Novice chasers 2014/15

Grasshopper said:
Sausalito gets a decent pull today.....I'm surprised KP is as short as he is.
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There won't be much improvement to come from Kings Palace as he was as lean as lean could be at the PP meeting. Hobbs had definitely left plenty to work on with Saualito though and he should improve. With the weight pull they should be close, but there's just a thing in the back of my mind that Hobbs won't have him tight until the spring for the RSA.
 
Maruco said:
There won't be much improvement to come from Kings Palace as he was as lean as lean could be at the PP meeting. Hobbs had definitely left plenty to work on with Saualito though and he should improve. With the weight pull they should be close, but there's just a thing in the back of my mind that Hobbs won't have him tight until the spring for the RSA.
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Whatever about how they looked the last day, It was KP first run and SS was already race fit.
KP came on a pile from his first run last year, winning 2nd time out by 20 L.
I can't see the weight pull being enough to stop Kings Palace today. Too much class. I think he is a good thing!
 
Only question I would have over him is being pressured up front in something like RSA but all in all that was up there with best novice jumping performances I have seen in recent years.
 
Yes very impressive.... I had a fair big bet on him today, but I still can't shake the vision of how quickly he was stopping, before he fell, in the AB at the festival last year though. What are peoples thoughts/explanation for this? I've seen and heard it suggested that the large field size was a reason he ran below expectations...
 
Size of the field could be it,looks made for fences though.in the two races Starts I have seen him so far he hasn't touched one.
 
Just reading Melodic Rendezvous just about scrambled home at Bangor in his novice chase debut today....
Didn't see the race myself, but reports suggest he wasn't a natural. Anyone who saw it have any views?
 
Same as over hurdles going to need the ground bog like to see the best of him. Just doesn't travel the same when the ground is that little bit quicker.
 
Melodic has got Handicap chase written all over him by the looks of things, especially if he scrapes home in novice chases.

He was genuinely a better horse in January and February last year, so I'd watch out for him in a month or two if you believe in these cyclical events.
 
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He was a bit cautious early on, jumped better as the race progressed. The yard has been out of sorts generally this winter, so they'll be satisfied with that. Needs to gain more experience in another little novice chase before stepping up in grade.
 
Euronymous said:
Lets hope he bothers to run him somewhere, anywhere, in the new year. He didn't prep him last season and he didn't prep Grands Crus before his RSA. It's the one concern I have.
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"He won't go to the Feltham, we'll get him out in the New Year - there's a race at Newbury on Denman Chase day. He's very exciting. He's the horse every owner, trainer and jockey dreams of."
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Schooling session that would be looking at the entries.

Ptit Zig is entered in same race as Josses Hill on Friday. That would be interesting if both line up.
 
Back to Cheltenham though and I cannot disguise how pleased I was with the performance of Kings Palace in the 3m1½f novices’ chase at Cheltenham on Friday. He had already surpassed expectations with his bold jumping debut at the track the previous month, but even so there were still some doubters who thought Sausalito Sunrise might reverse the four length margin of victory on 8lbs better terms. Measuring his fences fluently, he jumped magnificently once again to increase the winning margin to seven lengths from his old foe. His jumping was hard to fault and will surely stand him in good stead when further questions are asked of him.

Although we have a good recent record in the race with the victories of Grands Crus and Dynaste, Kings Palace will not run in the Feltham on Boxing Day at Kempton as the race will come too soon for him. Instead we will look to find a prep race for the Festival away from Cheltenham (where he has had his last five starts) in the New Year. At this point, the sky really does look the limit for him.
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pipe looks to be playing his cards a little differently with his novice star this time around
 
I just keep thinking what a terrible loss it was to NH racing when Kings Theatre died even though there are some up and coming youngsters in the pipeline.
 
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