he’ll go novice chasing.”
Stable companion Fiveforthree, a dual Grade One winner, has been off the track for almost exactly the same time, but he too should return this season.
“He’s back training and he’s another we’re keeping our fingers crossed with,” Mullins said. “He’s back riding and will probably make a late start to the season, but we’ll try to go novice chasing with him if we’ve got enough time.”
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The top three on Betfair for next year's Arkle are Medermit, Celestial Halo and Sang Bleu. I presume they must all be confirmed as going novice chasing next season?
 
Euronymous said:
Is Reve Di Sivola RSA bound or is Nick going the World Hurdle route?
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The plan is for three runs in novice chases before Cheltenham. All likely to be over 2m4f, though first could be 2m. The new 2m4f festival novice chase is the obvious target, though he will also be entered in the RSA.
 
DukeofMarmalade said:
What new 2m4f novice chase is that? Nothing on the race schedule (unless I'm going blind).
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Didn't know anything about it myself until I spoke to Nick Williams a couple of weeks ago. Paul Jones (Cheltenham Festival betting guide bloke) also confirmed that it was being considered by the track.
 
Cheltenham is becoming a real joke. What will be next - a 2m2 Novice Chase, for those quite not fast enough for the Arkle, but perhaps don't stay the 2m4 well enough?
 
2 1/2m Hurdle is a short priced favourite for me - another race not needed with the Aintree Hurdle a couple of weeks later.
 
Triptych said:
The top three on Betfair for next year's Arkle are Medermit, Celestial Halo and Sang Bleu. I presume they must all be confirmed as going novice chasing next season?
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Not directed at you in any way, but what kind of form does Sang Bleu have that would put him in the top 20 for next year's Arkle, let alone the top 3?
 
Mainly the reputation he comes with Hamm - he's not shown anything like what he's capable of and IMO the reputation stems partly from his time before moving to Nicholls when he won a hurdle race won in the past by Master Minded, Exotic Dancer, Azertyuiop

Nicholls also bought the runner-up Tanerko Emery from last years Pride of Kildare though he's yet to race in the UK and no doubt will have the cheque book out this year.

Not saying he should be favourite but the above is probably the reason why - he was sent off an even money favourite for his UK debut in a Grade 1 Hurdle and travelled well for a long way before being beaten by a better horse in the conditions. He was always going to be a 'chaser, just hope they aren't going too soon with him.

I'm a big fan of Sang Bleu's (mainly as a result of seeing his impressive debut performance given what happened to him at the first flight) but I wouldn't want to be backing any Novice from the Nicholls yard AP for Cheltenham, you're not just betting against the market but you're betting against the stable too, they have so many good horses there's always the chance he could skip Cheltenham entirely.
 
I suppose a 2m 4f chase for novices is in fact a return to the old days - the resurrection of the Cathcart . I don't have a problem with it as so many novices get balloted out of the Jewson - which is a very hard race for a horse carrying a lot of weight .
 
Ardross said:
I suppose a 2m 4f chase for novices is in fact a return to the old days - the resurrection of the Cathcart . I don't have a problem with it as so many novices get balloted out of the Jewson - which is a very hard race for a horse carrying a lot of weight .
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The key criterion for any new race at the Festival is whether there is a large enough population of contenders to fill it, without diluting other championship class races at the meeting. The old Cathcart existed in several guises according to trend, of course, operating as a hunter chase for much of the '70's, and has now been effectively split 3 ways, with the Ryanair and Jewson catching most of the fallout. As long as all 3 races are competitive and up to class, then I have no problem with the new arrival. I wonder whether there isn't an argument to monitor the overall profile of horses rated 140+ each season with a view to having a race at each Festival specifically designed to meet the needs of a very specialised pool of contenders. It's also often forgotten that a 3 day Festival used to have at least one seller on the undercard, and I don't especially mind if the opening event on day 2 happened to be a selling chase over 2 miles for horses which had previously held Derby entries, and open only to jockeys who had lost limbs in agricultural accidents, as long as it was interesting. ;)
 
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