Hurricane Fly thread

We'll find out though. That's the best part.

Indeed

:)

go hurricane go :)

very nice

i don't think he has enhanced his reputation further by todays performance....he was sticky at a few .... quickened away from solwhit ok but didn't have "loads" left at the death.

Only good thing is they went a good gallop today.

Very true, thats what I took from todays race. Stable mate obviously used as a pacemaker, HF cruised around and then quickened nicely. In terms of form nothing new.

Hurricane Fly.
He has bendy legs so is at his best on slow ground. He jumps right. He can beat Solwhit.
Second favourite for the Champion Hurdle. Somebody is having a laugh.

ah.... but he's gonna get eaten alive at Cheltenham...the hill will do him. Poor race again today no pace early...no real competition...and he still made hard work of it, wait till he comes over here (Dunguib lives lol)

jumping right would be a concern in such a competitive race as this one will be

if the ground isnt soft hurricane fly wont finish in the top 5 let alone win, we all no the irish horses cant live with ours on good ground

"made hard work of it" What race were you watching? He did it all very easily today.

It still amazes me how two people can watch the same race and come up with a completely diferent view of it.

HF may only be besting Solwhit every time, but Solwhit is a top horse.

would question whether Solwhit is a top 2m churdle horse,in fact he aint.

He was a better horse than Binocular in France, imo, and has run in 7 Grade 1's only losing when not right. A bit like Peddlers Cross it will be a brave man who writes these off before they are tested at the top table.

Some serious clueless morons posting there in jsilkycut and Autocue. Low and behold they only joined betfair recently.

No pace in the race = clearly didn't watch the race. There was plenty of pace, Thousand Stars went off at a good gallop from the start.

Also the old he needs soft ground garbage, we only get soft ground in ireland. He is a small speed horse, he is better on better ground. You'd swear the trainer was targetting races where the ground is soft.

Some times it's best not to bother with the blow in morons. I blame Paul Nicholls blog for them

Oh and denman85, is on the clueless moron list too.

to be fair HF has been beaten an average horse in solwhit, last years was arguably a poor champ hurdle in comparison with this years field, solwhit was beaten was it 20 or 30 lengths distant 6th 0r 7th, so for me the fly has it all to do to get even closer to many ch rivals

Solwhit was sick before the race last year, so that wasn't his true running. Have a look at where Medermit finished in the champion hurdle at cheltenham and punchestown. Medermit was a very consistent horse last term. That is how you guage Solwhit.

Oh and Hurricane Fly is readily dismissing Solwhit, it's not like he's struggling to beat him.

Denman, Solwhit wasn't right last year, well documented.
Celestial Halo was 4th in the Irish Champion without blinkers and then 4th in our CH with blinkers.
The Irish have won 5 of the last 10 Ch's.
HF may or may nor beat Binocular but if you believe he won't even be placed then I'm sure there are those who will be happy to accommodate you.

Good to see the horse is taking his racing well this season after his injury setbacks. He might have gone backwards today, after two previous runs in a comparatively short time this season. Instead, he emphasised his well-being with another impressive performance and gave further encouragement that he will prove sufficiently robust physically to take a full season of racing.

Solwhit was injured just before last years champion and clearly didn't give his true running, he won an aintree hurdle so to say he's not top class is crazy. I personally wasn't overly impressed with hurricane fly after the last thought he would win by more.

Yep, nice break now before Cheltenham. They went a good gallop today which was good to see.

Got only got one crack of the whip after the last today and Mullins said he had a cut on his foot going into the race that might have bothered him.

makes a change from the usual trotting round in grade 1 irish races!

Don't see how they could have trimmed him for CH after today, was just like watching a replay of his last 2 wins. Maybe if the bookies watch a video of it again later they will shave another half point off.
Im not convinced by his hurdling still, although it admittedly got better as the race went on, he was a bit sticky at the first couple, and hurdling is why I love Bino so much. He makes a length at every hurdle, which means to beat him his opponents have to find a good 8 lengths on him. Is the fly good enough to do that?

My view is that while he has plenty of ability,he's small and lacks scope - these three quick runs could exact a price come March.
A large field would diminish his chance and I'll be a Layer rather than a Backer.

Binocular's fantastic hurdling clearly a big strength with that one. HF pretty smart over his hurdles overall and does at least appear to have the speed to make up any ground lost at the hurdles relatively quickly. Some of those with slightly less speed than HF might be the ones to really feel the pinch if Binocular is able to hurdle at his very best on the day.

Ya your right but hurricane could give binocular 8 lengths on the flat
Hurdling is binoculars positive
Flat speed is hurricanes positive

did it nicely today, but we learnt nothing new.  I hope he makes it to Cheltenham in what is looking like the best race of the meet.  The top 4 in the betting are all top class but each is absolutely no value ante post.  That remark applies especially to HF whose lack of Cheltenham form would make him an anti stat on the day.

I think that is a valid angle, Ekbalco, and one that would be easy to overlook.

Hopefully, it wasn't a race too far today and he will come out of it well and the break now to Cheltenham will see him go to the Festival in the best possible shape. Mordin expressed the view a while back that he thought the horse might be best off his first two runs after a break and might struggle after that. He went some way to proving Mordin's view wrong today, but we know it is always a major training feat to get a horse though a full racing season at the top of his game for each race.

The slower early pace in the larger field races he has contested so far has meant there was plenty of bunching and not much daylight for much of the way. HF seemed to deal with the hustle and bustle of that fairly well and went through the gaps well enough when they appeared i the finishing straight. And he does have the speed to recover well if he comes off worse in any contact with, or baulking by,  a bigger horse in the CH. But it is always a bit of concern how a smaller horse will deal with the crowding and competitiveness of a big field under championship conditions.

Surely we are all guessing where HF is concerned as there is no real tie-in with his Form other than Solwhit's run in last years CH which is surely a risky analysis. There is absolutely no doubting this horse has a serious engine but even the best horses often need conditions in there favour to be seen to best effect. Binocular, Peddlers Cross and Menorah have all won at Cheltenham in large fields on goodish ground so the percentage call would surely be to lay HF for no other reason than they have all run and won in similar conditions to that they will face in March - he hasn't.

hurricane fly main concern is that everyone of the last 10 winners of champion hurdle has been placed at the festival previously, not a good stat for the fly me thinks

having backed hurricane fly before his punchestown win i still feel he got a bit of the harchibalds about him its just the way he travels but does not go away  from his field the way you would expect can see him getting out battled up the hill but hope not hence my wee saver on peddlers cross

You would also have to hope the better ground and undulations at Cheltenham don't aggravate any residual effects of his previous leg injuries.

There is form line Medermit ran at both Cheltenham and Punchestown last year, Medermit was a consistent performer last season. Hurricane Fly has improved since his win that day.

He's bang there in the mix and as aka pointed out he is impressive in how he manages to be unfazed by the hustle and bustle of big field races. His win's at the Punchestown festival in 09 and 10 for example. Boxed in in 09, and had to go 4 wide round horses in 10 to get after Solwhit. He's also shown his battling qualities in getting up that day.

As for his Hurdling, he's very quick over his hurdles and it's certainly an asset to him and far from a worry. Look at the latter stages of his races he hurdles very well and gets away from them very quick.

He's got everything to like about a 2m hurdler. The only thing we need to find out now is if he's good enough, he has the tools, does he have the engine.

... and can he handle Prestbury Park.

I've now hear it all, Hurricane Fly has a bit of the harchibalds about him? Seriously some people are totally clueless. It's staggering.

ill be very suprised if the fly finishes in ther first 3, i see binocular menorah and PC all finishing ahead, suppose 4th first time at the festival wont be a disaster  cybrne?

I've backed HF among others for the CH, but today's performance raised some doubts for me. That's the second race in a row where I've noticed he jumps slightly right - just the width of a hurdle panel but it's bound to affect balance and rhythm. It might also get him bumping a few rivals, taking even more out of him.

That tendency to jump to one side can also signify an underlying physical problem (could be favouring his near-fore) and given his previous splint problems, it's not a good sign.

Today was his sternest test pace-wise and while he travelled with his usual effortless style, it was the first time this season I've seen him come under a semblance of pressure at the finish and, to me, he did not respond.  He kept on OK but I thought Solwhit was just pegging him back a bit as they approached the line - nothing obvious, but I'm fairly sure the Fly had little more to give.

It could easily be down to his interrupted prep and/or his recent busy schedule; equally it could be an indication that he doesn't find much under strong driving. If he jumps right in a hot-paced Champion in March, I suspect the hill will find him out.

I agree about his jumping to the right being a slight concern. But at the business end he was jumping straight. Also today was his 3rd run inside 7 weeks so it's understandable he might have been a bit below par today. Especially given Mullins post race comments on RTE where he said the horse had a cut on his foot going into the race today and he was worried it would be hurting him in the race. He said he hoped the adreneline would make him forget about it during the race.

smart mouth, Mr Byrne! ...but all your bluster can't make this horse the world beater you seem to think he is.... if you are unable to cope with other peoples opinions I suggest to start your own blog and talk to yourself..

Why don't you go and lift the Fly's tail and get it over with? Honestly, calling me a clueless moron for suggesting he has it all to prove against horses who have been sent into battle rather than left to trot around Irish bogs. I just hope lots more clueless morons like you keep backing him.

I think he'll love having Binocular to chase up the hill, imo he's been crying out for more competition and a proper lead in a championship race. If Binocular doesn't run his race (twice beaten when expected to win at Cheltenham) he could be the one. But agreed, he still has a bit to prove and this is a seriously good renewal..

CV I mentioned elsewhere that Mullins seems to be taking a fairly cavalier attitude to campaigning his horses this season, especially compared to many others of 'he won't run again till Cheltenham' school of thought.  I don't think the latter choice is perfect by any means and somewhere in the middle lies the answer. But I fear Mullins might be weakening the chances of a few of his Festival fancies with this strategy.

Also, to run a horse, let alone a potential champ, when he fears he could be hurting from an injury leaves the trainer open to heavy criticism from animal rights supporters as well as regular racing fans.  I'm beginning to think the maestro is losing the plot.

I was pretty amazed he said the horse had a sore foot. But to be fair to him the horse has won his 3 starts and I'm sure the owners are wanting him to run. There is plenty of time for him to be nice and fresh for Cheltenham and it's nobodies fault the weather caused the races to be so close to eachother.

He'll be going to Cheltenham with 3 runs on his belt the same as Binocular.

Now to be fair he said it may have been hurting him, we've no idea how bad the cut was, it could have been nothing

I have never been a Hurricane Fly fan, but today's effort looked a marked improvement on what he's shown before - even if he was beating Solwhit again.

I backed Bino last year and I have backed him again this year but I'm not convinced he, or those he's been beating are up to much.

Khyber Kim was disappointing before last season, has he improved or is the opposition weaker?
Celestial Halo and Zaynar have not franked the form.
In the Christmas hurdle last year he was beaten by Go Native and I never really rated him top class.
In his first CH he lost to Punjabi, and previously he was beaten by Captain Cee Bee.
I do rate him but in the back of my mind are these nagging reminders that he is not invincible by any means.
And in this years Christmas hurdle he did wi well but how good is the form?

Master Minded looked invincible until Zeb tonked him. Always be wary of horses you haven't beaten well.

roll on march


Hurricane Fly - Champion Hurdle Winner 2011

I hope Ruby can bury him somewhere on the rail at Cheltenham. That might help with any tendency to jump right. I think the evidence so far is that he is a horse you could do that with, i.e. small and nippy and will go through a gap. Ruby could do worse than follow Richard Johnson.

I can't believe the criticism that Hurricane Fly has received, for winning three Grade 1 wins on the trot.

Whenever Binocular loses everyone is really quick to offer an excuse, but when Hurricane Fly wins people are quick to knock the form.

I agree with Brigust in terms of Binoculars form.  People keep saying HF is only beating Solwhit this year but Bino has only beat Starluck and Overturn in his last run (Khyber Kim really needed the run as well).  I would rate Solwhit above both Overturn and Starluck.  While I agree that it would be good to beat other horses than Solwhit, I don't see how Binocular's performances this year have been so much better than Hurricane Fly's.

I would also like Hurricane Fly to have course form, but I think that is factored into his price.  If he had won the Supreme a couple of years ago (the year he slammed Go Native), I'm sure he'd be much shorter in the market now but that's the risk you take.

I do think that Hurricane Fly will win the Champion, and I don't think Binocular has ever raced a horse as good as him (and that includes Peddlers Cross - and I love Peddlers Cross - won a good few quid on him).

Burying him on the rail is only likely to get him involved in bumping matches, imo. Also, much as Mullins favours Ruby, I'd be surprised if Townend loses the ride now

It would be stupid bad judgement to put Ruby on the horse given he's only ridden him once before. Also Hurricane Fly has no problem being bumped or anything, his two wins at the Punchestown festival show how he can deal with the troubles of big field runs and still find a way to the front while still on the steel.

CV, Ruby is 3 from 3 on him (one in France); PT is 5 from 6 but they'd be daft to jock him off imo

If Ruby is fit he will ride it. No doubts about that.

Well Townend has ridden him in 7 of his last 8 runs. So it would make sense to keep him on board. Ruby will get the ride though, no way he'll not fight for it given he's never won the Champion Hurdle.

Make sense? How many winners has PT ridden at the Cheltenham Festival?
I think PT is very good but as yet he is not Ruby Walsh and in this race you will need everything you can as an advantage. Everything.

Ruby doesn't know the horse as well as Townend.

I would love decent odds that his stable companion Thousand Stars finishes in front of him if both run in the CH

Bonkers

CVByrne Joined: 14 Mar 06
Replies: 1584 23 Jan 11 23:17   


Bonkers

All about opinions. Festival form always worth backing and HF has never run at Cheltenham before [;)]

What niggles me about Hurricane Fly's wins this season is that he's not put any more distance between himself and Thousand Stars this season.
It is not impossible that Thousand Stars has improved 25lb since last March (won off OR134 and rated OR140 after winning) but his form since then has all been rated thru' Hurricane Fly.
It could be - just could be, mind - that the Irish hurdle form this season is pants, and totally upside down.
We wont know for sure till Cheltenham and Fly punters will either be very, very happy or miserable as sin.

Wayward, form in conditions races can be vey misleading. I don't think for 1 minute that Thousand Stars would beat HF. He has sat in behind and made the running, nothing closed the gap.
I actually thought TS was a great bet, and backed him, for the Arkle because he will find it difficult to win this year but WM knows best.

Wayward there is a limit to how far hurricane fly is going to put  between himself and his rivals if he is only asked to quicken after the last hurdle. You can't knock him for easily defeating his donalds just because he didn't beat them by x number of  lengths.

donalds = rivals

Donalds!!
Whats that about mate??

Donald McCain?

Predictive text on my phone, I have a samsung  galaxy s  and use swype.  Sometimes it  comes up with some odd words

TONY McCOY believes Hurricane Fly is the biggest danger to Binocular successfully defending his title in the Stan James Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

McCoy said: "Hurricane Fly is an exceptional horse and he is the one that everybody at Cheltenham is going to have to worry about.

"If you owned him you would be struggling to pick any holes in him. He has won over two and a half miles, he has got pace and he probably goes on any ground, so he has got the lot.

"With Peddlers Cross and Menorah too, it is going to be an exciting Champion Hurdle if they get there but Hurricane Fly is the one that I am going to have to worry about."

McCoy was pleased to see Binocular return to winning form in Kempton's rearranged Christmas Hurdle on ground that he believes would not have suited the seven-year-old. He told At The Races: "I was thrilled with him. It was a long way off his Champion Hurdle form but it was a progression from what he achieved at Newbury. When I rode him at Newbury he was very fresh.

"At Kempton it was the sort of ground I'm sure not a lot of horses like so I thought the best thing to do was to ride him handy, but good horses are easy to ride."

probably goes on any ground?? he fails to mention this horse has never quickened off a fast pace aswel as always running on soft ground!

good for him,he may be correct,but then again........

Hurricane Fly quickened off a fast pace yesterday you moron. Try watching racing from time to time, you may learn something.

He's also won on good ground twice, he's won on all types of ground, heavy, soft, yeilding, good. Speed horses are at their best on good ground where they you know can use their speed.

HF has never ran at CH speed, in  fact its never ran over  here, i see dunguib finishing ahead of HF at the festival, lets no 4get it was fav to beat HF at punchestown, were it pulled hard ran wiv choke out for the first mile, ok it did finish 6 th and 15 l behind but it ran it race in the first mile, it he settles in CH  i see no problems in cruising past the fly

Only Binocular, Starluck and Khyber Kim have run at Champion Hurdle pace. So they are the only ones who can win the race? Dunguib found the pace of the Supreme too fast to win yet you think he'll end ahead of Fly. I assume you only started watching racing this month when you opened your betfair account.

dunguib was given the ride from hell in the supreme, every1 new it was the class horse of the race after the event, HF has done nothing over here least dunguib has course form easy bumber winner and should have won the supreme, and it was fav at punch to be beat HF,  probs would have done if it settled, i think Dunguib has more class and speed than HF!

A pattern is emerging here. Everybody who disagrees with you is, in your weird world, a moron. Why don't you let your horse do the talking instead of yapping away every five minutes as though you are Hurricane Fly's personal spokesman? Get a life instead of spouting all the overly defensive nonsense.

R&W it's clear denman didn't watch the race yesterday as Hurricane Fly quickened off a fast pace, so what am I supposed to do with people who don't even bother trying to get simple facts right?

You don't see me calling people with well thought out opinions morons. I'd be obliged if you'd live up to your promise made many times and stop posting here if you're just going to pop up with comments like your ones below.

so cybrne has dunguib go no chance in ch in ur opinion?

I don't post much now it's true. The reason is that I'm sick of the negativity and the insults bandied about by folk like you. I look at threads of horses I'm interested in as there is still some useful information. Like you I think Hurricane Fly is the real deal and I hope he gets the chance to prove it this year where it matters. Unlike you, if somebody expresses a different opinion I won't call them a moron. I'm sure this forum was set up to allow a mutually beneficient exchange of ideas and opinions. Playground bullies with 'superior' attitudes like you are abusing it and I will post from time to time to point that out.

Seriously R&W you clearly don't read many of my posts. I am one of the last remaining people who contribute to good debate on here. It's got increasingly hard with the level of abuse that goes on and in particular new posters who have such stupid irritating comments like denman here spouting nonsense about Hurricane Fly.

You R&W don't contribute to debate, you don't have to suffer the level of cr@p on here so please refrain from having a go at a good poster like myself based on my irritation with a poster who's been on here for a couple of weeks and already had many stupid comments.

The only reason I stay posting here is because there is a remnant of good posters like aka, Steeplechasing, budd, Sint etc.. who actually put a bit of effort into their views in a non antagonistic way.

Also "Hurricane Fly has not quickened off a fast pace", that is not an opinion, it's an incorrect statement. I respect other peoples opinion but I won't suffer blatant lies. Hence the moron comment.

Man this place is getting to me today.

I dont post much either but I have to say CVByrne is 100% right - the pace for HF's race on Sunday was very quick with Thousand Stars setting a good gallop form the off. Watch the full race if you disagree and watch Thousand Stars.

I still Binocular though on the big day, just think course and festival form is crucial.....but wouldnt put anyone off the Fly .. a quality beast

I agree I'd give binocular the edge from Hurricane Fly because he has the course form. Peddlers Cross would be next.

I think it impossible to be pedantic anyway but particularly without knowing the state of the ground which in my view is a big factor in why Binocular was so impressive last year. I'm yet to be fully convinced by Peddlars over 2 miles at the top level. Hurricane is a serious horse but he hasn't done it where it really matters yet.

Anything close to good ground and the betting boots will be coming out for Binocular but if it is soft they will stay in the cupboard and it will be a watching race for me.

CV: I wasn't knocking Hurricane Fly earlier when I stated the obvious in that he hadn't put any more distance between himself and Thousand Stars this season. Personally, I rated HF's run at 164, which puts him right there in the mix for the Champion Hurdle. I didn't rate the win in last year's CH by Binocular as high as it was by RP Ratings (174), I made it more like 170 which fits more easily with those behind him then.
Solwhit is "Mr Consistency", running 158-159 just about every time he comes to the track in my book, and that makes him an excellent yardstick. Solwhit hasn't got the pace to match HF, but does than mean HF has the pace to win a CH?
There is so little between those at the head of the betting (HF, Binocular, Peddlers, Menorah) on form shown this season that the winner could be the horse ridden by the jockey who wins the tactical battle.
My own personal opinion is that Ruby Walsh is a better jockey over fences than hurdles, and you could argue he's lost the tactical battle in the Champion Hurdle while riding some potential winners in the past few years. On that basis, I'd be happy for HF to be ridden by Paul Townend as he's unlikely to be any worse than Ruby Walsh over hurdles.
At 9/2, HF is looking interesting, but the fact that Nicky Henderson said last Sat that he believes the key to Binocular is plenty of work and fast-speed hurdling practise at home suggests he can conjure up a performance of equal (or better) than last March with Binocular.
Personally, I'm on Peddlers Cross at 14's and that Don McCain was so angry after Haydock was lost to frost last Sat sugggests he's not progressing as well at home as he needs to.
This is shaping up to be a cracking Champion Hurdle.

I think your ratings are pretty good actually. I'd have binocular around 170 myself.

Then on a line through medermit on his runs in the  champ hurdle and at punchestown you'd say solwhit is more a 161-162 than high 150's. That would have Hurricane fly around 166.

But then I found out today king had said medermit had run poorly in the champion hurdle and pulled muscles in his back before bouncing back to form at punchestown. So fly might be a bit closer to binocular that I thought this morning.

Then there is the unrelated form of peddlers cross and menorah to consider.

Let's say this, having both hurricane fly and binocular heavily backed I fear those two a little more than I did a few days ago.

I see the bullies are alive and well....lol

Red & White ...you said it for all of us...well done!

As for HF I'm not worried about his ability to quicken on any ground. The time of the race was very good the other day and he's won well on GF in his time. It's just a case of whether he makes it over the Irish Sea. It's a very open race this year so the price should hold up. I think the danger is Menorah given his course form and ability to win regardless of how the race is run.

Binocular (18/5) , Menorah (5) , Hurricane Fly (11/2) , Peddlers Cross (6) , Mille Chief (14) , Oscar Whisky (14) , Dunguib (16) , Khyber Kim (22) , Thousand Stars (50) , Clerks Choice (80) , Alaivan (100) , Notus De La Tour (100) , Salden Licht (100) , Solix (100) , Tocca Ferro (100) , Zaynar (119) , Cue Card (123) , Cristal Bonus (150) , Ronaldo des Mottes (150) , Overturn (153)  - Others 200 or more

sleep softly Fly, not long till you win the champion Hurdle...

Greatness awaits..

Great result

But for injury it would surely have been his 3rd successive festival win

Only ever beats the same horses over in Ireland :-)

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM



Hate to say it but Told ye


Stay sound till next year Fly

Welcome to BOOMSDAY

The best since Istabraaq, don't need no steroids either!!

Ive never been as excited & nervous b4 a race..But i had no reason to be nervous what a horse this fella is..Hope he gets there safe and sound to defend his crown in 2012