What A friend for gold cup!

already on :)

Couldn't have him at any price

Will WAF actually go for the Gold Cup?

If he wins the Aon then why not, if not I'd say they could skip Chelt altogether like they did last year to try and get him right for a repeat of his Aintree victory last season. Reckon they missed a trick with this one by not going for the Irish Hennessy, is proven over there and could just have easily directed Pride of Dulcote to Newbury. With Pandorama out would only be up against nags he's already beaten before. No matter what they decide with WAF he has to improve tenfold on his abysmil display at Haydock.

dont worry, he will ;)

Just noticed this one been entered for the National, was that the plan all along

Well at least we know he's still alive!!! Aon the plan I heard too.

I personally wouldn't fancy this horse but then if you can get massive odds then why not? I reckon the Gold Cup this year is a 33/1 or bigger just waiting to happen. Unless Pandorama runs!

got 60s in gold cup and 300s in grand national, so happy with both as chance of running

nice odds about but id say this one needs to win the aon well and then depending how pod does sunday may only then be considered for the gc. is pn really gonna send ks,denman,pod,nc and waf for the gc? can see this one being kept for aintree myself

couldnt have him tbh. the irish g1s are easily won enough and last years hennessy was v poor. cant have him at any price

"What A Friend: Is a very unlikely runner at this stage. His current plans are the Aon, the Gold Cup, then the Martell at Aintree."

Nicholls column on Grand National runners. Sounds sure enough he's going to Gold Cup unless really poor in AON

Give that Pride of Dulcote is now not going, is there a chance that this one could be re-routed to Leopordstown now for the re-scheduled Hennessy?
Would be a better race for him than the AON imho

think this years gold cup looks a strong renewal ,and good chance w.a f will run after all fergie / ged mason likley to be there would want thier horse to go for it imo.. and he is a strong trveller would expect him to be about 25s or shorter, if he was to win the newbury   race impressivly  could be a 16/1 shot on the day, so yes 74/1 is value imo  might chuck a tenner or twenty at it myself at those odds ,he has a better chance than that price indicates ,i have backed long run & d.harry fwiw

Anybody point to a single piece of form that would indicate that this
horse could even place in a Gold Cup???

He won the totesport bowl chase last last year, beating imperial commander.
second in a hennesey the year before.
Hes a year older and has had a breathing op..only room for improvement in my eyes.
Regardless of all this he is well over price, represents great value.

I like the horse but don't think you can read too much into the Aintree result - Imperial Commander clearly did n't want to be there and had made a couple of blunders before he capsized - race came too soon after hard race in Gold Cup.

Would n't be that surprised if ultimately he bypassed the Gold Cup for Aintree again depending on how he does in the Aon and how Nicholls other Gold Cup contenders are shaping up.

Might have missed something but dont think waf is in the aon 5 day entries. Does anyone know if he might be going for the reopened Irish Hennesy?

AON has been reopened by the looks of things so we should know later on today,be very surprised if he isn't entered.

Beating a horse that fell when not going well inst Gold Cup form
and his Hennessey form puts him a stone of gold cup form at very best.
Yes he has had a breathing op but he hardly improved for it did he?

He is entered, hoping for a big run!
we will see on saturday if 75's was a good price to take.

just aint good enough,is he??

i cannot see it at all to be honest

A National entry is always a sign of desperation to me. Can't cut it at the top level, bung them round Aintree. No chance.

genuine good ground +first time blinkers may just see this fella run a big race,
why do i always love horses like him,bundles of talent but also bundles of quirks,
if hes in the mood he will place at least

.

[:D] i havent lost hope Evra... good ground is the key, hated the going last twice, and the mentioning of blinkers can only be a plus for me as sounds like connections think they'll bring about some improvement (which he of course needs....) was told yesterday that IC's time last year was 6 seconds slower than foxhunters?! (havent checked yet so may be wrong) but if so that's not solid for me. long run i still doubt course and trip. pandorama will want it soft which based on WAF wanting good kinda solves the decision when know the going as to whether he'll be a threat. kauto and denman both older, still fancy a huge run from denman, and wouldnt rule out kauto but obv needs to step it back up. kempes could go well on decent ground, china rock unsure of trip. carruthers not good enough for me. midnight chase, tidal bay and neptune collonges hard to work out but think they need to step up a fair bit to win a gold cup. i think 60 (ish) for WAF is a cracking price, especially the place at 13.... good luck :)

agree paul,he clearly has a lot of talent,its just getting it out of him thats the problem for nicholls and the jockey that rides him,as u say,if the ground is genuinely good on gold cup day ill be throwing a few quid e/w on him

Im really downbeat about WAF now. He didnt impress me enough in the aon..he needs a top class jockey on board which he is not going to get..ruby- kauto, sam - denman. That leaves harry skelton..no thankyou.
Also rain is expected late next week..so all in all looks like by passing this race and head off too aintree.

Dissapointed after gettin on at 70's..was expecting alot more from him.

ran a cracker
i done him e/w just done for third by the legend kauto,fantastic effort

had alot on win and 3 places. had 4 places aswel so happy. traded out most of my grand national bets on him at huge prices though as didnt think would go both this season! into 44s now :( stil a few quid if he wins or places though, will be near top of weights though

I was there yesterday to experience the greatest race i have ever seen..
At the top of the hill i was thinkin WAF has got this in the bag he was stalking the leaders and traveling extremly well.  (I had backed long run on course and was thinkin to myself why didnt i keep the faith). Then he didnt have that turn of foot to pick them off. Then he started staying on up the hill, i was level with the winning post watching the race and i was 100% sure he had grabbed kauto on the line.
I was like what result after having the winner and backing WAF at 11's for a place.
Then it came through kauto had stayed  on for 3rd. I was thinkin they'd just gave him third place for the love of the horse lol.
No kauto and denman ran stormers in defeat, just a shame imperial commander went wrong becausse apart from that you couldnt of scripted the race any better.

i had alot on WAF win and place, backed 4 places night before race so was still happy, although 3rd would've been a fair bit more. very happy, had been bigging him up and being laughed at by many for months. running in the national now i think, weighted at 11st 6lb isnt he? im already on so hope he goes well