what is knight doing with somersby?

So confused you had to ask twice?

id say shes desperate dan to be quite honest. nothing in her yard is half as classy as in years gone by. i cant see her winning any grade ones at any stage in the near future

she has a top class horse in her hands but wtf she is doing i dont know.

she hasn't done anything wrong with it i think....the horse itself has a big question mark against it now for me....today was an ideal starting point for it....it would not have lacked for fitness as her horses are pretty much straight first time out...particularly in this race....but when somersby makes a mistake he just looks like his confidence goes...and that is a problem....he isn't the same horse we saw at sandown...that's for sure.

How did you conclude that he would noty have lacked for fitness?

He did not look anything like fully fit from the shots that I saw before the race.

^ Didn't jump like it either.

i concluded it because her horses are generally fit enough first time...and particularly in this race her good horses have always done themselves justice first time up....plus straight after the race when she had the opportunity to say the horse needed it....she didn't use it as an excuse.....some may think he blew up today...my opinion is that he was let down by his jumping and that's why he was beaten.

even if he was not fit....that wouldn't have stopped him jumping fluently now would it....but as soon as he made a mistake....he visibly looked to me as if he was guessing from there on in.

^ I was being , perhaps I should have just said his jumping was was average at best.

quvega...no offence intended there.....you helped me out with news on kempes

None taken Duffy

after that sandown run though, somersby quickly became my fav. horse of last year...the best round of jumping i'd seen for quite a while.....one way or another i hope we see it again from the horse.

He jumped beautifully that day, was quite shocked at how poor he was today tbh. Agree, lets hope he can rediscover that sort of jumping form.

Thought his poor jumping towards the end and the way he finished were possibly indicative of a lack of fitness. Was surprised she nominated Tingle Creek but not sure it's the worst plan in the world. Could see him reversing form with Tchico Polos (if he goes there),not convinced Twist Magic (awesom effort today) will jump off, not sure whether Master Minded is still the real deal and Tataniano is ground dependent.

Not sure which of the Irish will rock up though.

I was at Exeter yesterday and in my view the only horses that were fit and well in the Haldon Gold Cup were the Paul Nicholls pair. The going was very testing and in every race, horses travelled into the straight but few got further than the second last. Cornas must have been fit but clearly hasn't recovered from a hardish race in Ireland. Somersby and Imsingingtheblues looked to have the race between them 2 out but both blew up big time in my opinion. It would have been very interesting to see what Herecomesthetruth would have done if he hadn't run out as he looked the outstanding horse in the paddock. This time of year is notoriously influenced by stable fitness and Hobbs and Nicholls have theirs ready while a lot of others don't.

the champion chase is looking quite easy to sort out this year none of the novices from last season are actually being aimed over 2m this season bar Captain Cee Bee you don't have to look any further. ez. Captain Cee Bee 12/1 massive.

Never underestimate the gulf between novice and championship form. I see no reason why any of the second season chasers would challenge for the QM. If Twist Magic can give them 14-20lb and beat most of them, so can Big Zeb and even Master Minded. Sizing Europe is the only one I would consider if he reverts to 2 miles.

CCB is seriously classy, Big Zeb couldn't achieve what CCB did when beating Binocular. I can't think of any 2 mile chaser that could actually, CCB has already proved he jumps well and has so much speed but stays so well also.

I would like to see a change of tactics with Somersby in The Tingle Creek.
Let him bowl along in front & i think he could jump them ragged.

I'm not so sure about capt ceebee's jumping at champion chase speed, he's 9 going on 10 as well so i would doubt there's much improvement to come. Can't make my mind up about somersby. He's one of these horses who looks like he wants further without convincing that he would improve for it. A bit like forpadytheplasterer

poor cornas finished lame. i suspected there was something amiss alright because he never looked to be going that well

resner not lesnar - Totally agree about Somersby & Forpady being alike. Which is why i think they should give Somersby a more agressive ride, like the one that they gave Forpady in his Arkle win.

Get McCoy back on, that win at Sandown was brilliant, why not repeat the partnership in the Tingle Creek, especially since that was the horse's last win?

Thanks reve. I was really baffled by that run by Cornas (and poorer) He wasn't going passing the stands after 3 furlongs. Glad they got some good prize money in Ireland.

yeah. had my b*lls on at 11/8. not sure how long hes out for. yard have another 2 miler in the shape of gauvain now

cee bee cant jump he wont be winning no champion chase

Still as confused as ever this season it seems

Have a feeling they have found his race.Think 3m round Kemton will suit him.
Big run coming imo

Failing that, rough him off and have a crack at The Wokingham.

Why not? All part of the 'may as well have a lash at that' programme the connections seemingly have mapped out for this thing.

if ever there was a horse that was "Tripless" then this is your horse!!

Apparently the Ryanair is the target this year. Good luck with your bets

This horrible horse...well get ready on the lay button 3 from home I'd say

Yep. I wouldn't back it with stolen counterfeit.

Seems to travel into the race at the right time but when the question is popped has no change of gear. Wind op maybe?

Crescent I also think he has a breathing problem...but also think he is a mut...

loved this horse throughout his novice season...that sandown jumping display was every bit as good as what we've seen from SS this season....but since the arkle it's been all downhill, you can see the ability is still there with the way it moves through it's race but when it comes under pressure something bad happens....i look forward to the day when that problem is sorted out....preferably when most have completely given up on him and he goes off a big big price....could be a long wait though