The Road To The 2018 Champion Hurdle

Who will win the 2018 CH

  • Buveur D'Air

    Votes: 17 54.8%

  • Faugheen

    Votes: 10 32.3%

  • Other

    Votes: 4 12.9%
  • Total voters
    31
  • Poll closed .
JCB Triumph Hurdle hero Defi Du Seuil (Philip Hobbs), unbeaten in seven hurdle races, is on course to make his eagerly-awaited comeback in the £35,000 Masterson Holdings Hurdle. at the Showcase meeting.
 
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If he has to battle against TNO, I will be devastated. He should canter all over him.

Bula and Fighting Fifth both under consideration as alternatives, apparently.
 
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Hobbs previously sent Foghorn Leghorn and Detroit City to the old Afga Hurdle (Contenders now?) at Sandown in February, ahead of the Festival.

I think Defi thrives on racing - he wont want to wrap him up at Xmas to keep him fresh for the Festival, I don't reckon.
 
What is so impressive about Melon to take a chance on him @ anything at or below 25/1? Without being confirmed for the race & even winning a major race as a novice? Apart from the inside reports I mean
 
Melon, Defi, Faugheen!!! What are you lads on?

Melon has only got a maiden hurdle win to his name around these shores. Difi carries that Triumph form that year on year gets put out with the trash every December...Katchit apart in recent years.

And Faugheen, well he’s got to get there first. We heard all the positive sound bites before!! And as a 10 year old by next March he’ll more than likely be more interested in collecting his pension than lining up on March 13.

Do yourselves a favour lads. There’s still some 4s available on the Buv. Invest... I’ve been topping up all summer.

PS. Thank God the jumps are back.


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It will be the training performance of all time to win a champion hurdle with Faugheen.

Lets face it, as a 10 year old racing in next years champion hurdle, providing he even gets there, there is no improvement possible. There is however lots of improvement in the Buv who took care of the opposition quite cosily at both Cheltenham & Aintree.

Honestly, I see Buveur D’Air dominating the hurdling ranks for the next year or two. There’s nothing coming through to worry him and the likes of My tent and Faugheen are past it in my opinion.

BD won his champion hurdle with the strangest prep I have seen for the race but it’s a testament to the horse and his trainer to bring him back to win a champion hurdle on only his second start out of novice company. He still had loads left in the locker at both Cheltenham & Aintree so there will be tons of improvement to come this year.....when he actually gets to practice jumping those hurdles before the big one.


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I know you love the horse, KA, and you may well be right about him.

However, the ease of his victory could just as easily be down to it being one of the poorest CH fields compiled in many a year. When a boat like Yanworth goes off fave, it basically tells you all you need to know about the quality.

Faugheen actually has very few miles on the clock, and whilst the likelihood of improvement is remote, I agree, he would not need to improve an ounce, to be competitive. In fact, if he returned within a half-stone of his very best, he would win the Champion Hurdle with his head in his chest. If he is a stone below his very best, he’d still be capable of giving Buveur D’Air a race (imho).

All that said, you’re on the right horse as things stand, and pretty-much everything else needs to improve considerably, to take his crown.
 
Grasshopper said:
I know you love the horse, KA, and you may well be right about him.

However, the ease of his victory could just as easily be down to it being one of the poorest CH fields compiled in many a year. When a boat like Yanworth goes off fave, it basically tells you all you need to know about the quality.

Faugheen actually has very few miles on the clock, and whilst the likelihood of improvement is remote, I agree, he would not need to improve an ounce, to be competitive. In fact, if he returned within a half-stone of his very best, he would win the Champion Hurdle with his head in his chest. If he is a stone below his very best, he’d still be capable of giving Buveur D’Air a race (imho).

All that said, you’re on the right horse as things stand, and pretty-much everything else needs to improve considerably, to take his crown.
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Agree with most of that Grass except the notion of last year been one of the poorest fields assembled in a while. Was it any poorer than when Annie Power beat My Tent the previous year by the exact same distance that Buv beat her? Annie then went on to beat Tent at Aintree as did BD last year too. Annie was heralded as a superstar and remember she was getting 7lbs.

Faugheen beat TNO by 8L in his champion hurdle, BD beat him by 11 so the yardsticks are all there to suggest it wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be!


As for Yanworth. How he went off fav is beyond me. Crazy stuff but sure it made Buv even more attractive on top ups that day.

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MTOY was returning from a long absence behind Annie, whereas he was race-fit behind Buveur, so not sure the comparison is entirely valid, and not sure the TNO comparison is entirely valid either, given he’s looked like wanting further the older he gets.

I’m quibbling anyway. Buveur an entirely representative CH winner in anyone’s book, I’d say, and definitely the one they all have to beat. :cool:
 
Kauto Abu said:
It will be the training performance of all time to win a champion hurdle with Faugheen.
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So you'll attribute Faugheen's potential win to his trainer?? Thats hilarious considering he's the one who got him beat by giving him a hard prep with few days before an official race and without realizing the horse fitness at the start of the season when just the previous season he had Skelton telling him he hadn't seen a horse with so much weight going into a race. Mullins already made the performance of all time getting Faugheen beat. I won't attribute anything to him in case he does get to the race and wins by a short neck, its all about the horse.

I agree BDair shouldn't be thought of as an winner in a poor year, just like you said he beat MTOY the same amount of lengths like the superstar Annie but he wasn't giving away any weight. Yanworth we now know he was drugged and cannot possibly take his performance seriously. However, lets not compare TNO of `14, `15 with what he performed in the past year. Faugheen beat 2 previous champions that day, one of which was in the form of his life even at 10, and the other killed his chances trying to take Faugheen on so early(McCoy words immediately after the race). He also came in without a prep-run, and thats huge for him because all of his best performance came after he had more races under his belt, P'town `14, `15, Leop `16, when he came in after a long break he always underperformed by 1-2 stones.. apparently Mullins finally realized that now and had him in training all summer so I'll give him credit for that.
 
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