St James Palace Stakes

I have to be honest IS..I know all horses aren't run on their merits..and as a serious punter..if I am that..doubt it... I see it as my job to know the ones that are or aren't..if I fail to do that I blame myself
 
I know the ones that are running on their merits and the ones that aren't but surely it's the stewards job to point and find out these?

If we can see them from our TV screens then why can't they?
 
i'm sure they can..but I reckon it would be a full time job penalising them all

what does running on merits mean?

how would someone prove a horse hasn't been run on merits if used as a pacemaker?..its run to its extreme limits energy wise..but has been run in a different way..how can someone say whether a horse should be run from the front or back?
 
A wee bit of hype over the race is my first impression. The winner is maybe 125/125ish but we'll see how the form pans out.

All time great, etc? I can't see it but the winner is very likeable.
 
Irish Stamp said:
I've nothing against him entering a horse to make the pace EC1 as long as it suits that horses running style, gives him a chance too etc. in this case I'm not certain it gave Set Sail the best possible chance of winning - the rules may have been changed (judging by what Gal's put they probably have and in which case I apologise to AOB and Coolmore) but don't all horses have to be ridden to obtain the best possible placing?
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Set Sail was basically pulled up when MCM went past him.
 
The gap between Delegator and Pure Poetry was similar to the Guineas. Makes spotting the improvers easier.
 
I'd think the first two are moreso 120-122 horses, similar to horses like black minaloushe and landseer rather than henrythenavigator or the rock.
 
I rate the winner 126 today
I think the horse has everything you could ask for a horse

goes on different ground, winner of 5 five races in 7 starts, one gr2 and four gr1s,


very nice horse
 
Bar the Bull said:
I have always been a big fan of MCM, but if he is to be a top horse in my book, it will be over 10f.
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Agreed. The hype the BBC seem to love bringing to every race is annoying, but Balding comparing him to Giant's Causeway may not be a million miles from the truth. I can see him giving Sea the Stars something to think about in the Irish Champion. Really like the horse.
 
I think he looks the type that would nearly be better off with no pacemaker at all....just stride on himself it need be.
 
The more I see the race the more I think he's a really top class horse. A lesser animal would not have won that today the way it was run. I think he was maybe too close to the break neck pace and the contest fell into Delegator's lap really.
 
I really hope they give him a break now and come back for the bigger end mid to end of season targets.

Would love to see RIP in the Eclipse...strong pace, riding him in the first 3-4 and see what he does.
 
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Without wanting to seem anti Ballydoyle :) ... I watched te re-run of this last night, and the excessive whipping by Murtagh up the straight was a disgrace. It clearly made the difference between first and second, and a one day ban is just not good enough, as you are effectively penalising connections of jockeys who stay within the rules. He should have been demoted, as it is plain cheating/breaking of the rules, and this was validated by the stewards in giving Murtagh a one day ban (not nearly enough).

This is far from the first occasion this has made the difference in recent years, namely Dettori on Ramonti and Alkaased (awful to see).

When will the BHA/Stewards decide breaking the rules should be properly punished?
 
I think enough balance was put in Dettori in my post.

Watching the head on replay was cringeworthy; he shouldn't have kept it.
 
EC1 said:
Steve - its a great animal - but you must have filled em when Delegator took the lead
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:lol:
I was very wrong about Delegator, he ran a blinder and clobbered Evasive (who ran pretty well). Still, it takes a good one to rally like that after being headed. The winner has so much momentum when he builds a head of steam - it carried him past Delegator's strong burst.

...a winner's a winner, the right one won.
 
Giants Causeway (and I promise not to bring up the comparison again) hadn't looked like a great at this stage of his 3yo career. More to come from MCM over further for me.
 
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