The Road To The 2021 Champion Hurdle

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Whoooosh...Honeysuckle what a beauty...

Goshen, massive cliche under pressure cost him....

F/C and T/C there
 
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Well done Honeysuckle backers. Impressive winner.

Epatante was pretty unlucky in running and should have been a clear second. Sharjah a good marker for the form, which says it all really.
 
A proper champion hurdler - 7lbs or no 7lbs - super performance. The money told.

Goshen, at least he didnt JUMP to the right but too awkward to be good. Shame.
 
No excuses she simply has improved out of all recognition since last year....I'd be happy to back her to follow See You Then Istabraq and Perian War and run up 3 wins
 
HawkWing said:
A proper champion hurdler - 7lbs or no 7lbs - super performance. The money told.

Goshen, at least he didnt JUMP to the right but too awkward to be good. Shame.
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Let's hope he comes out the race okay.

That's the main thing.
 
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Going off at a tangent here but there is so much praise for Henry giving Rachael such good rides but people seem to have forgotten that it was Shark Hanlon that gave her her first break. That was spectacular today, though.
 
jinnyj said:
I really liked Goshen but I will flag up a couple of things. His two disappointing runs have come at Cheltenham. The first one after a freakish accident at the last, the second due to a heart issue. Now I thought he ran really well at Wincanton although possibly Song for Someone possibly underperformed. But sometimes horses have memories of bad things happening and with there being two problems coming at the same place, it could be playing on my mind. It’s a very small if, but for me it’s still an if!.
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Mmmmmm. Do we think this could be an issue? He didn’t just hang, he completely locked his jaw. I would either be suspecting the above or getting a scan done on his near fore.

That aside. Honey and Rachel were sublime.
 
Would be surprising to see him there again.

Henry left a champion behind them last year. Different gravy.
 
If all returns fine with Goshen physically, they NEED to look at the bit he is having/wearing.

He is obviously quite head strong, he does run like a bit of a nutter. I think they used a gag last year when he fell in the Triumph, but it just looked to me as though Jamie Moore had no brakes or control today, so first port of call after a physical check, would be to try a better/stronger bit on him and see how they go.
 
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Gaz's Way De Solzen said:
If all returns fine with Goshen physically, they NEED to look at the bit he is having/wearing.

He is obviously quite head strong, he does run like a bit of a nutter. I think they used a gag last year when he fell in the Triumph, but it just looked to me as though Jamie Moore had no brakes or control today, so first port of call after a physical check, would be to try a better/stronger bit on him and see how they go.
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I think that when at a lower pace (worse ground or lesser company) he can be controlled. It was in this better company and faster pace, Jamie kinda has to let him roll and just isnt tractable enough when encouraged to let lose. I dont think they will do anything that can get away from the fact that its not his course.

Even at his tippy top best, I couldnt see him getting near todays Honeysuckle in any case.
 
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Gaz's Way De Solzen said:
If all returns fine with Goshen physically, they NEED to look at the bit he is having/wearing.

He is obviously quite head strong, he does run like a bit of a nutter. I think they used a gag last year when he fell in the Triumph, but it just looked to me as though Jamie Moore had no brakes or control today, so first port of call after a physical check, would be to try a better/stronger bit on him and see how they go.
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He runs (and did last year) in a dexter ring bit plus grakle noseband. Not many horses take that combination on and are still able to **** their jaw like that. I rode some pretty big strong colts in the US and they are like putty in your hands to ride in those bits. I would imagine that the jockey had a completely impossible steering job and actually did well to keep in straight once he started. It is a very scary thing once that happens.
 
Was that a poor ride from Moore?

Given Goshen’s tendencies, you surely want to be on the rail all the way round with something right of you to keep you straight, rather than parked on the outside with no cover, on a horse known to lug to the right?

Wouldn’t have changed the result - winner too good.
 
Not a poor ride from Moore as absolutely nothing he could have done. I have ridden horses that have done that and cocked their jaw and you are completely powerless to stop them. He’s a big strong horse too. Moore was lucky that he didn’t go out over the outside rails and he did really well to wrestle him back. Even if he had a horse on his outside, there is a chance being buried deep he may have stayed there but more likely he probably would have taken several with him.
 
When we’ve just seen what looked an exceptional winner, the performance of beaten horses is largely irrelevant but Goshen had indicated at that sort of thing for a while so equipment was highly unlikely to be to blame.

I’d backed Epatante and Sharjah e/w but they were in a different league to the ultra impressive winner.

Many people - me included - felt there was a lesser buzz about this meeting but the first two races dispelled that theory and then she rubber stamped it.
 
jinnyj said:
Not a poor ride from Moore as absolutely nothing he could have done. I have ridden horses that have done that and cocked their jaw and you are completely powerless to stop them. He’s a big strong horse too. Moore was lucky that he didn’t go out over the outside rails and he did really well to wrestle him back. Even if he had a horse on his outside, there is a chance being buried deep he may have stayed there but more likely he probably would have taken several with him.
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Aye, it's a wonder he finished at all. I noticed he was sweating up before the start - can't remember if he has done that before.
 
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