Race of the Festival

[Euronymous]

I did a poll for this a couple of years ago (won by The Arkle) but didn`t see the point last year so obvious was the answer. The 2009 Festival`s most anticipated race is not that clear cut.

 

[Gearoid]

Non-event. Champion Hurdle wins hands down. Binocular Versus a quality field. The Champion Chase would not be in my Top 25 races of the festival.

 

[Euronymous]

Unless they`ve cancelled the Cross Country and Foxhunters I would say thats a tad harsh.

 

[Gearoid]

Well if you want to get all sentimental about seeing -please insert Racing Post journalist superlatives- beat a field decimated of any horse with a realistic chance of turning him over, than fine, I'm being harsh. I for one will be skipping through the 5 pages about his victory on the Thursday of the festival.

 

[Euronymous]

The QM would be well down my list as well, it`s merely an option.

 

[Gearoid]

Can I see it'd Total votes at 1?

 

[granger]

Won't pick a novice race on principle, so comes down to gold cup v champ hdl. Ill go champ hurdle as it has the highest quality field overall

 

[Diminuendo]

The Foxhunters deserves it place at the Festival.

 

[Gearoid]

But the foxes don't deserve their place in the country?

 

[Euronymous]

The Foxhunters deserves it place at the Festival.

No problem with that, it shouldn`t follow the Gold Cup though. I`d have it on last and off the main tele.

 

[Shadow Leader]

The Bumper. Best race on any card.

 

[Gearoid]

The great thing about bumpers is you can spot the:

old fashioned chasing type
scopey type
stuffy type
embryo chaser type
big, backward type
late maturing type
close-coupled type
compact type
nippy type
lovely type
leggy sort type
Anything he does over hurdles is a bonus as he won't come into his own until he jumps a fence type

Only to the trained eye mind...

 

[Flame]

Most looking forward to the Champion this year and little Katchit bouncing back and proving last year was no fluke.

 

[betsmate]

It's got to be the bumper.

The only proper race of the festival where you get to find out which is the fastest horse between the start and the finish.

All of the other "races" are just gimmicks with their funny fences and hurdles.

 

[del boy]

It's got to be the bumper.

The only proper race of the festival where you get to find out which is the fastest horse between the start and the finish.

All of the other "races" are just gimmicks with their funny fences and hurdles.

You werent saying that when you were in Leopardstown....youd have been lynched!!

For me its the Supreme, first race of the week, excitement, normally a good finish, and i normally do well in it.

 

[Grasshopper]

If Hurricane Fly gets to the start, then the Supreme Novices.....if not, then the Champion Hurdle.

 

[betsmate]

The safety of the Internet del boy...

 

[SteveM]

Is it any year or this year?

And are we suppose to wait until they have been run?

A race on paper is often nothing like the one in the flesh.

 

[trackside528]

Champion Hurdle looks the strongest of the championship races on paper.

Novice hurdling ranks seem particularly strong this year (both 2m and staying), whilst the opposite looks to be the case for the novice chases.

 

[Euronymous]

Is it any year or this year?

And are we suppose to wait until they have been run?

A race on paper is often nothing like the one in the flesh.

This year and it`s the race you are anticipating with the most excitement.

 

[SteveM]

This year and it`s the race you are anticipating with the most excitement.

Thanks. Although this is impossible to answer with any degree of confidence, the most anticipated race will still probably be the Gold Cup, with Denman reported to be improving virtually by the day (...if we can believe it).

For most excitement though I'd probably guess at somewhere between the World or Champion Hurdles. Not sure this tells us much at all though.

Maybe you should run it after the Festival is over.