• REGISTER NOW!! Why? Because you can't do much without having been registered!

    At the moment you have limited access to view all discussions - and most importantly, you haven't joined our community. What are you waiting for? Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join Join Talking Horses here!

Point Blank: Did JP McManus Stop a Gold Cup Winner?

GC did sound a bit of a warning pre-race, but it still reads as if he was having a go. You’d have thought the stewards might have had a word or two to say.

IMG_0154.jpeg
 
The stewards seemed to think an explanation was required:

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer examined Inothewayurthinkin, trained by Gavin Cromwell, at the request of the Raceday Stewards and reported the animal to be post race normal
 
Probably dont want him going to the well too much before Cheltenham, which js all well and good, but it puts mugs like me away.

Good article. If he was owned by Donald Duck and trained by Micky Mouse, people would be calling for the trainers/owners head.

If it got chinned going off 2/1 you’d accept it. But to drift to silly prices and never be put in the race frankly stinks. And when it wins in March be because of the extra 2 furlongs. f%*& off
 
It's just bad optics for a Gold Cup winner. When you look at the scrutiny that Nicky Henderson got over Constitution Hill yet today that's just considered par for the course.
 
Slim said:
It's just bad optics for a Gold Cup winner. When you look at the scrutiny that Nicky Henderson got over Constitution Hill yet today that's just considered par for the course.
Click to expand...
Couldnt agree more. If that’s Nicky Henderson and De Boinville, they’d be called cowards, and be hung drawn and quartered. And have the worlds media all over them.

Tbf, some people are correctly calling it out for what it is, but f%*& all will happen. Just accept it, then laud the crooked bastards with praise in March when it wins on snaff again.
 
He absolutely HAD to be tested after that run but your article is very good and definitely something to ask. Racing has always trod carefully around the big guns for fear of upsetting them. You only have to look at the hangers on up at the Sales with all the filthy rich. Their syncophantic a*selicking is painful in the extreme - look at those who daren't say a bad word about the wife beating Sheikh. Funny how he never turns up on a racecourse these days but he's freely walking around the sales.
 
Double J said:
Couldnt agree more. If that’s Nicky Henderson and De Boinville, they’d be called cowards, and be hung drawn and quartered. And have the worlds media all over them.

Tbf, some people are correctly calling it out for what it is, but f%*& all will happen. Just accept it, then laud the crooked bastards with praise in March when it wins on snaff again.
Click to expand...

The horse could just have been lifeless but when it's a Gold Cup winner you need better communication of why the run was so bad, that's my point.
 
Len Madeiros said:
I’ll throw this one in for consideration:

Full Result 3.00 Haydock | 23 November 2013 | Racing Post

Full Race Result from the 3.00 at Haydock on 23rd November 2013.
www.racingpost.com www.racingpost.com

Henderson GC winner, trailed in by 40 lengths in a Betfair Chase. Wins his next race in Ireland - the Savills.

Stewards not asking why the improved performance at Leopardstown, and no recriminations.
Click to expand...

Read the report. He was well backed.

"Obviously this wasn't Gold Cup winner Bobs Worth's true running. Well backed for his comeback, he looked to find it happening a bit too quickly and his jumping was exposed at times. Perhaps he does now need a stiff track like Cheltenham to shine and it would be folly to write him off on the back of this, especially as his top team later said he needed it. A trip to Ireland for Leopardstown's Christmas meeting makes plenty of appeal before returning to Prestbury Park next year and ante-post odds as big as 6-1 for the Gold Cup probably won't last long."
 
I read with interest as always.

Integrity hasn't historically been a concern of mine at Grade 1 level - horses have target races that might not be today but GENERALLY, the prize money and the wealth of the owners of top-class horses is such that money that can be won on betting markets by doing the unexpected doesn't cross their minds.

Anyway, this year's Cheltenham Gold Cup winner seemed to be brought along very steadily and only showed what he can really do on Gold Cup today.

Why this was, I neither knew how cared.

I'd bet him at 25/1 for the Grand National and my only interest in the Gold Cup was a small bet on him because I knew if he actually won the chances of going to Aintree would be diminished and I wasn't wrong.

So far this season it had looked the same - the 2m4f of the Durkan wouldn't have suited and the 3m today looked a minimum to me today as well.

I didn't get involved and just watched the race.

I was as puzzled by the reaction to the run as the itself.

It's not a question of the trainer's integrity because look what he did last year - the governing body defines what integrity is and they didn't have an issue last season so we're unlikely to have an issue if the same path was trod.

If I'd bet the horse the only person I'd be blaming tonight would be myself because I knew in advance who owned it, was training it and who was riding it.

But a lot of people aren't big on blaming themselves so, the dress up their anger over a losing bet as concern for racing's greater good (as if any self-respecting Gore Vidal quoter cares about that) and blame connections and the authorities for the environment racing is allowed to be conducted in.

Blaming others for one's losing bets never made anyone a better punter EVER.

It was true in my black and white TV era and it's true today.

If you ever have a scintilla of doubt, swerve the bet and the race - there are about 10,000 others a year to choose from.
 

Recent Blog Posts

Back
Top