Ryanair Chase

I love Cue Card. Ever since he won his bumper, to fill 3 out of 4 big price winners on a €1 e/w Lucky 15 that paid over €6k!
I have backed him every time he has run since then, up to and including his most recent run. I genuinely love the horse.
But I will not be backing him at Cheltenham. I deliberated long and hard about this watching all of his previous runs recently.
I fully understand and agree with the trip and ground arguments people are making in his favour. But he is just not the same horse.

What decided it for me, was when I watched his Betfair Chase and King George runs in 2013 v 2014. Officially the ground at Haydock was the same both years and actually the ground was officially better at Kempton 2014 than it was in 2013. Anybody who really fancies Cue Card I urge you to watch the 2013 v 2014 races side by side. Again I repeat, he is just not the same horse. He simply does not travel and jump like he used to. Not in love with the game anymore imo.
 
It's just not that straightforward for me, DH.

Putting aside the fact that he suffered an over-reach in the last King George, the effect of trip and the way he was ridden cannot be ignored.

CC fell down a hole in the last 2furlongs in the 2013 King George; doing his usual of jumping boldly out in front, before his stamina evaporated. In December, he didn't ever get to the front, and wasn't pressed to do so, because they had to ride him differently (slightly held-up, if you like), in a bid to get him home. You're therefore not comparing apples-with-apples when you review the two races side-by-side, imo. And CC had disappointed in the 2012 King George when held-up right out the back - his case not helped by belting the first two, and his stamina tested well beyond its limit, on the Heavy ground. It didn't stop him dancing-up in the 2013 Ryanair Chase though.

I'm firmly of the opinion that judging him as 'gone at the game' or 'not the same horse' is premature. His racing record strongly suggests two things; he wants to bowl-along in front, and he has a narrow operating-window, when it comes to stamina; with him really wanting a trip not much more than a furlong either side of 2m4f. The Betfair Chase win is wholly anomalous when set against everything else he has done, and even then, the clockers were quick to suggest the race was nearer 2m6f than the advertised 3m1f....so perhaps at the upper-end of his stamina limit.

Maybe I have my head in the sand, and I'm almost certainly influenced by the fancy prices I have about him for the Ryanair (always expected him to blow in the KG and Tizzard to reverse his Gold Cup aspirations). But until he disappoints when conditions are in his favour, I will defintely be keeping him onside.
 
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Double Handful said:
I love Cue Card. Ever since he won his bumper, to fill 3 out of 4 big price winners on a €1 e/w Lucky 15 that paid over €6k!
I have backed him every time he has run since then, up to and including his most recent run. I genuinely love the horse.
But I will not be backing him at Cheltenham. I deliberated long and hard about this watching all of his previous runs recently.
I fully understand and agree with the trip and ground arguments people are making in his favour. But he is just not the same horse.

What decided it for me, was when I watched his Betfair Chase and King George runs in 2013 v 2014. Officially the ground at Haydock was the same both years and actually the ground was officially better at Kempton 2014 than it was in 2013. Anybody who really fancies Cue Card I urge you to watch the 2013 v 2014 races side by side. Again I repeat, he is just not the same horse. He simply does not travel and jump like he used to. Not in love with the game anymore imo.
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Agree entirely with this. A pity but his Haydock run and the manner in which he was knocked out of his stride was worrying to say the least. When it goes like that you just feel that they cannot take any race under any conditions.
 
8.6 now. Is Smarty pulling our legs?

Johns Spirit does look in trouble though. £4 queuing up to back him at 44 and 990.

I've stuck Don Cossack in a double with Don Poli. The former is starting to look like the horse he promised to be in Bumpers. I think he would have beaten Champagne Fever last time out, which is as good a form as anything else and to me the main dangers are Cue Card and Taquin De Seuil. I really can't have Balder Succes, he'll bottle it, and Ma Filleule is going to have to improve a fair bit for the ground. They seem quite sweet on her but not for me, no mare has won this race yet and i don't think she's good enough to change that.
 
Cue Card out to 9.0 this morning.

To give Smarty his due, he did PM me to advise that he had heard of a possible setback necessitating a trip to the vets, but that his info was second-hand and that he didn't know any more than that.

Hopefully it was a trip to Henderson's vet, and Cue Card wins 25L.
 
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Grasshopper said:
Cue Card out to 9.0 this morning.

To give Smarty his due, he did PM me to advise that he had heard of a possible setback necessitating a trip to the vets, but that his info was second-hand and that he didn't know any more than that.

Hopefully it was a trip to Henderson's vet, and Cue Card wins 25L.
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Got an email saying same breathing problem
 
Aragorn said:
8.6 now. Is Smarty pulling our legs?

Johns Spirit does look in trouble though. £4 queuing up to back him at 44 and 990.

I've stuck Don Cossack in a double with Don Poli. The former is starting to look like the horse he promised to be in Bumpers. I think he would have beaten Champagne Fever last time out, which is as good a form as anything else and to me the main dangers are Cue Card and Taquin De Seuil. I really can't have Balder Succes, he'll bottle it, and Ma Filleule is going to have to improve a fair bit for the ground. They seem quite sweet on her but not for me, no mare has won this race yet and i don't think she's good enough to change that.
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I think it's because Jonjo intends to run him in the QMCC maybe not his choice to do so but that's what is being touted around
 
This is the run up when I feel like turning the phone of closing down the computer and turning it back on next Tuesday and get hit with all the surprises all in one go.

But I'd miss you guys too much :lol:
 
I can see Hidden Cyclone for sure going for this now. Especially with the weather forecast.
 
From ATR
Cue Card has been ruled out of the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival next Thursday, said trainer Colin Tizzard.The nine-year-old won the race in 2013 but has suffered a late setback that keeps him out of the Festival for a second consecutive season.
Tizzard said: "He was making a noise and we had him looked at it.
"He'll miss Cheltenham but he should be OK for Aintree."
Cue Card was in line to contest the Gold Cup last season but he suffered muscle injury which left him sidelined since November.
The four-times Grade One winner has not been at his best since his return, having been well beaten at Exeter, at Haydock and in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Ante-post favourite for the Ryanair is the Gordon Elliott-trained Don Cossack, with Ma Filleule next best on the list.
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