Euronymous
Senior Jockey
Pricewise makes his ante-post selection in tomorrow's RP so expect some change in the market. I reckon he'll go for either Pandorama or Denman.
Meade said: "We'll go for the Hennessy and see how that goes. If that went well it (the Gold Cup) is what everybody dreams of and we'd love to go for it."
He added: "The ground is important to him, though. It would have to be good to soft at least, but we've got a long way to go yet."
I have just spoken to Clive. We agreed that yesterday now gives us a bit of challenge with the horse - and hopefully we, and most importantly, the horse will rise to it.
He will be prepared for a tilt at a third Gold Cup victory in March - different ground, different track, different day - and we would like to aim him for a third victory at Down Royal in the autumn, too.
As long as he is enjoying his racing and running well, then he will continue - he is 11, not 13.
Yesterday, was undoubtedly a big disappointment. He was never travelling or jumping with any real fluency, but it wasn't as if he ran a poor race. Without his blunder at the second last, he probably would have been a fair second to a very good horse.
But that clearly wasn't his best form.
I am not making excuses but I can reveal that when he got back last night and stuck his head in the water bucket, he bled from both nostrils. He has never done it before, and will probably never do it again.
It wasn't a big bleed but it indicates that he probably bled during the race (possibly after his mistake at the second last, which meant he had to dig deep to get home), which would not have aided his cause.
But the horse was fine going into the race. You may have read this morning that he wasn't buzzing in his box yesterday. But he is like a seasoned human athlete these days. Experience of big races breeds a certain calmness, and I think he was A1 going into the race, so there are no excuses on that score.
So it is up to me and my team here at Ditcheat to get him right for Cheltenham; and we will relish the challenge.
We fancied The Nightingale to run well but he may have found 3m too far.
I can reveal exclusively here that he finished distressed and we have discovered that he has a fibrillating heart, similar to the problem that Denman suffered from.
How common would a fibrillating heart be among racehorses?
Wayward Lad was another who excelled on a flatter track. The hill at Cheltenham always just got the better of him, no matter how hard he tried. After that courageous run at Cheltenham, he went on to trounce a decent field at Aintree (just before that disgraceful show of selling him before retiring).