celestial halo - what now?

not good enough for champion hurdle, jumping career not got off to the best start, world hurdle a possibility, but connections already have big bucks?

Had jumped well until tipping up 4 out,l'd give him another go personally

yeah, worth another go, but i personally am never a fan of flat bred horses going over fences. There record in the arkle is shocking too i believe?

Well Chief and Contraband are the only two flat breds to win the Arkle in the last 30 years......and I can't remember any winning the RSA.

Interesting that PN is even talking about switching him back to hurdles so soon. Only one fall at the end of the day and he jumped well otherwise. Suggests he wasnt that keen on the jumps route in the first place imo.

Celestial Halo for the World Hurdle and Big Buck's for the Gold Cup anyone?

Neither for me

what price would celestial halo be with BB out the way.....5/2

Wouldn't stay 3m in a taxi.

imo of course

What's to say he will even stay 3 miles well? At the end of the day he has been/still is a very good 2 mile hurdler. His jumping is so tidy normally. He could have won at Aintree if it wasn't for that fall. I would give him another chance over fences as he's not done too badly today apart from that fence. If he went on to win easily he would probably be fav for the Arkle tonight. I have to say though I never thought he looked like a chaser and not many flat horses suit chasing.

tongue-in-cheek post from me as duffy sussed [;)]

Has Andy Stewart got any other potential Arkle prospects?
Treble related contingency?

Nicholls said on one of his Betfair videos from last month that Celestial 'could always go back over hurdles'

Wouldnt be surprised if they gave him another 3k Nov Chase to see how he jumps/reacts before deciding re long term targets.

No way will the alter Big Bucks from World Hurdle.

as i mentioned under the horse racing forum similar post, Nicholls, i think, is twitchy this season with regards the wealth of top horses henderson has at his disposal. given BB is only running 4 times this season (world included) then it would make sense to have another top notch stayer.

C Halo could serve it up to all in the races BB doesn't run and bring in some much needed prize monies in the championship battle (which i am sure it will be). 

To say that Andy Stewart wont have two runners aimed at the race is not a brilliant argument.  it would be  some achievement to have a 1-2 in the World Hurdle.

50/1 available with cash mans is more than generous

dont think it touched a twig ,slipped on landing and was as big as a bull.

Didnt slip on landing...it stepped right through the fence and mullered it.

"big as a bull" were u there to see him?

he definitely didn't overjump or just crumple on landing, think he under jumped and the landing gear never had a chance to get out and he was down b4 finishing the jump

my memory serves me correctly - just watched it again on atr website

Hard to say what caused the fall due to the head-on view.  He jumped noticeably to the right at the fence, seemed to clear it then perhaps catch his back legs causing what looked a heavy fall.  Having said that, he not only got up right away but jumped the next willingly (and maybe the last? Didn't see it on ATR), so I doubt there's any obvious damage to his confidence.

Prior to the fall, I thought he jumped with a fine mixture of safety, speed and cleverness.

Nicholls' comments were most interesting;  "It might be that he won't take to fences, but he'll have another school and we'll have a talk with Andy (Stewart, owner) and see what we want to do.

"We could always go back to hurdles if we want to. It's always been at the back of my mind that he is by Galileo and is Flat-bred."

Sounds like PFN thought he should have remained hurdling and he might be saying the polite equivalent of I told you so to connections.

Would be interesting in the Ascot Gold Cup for me [:o]

Was n't he 7th in Leger as 3yo or something?

Yeah, surely improved from that though, talk of Stewart wanting to send Big Buck's for it at one point so you never know

interesting thoughts.  still think the option of staying races over hurdles at ascot and cheltenham that BigBucks doesnt go for would be the best option.  zaynar will avoid BB until the festival and nicholls would be unwise to let henderson rack up money without grade 1 opposition in these races

Fair shout, long way until next Summer anyway

I could be terribly wrong here but he does not look the type that would relish the World Hurdle. Personally would like to see him have another pop at the Champion or go back on the flat.

it is at least 3 months too early to try and pick the arkle winner, but judging by pn's comments halo is one to scrub off the list already

just been reading the comments that have surfaced this morning about Celestial and it would appear they are going to give him one more go at fences, somewhere quiet.

you all heard it here first though, they are confident that he needs at least 2&1/2m and would be aimed at 3mile hurdles should this not work out!

weird i was thinking about celestial halo back on the flat last night. Perhaps he could be PN first runner on the flat i remember him saying last year he might possibly take a license out, or was that the year before.

i think last yr, for FONT....

Where to go now ?

Okay next season - Big Bucks goes for Gold Cup, Celestial Halo the stayers.

Simples!

going to be tough as just below top class and very hard to place. No chance he should try a fence though as the early signs were just not good enough. I would aim him for Aintree and keep him fresh

Absolute plot job for the old Jewson imo

Stayers Hurdle 2012.

I read today the owner saying he's a definate for the World Hurdle. If you google 'news' the horses name you'll can read the story - told to ATR

Tinned meat.

deary me newmanix

celestial halo has course form of 122433 (with the 2 3rds over inadequate trip)... this includes a triumph win, a 2nd by 1/4 length to punjabi in a champion hurdle as a 5 year old (in front of binocular), a 2 1/4 length 2nd to course specialist khyber kim in the Bula whilst giving KK 4lbs (also had medermit 3 lengths behind also receiving 4lb) then 4th in champion hurdle to binocular. all other hurdle runs over 16/17f have resulted in 3 wins, 3 2nds and a 4th in the irish champion hurdle. also looked like winning over 2m4f at aintree before falling. all runs aged 5+ have recorded OR of 160+, highest OR being 170 and highest at cheltenham being near to that figure. also has a best TS of 166. if silviniaco conti is in fact routed towards aintree, and paul townend keeps ride on hurricane fly, then could be only nicholls runner in this championship race and also have ruby onboard. could this in fact be the forgotten horse at a huge price in this year's champion hurdle?!

Good luck with that project Paul!
What next for a PN horse that disappoints?
Why, a breathing op of course!

Over two  miles hurdles, I suppose he has not so much disappointed as marginally come up short of the top standard in open company. He has a good Cheltenham record in this division, as Paul4 points, without quite looking as if he could dominate in that sphere.

Rather than sending him off in front, as they did in the 2010 CH, it would be interesting to see how he might fare racing just off a strong pace, hoping the race will develop into a long, driving finish in which his stamina might pull him through into the places. They might hope Overturn will to do the front running this time and set a good pace, which Celestial Halo definitely needs over two miles.

I would be surprised if they go down the CH route again with Celestial Halo, but if they did and he was freshened up for it, drawn on by the competitiveness of the field, he might just get into the race a bit more than many would be expecting.  Can't see him being good enough to win, but a staying on fourth or fifth would be a possibility and if the pace really gets to some of them in the finish, he might be one to sneak a place at a decent price if ridden less aggressively than last time.

I'd rather see it run in the World Hurdle but wouldn't be suprised to see it pitched up in the Champion Hurdle as Nicholls has been quiet on CH. Has CH got a World Hurdle entry?

his distance is 2m whether he's top class or not... aka u said pretty much what im getting at. im not saying this horse is better than HF, binocular, PC etc, but i do think that he is clearly suited by 2m, around cheltenham. his 4th in the champion hurdle was behind binocular, khyber kim and zaynar, arguably 2 if not 3 running their career best runs? i think the race this year will go off very fast, which will suit a horse like celestial halo as will certainly stay the trip and does have pace. interesting about what u said regarding different tactics, and letting overturn set the pace. either way i think it will be a quick race, and i can see the first 3 places having at least 1 of the "big four" in them, as i would be shocked if all 3 are from top of market (rarely is) at 50/1 for a place, i just thought would be worth a few quid as nicholls is not going to go into a championship race with no runner imo (surely not?!) and if silviniaco conti goes to aintree, halo is his only other entry and could even have ruby onboard.

last 3 runs over C+D have resulted in OR's of 168, 168, 166 (i think)

and almost in reply to my posts....andy stewart has this morning all but ruled celestial halo out of cheltenham and said aintree is the likely target :)

However, one horse who may not be heading to Cheltenham this season is Celestial Halo. The seven-year-old won the Triumph Hurdle in 2008 and has shaped well in the last two renewals of the Champion Hurdle, but Stewart believes the Aintree Hurdle is his major spring target.

"He's entered in the Champion Hurdle and the World Hurdle but he's not quick enough to win the Champion and he's probably not good enough to win the World Hurdle," said Stewart.

"He was going to go for the totesport Trophy at Newbury but it's a very competitive handicap and he'd have had top weight. We'll give him one more run before we decide what to go for if we go to Cheltenham.

"If we missed Cheltenham altogether, he'll definitely go for the Aintree Hurdle in April. He was going well when falling last year, so he'll probably go back for that. Two and a half miles is more his bag. Once we've got Aintree out of the way or whatever, we may have another go at chasing with him."