Road to the Champion Chase 2011

I would have preferred Master Minded to go straight to the Tingle Creek. Interesting to see them stepping him back up in trip on Saturday.
 
Galileo said:
I would have preferred Master Minded to go straight to the Tingle Creek. Interesting to see them stepping him back up in trip on Saturday.
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Especially as on his favoured good ground Alberta's Run and AP will set out to test MM's stamina .
 
Was going to say something similar Gal. Some might see it as unncessary crabbing of good horses, but from a betting perspective, I'd like to see him do it again with pressure on him in the closing stages. The trouble is, there is a paucity of opposition to him. Wouldn't be a surprise to see him look really good again at Sandown and Ascot in Jan and then fail to produce a 170 effort at the Festival.
 
Realistically he was overrated since his first festival win and his best days are behind him but he still has a good chance of winning at the festival if lightly campaigned this season.
 
If I were Master Minded owner, I would go straight the Champion Chase.
on what he shown yesterday he is mile aheads of Big Zebs and Forpaddys
 
sunybay said:
If I were Master Minded owner, I would go straight the Champion Chase.
on what he shown yesterday he is mile aheads of Big Zebs and Forpaddys
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ForPady yes, Big Zeb -I think not

Any reason in particular that you wouldn't give him another run until March
 
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davidjohnson said:
Was going to say something similar Gal. Some might see it as unncessary crabbing of good horses, but from a betting perspective, I'd like to see him do it again with pressure on him in the closing stages. The trouble is, there is a paucity of opposition to him. Wouldn't be a surprise to see him look really good again at Sandown and Ascot in Jan and then fail to produce a 170 effort at the Festival.
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I understand the point you're trying to make, DJ, but surely the "paucity of opposition" has some relevance to his chance in the QMCC itself.

It was interesting to hear Nicholls say on C4 yesterday that he thinks Master Minded is definitely better going right-handed. The horse has certainly disappointed a couple of times at Cheltenham but he's also turned in two top-class performances there and his record at Newbury isn't too shabby, either.

I actually think the 3/1 for the Queen Mother is quite generous. If he turns up at the top of his game he wins easily, for me.
 
To my eyes MM as travelling and jumping as well as we want would to see. When hes at his very best i have no doubt that hes an absolute class above Big Zeb or any other contender, 3-1 is more than fair

As regards the left/right point he has been superb at Newbury but horses are not on the turn much there
 
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Has owner Clive Smith gone off his box - wanted Kauto to hawk a huge weight around Newbury in the Hennessy before Mr Nicholls put him in his place and is now talking about the King George for MM??
 
As others have said you would really want to see him do it again in the Tingle Creek before proclaiming him a good thing or anything like it for the Champion.

That said I think he would beat Big Zeb convincingly at his best. As good as Big Zeb's jumping was in last year's Champion, he's not anywhere near as fast over his flights as an on-song Master Minded.

Some forumites might be disturbed to read the following (so I'll put it a bit further down but granger in particularly would be well advised not to read it) but







despite him being from an undoubtedly weaker generation of two mile chasers, I think he would beat Moscow Flyer as well.
 
The jumping down the back straight on saturday was electric. It was a superb performance but you would have to be cautious about him as Alberta's didn't stand up and he was the only decent opposition. The rest should have been as far back as they were.
 
Euronymous said:
I can't remember ever seeing a horse as tidy over a fence as MM was on Saturday.
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It was unbelievable. I've never seen a horse jump a fence like it. It was like he hopped over them. If anything he gained speed, it was unreal.
 
Such a shame AR did not stand up - not only for the horse,his fans and connections but as he is a renowned finder when put under pressure it would have given us a much clearer indication of MM's current ability .

MM looked back at Newbury and then flopped at Cheltenham - on Saturday he looked as if he was back to his best and if so I also agree he should be too good for BZ et al.
 
Well for what it's worth, I've never seen Big Zeb jump as confidently as he did the last day in Navan. I just didn't want to the conversation to be one sided :rolleyes:
 
I dont know how anyone can presume to know for certain that MM would not beat MF (on his given day admittedly). The ratings boys certainly havent come to that conclusion have they? Frankly any such opinion is not knowing so much as wishing

When MM travels and jumps at his best, who could seriously be convinced that any 2 miler would beat him?
 
clivex said:
When MM travels and jumps at his best, who could seriously be convinced that any 2 miler would beat him?
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It's all conjecture but Azertyuiop and Well Chief at their peaks would have looked as dominant as Master Minded against the opposition he's had. And both those two got used to viewing Moscow's arse on a regular basis.
 
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