The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Desert Orchid

Desert Orchid

Senior Jockey
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
24,857
Is it too early for the annual post-mortem?

For me (just some early thoughts, killing time till the scruff gets the breakfast ready):

The Good

  • The racing - well up to scratch most of the time.
  • Nicholls - he's not the most popular on here but I was glad to see him and Cobden back among the winners.
  • The handicaps - I live for the handicaps so finding the winners in the Pertemps (I had 5 of the first 6 and had put up Salvador Ziggy (2nd) at 66/1 for the Albert Bartlett months ago), Coral Cup and County (plus a number of placers) kept me fluid. Plus I'd planned for days to back Corach Rambler and then overlooked him in my analysis after allowing longshots to seduce me. Fifth, sixth and seventh in the GA was a disappointing outcome although one of my main bets was Thyme White.
  • The Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup - proper high-class champions.

The Bad

The starts - what fanny decided it's a good idea to have them walk in from a furlong away, especially at the two-mile starts with a bend to negotiate?

The Ugly


  • Chapman
  • Gleason
  • O'Leary
 
Good: Constitution Hill
Bad: Jonbon getting stuffed
Ugly: Corbett Cross ducking out at the last. Could have been even nastier.
 
Good: That 45 minutes on Tuesday

Bad: De Boinville's ride on Shishkin

Ugly: The extortionate prices at Cheltenham, i didn't go this year and a lot of others didn't either, crowd was down 14k on the Weds, that is a massive drop

I'm off to Uttoxeter in half an hour for although the racing doesn't match up, it's a better day out and more affordable one
 
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Good:
It was good to see the likes of Marine Nationale and The Real Whacker winning Grade 1 novice events for smaller stables
Enjoyed Henry de Bromhead doing well
Constitution Hill and GDC were immense
I managed to avoid Harvey/McCoy and Fitz by watching RTV in the main apart from the actual race which had to be ITV because the picture is better

Bad:
My punting. I had a horrific week but it just goes to show one cannot put all your eggs in the Festival basket. Looking back at all the graded races there were only two - Impaire et Passe and Impervious that I could have got. The former impressed me, sort of 88/100 on the Constitution Hill debut run, wtf was that scale when winning at Naas. I didn't back him for the Ballymore though at that stage (he was 12s) because Mullins and he had so many for the race. Impervious was impressive all year but I was on Allegorie de Vassy ante-post at 25s on down so she was just a cover bet ultimately.

The Festival though, it's just four days out of the season and the horses that won the graded races, they just aren't the type I back:
Marine Nationale - didn't trust the trainer/prep
El Fab - Too short
C Hill - Too short
Honeysuckle - Thought she was gone
The Real Whacker - was on Gerri Colombe at nice prices
Stage Star - On Banbridge at double figures
Envoi Allen - would never have fancied him, too exposed
Sire du Berlais - Exposed 11yos I just would never entertain

GDC - Too short, maybe should have been in multis.
Impervious - gettable for sure. In a normal year I'd have scored with her but the sort of bets I'd have used her in were tied to my NFL possies this year.

The handicaps I went small in, I much prefer uncompetitive ones. This applies to the flat as well.

Overall though I did enjoy the week despite the losses.
 
The good: Trusting my gut on the Impaire Et Passe hype. Was on Good Land but had a nice bet on Impaire to have the two running for me.
Getting the Martin Pipe right.

The ugly: Shouting about Marine Nationale all year, not backing him AP, and on the day backing Il Etait Temps.

The amount of doubles and trebles i put Dysart Dynamo in early year. A mistake ill learn from.

Gerri Colombe slips at all prices losing.

Its For Me in the bumper. Thought it was a good thing.

Mighty Potter at 25s all the way down. And in equal measure, the miserable ride Davy Russell gave him.

Shishkin costing me again. Was my biggest ever bet in the Tingle Creek, i had similar on him Thursday. Never again.

Blazing Khal. More doubles and trebles down, as well as a large single.

Going big on Blood Destiny despite have Lossiemouth in all AP bets that had already lost.

Corbetts Cross.


Hope Davy retires again. In genuinely the most nicest way of saying it. Gave a few some honkers this week.
 
The Good :
Marine Nationale, Constitution Hill, Impaire Et Passe and Galopin Des Champs. Excellent performances from all.
Honeysuckle retiring on a high. I've never won a penny on the mare and still hate they went the Mares 3 years ago when I had a 40/1 Champions Hurdle slip in a poor renewal but watching the scenes in the paddock was something else. 4 festival wins in a row a great achievement.
The story around the bumper win.

The Bad :
Shishkin not turning up again and generally the whole of Thursday

The Ugly :
I felt it was a touch quieter on Tuesday than previous years and the attendance figures bear that out. They need to have a good long think about prices for next year with everything else going on in the real world.
 
as i understand things, they capped it at 68,500. was someway below this on the first 3 days (wednesday was only 50k)

not sure on Friday which i expect was probably full as usual
 
The good............he was wonderful..Constitution Hill

The bad....Shishkin never for one second did I think from flag fall he would win

The Ugly anyone who didn't feel very emotional when Honeysuckle won the mares
 
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The Good

Tuesday - Had my best ever punting day with Marine Nationale @ 33/1 & 25/1, Corach Rambler @ 16/1 and Jazzy Matty @ 18/1, along with the three shorter priced winners. But it was about so much more than that. Constitution Hill followed by Honeysuckle was the best of what the sport has to offer.

The Bad

Pretty much every other day from a punting perspective, despite making profit on the Wednesday it felt like a losing day. The Thursday was brutal and the Friday only slightly better.

The worst was seeing a big price ante post yankee failing to return a penny after a 25/1 winner of the first, Champ Kiely @ 16/1 and Mighty Potter @ 12/1 (4th leg was a no show)

The Ugly

The starts and Skelton raving on about Pembroke all day (“has a stone in hand”) only for his Faivoir to pop up at 33/1
 
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The Constitution Hill/Honeysuckle hour was terrific but, for me, didn't quite match the "Golden Thursday" of a few years ago.
 
I was there for all four days, combination of work and social.

All my horse memories are contained above but by far the 'goodest' of the good was when Dysart Dynamo got up. The owner is a personal friend, she bred him and I know close up how a fatality would have impacted fine people. Another 'good' was the fine group of people that allowed me to house share and tag along at times, incl Art. Fun and factual all the way.

Bad: The prices at the course and the 'racing experience' are driving true horse people away in droves, especially as the alternatives at DRF and Punchestown are now widely known. The traditionalists are being replaced by folk who wear suits two sizes too small, trousers above the ankle, no socks, loafers and who spend the day with their backs to the horses. The worst part is the failure of the executive to recognise this, blame strikes for the shortfall of 14K (Weds, no rail strike) year on year. They are sleep walking the festival into crisis.

Ugly: Why do stewards at public events in England think a yellow luminous jacket gives them a license to aggressively yell at customers?
 
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an capall said:
I was there for all four days, combination of work and social.

All my horse memories are contained above but by far the 'goodest' of the good was when Dysart Dynamo got up. The owner is a personal friend, she bred him and I know close up how a fatality would have impacted fine people. Another 'good' was the fine group of people that allowed me to house share and tag along at times, incl Art. Fun and factual all the way.

Bad: The prices at the course and the 'racing experience' are driving true horse people away in droves, especially as the alternatives at DRF and Punchestown are now widely known. The traditionalists are being replaced by folk who wear suits two sizes too small, trousers above the ankle, no socks, loafers and who spend the day with their backs to the horses. The worst part is the failure of the executive to recognise this, blame strikes for the shortfall of 14K (Weds, no rail strike) year on year. They are sleep walking the festival into crisis.

Ugly: Why do stewards at public events in England think a yellow luminous jacket gives them a license to aggressively yell at customers?
Click to expand...

I wish the powers that be would read you post - they won’t, of course, and if I could gaze down (or up) in fifty years time I would bet DRF is the main show with Cheltenham a mere backwater.
 
JamesRB said:
as i understand things, they capped it at 68,500. was someway below this on the first 3 days (wednesday was only 50k)

not sure on Friday which i expect was probably full as usual
Click to expand...

Friday was at the sold out limit,( capped) understood that the other 3 days were down on last years' attendances and all 3 days also had capped attendence figures if they had sold out, which they didn't.
 
an capall said:
I was there for all four days, combination of work and social.

All my horse memories are contained above but by far the 'goodest' of the good was when Dysart Dynamo got up. The owner is a personal friend, she bred him and I know close up how a fatality would have impacted fine people. Another 'good' was the fine group of people that allowed me to house share and tag along at times, incl Art. Fun and factual all the way.

Bad: The prices at the course and the 'racing experience' are driving true horse people away in droves, especially as the alternatives at DRF and Punchestown are now widely known. The traditionalists are being replaced by folk who wear suits two sizes too small, trousers above the ankle, no socks, loafers and who spend the day with their backs to the horses. The worst part is the failure of the executive to recognise this, blame strikes for the shortfall of 14K (Weds, no rail strike) year on year. They are sleep walking the festival into crisis.

Ugly: Why do stewards at public events in England think a yellow luminous jacket gives them a license to aggressively yell at customers?
Click to expand...

Fair play Colm; you have summed up the demise of the British Empire better than Basil Fawlty's antics ever could.

The Good . Some fantastic results for Barry and Michael O'Sullivan; the Hunter Chase result; Good Time Jonny , the Gleesons , Impervious , Skeltons and Nicholls-Cobden among others.
A great mix of winners and placed horses.
How jockeys adapted to whip rules and racing was as exciting as ever.
The Bad. My punting but small money no harm.
The fact I had flights booked but didn't make it; no harm done as Capall's Bads would have equally upset me had I been there.
Hats off to his House Crew, as fine a bunch of guys as anyone could have the pleasure to meet.
UGly.. Nothing ugly about good racing.
 
The good. The Racing
The bad my picks mostly ,down but nothing to lose sleep over,mainly thanks to the m.pipe.
The ugly
See Wilson's post plus the false starts.
 
The Good:
Well nothing can possibly top the Honeysuckle moment for me. It really was up there with Dawn Runs Gold Cup in terms of emotion. I watched it in the Mandarin Bar (where I went to get an overpriced cup of tea) and there were grown men who cried. I videoed her coming back into the Winners Enclosure and it was something else.
Constitution Hill lived up to what we hoped in the Champion as did Galopin in the Gold Cup.
I was really pleased to see Envoi Allen bounce back to form too.
Less fallers...and I mean noticeably so. The Gold Cup apart, horses just seemed to jump better so it seems that the changeover to white guard rails could be making a significant difference and that has to be a positive?

The Bad:
The continued annihilation of the British horses and the over dominance of one trainer with over half the runners in one race. This cannot be good for racing long-term.
Echoing ACs thoughts...the Cheltenham establishment is losing sight of the genuine racing public replacing them with fickle, monied, ungrateful, uninterested types.
The ticket prices, the food prices, the drinks prices, the everything prices. THATS why the numbers were significantly down. It’s must not affordable anymore. And they just don’t care. They say they are in line with other sporting events....
Really sorry that Famous Clermont ran. Neither his jockey or his trainer wanted to due to the ground but the owner insisted. He had a hard race and for a horse that was so tricky mentally as a young horse which they worked so hard to overcome, I hope it hasn’t left a mark.

The Ugly:
The music. It used to be just when the winning horse came back into the paddock. Now it is blasted out throughout the day and it’s fecking awful! I was talking to my bookie today and he had a Tatts pitch. They couldn’t actually hear people asking for bets because it was so loud! I have emailed the racecourse because so many were grimacing when yet another pop song came on...I reminded them that this was a racecourse with live animals and neither a nightclub nor a shopping centre.
The appalling decision to demote Dashel Drasher. I talked to Stewards today at the Point to Point and every one said it was a very poor decision. They also felt if it had been a Mullins/Elliot horse it would not have been thrown out but because it was a smaller yard, it was (their words not mine). One of them went so far as to say what is an Australian with zero experience of NH doing heading the panel...I hope Jeremy Scott appeals as I think the owners want to (it’s nearly £40k!)
 
Good,
El Fab spitting Jonbon out.
Constitution Hill following that with a nice piece of work in the Champion.

Bad/Ugly,
Z listers after Constitution Hill!
 
Good
The Gold Cup, I was at Wetherby to see Bravemansgame win the Charlie Hall, backed him in the KG and was heavily invested for the big one. He was beaten by a great horse with a great jockey on board, but he lived up to his name and proved the doubters wrong. It was a thrilling Gold Cup. Also backing a Skelton horse in a big handicap, it’s been a path to profit this season!
Bad. The piece on itv with Michael Dickinson. It saddens me how the North of England can’t produce the NH horses like those of the past. I just don’t see it changing. The big 3 in Ireland is where it’s at now and it’ll be a generation before anything changes in that respect. By the way I love watching their horses, I just wish they were trained in Yorkshire :)
Ugly. Nothing really, I watched or listened to all 28 races and loved them all, win or lose. I go racing 3 or 4 times a month but have no wish to rush back to the festival. I love to watch the horses and I’ve never found it easy at Cheltenham in March. Still loved it on TV though.
 
Good.
The racing was fabulous. Two absolute champions and some top notch future champions.
The bad.
Moaning about irish domination. I've yet to speak to anyone who cares where the winners are trained. As long as there are great races and punters pick the winner its all hunky dory.
The ugly.Ahoy senor crashing out of the gold cup. Ran such a great race but one mistake and gone. Could have done with going slightly slower to give the horse a chance to get home and yes I backed him. Overall as good a meeting as I can remember. Roll on next year.
 
Good

Number of smaller stables with wins
Impaire/Marine and the future of Racing having these stars
Honeysuckle and all the good things coming the way of Henry
CH Breaking the Supreme hoodoo and Nickys reaction
Galopin Appearing on paper to be the best chaser since Kauto
Impervious getting Colm Murphy back in the spotlight
Tuesday 3.30 to 4.50
Ruby's analysis

The Bad
The thoughts of someone with influence like Michael oleary calling for five days
Mighty Potter
The changing demographic of Racing attendee

Mostly good to see the forum still active, I do think it slowed down a bit this season but we have a few more years life in us
 
Forgot about Nicky's reaction got to admit I have never seen him on video look so relieved and deleighted ever.........he was like a kid who just got the key to Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory:)
 
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Truncheon said:
Good: That 45 minutes on Tuesday

Bad: De Boinville's ride on Shishkin

Ugly: The extortionate prices at Cheltenham, i didn't go this year and a lot of others didn't either, crowd was down 14k on the Weds, that is a massive drop

I'm off to Uttoxeter in half an hour for although the racing doesn't match up, it's a better day out and more affordable one
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Wouldn't be blaming the jockey for Shishkin's performance myself.
The race time shows the official 'soft' ground was all wrong,and it's feasible they may have just gone too quick for him. Pushed along from flagfall,despite the jumping errors and the struggle to keep up, the way he finished showed he's not short of class and lends credence to the conclusion he was simply outpaced.
He's already returned from the dead once and, given the right circumstances, may well do so again.
 
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