The Road To The 2018 Champion Chase

Exchanges and bookies should be required to cancel the bets struck on a race in the 24 hours before the likes of a Douvan or an Altior are announced as non-runners. This would only happen on the say-so of an independent betting commissioner who would have access to betting records to decide whether insider trading had been taking place.
 
The Willie "Hillary Clinton" Mullins trained Douvan will now run at Xmas. The year was not mentioned.

As true as it is about trainers don't know until the last min if a horse is 100% to run or not simply does not apply here so why the hell are people bringing it up?

Mullins clearly stated the horse did a fantastic piece of work on Tuesday but within hours the horse started to drift on the machine.

So let me get this straight. Those who witnessed this piece of work thought "Geez look at him go he's absolutely flying lets go lay him on Betfair"



As I said earlier the racing media won't ask the obvious because they are **** scared of Mullins boycotting them so like Hilary he gets a pass.

Bog all the poor punters who lost Thousands due to his failure to let people know as soon as possible, not when he had one foot on the fookin ferry.
 
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Douvan's trainer Willie Mullins said on Thursday: "Douvan worked very well at the Curragh on Tuesday. He cantered yesterday. He did another little bit early this morning and I wasn't entirely happy with him.
"Maybe he hadn't fully recovered from what he did on Tuesday and I decided not to declare him for Sandown. No decision has been made regarding when he will have his first run of the season."[/QUOTE]

This doesn't quite add up, Douvan worked well on Tuesday, trainer wasn't happy with him on Thursday so didn't enter him.
The drift on the machine happened on Wednesday?

From a punting point of view I'm happy, post #175 on this thread said I was on the Fox @2/1.
But you can see why the public feel misled. I'd imagine a few people probably bought tickets for the weekend purely on the basis that they would see Douvan too.
 
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Grey said:
Exchanges and bookies should be required to cancel the bets struck on a race in the 24 hours before the likes of a Douvan or an Altior are announced as non-runners. This would only happen on the say-so of an independent betting commissioner who would have access to betting records to decide whether insider trading had been taking place.
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A similar version for this came in Lydia Hislop first Road to Cheltenham article for the season, I think most have missed this bit:

Perhaps via revisiting and tightening its existing (much relaxed) rules governing commercial relationships with its constituents, the BHA should require the timely announcement of important, market-sensitive news via an automated reporting system – maybe even one linked to Twitter? (In the old days, you’d use the Press Association but I gather that’s a bit pre-Millennial these days…)

This agreement would need to be extended to include owners, who are not currently licensed but for whom certain behaviours come under the jurisdiction of the BHA nonetheless. Under the terms of these rules, the owner’s right to know would remain primary but the prompt dissemination of “important” information would over-ride any commercial agreement in the first instance.

“Important” is going to require some guidance but it’s clearly not “he worked well on Wednesday” or even “he worked disappointingly on Wednesday” but rather pertaining to stone-cold, market-altering facts.

In tandem with the above, the BHA should also ask the Association of British Bookmakers and the Remote Gambling Association to establish an industry standard requiring all money traded to be refunded in all relevant markets from the time of the first alert until the time those market(s) are re-formed.
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Remember the 2011/2012 when Hurricane Fly missed all engagements before Irish Champion Hurdle and WPM refused to be drawn on any reason why he did not run, point blank refusing to speak about the horse ?
The Fly then won Irish Champion very easily before Rock On Ruby beat him at Festival.
Shades of the same here perhaps.
Not sure if I posted this last year but on entering parade ring for Hilly Way Chase last year Douvan, ears back, stopped dead and for a few seconds did not move, refusing to enter . It may have been nothing but I did not like seeing it at the time.
We can put too much emphasis on these little things but attention to detail is a facet of all trainers.
WPM was not there that day, Punchestown being the main meeting.
Among my blogs is "Stand By Douvan " ; a Country and Western ditty composed by Brownie Guinan, The Bard of Ferbane. Enjoy.
 
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Here's an interesting fact: Charbel and San Benedeto finished almost identical distances behind Altior as they did Politologue.

I am still not convince Altior is anywhere near as special as his army of fans think.
 
The BHA’s rules on laying by owners state; that it is an offence for any owner, to lay any horse he owns with a Betting Organisation to lose a race, instruct another person to do so on his behalf or receive the whole or part of any proceeds of such a lay.

But the rules also make it clear that; Should anyone wish to do so, on a grand scale, a scale that would benefit extremely greedy investors, then all they have to do is, join an organization such as Betbright, and reap reward from the profits of such an organization in the ordinary course of that Betting Organisation’s everyday business.
 
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Has any bookie priced-up the amount of runners that wll actually run in the Champion Chase? How about...

1 runner 12/1
2 runners 13/2
3 runners 11/2
4 runners 7/2
5 runners 9/4
6 runners 11/4
7 runners or more 14/1 :)

What's the phantom value in this market then, lads?
 
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They remain not happy with him . Perhaps the first time they have highly tried him he has gone backwards and has not handled it .
 
Aughex said:
Sounds like the same story with Faugheen & Annie Power last season, we knew somethings up if by December they didn't turn up..
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I wish I was wrong more often. Now Min's great price for the Ryanair is worthless.
 
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Depends to an extent on what shape Great Field is in, though you’d have to think QMCC is now long odds-on as the target.
 
I am surprised Un de Sceaux is not being reconsidered for this . He might well have won last year on his form with Special Tiara behind Sprinter . He probably would have won another Tingle Creek last weekend . Only Sprinter Sacre has ever beaten him at Cheltenham .
 
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