The King George

It's unlikely Sprinter Sacre will go to Kempton this year. Nicky Henderson will take some persuading as he feels the race simply isn't worth stepping up for with The Tingle Creek and the Victor Chandler combined worth the same in prize money.

Going for the King George would mean missing one or even two. Sprinter won both last year in common canters.

Simonsig is more likely to go the King George route but the big question with him is will his jumping stand up against seasoned chasers. He has made several unforced errors in his time and you only need to hit one at Kemton like Imperial Commander and Cue Card both found out to their cost.

As pointed out by Simmo Cue Card got murdered last year but that wasn't within a stone of his true running. As far as the trip goes I don't see that as a problem. It is far more likely the mistake he made at the first knocked the stuffing out of him which caught up with him in the latter stages.


I'd rather be judging him on his Ryanair win. The race was full of talented horses and he routed them storming up the hill 9 lengths clear of his nearest rival.

The Ryanair as we all know is run over 2m5f on the stiffest track in the country. Considering Cue Card was beaten with over 5f to run at Kempton that cries out it was not the trip.

At around 10/1 Cue Card I'm all for giving him another chance in the race.
 
I'd take issue with a couple of those points, Fist.
Chelenham's a stiff track alright, mainly because the finishing hill features twice in the Champion Chase and 3 times in the Gold Cup. However, the RyanAir isn't the same test (relatively) as the extra half-mile or so is mostly downhill.
Cue Card's first fence KG blunder can't have taken that much out of him - he made a similar error when running Bobs Worth very close as a novice - as he traveled well until the ground and the distance told on his stamina, yet was subsequently beaten a piece further than he ever has been over shorter.
He's a cracking horse, who wins most of his races by killing off others with his slick jumping before stamina becomes an issue, but his whole profile suggests (to me) that a top-level 3m will always be a bridge too far.
 
Euronymous said:
If Bob's Worth runs in the Lexus no way do FL and SDC take him on.
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I wouldn't be hugely surprised if Bob's Worth went to Haydock for the Betfair Chase, and then straight to Cheltenham......more's the pity. In hindsight, the King George was there for the taking last season, and - despite the fact that some heroic, handsome, swashbuckling judges had taken fancy prices about him for Kempton :whistle: - NJH swerved everything over the Xmas period (and January too), to save the horse for Cheltenham.

Bob's Worth is going to be cotton-wooled in the style of Best Mate; he goes too well fresh for his own good.

I am already over it.
 
No doubt about it the ground played a part in his below par performance Reet. As far as his jumping errors at the first 2nd and a somewhat odd looking jump at the 11th go it's never easy to judge how much they take out of a horse.

A point Joe Tizzard made about Cheltenham was the undulations allowed him to get a breather into the horse and that was one reason he finished full of running. At Kempton there are no such luxuries.

The sheer speed they travel round Kempton in the King George makes it as tough to get as any other course. Hence they almost always finish miles apart first to last.

If CT does decide (ground dependant) to give him another chance I'd give a better than fair chance of seeing it out as he's such a good traveler.

Goodish ground and dictating the pace may just see him do that IMO but as far as backing him goes I'd be very reluctant to do so unless there was agood chance of decent ground as CT won't let him run on testing ground again..
 
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Grasshopper said:
I wouldn't be hugely surprised if Bob's Worth went to Haydock for the Betfair Chase, and then straight to Cheltenham......more's the pity. In hindsight, the King George was there for the taking last season, and - despite the fact that some heroic, handsome, swashbuckling judges had taken fancy prices about him for Kempton :whistle: - NJH swerved everything over the Xmas period (and January too), to save the horse for Cheltenham.

Bob's Worth is going to be cotton-wooled in the style of Best Mate; he goes too well fresh for his own good.

I am already over it.
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Why wouldn't he do what he did last year. They can only give him another 6lbs in the Hennessy and the race is right up his street.

Not the worst start he could have and it would give him ample time to be let down and come back for 1 race before the Gold Cup.

The problem with the King George is the ground. Yes he'd probably have won it last season but training him for it with no guarantee the ground will be testing would be foolhardy especially when you have horses like Simonsig and Long Run both perfectly capable of winning the race.

Your right Nicky did avoid Kempton but he's no Kauto Star and it simply isn't his Bobs type of race, unless it's run in a bog.

He'll have a similar problem with Sprinter Sacre in the future I can't see him training him for a King George until he knows for sure he gets 3 miles with ease. He could send him this year and he'd probably win the race if the ground was good but with no guarantee of that why on earth bother? It's not like the race is worth squillans and running a horse over an unsuitable trip on heavy ground takes an awful lot of getting over.

You can lay him/Sprinter till the cows come home he will not go to Kempton this year.
 
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Tanlic said:
Why wouldn't he do what he did last year. They can only give him another 6lbs in the Hennessy and the race is right up his street.
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The Hennessy doesn't have an upper-limit on ratings, Tanlic, and whilst they can only ever give him top-weight, it's the concession of a stone-plus all-round (give or take who else at the top-end might run) that will make Newbury a non-starter.

An additional 6lbs sounds trivial at face value, but when applied in the light of BW's new official rating, it will mean he has to concede gobs of weight, making the job - theoretically - more difficult.

To be fair though, I'd admire Henderson if he went Hennessy/Gold Cup and nothing else next season. One race in adversity, and one to confirm who the Daddy is. I could probably accept that as a campaign. :cool:
 
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if BW could win another hennessy off his current rating he'd reach denman levels of adulation & praise.

don't think he'll go there though.

not sure he'll be at haydock either.
 
davidjohnson said:
Do they? Take out Doumen, and they've never won it, and he hasn't had a winner since First Gold in 2000.
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He had one running well a couple of years later too - until the jockey let him drop through the field without so much as a smack with the whip.

The French might have Bel La Vie but it'd be an afterthought given his main Autumn target will be the Prix La Haye Jousselin on International Weekend.

Martin
 
Sprinter Sacre confirmed as not having an entry.

Long Run is such a good bet at 8/1 for this. Where is SteveM?
 
Three miles on anything other than deep ground at Kempton isn't enough of a stamina test nowadays for Long Run.
 
Grasshopper said:
The form of last year's King George isn't worth a sook, imo.
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Same thing every time Long run wins - people have to accept he is top class, though not a once in a generation horse, over 3m round Kempton. 8/1 hugely underestimates his chances, and considering he has the beating of most of thise below him/above him in the betting, it is a great bet.

SDC probably won't travel
Simonsig will be found another race I would think - Lexus?
Al Ferof - how many come back at his age after a year off? Plus, he doesn't yet have form at the Long Run level

There may be a top horse who beats him, but he has shown at 3m round Kempton only the mighty Kauto has his beating.

8/1 is the best each way bet in years.
 
Hopefully Joe Tizzard will have a farm machinery related setback (non-fatal - I'm not a *******) which allows Brendan Powell to win this on Cue Card. He got the worst ride of the season in it last year.
 
Are you not forgetting the horse blundering early on which effectively ruined his chances?
 
Hamm said:
Same thing every time Long run wins - people have to accept he is top class, though not a once in a generation horse, over 3m round Kempton. 8/1 hugely underestimates his chances, and considering he has the beating of most of thise below him/above him in the betting, it is a great bet.
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His strike rate the last couple of years reflects his price. He is still high class as his effort at Punchestown suggested, but this year's field is likely to be better than 2012's.
 
Euronymous said:
His strike rate the last couple of years reflects his price. He is still high class as his effort at Punchestown suggested, but this year's field is likely to be better than 2012's.
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Can you remind me how many horses have beaten him at Kempton? :p

1, in 4 attempts.

I am not saying he definitely wins, but how everyone can't see he is miles better than a 1 in 3 chance to place is beyond me.
 
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