Disagree.
It didn’t fall into Top Notch’s lap, and it is very dangerous to under-estimate the winner.
"Beat the price and lose. It's what we do".
SlimChance, March 2018
The only thing I would say is Top Notch was beaten surprisingly early.
Harry Cobden having visited the yard warned us about mid week about writing Cue Card off saying he was in fantastic form so taking this foirm lightly may be foolish.
Waiting Patiently is probably the a fastest improving chaser in training. They left Frodon 15 lengths and in his current form takes some doing.
Even if my little buddy Top Notch had run his best race he may well have struggled to beat ahorse who was ridden once again to beat what was in front of him
One shouldn't lose sight of that fact and working out just how good he actually is is not easy
Formely Fist of Fury
The ease with which he dismissed Politologue last January is not to be forgotten.
I suspect Cobden less than happy to be claimed to ride Cliffs of Dover !
I think it was a hell of a race. Pace kills and showed up a few I've been really keen on top notch for a while and he just couldn't live with that. Coney Island who has also been a joke of a price for a Gold Cup on the back of a graduation chase where he beat utter crap has too been found out.
Waiting patiently looked the absolute nuts there although I'd somewhat agree with Dessie on it and you'd wonder id he's soft ground dependant but I can't argue with that form that was a proper race ! Loved it even though it was costly.
Great to see Cue Card back on top of his game love the horse and to be fair I was saying they should retire him which hopefully they will at the end of the season but great performance.
Last edited by Danny; 17th February 2018 at 5:39 PM.
Man who catch fly with chopstick .... accomplish anything.
Great performance by Waiting Patiently but I reckon they’ll skip the festival with him. He wouldn’t be the first winner of this race to disappoint at Cheltenham anyway
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I don't think so but I reserve the right to do so
Seriously, though, they went ridiculously fast early. How far clear did Speredek go last time out against G1 opposition at Sandown over two miles? He couldn't get to the front here until after about a mile (I'll check the video later).
Frodon and Cue Card went with the pace. Top Notch threatened to go with it but fortunately fluffed the first fence, sobering him up, and Jacob managed to get him under restraint. Frost was next to realise they were going too fast and managed to get Frodon to ease off a bit but by then the damage was already done. Frodon did well to get back into a good position late in the day. I think Brennan was wrong to keep chasing the pace and he did amazingly well still to be there at the end. If there is one horse to take from the race I'd suggest it's him but the race itself might leave its mark.
Meanwhile the winner was anchored out the back. Hughes must have been thinking Christmas had come very early when he saw how fast they were going. Top Notch hit nearly every fence on the way round, which is so unlike him. They weren't shuddering mistakes but the cumulative effect would have been significant. I'm not suggesting they cost him the race as we won't know that unless he comes out and beats Waiting Patiently next time they meet.
But WP was the only runner for whom everything went right.
I really don't have anything against the horse. I recognised early in the season how highly thought of he must be. But I'm not going to kid myself that this form can be taken literally based on everything else running its race.
All the above is based on my seeing the race only once, as it unfolded. I'll want to watch it a few times more to see if I change my mind.
Last edited by Desert Orchid; 17th February 2018 at 6:07 PM.
Illegitimi non carborundum
Wrong post
Last edited by Tanlic; 17th February 2018 at 6:21 PM.
Formely Fist of Fury
this forum has a glitch apologies
Last edited by Tanlic; 17th February 2018 at 6:28 PM.
Formely Fist of Fury
Cue Card the horse to take out of the race? You’re having a laugh, DO.
Waiting Patiently won that race fair-and-square.
This is Cue Card’s minimum trip these days, and he therefore wanted/needed to go hard at it from the off. If the race was run to suit any horse, it was Cue Card, who got a ride from Brennan that absolutely maximised his chances of winning......and he was still comfortably beaten by a horse who effectively cantered all over him, and who would have won even further if the pace had been slacker, because he has a turn-of-foot that Cue Card no longer possesses.
The only horse to take out of the race is the winner. Suggesting otherwise is pure sentimentality.
Last edited by Grasshopper; 17th February 2018 at 6:34 PM.
"Beat the price and lose. It's what we do".
SlimChance, March 2018
No, I've never been sentimental about Cue Card. I've rarely backed him.
I'm just saying what I'm seeing.
I will be very interested to see if Simon Rowlands does a sectional debrief on today's racing (don't think he will) as I'd expect to see a closing sectional somewhere in the low 90% range.
Illegitimi non carborundum
All comers, all grounds, all beaten!
This perfect mix of poetry and destruction.