Just wow! What a complete legend to run down a horse of Thyme Hills ability. That was some finish.
tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito
Thought Johnson gave it a shocker.....should have gone for home much earlier.
"Beat the price and lose. It's what we do".
SlimChance, March 2018
Paisley got done no favours either on home bend.
Fascinating race that. The passage PP had probably ended up winning him the race.
Oh Dickie.
All comers, all grounds, all beaten!
This perfect mix of poetry and destruction.
A friend and I were watching it from outside the gate at Ascot, taking the dog for a walk and wishing them all luck previously at the crossing; being a Scot she had backed PP earlier in the day ( not for the first time either ), she couldn't see the big screen clearly enough to know what was going on, I was screaming go on Aiden, go on Aiden , where he is she says, he's getting there he's getting there...have to say at no point from the last did I not think he was going to get there, but to come from that far back in that ground... what a horse! Absolutely fantastic to watch; the other horses completely playing their part. ( if two mad women screaming outside the gate appears anywhere on social media..yes that's us!! )
Vote Alfie!!!!
Desperate Dan (19th December 2020), edgt (19th December 2020), Slim (21st December 2020)
Goshen in the Christmas Hurdle?
I thought we'd never see him on a racecourse again after the last day.
Sorry wrong thread
I’m almost certainly influenced by the fact that Thyme Hill is one of the cornerstones of my Antepost Book but I feel that Thyme Hill is more likely than Paisley Park to win the Stayers in March. Prices for both horses shortened after the Long Walk but I feel that RJ lost the race not Thyme Hill.
Come March RJ won't want to get in behind horses like he did in the AB again and one can see Paisley and SDB flying up that hill chasing down a classier horse whose jockey has gone for home too soon again. If I was on ap for a nice lump I'd be putting in some major lays IR sub 2.5
Last edited by Euronymous; 22nd December 2020 at 1:04 PM.
Paisley Park is some way better than we saw other day. He did very well to get up after meeting trouble on the turn.
He is a stayer with a turn of foot. TH doesn't strike me as having that quality.
Illegitimi non carborundum
Pace is the key. If they go like they did last year Paisley won't have a turn of foot left. That's said, if the race is run as it usually is he's the most likely winner.
Simon Rowland's take on the Long Walk:
https://www.attheraces.com
/blogs/sectional-spotlight/22-December-2020/long-walk-at-ascot-and-navan-on-friday
Usual sectional spiel, but no way could I agree his assertion that the Ascot ground was heavy.
RP have the timed ground for the hurdle races as soft , and the other 3m hdl was run less than 12 secs below RP standard - conclusions that didn't need 'sectionals' to arrive at.
Last edited by reet hard; 22nd December 2020 at 9:08 PM.
I was pretty pleased with myself getting 11/1 TH. Now I'm pissed off. Seriously, I'm on at prices all the way down to 9/2 though most of the lower prices are in multiples done in December.
While I see Thyme Hill as a decent enough stayer, to me only a repeat of the heart issue beats Paisley Park.
I don't see Thyme Hill as having the late pace to beat PP regardless of how the race is run. I'm struggling to find circumstances that will lead to a crawl/jog-and-sprint scenario so it will be at least reasonably strongly to very strongly run and either way PP will just pick them up and run away from them. TH has just gone up to 162, making him about 2lbs/3L better than Lisnagar Oscar. Allowing even for three or four pounds' improvement (I'm not convinced) between now and March, he would still have plenty to find with PP [on my ratings] being a 172+ horse.
The only way PP doesn't win the stayers' is if his heart issue recurs.
Illegitimi non carborundum
Two sound and sensible arguments above. However Thyme Hill is definitely on the up and will be fresh. My only concern is the jockey who has been a reason to increase stakes in the past.