Road to the Champion Hurdle 2023

What an idiot...JP should make him pay the fee

But to be fair: He hasn't had a glass of Brandy in ages....drinks it straight out the bottle now.:lol:

Drink hasn't changed him too much :lol:

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Tanlic said:
HDB has been reading my mail again:lol: Looks like he has come to his senses and the prize money and said it's Champion Hurdle or nothing.

Bookies rected by cutting Honeysuckle by a 1/2 point without Constitution Hill

If she does run and win impressively at the DRF that 4/1 she was is going to look very good.
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And still gives her a Mares Hurdle entry. I suspect there's a difference of opinion going on with Henry and Kenny otherwise there wouldn't be so many conflicting messages.
 
They could talk until they are blue in the face but they can't come to decision until she runs again.

So best thing to do is leave all options open hen mak a final decision nearer the time.

I doubt if she has gone as such and is likely to be as good as ever. The question is will that be good enough to pick up 2nd or by some miracle win it again

Over 20 horses have won the Champion Hurdle 8yo and older so I would hope she makes it and bows out after the Champion Hurdle.

She's won both her her CH's pretty easily but Constitution Hill could pull the best performance of her life ot of her.
 
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Tanlic said:
Maybe I am crazy but I'm already thinking QMCC for Constitution Hill next year Then the King George and the Gold Cup. 23/24
Nicky won't waste any time sending him chasing and bypassing the Arkle IMVHO
He never hesitated to send Sprinter Sacre or Altior chasing and either of them could have won Champion Hurdles.
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When/who was the last horse to win the Champion Hurdle go for the Arkle the following year?

On the other hand, many have not only gone for the Arkle the year after winning the Supreme, but have won it too!

Nicky sent Sprinter Sacre and Altior chasing the year after running in the Supreme. Shiskin too…

Isn’t Nicky not wasting time going for the Champion hurdle this year, after winning the Supreme on the bridle last year?
 
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Maxbet said:
When/who was the last horse to win the Champion Hurdle go for the Arkle the following year?

Great question; the answer would be Dawn Run had she not been injured.

Isn’t Nicky not wasting time going for the Champion hurdle this year, after winning the Supreme on the bridle last year?

Proper chasing people would argue he is.
Dan Moore , years ago, was asked if he regretted losing Hatton's Grace to MVOB.
He replied by asking how many chases did HG win !
Different strokes for different folks.
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Sprinter Sacre had a wind operation after the Supreme. I couldn’t find it on his race record but there was a RP article about it. I thought he’d had another one but can find no record of it.
 
Maxbet said:
When/who was the last horse to win the Champion Hurdle go for the Arkle the following year?

On the other hand, many have not only gone for the Arkle the year after winning the Supreme, but have won it too!

Nicky sent Sprinter Sacre and Altior chasing the year after running in the Supreme. Shiskin too…

Isn’t Nicky not wasting time going for the Champion hurdle this year, after winning the Supreme on the bridle last year?
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While I am pretty certain that they, especially Sprinter Sacre would have won a Champion Hurdle it was nowhere as obvious at the time that Constitution Hhll will win in March barring a mishap.

Look into Nicky's mindset..Constutution Hill is a much more mature animal at season end than Alrior or Sprineter were

The Champion Hurdle V the Arkle V The QMCC is ano branier for him. The Champion Hurdle was worth last year £253,215 the Arkle only £102,481 and the QMCC £226,672

With another year under his belt and normal improvement I can't see any horse around that would get within 10 lengths of Constitution Hill if Nicky decides to bypass thae Arkle next year.

Going Arkle this year would have been crazy and giving him another year and bypassing the Arkle for the bigger bucks with such a talent makes perfectly good sense to me.

If Master Minded could do it (Granted the race was crap that year...pretty sure the Hill can.
 
Assuming Constitution Hill wins as expected, I reckon connections will be keen to develop and cement the ‘greatest ever hurdler’ narrative, before considering a switch to fences.

I can see CH spending at least one more year over hurdles - which wouldn’t be complete disaster as regards novice-chasing, as he still has age/time on his side.
 
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As I type:
Champion Hurdle thread 19 pages.
Gold Cup thread 3 pages.

I've been on this forum for 18 years and I've never got the collective obsession it seems to have with this race. It's rarely (ever?) been the most anticipated race of the week and a lot of years it's not even the best race on the Tuesday. I'd argue the Arkle and the Mares are more interesting this year.

EDIT: This one, 2013. The one time the CH was the most anticipated contest of the week

https://www.racingpost.com/results/11/cheltenham/2014-03-11/574638
 
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Could it be that the CH generates more discussion because the contenders are generally younger and less well established compared with the likely GC field, thereby more open to a variance in opinion?

Constitution Hill alone is generating a lot of interest (and rightly so).
 
Euronymous said:
As I type:
Champion Hurdle thread 19 pages.
Gold Cup thread 3 pages.

I've been on this forum for 18 years and I've never got the collective obsession it seems to have with this race. It's rarely (ever?) been the most anticipated race of the week and a lot of years it's not even the best race on the Tuesday. I'd argue the Arkle and the Mares are more interesting this year.

EDIT: This one, 2013. The one time the CH was the most anticipated contest of the week

https://www.racingpost.com/results/11/cheltenham/2014-03-11/574638
Click to expand...

Euro, if by “best” you mean the most competitive you are likely right. This year the CH seems totally one sided (except for An :)) and looks as though it will be won by a truly exceptional horse who may well finish up being crowned horse of the century in due course. Talking about and watching that horse in the Blue Riband hurdle race is far more interesting to me even if the “I was there element” is second hand. Now if Arkle was in the Gold Cup it might be different ;)
 
My view:
CH is often a tester for nascent types, GC is ofteh 'same old,same old'
The anticipation level is high this season,also.
 
Euronymous said:
As I type:
Champion Hurdle thread 19 pages.
Gold Cup thread 3 pages.

I've been on this forum for 18 years and I've never got the collective obsession it seems to have with this race. It's rarely (ever?) been the most anticipated race of the week and a lot of years it's not even the best race on the Tuesday. I'd argue the Arkle and the Mares are more interesting this year.

EDIT: This one, 2013. The one time the CH was the most anticipated contest of the week

https://www.racingpost.com/results/11/cheltenham/2014-03-11/574638
Click to expand...

That's the 2014 result, you trolling ba*stard!

:cool:
 
The Champion Hurdle has always been, as far as I can remember, the most popular race of the festival bar once Kauto V Denman.

There's hardly a man on here that will miss watching Constitution Hill 1/10 or not. It's not all about betting or epic battles

Exciting times are just round the corner if WPM decides to send all his troops to take on Honeysuckle.

I can't see him running State Man, Vauban and Sir Gerhard and would expect he'll leave Stateman at home and test the water with the other two.

If she is back to her best they could get into a very tough battle and like Sharjah did run below their best at the Festival.

WPM is a hard man to second guess so we just have to wait and see.
 
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Tanlic said:
There's hardly a man on here that will miss watching Constitution Hill 1/10 or not. It's not all about betting or epic battles

.
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If Constitution Hill was running in my back garden I would shut the curtains.

State Man will win the Champion Hurdle.
 
I'll bet you 10 Rhododendrons to 10 Delphiniums Stateman doesn't get within 7 lengths of Constitution Hill at the Festival unless it's in the parade ring
 
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