Open Meeting - Your Best Bets

martin said:
Warne's Way if he's declared later today for tomorrow. Unfortunate to bump in to a well handicapped Paul Nicholls horse last year. Before that was second to Lough Derg. He's only six and showed his well being with a win at Newbury in a flat handicap a couple of weeks ago. I suppose it would be a sweet little tonic for Brendan Powell who I've read is not too well at present.
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Best backed in the race so far, the signs are ominous. Bin warned LOL.

Don't blame me if it gets tailed off.:ninja:
 
Chelsea Harbour is interesting in what looks a competitive renewal of the 3m3f handicap chase. Trip nor ground pose absolutely no fears - indeed he probably has a bit of scope to improve further over this trip.

Ferdy Murphy's Gallant Nuit caught my eye at Cheltenham last time (never put into the race) and seems the type to be well suited to this test of stamina but the ground would have to be something of a concern. Russian Trigger could still potentially be on a nice mark up 8lbs from his Uttoxeter win.
 
I would not go near the two Irish horses towards the head of the market - Glenstal Abbey on the other hand looks tempting at 16/1. Could see him run a big race today.
 
Think that the Irish horse Wellforth has a cracking chance in the Intermediate Handicap Hurdle over 2m 5f. Although well beaten on his latest start he had been in flying form prior to that with wins at Limerick (2m 6f) and Roscommon (3m), prior to that he'd been runner-up in an 18 runner handicap hurdle over just shy of todays distance at Roscommon, a race that has produced 10 individual winners. Think the rise in the weights is justified and an interesting jockey booking with the very good 7lb claimer Giles Hawkins on board for Caroline Hutchinson. He's currently available at 16/1.
 
Desert Orchid said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Harry Tricker in the Greatwood. I think if he turns up in the same form as last week it will take a special performance to beat him. Does anyone know if Hernandos are ground dependent or can take two races in quick succession?
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Must admit I was counting my winnings until I saw the momentum KK had gathered. Part of me was urging the jockey to kick on rounding the bend, which is maybe why I'm not a jockey but it will niggle me that maybe HT could have won.
 
Khyber Kim won with something in hand I thought. Brennan didn't even need to draw the stick on him until the race was laready won.
 
Racing was fantastic on sunday, although MM and Reve De Sivola did not help. After timing but I ended up backing the Nicholl's horse in the bumper because it was becoming a real test, Ghizao had the pedigree and stabel confidence and I thought they would hold Lidar up and nothing was really coming from off the pace all day.

Anyway, I've read a few pieces saying that MM was hanging right? Maybe it was me but I was going nuts because it looked to me like Ruby pulled him wide and intentionally conceded ground coming round the corner. I will have to watch it again and i'm not saying he would have won but I thought the race was lost for him between the 3rd last and the last.

Tell Massini won well in the novice hurdle but whilst I was smarting about the £50 I had on him the chap who put £3000 on must have been going mad when Jacob let them run away from him down the hill!! Thomas won that race.

Just another thing, saw MM in the parade ring which was the first time I had seen him in the flesh since he won a sandown handicap early 2008. He has grown taller to my eye and looks like he needs to fill out again. Well Chief looked like a heavyweight to his middle weight. He looked more like a 3m chaser than a 2miler but that is only my untrained eye.
 
Aragorn said:
Anyway, I've read a few pieces saying that MM was hanging right? Maybe it was me but I was going nuts because it looked to me like Ruby pulled him wide and intentionally conceded ground coming round the corner. I will have to watch it again and i'm not saying he would have won but I thought the race was lost for him between the 3rd last and the last.
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I initially thought the same (posted as much somewhere on here) but I watched it again and you can see the horse dragging Ruby wide.

No problem has apparently come to light, and I don't believe being back right handed will suddenly make him a near 180 chaser again.
 
Aragorn said:
R

Tell Massini won well in the novice hurdle but whilst I was smarting about the £50 I had on him the chap who put £3000 on must have been going mad when Jacob let them run away from him down the hill!! Thomas won that race.
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Don't agree with that at all. I was one of Jacob's most vociferous critics when beaten in January by Walkon but I don't think he did anything wrong on Sunday. His horse didn't have the gears to go with the winner and his jumping wasn't proficient enough in the latter stages. Although Reve de Sivola emerged the better horse at the weights, I'd expect the winner to confirm superiority 4 times out of 5 at 20f+ off levels.
 
Reve de Sivola is undoubtedly a very talented animal - he will be even better over fences which is where he will really shine - but he really must improve his jumping to fulfill his promise. He treats the hurdles with no respect at all, either knocking through them or trailing his back legs through them, he looks pretty clumsy over timber at the moment.
 
Personally thought that was the best Novice Hurdle run so far this season with Reve in there and the Daly horse had won already, Tell Massini had beaten a Nicholls buzzer FTO (not a horse i rated particularly highly on form - the Nicholls horse he beat and the runner-up won at odds-on on Saturday too). Think the front two in that could be really nice horses, particularly the winner.

Pistolet Noir was impressive too and James De Vassy just failed in the Greatwood - good weekend for Nick Williams.
 
davidjohnson said:
Don't agree with that at all. I was one of Jacob's most vociferous critics when beaten in January by Walkon but I don't think he did anything wrong on Sunday. His horse didn't have the gears to go with the winner and his jumping wasn't proficient enough in the latter stages. Although Reve de Sivola emerged the better horse at the weights, I'd expect the winner to confirm superiority 4 times out of 5 at 20f+ off levels.
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There is a moment at the top of the hill coming off the bend when Thomas asks his horse to pick up when he already has a few lengths advantage and steals a few lengths on Reve De Sivola quickening down the hill. Those prominent coming off the second last had generally been winning on the Sunday and so I thought it was a tactical error giving the leader (who stays 3m) so much rope. Making up ground up the hill was hard work all day. Murphy knew that on Well Chief.

Whether or not the winner would beat him at level weights 4 times out of 5 i'm not sure and I agree the winner is a good horse but I bet Jacobs wouldn't give him so much rope again. He took an age to reel the leader in at Chepstow.

I should add that I think Jacobs is a decent jockey overall.
 
I would say my best bet of the meeting was backing racing at Cheltenham to be on at 1/6 after strolling home from the town centre at 3 a.m.
 
Nah, the biggest odds-on shot landed was the amount of blaggers conning their way into the pressroom under some pretence or another.
 
Shadow Leader said:
Nah, the biggest odds-on shot landed was the amount of blaggers conning their way into the pressroom under some pretence or another.
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Were you on duty? :p

For the record, Paul Duffy and Reve's other owners were in agreement that he should be ridden more aggressively in future, but none were under any illusion that they should have beaten the winner, who is the outstanding UK novice of the season so far. The way he stormed up the hill after racing keenly and rather fluffing the last suggested he had a bit in reserve.
 
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