Cheltenham Festival
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Ian Williams novice chaser set to make his chasing debut at Cheltenham tomorrow.
Won the grade 1 sefton Hurdle at Aintree last year and trainer seems very very very excited about his potential.
This is what he said after the sefton win : "He is a chaser in the making, he's a lovely big-framed horse. Hopefully this is small fry compared to what he can do over fences - we think he could be a very useful novice next year.
And yesterday he did an article on sporting life where he was asked and he hardly dampened any enthusiasm for the horse
"He's going to Cheltenham on Saturday. He finished up with a rating of 150 when he was an embryonic chaser who was running over hurdles.
"I can't wait to see what he'll do over fences. We have big aspirations for him."
25/1 for the RSA looks mighty tempting from those words.
Won the grade 1 sefton Hurdle at Aintree last year and trainer seems very very very excited about his potential.
This is what he said after the sefton win : "He is a chaser in the making, he's a lovely big-framed horse. Hopefully this is small fry compared to what he can do over fences - we think he could be a very useful novice next year.
And yesterday he did an article on sporting life where he was asked and he hardly dampened any enthusiasm for the horse
"He's going to Cheltenham on Saturday. He finished up with a rating of 150 when he was an embryonic chaser who was running over hurdles.
"I can't wait to see what he'll do over fences. We have big aspirations for him."
25/1 for the RSA looks mighty tempting from those words.
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Well...looked pretty impressive to me today, 25/1 now firmly gone into 16/'s
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Have to say I wasnt overly impressed...didnt look a natural and fiddled his way round.
Obviously will improve...just didnt show any real bold leaps to catch the eye to say RSA winner at this stage. |
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Haven't watched him yet, but I would always forgive a horse fto, win or lose.
Especially fto over fences, or up in trip. First rung in the ladder etc. |
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Am amazed at that tbh, his jumping was fluent and accurate, was clever when he got in close to a couple and jumped as straight as a die at every fence except the last. For a first run over fences I thought it was highly impressive, travelled well too.
Oh well, opinions, schminions. |
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Seems I am not alone:
WAYWARD PRINCE, who romped to a six-length success in the Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree last season, got his chasing career off to a fantastic start with a nine-length victory. Trained by Ian Williams, the six-year-old jumped boldly under Dougie Costello, who was forced to race his mount prominently after several impressive leaps saw him take lengths out of his rivals at every fence. Settled towards the rear, Wayward Prince was soon on the heels of the leaders, where he raced throughout, stalking a decent gallop set by Tony McCoy aboard Aberdale, who finished second. The race began in earnest as they entered the back straight for the second time. After a sloppy jump by Wayward Prince - who had previously been foot perfect - at the last in the home straight, Costello seemed keen to increase the pace and took his mount to the front after the leaders appeared to have eased things slightly in front. Wayward Prince, a proven galloper and with no stamina doubts, responded positively and strung the field out in a matter of furlongs with only Aberdale able to stick with him. Wayward Prince continued to jump beautifully, although perhaps the most impressive aspect of his jumping was his ability to put himself right at his fences when getting in too close. As they began to turn for home Costello momentarily had to cajole his mount along as he appeared slightly outpaced, although the sharp bend could have been a factor as, turning for home, Wayward Prince snapped back onto the bridle and going to the second last began to pull clear of the gallant Aberdale, who also jumped beautifully throughout. Approaching the last Costello had the race firmly in the bag but gave punters a brief scare, with the duo not at their fluent best, blundering but never really looking like parting company. "That was no donkey derby, it was a nice race and just the education we wanted to give him," said Costello. "He does everything within himself and he was idling from the second last, when left out in front, and made his only mistake at the last." Owner Hilary Parrott, who looks to have a cracking prospect on her hands, added: "That was exciting and nerve-wracking, we've had him since he was a foal and hopefully he'll end up at Cheltenham in March." |
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Liked the performance too - price too short for me at this stage for RSA with plenty of contenders still to show their hand and complication of new 2m 4f novice chase at festival.
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V. impressive, fan of the trainer too.
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Think the first two from that race are both very nice prospects, Aberdale jumped really well too.
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Very impressed by this horse today.Apart from one or two novice mistakes i thought he jumped brilliantly.Too early to see if he is a RSA candidate until he takes on better horses.
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The new race is no complication for this one. He's a 3 miler.RSA the target.
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3132, what race were you watching?
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All about opinions Ben....as I said I wasnt overly impressed with his jumping at times.
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nothing to write home about i thought also
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I didn't back him but was really impressed and thought the form was very solid. I know the stable think a lot of the 3rd and he couldn't get near them, although I accept he may have needed it. Wouldn't be surprised if the first 3 are all good.
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Agree, think the race will work out well. Wayward was hardly going to be off for his life either let's remember.
3132, he took about half a length out of them at most fences, looks a real natural chaser and he'll certainly improve on it. Will love a stiffer track also, like him a lot myself. |
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Also improved as the season went on and looked like he's love a stamina test at Aintree.
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and the horse in front breaking down!
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Which one was that?
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Like Wayward Prince myself, but Wymott beat him fair and square last season at Haydock and was very impressive at Bangor this week. Think both could be very good.
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Wayward Prince didn't like the soft when he met Wymott?
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Trainer has always maintained with Wayward Prince he is a out and out chaser, hurdling was just a formality which had to be done, today will be a very good test as Williams said he hated Huntingdon yet won by 9lengths still.
Big galloping track like Chelts which is apparently what the horse wants, we shall see how he performs. |
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now has a win over course and distance, beating some very handy sorts
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Looked fortunate winner with Chicago Grey / Beshabar coming down 2 out.
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dont jump dont win :p
on a serious note has just beaten a host of previous winners over c&d, proved he will get up the hill, and what i really liked - will dig deep if asked |
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Chicago Grey had him cooked IMO (And I backed Wayward Prince). Pretty lucky, though didn't appreciate ground or pace according to trainer post race.
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huge WP fan but thought he jumped patchy early on (why take him 4 wide round first bend) and a fortuitous winner. match tomorrow with T4R there's only 1 winner but as we all know there's a long way to go.
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Was fairly unimpressed, does seem to relish a good gallop though and that may have hampered his jumping. Think Reyes sums it up well
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He's still learning but is one of the likelier types on his overall profile. Time For Rupert obviously the one to beat but RSA Chase often rarely goes to such a highly rated hurdler, although admittedly not many have tried.
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