The Horse racing thread

[beer baron]

Paul Townend has stood himself down for the day.

Paddy gets the Douvan ride,big day for him.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Paul Townend has stood himself down for the day.

Paddy gets the Douvan ride,big day for him.

Out to 4/6!

Should be a straightforward race to ride anyway. Power will make it. The three lads will sit in behind and pick him off turning in.

[beer baron]

Oh by God he is good. He destroyed SJ and i doubt there's too many better Novice chasers than SJ between here and Britain.

[INDIANA]

just go for a Mullins treble with Don Cossack, Douvan and Faugheen.

Has Don Cossack switched yards? 

Gone with Ball Darc e/w in the first at Leopardstown. I think Rashaan could be capable of defying the double penalty in the 3yo hurdle but I would expect him to be a bigger price before the off. It could be a very informative bumper today. Rare bumper runner for Mouse in the Gigginstown silks. He's a full brother to Rathlin and he won a point at Tinahely impressively despite a bad mistake at the last. He could be one for the notebook.

Faugheen has questions to answer in England today although a 75% Faugheen should still be beating The New One with a minimum of fuss. Vautour put up the most commanding novice performance seen at Cheltenham in a long time last March. I believe he's a superior horse to Don Cossack who is flattered by his lofty rating. My concern about Vautour would be whether he is as effective right handed. It has become something of a talking point post Ascot but even going back to his novice hurdle days, his two runs at Punchestown beating Western Boy in the Moscow Flyer and Apache Stronghold at the festival were nowhere near as dominant as his wins in the Deloitte and the Supreme Novices. He's becoming a tempting price now though.

My apologies. I meant Vatour. But I think Don Cossack is going to win this one. Smad Place each way

[INDIANA]

Oh by God he is good. He destroyed SJ and i doubt there's too many better Novice chasers than SJ between here and Britain.

Class horse- best of the lot in that Stable. Jumped beautifully - goes even better on good ground.

[redzone]

What a race. Sets it up nicely for March, pity don Cossack didn't stay up. Ap reckons vatour might go back to the Ryanair. Jeez I wouldn't have thought so

[Donnellys Hollow]

I don't think there is a hope in hell Vautour will drop back in trip at Cheltenham. Ricci wants a Gold Cup winner. He would rather throw two darts at it than win a Ryanair.

[beer baron]

Looking forward to seeing Un De Sceaux today and expect him to win well against limited opposition although Sizing Granite is a decent animal i think he'll save his best for the Spring. Sprinter Sacre's very short in his  race. Beat trees last time out getting weight and he's now odds on,question is what beats him?Sire De Grugy? Can never fancy him whatever it is about him he just doesn't light my fire so to speak. Vibrato Valtat's unexposed and gets weight off him but is he good enough?

The Future Champion Novices hurdle looks a cracker of a race and will produce plenty of  graded winners i reckon,Tombstone's impressed me mightily in his last 2 runs and i hope he can go in again today too but any amount of dangers.

Any fancy for the big handicap chase DH? Minella foru has been well punted the last few days it seems and looks on a fair mark but JP has half a dozen in it and i'd say they'll all have their chance. I'll probably back Captain Von Trappe and Dromnea. CVT ran a cracker behind Shantou Flyer 2 runs back before going from the front in the Drinmore,jumping nicely but just not good enough at that level and trip but this will be more his cup of tea and Gordon likes to target this race. Dromnea ran well in a couple of good Handicap chases in the spring at the 2 big festivals and is still off a fair mark and won this time last year in a bog down at Limerick so conditions should be no problem but in truth i could pick half a dozen and still not get the winner  .

[Donnellys Hollow]

If the Sprinter Sacre that turned up at Cheltenham turns up again today then nothing will touch him. A touch of odds on seems reasonable but I wonder does the fact he's not 1/2 or shorter indicate a lack of confidence from from Seven Barrows. There'll be a shakeup in the Champion Chase market either way with Un De Sceaux in action too.

I'd agree with Beer Baron re Tombstone. He has a proper national hunt pedigree and he might just go through this ground better than the racier types that Mullins has in the line up. If the ground starts drying up it will get very holding.

Rossvoss would be my selection in the handicap. Ted seems to excel with these sort of horses and I would expect him to go well. This race always seems to go the way of an improving unexposed type rather than one of the more established chasers who have been dropping down towards a winnable mark again. At 8/1 the field, there's no shortage of them in the lineup!

[INDIANA]

If the Sprinter Sacre that turned up at Cheltenham turns up again today then nothing will touch him. A touch of odds on seems reasonable but I wonder does the fact he's not 1/2 or shorter indicate a lack of confidence from from Seven Barrows. There'll be a shakeup in the Champion Chase market either way with Un De Sceaux in action too.

I'd agree with Beer Baron re Tombstone. He has a proper national hunt pedigree and he might just go through this ground better than the racier types that Mullins has in the line up. If the ground starts drying up it will get very holding.

Rossvoss would be my selection in the handicap. Ted seems to excel with these sort of horses and I would expect him to go well. This race always seems to go the way of an improving unexposed type rather than one of the more established chasers who have been dropping down towards a winnable mark again. At 8/1 the field, there's no shortage of them in the lineup!

Another win for Ruby. Tombstone might do better on the Cheltenham hill though- however Mullins rarely peaks for Leopardstown so their might be more in his tank because he looked knackered at the end

[Donnellys Hollow]

Minella Foru another JP handicap special!

Cooper didn't cover himself in glory on Tombstone meeting plenty of traffic at the back of the second last but the horse was fairly keen throughout. If you allow Walsh to dictate his own fractions he will rarely get it wrong. Long Dog has done little wrong this so far this season but I think it's likely he will be stepping up in trip at Cheltenham provided nothing goes wrong with Min.

Disaster for Un De Sceaux today. Interesting to see where he goes next and whether that fall has any lasting impact (Thurles last year did him no harm). It was great to see Sprinter Sacre getting his head in front again. On a line through the Nicholls grey he has a bit to find with Un De Sceuax.

[INDIANA]

Minella Foru another JP handicap special!

Cooper didn't cover himself in glory on Tombstone meeting plenty of traffic at the back of the second last but the horse was fairly keen throughout. If you allow Walsh to dictate his own fractions he will rarely get it wrong. Long Dog has done little wrong this so far this season but I think it's likely he will be stepping up in trip at Cheltenham provided nothing goes wrong with Min.

Disaster for Un De Sceaux today. Interesting to see where he goes next and whether that fall has any lasting impact (Thurles last year did him no harm). It was great to see Sprinter Sacre getting his head in front again. On a line through the Nicholls grey he has a bit to find with Un De Sceuax.

Went for Rossvoss in the Paddy power but he it jumped terribly and I don't think it was one of Katie's distinguished jumping performances unfortunately. Geraghty makes a habit of winning on the Christmas Sunday at Leopardstown

[Donnellys Hollow]

http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/article/465/10116532/itv-wins-racing-television-rights-from-channel-4

They really ruined Channel 4 Racing when they got rid of Francome, Thompson, Down and McCririck.

[redzone]

Yeah the craic used to be grt with mccririck. It's like a damp squib now. Matt chapman is good value on atr

[beer baron]

Always liked Francombe,be good to see him back. Gary o Brien's a decent judge i'd like to see him get a look in. Yorkhill going to put in a hell of a display today i reckon,lovely animal.