The Road to the Grand National 2010

From some way out Don't Push It could be called the winner; he was cantering round and loving it. He jumped well too and AP saw some great strides on him. So much for those idiots who said AP could never win a National as he rides wrong or isn't horseman enough!!!!
 
I think the most eye catching ride was on Hello Bud Twiston Davies son gave him a lovely ride he looks like one the best up an coming NH jockeys around
 
From some way out Don't Push It could be called the winner; he was cantering round and loving it. He jumped well too and AP saw some great strides on him. So much for those idiots who said AP could never win a National as he rides wrong or isn't horseman enough!!!!

I haven't heard too many people suggest he could never win a National although time was running out. That is totally different to criticising him for certain rides, some of which would obviously be justified. Everyone rides bad races it doesn't mean just because you are the champion jockey that these should be ignored. It is a fact that prior to Cheltenham that AP had been struggling for success in the major races. He will no doubt be feeling a lot happier with the last two months.
 
Yes, Sam Twiston Davies gave Hello Bud a great ride, shame the horse is a dour stayer and didn't have the turn of foot to match the ones that went on.

Treetangle, it has been said by some that they think AP will never win a National - whilst questioning his horsemanship and riding style - although in fairness most of what I remember came from someone (not just the once, quite a few times!) who used to post a lot of daft things on here.
 
I thought it was My Will riderless that fell in front of him and Vic Venturi fell on his own accord outside him. It's hard enough getting a horse to one National, let alone a second and this was the plan so just unfortunate that he was brought down rather than falling. But suppose Condon could have edged him away from the loose horse.

You might be right; I'd have to go through the race again to be sure. Point being that he was given no chance, and if they look after his mark there's no reason (other than injury, obviously) why he couldn't come back with half a chance next year. He's still 8, after all. In contrast, Eric's Charm at 12 surely had one shot at it and went at the first!
 
Exactly the same here - once I saw how well he was going I was just praying he'd stay for AP.

Very true - had butterflies from Bechers second time round.

Tom Segal's comments about AP not being very good at presenting horses at a fence when he got the ride on Denman have looked more and more stupid every day since then.

I hope Ap will be back on Denman and Master Minded in Ruby's absence.
 
Tom went for Cludy Lane today. Surely he'd have been in the top half dozen of least likely winners.

Agreed - he finds these fences much too big for him to get into a rhythm. It is a tribute to the horse's toughness that he was as close as 8th.
 
My second thought after being thrilled for AP, was i just hope that BA can come back next year and give it an equally good go. Thats as thrilling a run from a runner up as i can remember
 
Absolutely delighted for AP. Never used to be his biggestr fan until last three or four years, when imo, his style/attitude has 'softened' slightly to take more care of the horse under him.

So well done him, DON'T PUSH IT and all the connections !
 
Tom Segal's comments about AP not being very good at presenting horses at a fence when he got the ride on Denman have looked more and more stupid every day since then.

The guy is entitled to his views - he puts them there to be shot it. If he thinks it fair enough that he had the balls to go on say it. Just because he wins the National does not mean he has to be EVERYONE's cup of tea. There have been instances where McCoy has not been great - I did not think he helped Nacarat much to get into a rhythm just a day or so ago. While it does not help when he is being compared to Walsh and Geraghty who are riding out of their skin over fences - particularly Barry G who was also in line for the Denman ride and I think that is who Segal was preferring.

But like Songsheet said - I have warmed to his personality a bit more in recent seasons and was genuinely happy to see him win it today.
 
There are times when none of them present a horse at a fence correctly. Take Dickie J. on MENORAH. Sat tight, hoped for the best, gave no guidance, and the horse bunny-hopped it and lost. There are times when it's best not to interfere if your nag's off its stride, and times to boot on for a good take-off - and hope your horse doesn't override you and mash the fence.

I get fed up with race callers mentioning - as if it's an error - every time a horse puts in an extra-long take-off, or shortens up, for accuracy. Horses can put themselves right if they're not buggered about with - most of the time. It's not a mistake if they go long or short, provided they land okay and get on with the race. All they've done, like a human measuring how long a stride they need to get over a puddle or get up a high step, is to work out the optimum length at which they think they can handle the obstacle.

There's a lot of myth around 'presenting horses' - if you can't see an immediate stride, keep still, leave the horse to work it out, and try to do better next time. But keep contact! Dropping the reins and suddenly losing the balance between the horse and yourself is fatal. Conversely, battering them into something that they feel they're too tired to fly over (as per the wretched toffee-like ground we've had recently), usually just confuses them. They oblige as best they can by ballooning and sometimes then coming down too steeply, pitching, and landing nose first. It's more important to know how well your horse is travelling, to position it for a clear sight, to take advantage of the best bits of ground, as well as know whether it's a horse which requires instructing at every obstacle, or not. A horse can present itself pretty much okay, if not confused.

Sam Thomas caused his unseat from KAUTO STAR because if you watch that jump again, the boy has everything flapping, loose reins, no contact at all. The horse is receiving no signals at a very late stage into the jump and he is not a horse which does well unguided. It's no good instructing him most of the way, then downing tools and asking him to figure it out in the last couple of strides. Look at his ears - he's virtually semaphoring the jockey for an instruction - which doesn't come. He becomes unbalanced as the rein contact is suddenly relinquished, and bang! end of the race.
 
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Anyone back him?! I've never had a strong opinion on the horse but cheered him home once my last chance gone. Great for racing,

Yes - had him e/w at the point-to-point I was at and managed to get 20-1 5 mins before the race as the bookie hadn't noticed the price go into 10-1!:D Also had Big Fella Thanks e/w there (and The Package & Character Building) and Black Apalachi & State of Play (but they were to win only on Betfair - in haste I didn't do place market:mad:)

Course I would have shared all this with you as you are by now well-used to my stupendous tipping but I have been somewhat busy this week point-to-pointing and organising a dinner dance for 175 guests so I am afraid you will just have to make do with the aftertiming.............................again! :whistle: ..............but I do have a credible witness!
 
Got to throw in a good word for Nina Carberry finishing in the money, 7th, with CHARACTER BUILDING - that's got to be a great result for her, and I will eat the words I said a short while back about her not doing that much out of Bumpers and the Chelt X-country. It's got to be a smashing race to ride - you must just build so much more confidence and expertise out of exposure to the Aintree fences.
 
Oh please, well done for finishing down the field because you are a woman. The poor lad that was jocked off was shafted. Thank God though that the whole female V male bollocks comes before putting up the correct pilot.
 
I'm another who was cheering on AP from two out, once it was clear BFT was beat.

It was a fantastic race.

AP wins.
Black Apalachi runs an absolute blinder. (I said at the start of the thread that Hughes couldn't have been too happy with the handicapper but the latter has read the horse really well.)
BFT does nothing wrong bar surprisingly (for me) run out of stamina.
State Of Play runs well (but maybe needs a better jockey).
Hello Bud gives the youngster a super ride and vice versa.
No injuries to man or beast.
Fast time.
First two smash the weight stat.

Shame about the BBC coverage of the live action. You'd never know they wre approaching Becher's or The Chair (unless you know about racing).

My horses were 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 8th.
 
The guy is entitled to his views - he puts them there to be shot it. If he thinks it fair enough that he had the balls to go on say it. Just because he wins the National does not mean he has to be EVERYONE's cup of tea. There have been instances where McCoy has not been great - I did not think he helped Nacarat much to get into a rhythm just a day or so ago. While it does not help when he is being compared to Walsh and Geraghty who are riding out of their skin over fences - particularly Barry G who was also in line for the Denman ride and I think that is who Segal was preferring.

But like Songsheet said - I have warmed to his personality a bit more in recent seasons and was genuinely happy to see him win it today.


He is entitled to his opinion but when it is plainly not evidence based he can expect criticism and indeed derision.

As for Nacarat for heavens' sake the horse has a running style of extravagant leaps and mistakes . He faded quickly up the straight after making a mistake despite looking to be going best of all three out. I struggle to see how AP can be blamed for that.
 
Got to throw in a good word for Nina Carberry finishing in the money, 7th, with CHARACTER BUILDING - that's got to be a great result for her

I'm going to declare an interest here as I thought evens for her to get around was the bet of the race. So was watching her all the way around and delighted she was so far back and taking it handy. But she didn't exactly put him into the race at any point. Good for my money to get around but not if you were trying to have one in the top four. Although he didn't seem to stay after closing in two out (albeit a long way back) and fading by the line.
 
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