The Road To The 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Jack Kennedy is set to ride Minella Indo in the Gold Cup while Rachael Blackmore will partner A Plus Tard.
 
Just what racing needs after the Elliott scandal;

"Female jockey wins Gold Cup" headline :D
 
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Maruco said:
It's not just you Moe. The problem with Al Boum Photo is we just don't see him running through the heart of the season. It makes latch on to other horses and want them to beat him.

The trouble is I don't think anything will, and he'll be a three time winner without people scrambling to put his picture up in the study.
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I did hear one take (some podcast or other) that it was his name that put people off.

Basically it's his kid glove campaigning

After his hijinks at Punchestown years ago, he should of been all rock and roll but alas he is just a bit vanilla
 
granger said:
I did hear one take (some podcast or other) that it was his name that put people off.

Basically it's his kid glove campaigning

After his hijinks at Punchestown years ago, he should of been all rock and roll but alas he is just a bit vanilla
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Two time gold cup winner, in the way he has won, and who he has beat, doesn't make him a champion racehorse. Would he be in the top ten of Willie's all time? He was beaten by Kemboy - not even favourite - after his first Gold Cup. Its pretty hard to argue that he is the best staying chaser around in any of the last two years.
 
I don’t want him to win because if trainers start thinking along the lines of “to win 3 Gold Cups you need to give them one easy race beforehand” where will be?

First Best Mate and then ABP would set a bad precedent and the complete opposite of a Kauto Star (for example) who everyone loved and possibly could have won 3 if he’d led the same sheltered life.

People want to see racehorses race and without that nobody cares.

Similar to a golfer winning a major one year then fukcing off for 12 months until the next year and using their previous winner qualifier to get in year on year. They’d have few fans wanting them to win.
 
HawkWing said:
Two time gold cup winner, in the way he has won, and who he has beat, doesn't make him a champion racehorse. Would he be in the top ten of Willie's all time? He was beaten by Kemboy - not even favourite - after his first Gold Cup. Its pretty hard to argue that he is the best staying chaser around in any of the last two years.
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i think him winning gold cups in both seasons makes it not that hard to argue. no harder than the counter argument at least. not like there's a top racehorse in the division outside of him who, for some reason, didn't win at cheltenham.
 
Yeah. He won the Gold Cups and delighted for Willie. Its not his fault that others didnt perform/didnt show up/didnt progress as he did. It feels like a weakish generation as a result and its not as if he is dominating them. I hope he wins for his fans.
 
HawkWing said:
Yeah. He won the Gold Cups and delighted for Willie. Its not his fault that others didnt perform/didnt show up/didnt progress as he did. It feels like a weakish generation as a result and its not as if he is dominating them. I hope he wins for his fans.
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the opinion that it's a weakish generation, which i fairly agree with, makes it not that hard to argue he's been the best horse from it.

you mention kemboy/clan des obeaux but you cannot think its an easy argument to say either of those are objectively better than al boum photo. i dont think there's that much between all of them but i'd say its easier to argue ABP is the top dog of the 3.
 
JamesRB said:
the opinion that it's a weakish generation, which i fairly agree with, makes it not that hard to argue he's been the best horse from it.

you mention kemboy/clan des obeaux but you cannot think its an easy argument to say either of those are objectively better than al boum photo. i dont think there's that much between all of them but i'd say its easier to argue ABP is the top dog of the 3.
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Yeah. There isn't much between the three of them. ABP may be best suited to chelt 3m2 but not sure he has been better than clans king George or kemboy at his best
 
Genuinely still confused. Just have the opinion that ABPs best Gold cup runs wouldnt necessarily be enough to beat Clan des obeauxs KG or Kemboys best.
 
2 seasons ago, Kemboy was the best staying chaser according to OR and Timeform. Last season it was Al Boum Photo and he is a solid favourite this season.

For all the chatter about ABP's schedule, no-one seems concerned that Champ has only run once and A Plus Tard twice so far this season. Of the main contenders, Minella Indo is the only one to have appeared more than 3 times.

ABP and Champ are both 9yos. According to the RP, ABP has had 17 career outings winning over £863K and Champ just 14 for £286K. I imagine the Donnellys are relaxed about his place in the pantheon.
 
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Regardless of the strength of the division currently, and there is no doubt that it is weaker than a number of years ago, what elevates ABP above the rest and which he doesn't get enough credit for is his adaptability, to win two gold cups in itself is an incredible achievement but to win two in such differently run races is what sets him apart - both CDO and Kemboy have very specific conditions that they need to show their best - ABP is much more versatile and consistent and at the end of the day is quite simply just better!

I'm not sure why he doesn't get the credit he deserves or why he hasn't captured the hearts of racing fans but its probably a combination of things - he was largely unfancied in his first win - Ruby didn't even pick him - and then and probably most significantly is how he is campaigned, UK racegoers and casual IRE race fans only see or hear of him in March.

He has a great opportunity to join the elite list of 3 times Gold Cup winners and yet even if he does he won't be considered anything other that a good consistent horse, which is amazing really when you think about it. Tiger Roll for example is a household name and everyone knows who he is, the casual racing fan would have to be reminded who ABP is.
 
I suppose you can only beat what's put in front of you so ABP, not unlike Best Mate, is potentially a triple winner; a smart horse in a modest era.

I really wanted Santini to progress 7lbs from last year to this. So far it hasn't happened.

I wanted Minella Indo and Allaho to progress into top notchers. That hasn't really happened either.

Even though I backed champ before his big run the other day, that was with a view to snaffling some value. He still has it to prove too.

Kemboy strikes me as pretty much on a par with ABP. He should have every chance. I don't buy the course aversion theory.

Native River might struggle on the decent ground but the fact he was so impressive last time maybe tells you all you need to know about the current crop.

Royale Pagaille is the big unknown but I have him covered too at 50/1.

The words "glorified" and "handicap" spring to mind...
 
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