I like Fakir particularly, and I'd be heavily into him for the Ryanair if I were confident he was heading that way.
I like the horse, but he's going to be hard to place, I think. Great juvenile though.
"Beat the price and lose. It's what we do".
SlimChance, March 2018
I'm gonna forgive the horse one bad run given how good he looked at Ascot and Sandown.
I've taken 16s about him for the Ryanair.
Faugheen stays in training
Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done
For what it’s worth-I had a 20 minute chat with HdB about a month ago-I have a theory that Minella Indo is a spring horse and asked him what his opinion was.aHis reply was that he doesn’t think he is a spring horse but It takes a lot of work to get him fit.He also said he was going to give it a right lash to get him ready for Christmas -he didn’t say Kempton or Leopardstown.
Two things 1-I will be backing Minella for the Gold Cup to pay for my daughters first year in University 2)I wouldn’t be backing him today -obviously as a potential Gold Cup winner he will be trying but we are 18 weeks away from the big day.
luckyme (26th October 2020), redundant pal (26th October 2020)
Good luck with the project Luke. I think Hdb didn’t get a clear run with him last year given the shape of the novice programme. Where next on the back of a win today will be interesting as more experience between now and Christmas will be on the agenda.
Good to see you still about, Luke. Good luck with that.
I'm quite intrigued by Kim Bailey's comments that he thinks Vinndication will improve again this season and could improve the "10 pounds or so" he needs to find to be a contender.
Like Luke, I am trying to think a bit laterally or outside the box on feasible targets, and given Vinndications best performances have come right handed, I am considering an anti post bet on the horse for the King George, which he is currently priced at 33/1.
There's little doubt he'll run before Christmas, in something like the Betfair Chase, so a good placed effort would see him shorten for the King George, around a right handed track like Kempton that he might just favour. It's plausible.
Last edited by Marb; 26th October 2020 at 1:49 PM.
This prompted me to check back my own brief review of the RSA, probably written the week after the meeting:
RSA- I watched it again this morning. I think Champ is far superior to the other two, who I think are pretty high class. Not a lot went right for Champ through the race, imo. He appeared to fiddle quite a number of fences while Allaho in particular looked very fluent. I backed Allaho ante-post and thought he was a good thing, to be honest, but the ew steal on Champ was sound insurance. I did think wherever MI finished Allaho would be in front but suspected Champ could surprise on a going day. I think the sectionals show (it's a few days since I read them) that the front two died up the hill and Champ merely stayed on. It reminded me of Synchronized's Gold Cup. The problem with Champ is whether he will properly take to jumping. I think the other two will be serious Gold Cup contenders.
Last edited by Desert Orchid; 26th October 2020 at 1:39 PM.
Illegitimi non carborundum
The last two RSA's have been similar in that up to three out the fields were bunched up and then the class horses asserted.
With Champ you have to worry about the extra jumping in a Gold Cup. How many extra fences is it?
Redundant Pal —in my opinion Minella and A Plus Tard might have been slightly undercooked at this year’s festival -I think they would make a nice little each way double for 2021.Also if Minella is being primed for Christmas there is a good chance Monalee will go to Kempton.
redundant pal (26th October 2020)
Granger -only so much you can fit into a 20 minute conversation-I did say to him that getting Put The Kettle on to win at Cheltenham last November was the training performance of the decade. Didn’t quiz him about targets for this year.
He thinks that Monalee was the second best horse in this years Hold Cup -very strong opinion.
Vinndication entered at Ascot this Saturday in the Sodexo handicap chase and in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby.
Last edited by Marb; 26th October 2020 at 5:23 PM.