The Road To The Arkle Chase

Diamond Geezer

Diamond Geezer

Gone But Not Forgotten
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THE RACING POST ARKLE CHALLENGE TROPHY CHASE

Form Horse Age Owner Trainer
10-0121 ARGOCAT (IRE) 5 Fitri Hay Tom Taaffe IRE
241//-111F ARVIKA LIGEONNIERE (FR) 8 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
321-122 AUPCHARLIE (IRE) 7 Ann & Alan Potts Partnership Willie Mullins IRE
111123 BAILY GREEN (IRE) 7 Adam Scott Mouse Morris IRE
5/0P-F1UP BEEVERSTOWN (IRE) 7 Dr Ronan Lambe Jim Culloty IRE
00-21241 BENEFFICIENT (IRE) 7 A Shiels/Niall Reilly Tony Martin IRE
1622-111 CAPTAIN CONAN (FR) 6 Triermore Stud Nicky Henderson
P3-1521F FAGO (FR) 5 Andrea & Graham Wylie Paul Nicholls
41552302 HIS EXCELLENCY (IRE) 5 Mrs Jo Tracey David Pipe
2P32-111 MAJALA (FR) 7 Sharon Nelson Jayne Taylor Darren Taylor Tom George
22/52-113 MARITO (GER) 7 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
1/5F1-F11 MODULE (FR) 6 Simon Clarke Tom George
64-1F122 OSCARS WELL (IRE) 8 Molley Malone Syndicate Jessica Harrington IRE
1232-111 OVERTURN (IRE) 9 Tim Leslie Donald McCain
2212/-421 RUPERT LAMB 7 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE
2111-11 SIMONSIG 7 Ronnie Bartlett Nicky Henderson
1116-1141 TAP NIGHT (USA) 6 J P McManus Lucinda Russell
134-1211 TERMINAL (FR) 6 Favourites Racing Willie Mullins IRE
41/1P-3 TOOSTRONG (FR) 6 Gigginstown House Stud Willie Mullins IRE
5F-31112 TWINLIGHT (FR) 6 M L Bloodstock Ltd Willie Mullins IRE
1050-611 VIVA COLONIA (IRE) 8 Bolingbroke Racing, Mersey Racing Brian Ellison

21 entries remain after February 19 scratchings deadline
12 Irish-trained

THE FOLLOWING 12 HORSES HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED: BOSTON BOB (IRE), CANTLOW (IRE), CHANGING TIMES (IRE), KLEPHT (IRE), LORD WINDERMERE (IRE), OHIO GOLD (IRE), RONALDO DES MOTTES (FR),
SALDEN LICHT, TARLA (FR), TETLAMI (IRE), UPEPITO (FR) , UPSILON BLEU (FR)
 
Simonsig 8/11
Overturn 3/1
Arvika Ligeonniere 10/1
Captain Conan 10/1
Fago 10/1
Aupcharlie 20/1
Oscars Well 25/1
Baily Green 33/1
Benefficient 33/1
Majala 33/1
Marito 33/1
Viva Colonia 33/1
Rupert Lamb40/1
Tap Night 40/1
Twinlight 40/1
Argocat 50/1
His Excellency50/1
Terminal 66/1
Beeverstown100/1
Toostrong. 100-1
 
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Trainer Donald McCain has challenged Overturn's Racing Post Arkle rivals to take him on for the lead in the Cheltenham contest on March 12.

A winner of major handicaps on the level and good enough to be runner-up in a Champion Hurdle by employing front-running tactics, there have been rumblings the way to upset the nine-year-old is to challenge him up front.

However, McCain does not see that as an issue as he believes nothing will be able to live with Overturn over the first few fences.

"I don't think anybody needs to question the way Overturn is ridden," the Cholmondeley handler told At The Races.

"I keep reading about horses that are going to take him him on, but he's led Chesters Cups, Northumberland Plates and Champion Hurdles so I don't see why anything should change, that's just his way of racing.

"If something wants to go quicker than him, get on with it and good luck."

Fighting talk.
 
He's the perfect opponent for Simonsig. He'll have his heart broken when the grey goes past him on the bit.
 
Whatever beats Overturn wins IMO. Admirable, tough, classy.... I think Simonsig will hack up, but McCain's charge would win any normal renewal.
 
wouldnt surprise me if fago snatches 2nd from overturn

if arek legonaire stands his ground there are going to be 2 very tired front runners by the end of the race
 
If Simonsig beats Overturn on the bit - Sprinter Sacre will need to be worrried next year - unless they train Simonsig for the Gold Cup .
 
Ardross said:
If Simonsig beats Overturn on the bit - Sprinter Sacre will need to be worrried next year - unless they train Simonsig for the Gold Cup .
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Nicky surely will never run them against each other while both are winning everything they run in?

Simonsig dropped back because at the end of last season there was next to nothing you could put your finger on and say "Arkle" horse. It was like 7/2-4/1 and 10's bar. Overturn was more or less unconsidered at 14/1 (by those with no imagination). As it has turned out he only has one horse to beat by the looks of things so it wasn't the worst idea Henderson ever had.

Win or lose being a Neptune winner who was going away from them in the end you'd have to think he's going to go King George next season and Sprinter Sacre will pop round 2 miles until they know the score with Simonsig.

My advice to you and anyone else who thinks Simonsig would stand any chance of beating Sprinter Sacre is WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's 19lbs his inferior according to the BHA and 21lbs his inferior with Timeform.

Just to run to his current mark he'd have to beat Overturn by about 3 lengths and he might struggle to even catch him let alone pass him.

Simonsig has looked fast against those he has raced against to date but he's never met anything that could even lie up with Overturn and Nicky Henderson knows the danger of giving Overturn an easy lead.

He looks worried and rightly so as Simonsig is unlikely to be able to stay in cruise control if he's going to keep tabs on Overturn and he could be forced into jumping errors.

I reckon we'll know within 4 fences if Simonsig will be any sort of match for Sprinter Sacre as he wouldn't be out of second gear to keep tabs on Overturn which was made abundantly clear when Sanctuaire went off like a scalded cat and he sauntered up to him at will and passed him like he was a tree.

You keep coming up with horses you think are going to give Sprinter Sacre a race but as far as I can see there simply isn't any.

As The Highlander would say there can be only one
 
Eyebrows raised here at the way some think Simonsig will sweep overturn aside and break his heart!overturn for my eye was better at his fences in hs two prep races,granted both horses have nt had any pressure applied.I keep going back to simonsigs p2p jumping and BJG wanting to go Neptune route last year to negate jumping errors.He may be the perfect opponent to set it up for Simonsig over hurdles but I'll be taking overturn to pressurise his jumping.im in the overturn camp.
 
Overturn strikes me as being a bit akin to MTOY in the sense that he's going into the race with very high figures on his CV whereas with the others we're talking about potential. As one who backed Overturn in two CHs, Chester Cup and Northumberland Plate, I may be a bit biased towards him but he's adapted to fences better than many may have expected and his style of racing is more likely to inconvenience everything else rather than any other way round.

Mind you, I felt this way before his first attempt at the CH...
 
Tanlic said:
Win or lose being a Neptune winner who was going away from them in the end you'd have to think he's going to go King George next season and Sprinter Sacre will pop round 2 miles until they know the score with Simonsig.
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they are both 2-2.5 mile horses. it'd be a shame if he doesn't give them a chance to race together. he could keep them apart during the season and then match them against each other at the festival in the same way nicholls did with kauto & denman.

either way simonsig has lots to prove yet to be mentioned in the same breath as sprinter, although this week when henderson was asked if he (sprinter) was the best horse he's ever trained he said him & simonsig were the best horses he's ever seen when doing their work at home, and when then asked how far behind sprinter simonig is he said "not far. not far at all".
 
i see it the other way round simonsig is only 8lb behind on his hurdling rating is a younger horse and has more scope for improvement . Overturn has done well in mickey mouse races having an uncontested lead in this race he faces another horse with the same style of running in arek legonaire no slouch himself he is going to push overturn hard up front. even fago in france has cut out the running but reading nichols yesterday i think walsh may hold onto him and leave the 2 afore mentioned to do the donkey work. cheltenham is not the easiest track in the UK forfront running performences. I can see the front two getting tired and then they will be the ones making the jumping errors
simonsig who has raced keenly will be helped by the fast pace to settle and is not short in the stamina deptartment can sit behind them and pounce on them when they start to tire in the latter part of the race
 
Arkle winners need to have some dash about them, and my worry with Simonsig would be whether he is going to have quite enough toe over the minimum trip, on what now looks certain to be quickish ground. The only race he has ever contested over 2m was the Wayward Lad (on heavy ground), and he was never really tested due to the paucity of the opposition.

I'd need to be against him at odds-on in an Arkle, given his overall profile.
 
I am with Prince Regent. Overturn has looked many things in his career, but never an Arkle/Queen Mum horse. A few easy wins won't change that for me. Simonsig is going to tear him a new one. There may be something else in the field to scare Nicky's horse, but it won't be Overturn.
 
Grasshopper said:
Arkle winners need to have some dash about them, and my worry with Simonsig would be whether he is going to have quite enough toe over the minimum trip
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don't think that's an issue at all. faster ground would worry me a bit as overturn tends to go on it so well it tests even top rated champion hurdlers (like last year) but generally i think simonsig has speed to burn. as an antepost backer i'd be more worried about a fast pace bringing about jumping errors.
 
simonsig has plenty of pace about him. its an optical illusion that would make you think otherwise. Greys always look slower.
 
Where is the hard-evidence of this pace, given he's run once on bottomless ground at 2m, and has generally been confined to 20f so far in his career?
 
there's no hard evidence as such, it's just a belief. mainly brought on by the visual impression he's created winning his races combined with henderson's bullishness about him in this dept.

i think his hurdling career was mainly kept to 20f as he wasn't so slick at his hurdles. he looks a more natural chaser in his limited appearances over the bigger obstacles so far.

no doubt if the arkle is run on fast ground of any kind, this theory will be tested to its fullest.
 
I see overturn going off in front and setting the pace,the way he has pinged his fences so far I just think that it will take some performance to catch him if he runs his natural race and pings them like that.Simonsig may have all the potential in the world and we know he stays but jumping under pressure after having to drop a few gears I'm not so sure.we are talking about a front runner who has dined at the top table and granted his profile doesn't shout Arkle /champion chase his style could inconvenience Simonsig more than any other.
Arvika ligeonnaire is quirky for me, jumping to the right and is prone to a mistake.He will go toe to one for the lead but I don't think he will wrestle it off overturn.I can feel myself making a case for overturn here and that's not what I'm trying to do.In truth I think Simonsig is the most likely winner but an odds on shot he ain't.
Fago would be an interesting one were he to line up.
 
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