On a very serious note. It would seem that Sprinter Sacre has improved since Ascot but how much?
He should certainly beat Dodging Bullets this time round but imvho the amount of improvement needed to do so is not enough to stop Sire De Grugy running him down.
Dodging Bullets was a 158 rated horse going into the Tingle Creek. I have my doubts if winning that race, which was a very poor renewal. truly earned him the 165 rating the handicapper gave him.
The 3rd horse at Ascot just complicates matter further he's certainly not been running to his rating. Hidden Cyclone destroyed him without being flat to the boards like Dodging Bullets was at Ascot.
It may well be that h'es nearer a 160 horse than a 165 horse and that means Sprinter Sacre ran to a miserable 157 on his return and has to improve about a stone to give Sire De Grugy a race
There is another possible danger to Sprinter Sacre which would be a big plus to Sire De Grugy and that's the ground. If it comes up soft that
could swing the pendulum closer towards a win for Sire De Grugy.
On Good to Soft he beat Sizing Europe 19 lengths on very Soft he beat him only 5 1/2 lengths.......it was either because he was over the top, he simply is not as good on soft ground or we were seeing the first signs of his heart problem but whatever it was it was at that time the least impressive race of his career.
One things for sure Nicky Henderson could have done without that performance from Sire De Grugy yesterday.
With him practically gone he must have been ultra confident of beating Dodging Bullets, I know I was but now the goal posts have been moved.
Nicky is going to need to pull out all the stops now to get the horse 100% plus a bit in 17 days time and if he does that it will be one of the best training feats of all time.
The news so far is all good but it's going to have to be better than that and
nearly there won't crack it imo.
We won't need to wait until the last to know the result if Sprinter Sacre hasn't put the race to bed before the 2nd last you can press that lay button.
On a positive note tactically Barry Geraghty would ride Jamie Moore to sleep and he does have a plan:-
TO WIN