Toronado

reet hard said:
Behave yourself, DO. :lol:
The Derby was off the menu immediately after the Guineas (before any 'problems' had time to manifest), and connections clearly saw then what some still have difficulty coming to terms with now.
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I can only hope Steve M has been peppering them with emails and dosage details arguing the case for running...
 
Are you going to run a book on what excuses Godolphin are going to come up with for Dawn Approach ????;)
 
Ha ha. I would say, that's the last time I make a smart arse off the cuff remark, but we know it won't be! Not often I get a tweet from Mr and Mrs Hughes in a day!
 
It even gets an airing in today's Guardian, DJ: "Hughes used Twitter to show the strength of his feeling for the horse when, hours before this race, he responded to a Timeform employee who offered odds about which excuse would be used when Toronado was beaten. "Idiot," the jockey replied. In the aftermath of victory, he said: "On things like Twitter, you can get slagged off but I love my horses. I hate it when people slag them off and Lizzie [Hughes's wife] knows how much I think of this horse. We were so gutted at Ascot that he didn't get up. I thought his reputation would be ruined if he didn't win today, so there was a lot riding on it."

To be fair, you used the word "if" rather than "when."
 
It was a terrific race, though. Strong gallop and two proper G1 horses fighting out a good finish. My immediate reaction was that Hughes had deliberately kept Toronado away from DA to avoid being eyeballed as the latter might have responded again as he did at Ascot.

I also suspect the sectionals will suggest that Toronado, along with Trade Storm, got the best ride on the day.

It makes such a pleasant change from these pathetic so-called G1s being fought out by lesser lights.
 
Cheers, DG. I saw that moments after posting the above. I hadn't expected SR to be so fast off the mark with his 'debrief'.
 
gus said:
It even gets an airing in today's Guardian, DJ: "Hughes used Twitter to show the strength of his feeling for the horse when, hours before this race, he responded to a Timeform employee who offered odds about which excuse would be used when Toronado was beaten. "Idiot," the jockey replied. In the aftermath of victory, he said: "On things like Twitter, you can get slagged off but I love my horses. I hate it when people slag them off and Lizzie [Hughes's wife] knows how much I think of this horse. We were so gutted at Ascot that he didn't get up. I thought his reputation would be ruined if he didn't win today, so there was a lot riding on it."

To be fair, you used the word "if" rather than "when."
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Crazy!
 
DJ could have had quite a good field for the Dawn Approach excuse stakes -so far the contenders are

1 Softened up by Declaration of War

2 Toronado came too late for him to respond

3 Dawn Approach went too fast in the first furlong

4 His pacemaker was too slow in the first furlong

5 The track was too easy for him

All of which strike me as bollocks
 
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Having backed Toronado shortly before the off - 11/4 was just crazy - I reckon I got lucky on the day (for once) and will seriously consider backing DA to beat him should they meet again. I do think DA has more raw ability.

The thing in Toronado's favour is that races are always going to be more likely run to suit him unless they can get DA to settle better. Maybe Bolger should hire Sean Levey for a wee while...
 
Desert Orchid said:
Having backed Toronado shortly before the off - 11/4 was just crazy - I reckon I got lucky on the day (for once) and will seriously consider backing DA to beat him should they meet again. I do think DA has more raw ability.

The thing in Toronado's favour is that races are always going to be more likely run to suit him unless they can get DA to settle better. Maybe Bolger should hire Sean Levey for a wee while...
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He settled fine on Wednesday he was just beaten by the better horse on the day - and the evidence suggests that Hughes is right that he was much more disadvantaged than DA at Ascot by the interference .
 
I was very sweet on Toronado getting his revenge. Although both were hampered at Ascot, I felt he came off worse in that it took slightly longer to get back into his stride.
Goodwood is where Hughiesy excels in my opinion and I always thought he'd leave it as late as he could. By coming wide, he didn't give DA the chance to eyeball him and fight back (bit like the days of Giants Causeway - it was the only way to beat him). Toronado choked in the Guineas (they fitted a spoon bit to remedy this), he was unlucky at Ascot and this time they got it spot on. I think having strengthened up so much he has progressed past DA but it is close between them and it may be down to how the race is run and luck in running in future clashes.
 
I was delighted that Toronado won, was sweet on him as a 2 year old and he improved from 2-3 and will again from 3-4 next year and will be a hard horse to beat. I was there Wednesday and he looked grand.

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