Triumph Hurdle winner makes debut this week (presuming trainer is not mental)

Sad Ken?

celtus

Zarkandar, Akideau or Emrani?

Same old, same old. Triumph winner already favourite. Tar.

Wont run Zarkandar

I got a message from a bloodstock agent who said that Tonic Melysse wins the Triumph. Just noticed it's declared to run at Kempton in the race Soldatino won last year for the same owner.

Yes I have heard very good things about Tonic Melysse. Entered it in the Supreme too...

Welds horses form let down big time today in Ireland. Hendo has the answer as is the norm

I was quite impressed with Zarkandar today although many will argue the rest of the field weren't of the greatest standard. Having said that I took available money at 29.0 and 28.0 straight after the race before the price halved leaving me a nice free bet for the triumph. It doesn't appear to be the strongest field in recent years imo and Zarkandar wouldn't have to improve too much to figure in the finish.

why do people have to act like such arrogant swines on here ... baffling but very funny at the same time.

Its got a e/w shout but Granduet the one they all got to beat i feel, massively rapid improver

Possibly the best Triumph form on offer along with Grandouet imo.

Read Hugh Taylor's thoughts...

here's nothing I fancy strongly at Fontwell or Towcester today, but that doesn't mean there are no betting opportunities, because I was very impressed by ZARKANDAR's win in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton yesterday and I think he looks attractively priced this morning for the Triumph Hurdle. The big downside to his chance is the fact that that was his hurdles debut, and it's far from ideal to go into the Triumph Hurdle on the back of only one run, but on the plus side, it has to be encouraging that he was able to show such a high level of form in a Grade Two event on his hurdles bow, and the Triumph Hurdle isn't the cavalry charge it once was, with an average filed size of around 16 runners over the last three years, the Fred Winter having lured away many potential runners. Yesterday's win clearly came as something of a surprise to trainer Paul Nicholls, but watching the race and indeed his previous starts explains that to a degree, as he looked better the further he went at Kempton and also shaped like a stayer on the Flat in France.

It's hard to get a handle on the winning time yesterday, as further rain fell after the first race, making comparisons with the later races over hurdles tricky. Nevertheless, the official going and the going stick reading both suggest it was no better than good to soft at the start of racing, and if that's the case, then the time was very good, a good-ground time in fact, and the early gallop wasn't that strong (although it picked up after the first two hurdles). The Grade Two Dovecote Novices' Hurdle doesn't stand serious comparison timewise, as it was run at a steady early gallop and there had been more rain in the interim, but it's still interesting that, off that steady gallop, the winner Sire De Grugy appears to have taken around two seconds longer from the penultimate flight to the line than Zarkandar. Zarkandar is an Aga Khan-bred half-brother to the mighty Zarkava, and the Aga Khan's pedigree combination of speed and stamina has produced a winner, a second and two thirds in the Triumph Hurdle in the last two years; Zarkandar has decent claims to improve that record this year, despite his lack of hurdling experience.

ZarkandAr, apologies.

Howdi = World's biggest bore.