The Road to the 2019 Cheltenham Gold Cup

If Haydock turns up like it has the past couple of years I’d be very surprised to see Nicky run Might Bite, despite the bonus on offer.

Sizing John was set to go for it last year until it yet again turned into a swamp.
 
Can’t see The Biter going at Haydock......wouldn’t be surprised to see him go in the Amlin under a penalty as a prep (without a care if he wins or not), to put him straight for Kempton......then possibly straight to Festival, though I’d rather they took in the Costwold on the way.
 
Don’t think he necessarily needs one, but figure they may follow Tizzards example with NR. I reckon they will gear everything towards winning the Gold Cup.....and I absolutely reckon they think he’d have won the last one on better ground.
 
I've followed Nicky Henderson for longer than I can remember and one thing I know is he is a creature of habit.

Altior Buvi and Biter all looked after with their main aim Cheltenham. Even Sprinter Sacre had only 2 runs before he won the Queen Mother.

To be frank Biter doesn't belong in the same sentence as the other 3.

He was beaten fair and square in the Gold Cup. There are few news kids on the block so the next one will be tougher

With that in mind Nicky will want to win everything he can before Gold Cup day and WILL throw caution to the wind...........Target 1 the Betfair trust me :cool:
 
Last edited:
I’ll give you a free pony bet on any Festival race you like, if The Biter runs at Haydock on groud which is Soft or worse, pal.

I can’t say fairer than that.

Edit: also worth re-stating for the record......Henderson is one of the most useless prevaricators around, when it comes to targets for his horses, as his dicking about with his 2m hurdlers over the years amply demonstrates. As an example, creatures of habit generally don’t send one of their Champion Hurdle horses for a prep in hock-deep mud at Kelso, and see them get turned-over at 1/14. :p
 
Last edited:
Henderson after Aintree

Henderson said: "That was as good a round of jumping as you'll ever see. He was just on it the whole way - he was doing crazy things.

"The horse was just enjoying himself. He's been telling us he's right, but you just can't tell until you run them how much they have left in the Cotswolds (Cheltenham)."

"That's obviously it for this season," he said.

"We'll be a bit braver next year, though, and we might have a crack at the Betfair (Chase, Haydock).
 
Nicky has only run 2 horses in the Betfair both Gold Cup winners.
He sent Long Run twice to take on Kauto Star and Silv Conti.

He also sent his Gold Cup winner Bobsworth to take on Cue Card despite Long Run failing twice.

If he can send 2 Gold Cup winners I would imagine, sending a Gold Cup loser when there's a million pounds plus at stake, it would take wild horses to stop him
 
Long Run had plenty of soft and very soft ground form from his days in France and the ground was officially no worse than Soft in any of the Betfairs he contested.

The Betfair that Bobs Worth ran in was officially Soft but the winning time was only 5 seconds below standard, compare that to the winning time set by Bristol De Mai last year in very different ground, which was over 30 seconds below standard. And one could argue that the race finished Bobs Worth, not withstanding the fact he managed to win the Lexus on his next start - he was never the same horse thereafter.

I’d be absolutely amazed if - and it is only an “if” - the ground is anything like it’s been the past two years (and Haydock seem to have real problems in that regard recently) that Nicky elects to run him.

The bonus is tempting but surely the King George and Gold Cup are the priorities.
 
Last edited:
Lee
The time for the 013 Betfair have since been widely accepted to be misleading, as the race was run over shorter than the official distance. It was clearly billed as a 3m 1f chase on the day, but no longer shows that distance in the form book. Cue Cards time was over 3s quicker than the current 3m course record.
NH later accredited Bobs Worth's poor run to the race being "too much of a speed test" rather than any problem with the ground.
Do agree that Might Bite may not run on softer ground; for all I think him an amazing horse, he has yet to prove he can handle a proper test of stamina.
 
Look back at what happened in the Gold Cup..According to Grassy and Co. Native River outstayed Bite in the Gold Cup.

The ground was officially soft...The question you have to ask yourself is was Biter at anytime going as well as, better than or not as well as Native River???

If you believe what beat him was stamina.."he was outstayed" if he meets him round an easier course at a shorter trip give me one good reason why you wouldn't run him on soft ground?

The biggest worry for Nicky Henderson is the heavy has been in the description for the last 4 years.


Then again it was very soft in the KG that didn't stop him running
 
Thanks Reet. I know the times were misleading but I (maybe naively) thought that RP comparisons with standard would broadly take that into consideration - or maybe not.

My main point though is that the ground in Bobs Worth race was nothing like as bad as the last two runnings and while I could see Might Bite running on genuinely soft ground, he won’t if we get a repeat of 2016 or 2017 but I see you suspect the same.
 
Tanlic, The Biter was cantering all over NR coming down the hill, and going to 2-out.

Two things beat MB that day; the ground and the throrough stamina of NR. Change the ground to G/S and I genuinely believe the result is different. I don’t have any concerns about The Biter’s stanina for a Gold Cup - he had too many other genuine stayers beaten a mile-out.
 
and when Nicky gives his update on the plethora of stable stars he has in his charge this year, where you'll note he confirms the KG is the early-mid season priority and they will "try to go for the Betfair chase" en route.

*** Edited to move to Stable Tours thread ***
 
Last edited:
News on JN Wine Champion Chase entries from RP

Gigginstown House Stud are responsible for seven of the 13 entries in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal on November 3, with last year's Ryanair Chase winner Balko Des Flos among the possible runners. Gordon Elliott's JLT Novices' Chase winner Shattered Love also features on Gigginstown’s list, as do stablemates Don Poli, Alpha Des Obeaux, Monbeg Notorious and Outlander, who won the race 12 months ago. Paul Nicholls, who won the prize with Kauto Star in 2008 and 2010, as well as with Taranis in 2007 and Kauto Stone in 2012, has entered Clan Des Obeaux and Black Corton. The 2015 Gold Cup winner Coneygree has also been entered.
 
Interesting to see Clan Des Obeaux in the race

As trust me this young horse could be another Champion for Nicholls.
 
Back
Top