The Horse racing thread

[Candyman]

for all you wound lickers

Buffalo bob

Try again with MISTER PETE 

2.50 Newcastle

[winsamsoon]

French ties 7/1 in the last at newcastle

[bigfrank]

u get word for it winsamsoon??? its currently 9/2 now

[winsamsoon]

got word for it the first time it won and it pissed up at a big price. ran two mediocre runs after that but is in with a chance today

[bigfrank]

like the look of Al Farahidi  at lingfield in the next race...good luck with urs!

[bigfrank]

French ties 7/1 in the last at newcastle

Unplaced 

[winsamsoon]

Pig Frank think by the looks of that it needs a longer trip or else a gun. Sorry lad.

[bigfrank]

like the look of Al Farahidi  at lingfield in the next race...good luck with urs!

won at 10/3 

[bigfrank]

Pig Frank think by the looks of that it needs a longer trip or else a gun. Sorry lad.

Def a gun...horse in first won by 30 lengths... wigan kept my footy bet goin earlier so fingers crossed for a decent weekend!

[winsamsoon]

Hope u down urs i missed it at 5/2 in running by a fraction of a sec

[souljaboy]

I see some owner wasnt to happy with fallon today at lingfield

http://www.attheraces.com/article.aspx?hlid=507735&raceid=&title=Fallon+in+Lingfield+drama&lid=&ref=PA+Racing+Feed&nav=&sub=&day=Sat

[Shamrock Shore]

Off topic I know but Longford are 500/1 on with Paddypower to beat Kilkenny in football later today.

Lads (and lassies) put the pension fund on it.

(for the slow 100 euro gamble will return 20 cent)

[Donnellys Hollow]

Well it was tough going over in the Cottswolds last week. First race set the tone for the whole meet. There were plenty of long faces around the Guinness Village after Dunguib got turned over. I felt sorry for O'Connell because he was clearly riding to instruction and he probably carried out those instructions to a tee (hold him up, keep wide out of trouble and look to produce him at the last). Problem was those tactics were clearly wrong for the horse and more importantly the race. Winning the Deloitte over 2m2 in soft ground against moderate stayers the way he did probably created a false impression in Fenton's head. They were giving speed horses like Menorah and Get Me Out Of Here a fifteen length head-start off an unusually sedate pace on Tuesday and by the time Dunguib was put in the race they had already flown. I have no doubt in my mind he is a superior horse to those two and had he been ridden handier I think he'd have beaten them. I hope they come over to Punchestown because if Dunguib is ridden like he was in his bumpers he'll beat them. Have him handy all the way and kick on two out. 10/1 for next year's Champion could look quite big.

Dunguib's defeat was in a strange way a blessing in disguise. If he'd won I'd probably have had big punts on both Captain Cee Bee and Go Native. Captain Cee Bee burst like he did at Aintree and Go Native never really looked to be travelling after his mistake. Two horses I'd given up on having followed them off a cliff winning those races rubbed salt in the wounds - Sicknote Sizing Europe and Binocular. Got a bit of 5/2 about Quevega on track in the morning so Willie/Ruby probably saved me from an alcohol free Patrick's Day!

Got off to a flyer on Wednesday with Poker De Sivola. He could have won a at the festival last year when Nina had a bit of a shocker on him. Very ironic that Katie got the best out of him this year beating Nina home in an epic Kildare v Meath scrap up the hill. Had a big e/w bet on Peddlers Cross (I flagged him up here on p251). I definitely think he is the one horse to take out of the meeting. He looks a proper machine and I hope they go the Kicking King/War Of Attrition route with him now - Arkle next year followed by the Gold Cup. Layed Master Minded as well to ensure there was plenty of porter drank on Wednesday night.

Kept my powder dry for the most part on Thursday. I was probably too hungover to study the form properly! Took on our horses in the Triumph with Soldatino and I think I owe Barry Geraghty a fair percentage of my winnings on that one. Katie did the business again on Thousand Stars in the County Hurdle - big thanks to the generous English bookie chap who layed me 33/1. Took on the Nicholls pair in the Gold Cup due to the 10yo stat but I went for Cooldine over Imperial Commander unfortunately. Terrific race though and I must admit I was slightly pleased to see both the Nicholls pair beaten given the way the press have been harping on for the past few months. The hacks in the Racing Post would have a two page spread foe everytime that Paul Nicholls farts. We were considering leaving before the Grand Annual to beat the traffic but thankfully we didn't. I backed Pigeon Island purely on the basis that he was rated 35lbs less over fences than he was over hurdles. He went off favourite for the best Supreme Novices in recent years only two seasons ago and now he was bottom weight in a handicap chase at 20/1 - what a way to round off a rollercoaster week!

Highlights
Katie Walsh's two wins - Ruby who?
Peddlers Cross - future superstar
Quevega - fabulous mare, she'll win that race for years to come if she stays sound
The Guinness Village
The Twiston-Davies show on Friday
Forpadydeplasterer and Big Zeb going at it hammer and tongs coming down the hill - great to see two Irish chasers dominating a Championship race
Witnessing a horse I rode work on myself many moons (and lbs) ago running an absolute cracker at NH racing's Olympics

Lowlights
Dunguib - I'm going to find it hard to make a profit punting this year now unless St Nicholas Abbey can win the Derby and land my 14/1 antepost bet (worked well today at the Curragh)
Champion Hurdle - Nicky Henderson pulled a bit of a Jim Bolger with Binocular. Still think Hurricane Fly would have beaten that field easily
The Formbook - What a useless guide it was last week. Berties Dream in the 3m novice took the biscuit. How can a horse that couldn't win a handicap off a mark of 100 at Galway last summer win a Grade 1?
The post-Patrick's Day hangover
Irish horses handicap marks - only one handicap winner for the second year in a row. We're clearly getting harshly treated
Thurday's card - back to three days please. The Stayers Hurdle should not be a stand alone race. Its for horses who are too slow for the Champion and can't jump well enough for the Gold Cup
The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle - why do we have this race at the festival? Pure muck race
The Bumper - an English 1-2? WTF!
Its another 51 weeks until we do it all again!



Only 5 days till the Lincoln 

[oakleafgael]

DH,

Interested in your opinion on this,I thought the performance of Paddy Brennan and McCoy in the Gold Cup was the highlight of the meeting. I think it was 4 or 5 from home but the pair put in jumps that where breathtaking. Binocular is a hard one to work out, how was he beat last year is a question I havent been able to answer or is it simply that he is a bit of a mule?

[Mickey Linden]

That was my worst festival ever. Got absolutely hammered by the bookie. After a few good years the bookie def got their own back on the punter.