Qm Champion Chase

He was getting the 5lb wfa allowance which has since been removed.

Taking that into account, he'd be rated 168 for that season and 170 for last season and this. It still puts Master Minded around 190 without being asked a serious question.
 
Can we stop saying the best horse since Desert Orchid now? I'm old enough to remember Dessie, but Master Minded looked and has the ratings to put him ahead. Just happy to have been around to see it.
 
The one thing that really pi$$ed me off with Wednesday's abandonment was not seeing this superb performance live. Oh to have been there to see what is almost certainly the best display of jumping since I started watching racing. The apparent ease underlined the sheer class of the horse.

The sight of Ruby. a true horseman, really communicating with such an amazing animal was fantastic. Watching him power up the hill and appearing to be enjoying himself was a much better advert for racing than the big clash 24 hours later.

Desert Orchid , who I respect, says he could have won the Champion Hurdle. Given the ease with which he takes every fence in his stride, seemingly without effort, it would be hard to say he definitely would not have been able to win any of the festival races bar the Bumper. Magnificent!!!!
 
Originally posted by Tout Seul@Mar 15 2008, 12:30 PM

Desert Orchid , who I respect, says he could have won the Champion Hurdle. Given the ease with which he takes every fence in his stride, seemingly without effort, it would be hard to say he definitely would not have been able to win any of the festival races bar the Bumper. Magnificent!!!!
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He would`ve won the CH no bother.

But i for one can say he definitely would not have beaten Denman.
 
:P I think even VPU would beat Denman over 2 miles - it`d be close though as the Tank would have to run nearly two stone below his best.
 
Final RPR for Master Minded: 187+

with a Topspeed of 182 to back it up.

Outside chance of him going to Punchestown, where - amusingly - he'd get the 5yo allowance!
 
The Mordin verdict;

MASTER MINDED IS REALLY FAST

MASTER MINDED (43) ran a seriously fast time to take the Champion Chase, sprinting away from his rivals from two out in the most remarkable style. Clearly he's a very smart chaser over two miles, having won the last five time he's completed the course over trips short of two and a half miles.

It's worth noting that Master Minded was tiring in the closing stages. This is why he took 56.9 seconds to run from the third last to the finish compared with the 55.2 seconds by Tidal Bay when you adjust for the difference in going. Then again Tidal Bay is clearly more of a stayer than Master Minded, so it makes sense he should finish stronger.

In any event we clearly have a very smart two mile chaser here. The usual warnings apply, namely that, like almost all the top two mile chasers, it looks likely that Master Minded needs to be kept fresh to run this well. I would have bet on him 'bouncing' off this run if he'd turned out at Aintree. But he's going to Punchestown instead which should give him enough time to recover. In addition, Master Minded clearly has problems going longer trips, so he'd be well worth opposing if his connections decided to experiment by stepping him up in distance later on. Also he's yet to prove that he can handle faster ground and his trainer has suggested he may not.

That said, I'd be wary of betting any horse to beat Master Minded at two miles right now.

VOY POR USTEDES (34) was stretched by the sustained burst of speed shown by Master Minded and tired after being flat to the boards from a long way out. I think now would be a good time to step him up to two and a half miles. He's always looked like he would stay the trip on pedigree, physique and the way he normally finishes. Now it could be he actually needs the extra half mile.
 
I see Raceform commented that MM was putting distance between himself and VPU from two out despite being eased down and patted on the neck while VPU was being ridden right to the line. The latter must have been really tired but who can blame him, given the pace in the final mile.
 
After a little tweaking, I gave MM the top rating at the Festival, with Whiteoak second-best in the Mares' Hurdle. Impressed with the way she found a bit more with Refinement coming at her.
 
He did no harm to it but he still only beat a horse that was 9lbs out of the handicap by 4l. Generally you would expect these valuable handicaps to be won by something that had a few pounds up their sleeves but this had the look beforehand and afterwards as a race that would be won by a horse that was capable of running somewhere not far off its allotted mark.

That said, Schindlers Hunt must have run somewhere in the 150s which endorses Master Minded as the best horse in training if you assume he ran the same quality of race. He did run the race quite differently though.
 
The RP have Schindler's Hunt putting up a career best performance at 155, 4lbs better than his Champion Chase run, aided no doubt by having had Wishwillow Lord severely under-rated by the official handicapper going into the race - a stance which was clearly vindicated by the result.
 
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