Hurricane Fly v Binocular

agree, stop wrapping them up.


let them race 2 times at the end of the season.


It has been proven, dont wrap them up...................

Binocular has to come over to Punchestown Festival now surely? Has to take on the new champ.

lets hope so,will love the good/firm ground over there next month as well,only wish Solwhit connections would go for it too so that when he duffs up the former champ all his attackers would lay off

agreed, don't think there's a race for him at Aintree. Henderson likes to go to Punchestown and Punchestowns will be going there. Surely JP will want to get it on.

I'd be with the Fly.

Solwhit would have come 3rd in the Champion Hurdle given he has always split Fly and Thousand Stars.

That was the best bit about the festival.

if Peddlers comes out of the race OK, he'd be the one for the Aintree hurdle - managed to double up after tough festival race last year.Home fixture for his stable.

Ya no doubt he would have, great to see the good Irish races of the winter coming through as there has been a lot said about the quality of Irish racing lately. I'll be honest, I reckoned our novice chasers were a really poor bunch, but perhaps things aren't as bad as I thought. I think it was Durkan day that worried me when I saw Tranquil Sea (a grade 2 aminal imo) win and a Glencove Marina diminished by injury run him fairly close, I thought to myself where are our good chasers gone. Things are looking up.

Sorry Glencove finished close enough

he sure would have,it was great and he got a little justice even for being in his box at home,thats the only thing that made me really angry on here-the Solwhit knockers[>o] lets hope the respect from the english public is throwen his way now,just hope they can get him right to target a repeat Aintree hurdle win,would be a epic clash with PC

Ya Solwhit Peddlars would be a great race, I just hope to God they don't put a 2m4f championship hurdle at Chelts

I'm English - I predict two home wins - Peddlers and Hurricane Fly.

I'd be more confident about HF as Solwhit has been layed out for Aintree race whereas I doubt Bino would go to Punchestown if he'd run in Champion Hurdle.

I had the impression that HF won plenty cosily enough whereas Peddlers had a very hard race.

Hurricane Fly ran a poorish race too, he never settled at all in the Champion. He's a quirky horse but he has endless courage he's never been out battled. The reason he got injured the past 2 seasons is because he gives 100% all the time even in his work at home. So he only ever does half speed work since he came back from injury.

Would be great to see Bino go to Punchestown to take on the Fly...Hurricane Fly has gone from horse to hero in my eyes..I loved the horse before it ran in the Champion but now wowwww Its true love..He showed some heart to battle up that hill stick his head down and whooosh gone..Hope they both turn up for the Champion next year...Will be great seeing Hurricane Fly defend his crown..

Watch Hurricane Fly's race in 2008 Leopardstown Christmas meeting in the aptly named Grade 1 Future Stars Novice Hurdle. I was there that day and it was the first time I'd backed him (he always improves for his first run of the season so I sided with Donnas Palm at Fairyhouse the previous month).

He was magical that day, the speed he was running accross the line left the impression on me, that is a special horse. I left the track that day and then backed him for the Supreme novice hurdle. Alas he never made it to Chelts that year or the next year.

So when he won on Tuesday there was tears rolling down my face as I ran to the winners enclosure to great my equine hero. Hurricane Fly has scaled to the top of the mountain as I always knew he would, I was certain of it and to be there to see it. Well that what racing dreams are all about.

What. A. Horse.

He deserves a place on my wall along side Moscow Fly, Kauto Star and Denman. Racing hero.

Ya the day he ate Go Native, I backed Native and Quevega at Chelts on the back of that performance, it was like a fresh horse jumped in at the last

I loved the way he just breezed past Menorah on the bridle turning for home in the Champion..A real special horse..Cant wait to see him breeze past Binocular on the bridle [;)]

i'd actually put my money on Bino here, as I am pretty sure he would have turned the form around with PC from Newbury, and HF only beat him 1 1/2 lengths on Tuesday ..

I expect it would be dead close between the two of them, as they are both top draw, but Bino would be getting my cas, anywya.

Nothing can get him off the bridle. He's a machine. When other horses are flat out he's still cruising. He travels like the wrath of God.

Hurricane fly has that bit more class than binocular but binocular is the fastest horse you will ever see to get from one side of a hurdle to the other and this is what will keep him ahead of the rest for a while yet and he would have been a gallant second the other day

Binocular beat poor horses an injured Go Native and sick Solwhit in his Champion Hurdle and gets beat too often to be a great champion imo. Though if he takes on the new champ at Punchestown then we can find out who's better.

Anyone know what RPR Fly got for his win?

cv, do you think Bino would have reversed form from Newbury with PC ?

RPR or Timeform rating not been calculated yet,both will be done next week,bellow is Timeforms numbers for the highest rated hurdlers before the festival

HURDLERS
174+ BIG BUCK'S
172p GRANDS CRUS
168 BINOCULAR
166+ HURRICANE FLY
166 TIME FOR RUPERT
163p OSCAR WHISKY
163+ MENORAH
163 KHYBER KIM
162 FIVEFORTHREE
162 OVERTURN
162 PUNJABI
162 SILVINIACO CONTI
162 SOLWHIT

I dno. Hurricane Fly is obviously more consistent and I think a huge amount of credit goes to W. Mullins for racing him plenty through the winter and getting him to the festival. I strongly fancied Binocular to reverse the placings with Peddlars Cross. It would have been one hell of a race whatever..

we wont know till they meet.
gut feeling is HF would beat Bino,but only the horses can tell us.

Pcross is one tough and classy animal and will be a major threat in whatever type of races they choose for him.

HF is pure class.

Nothing can get him off the bridle

you sure CV?? had to work hard this week mate.

I'm a massive fan of Binocular always have been but you have to face facts. We now know both are capable of winning the Champion Hurdle but there's little doubt which has the better turn of foot.

Binocluar wins by increasing tempo from around 3 out rather than instant acceleration and I saw plenty in this tear race to suggest even he couldn't tax Hurricane Fly that much that he couldn't quicken past him in the closing stages.

Not much between them but I can't see how Binocular can possibly beat him.

I was looking forward to the two clashing at Cheltenham and they may never get another chance so the sooner the better.

Nicky believes Binocular will get 2m4f so Aintree is possible, he wouldn't want to leave it too long before running him either and Willie did say he might send Quevega for the same race but Hurricane Fly would be doubtful.

May have to wait until next year and that would be a bummer.

I would be very confident Binocular would beat Fly. He is far superior to Peddlers Cross who bustled up HF. No doubt in my mind he would have walked the CH.

nice one charwell,love it when the comedians pop up and post

Sint no I think Peddlers would have beaten Binocular in the Champion Hurdle by maybe a length, but he's a very very good horse Peddlers Cross. I totally underestimated him.

Fly can run better than that too, he never settled at all, Ruby was taking a few pulls and still he hit the front too soon. He should have hit the front after the last not a good bit before it.

"Fly can run better than that too, he never settled at all, Ruby was taking a few pulls and still he hit the front too soon. He should have hit the front after the last not a good bit before it. "



Absolute rubbish. He'd have lost if he tried that.

Bud nothing can get Fly off the bridle earlier than he would want. Fly would need to have been off the bridle turning in to be beat. He was on the bit as he went past Peddlers Cross then Ruby started to get to work coming to the last and Peddlers simply wouldn't give up and then in the final yards Peddlers got tired.

A horse who can go past Peddlers Cross on the bridle is a machine imv. Peddlers keeps finding and finding, it's amazing he shook off everything that challenged bar Fly. Take Fly out and put Binocular in and Peddlers would have shook him off too.

I think Binocular probably won last year so easily because the horses he beat were a pretty poor bunch bar Go Native who was injured and Solwhit who was sick. You just need to look where Overturn and Khyber Kim finished this year to see that Binocular has never really beaten much. He has to prove it now against better horses.

I think that's nonsense Graeme, if Fly went past Peddlers before the last and had a protracted battle to the line which he won, hitting the front after the last would yield the same result. Fly has never been headed after hitting the front in his career.

CVB you'll need to watch the race again. Peddlers Cross finds so much off the bridle that it would be suicide to let him take the last before HF. He just battles and battles, at pace. HF was absolutely cruising, and many people including us thought he's going to do them easy here. However, Peddlers Cross just kept on finding. HF won because he made the right move at the right time. It was a comfortable length and a half in the end. The last thing you want to do is let PC jump the last in front of you. Ruby Walsh knew this.

Binocular ran within a tenth of a second of Hurricane Fly's time on similar ground. There isn't much between there performances. You can't just take horses form at face value. Khyber Kim is older and had a bad season. Never ran it's race. Overturn was a fcking pacemaker. How could it ever be in contention. I loved Hurricane Fly's win but it's totally disrespectful and ignorant to say Hurricane Fly beat Peddlar's on the bridle because he didn't. Hurricane Fly is a very honest horse. Peddlars ran a stormer. And it's clear to my eye that the defending champ at his best would have been very close indeed. Anyway I think there are better ways of celebrating Hurricane Fly's win without knocking former equally as impressive champions and very game runners up.

Thought Ruby got it spot on too,would not have been advisable to let PC lead over the last imo.

And yes Ruby got it spot on

Fair comments there Masterminded.

Ruby said he didn't get it spot on, he said he hit the front too soon. I'll go with Rubys assessment of the race if that's ok, it's the same as mine. Fly is too quick for Peddlers he could go past whenever he wanted and he did on the bit.

Made to work very hard to win the race by a real quality battler.No bridle win like he does in Ireland mate.
He may have got by on the bit,but he was off it on the run in for sure.
Did not hear Rubys comments,so thats fair enough CV.
Agree fly was too quick for PC,that was always my fear if HF proved to be as good as people thought he was.
No disgrace though losing to what is a serious Champion Hurdler.

Yeah that's a testament to Peddlers Cross and his never giving up, but Fly did go past on the bit, just had to battle it out up the hill after he did though. He would have gone by be it before or after the last. A protracted battle with Peddlers was most certainly not in the script.

Ruby said he never settled and he hit the front too soon, he was trying to hold him back but had to go. He didn't settle because they didn't go quick enough for him.

Jockeys sometimes just say they went too soon. McCoy said that on master Minded as an excuse. The Champion Chase just shows us that that's where the horse is.

The tactic is always to go after the last on Hurricane Fly, he has more speed than anything he'll ever face. So before a horse has a chance to rally Fly is past and can't be pegged back before the line. Ruby was right with his assessment I had the same opinion of the race and he just confirmed it.

hf fly won well, but he didnt have the defending champion in the race so theres always gonna be ? over this victory, but u can only beat whats in front of you

Still think Dunguib is better than Hurricane Fly?

CV why did you underestimate PC ? Is that because of his proximity to HF ?

Binoculer may have come third in the CH the 2 in front are probably a fair bit better than him.
I considered PC an outstanding horse pre-race and though he isn't quite as good as I thought he was
he'd still probably have won every CH there has been since Istabraq stopped winning. He's a very pacey
2m horse who had been winning 2 1/2 m races on class alone. If a specialist 2 1/2 m horse lines up at
Aintree ( an AL ELLIE type) he will be beaten, if its a weak field he could just outclass them.
A 100% Hurricane Fly would eat Binocler for breakfast on any ground and no matter what the pace over 2m.
The best 2m horse since Istabraq, hurricane fly.

what a ridiculous post that is. Absolute tripe, im afraid.

Thought Peddlers would have been tapped for toe but he actually burned everything off bar Hurricane, horse has got more pace than I thought...will make a smashing chaser next season...as for Binocular think he would have been 2nd/3rd on Tue, not convinced he would have gotten past Peddlers remember how he was outbattled by Captain CB & Punjabi/Celestial Halo

Outbattled as a 4 year old yeah.

Chaps .. the stablemate of Binocular finished 3rd. Oscar Whiskey. Bino is a stone better than that thing make no mistake.

dont see why him being outbattled as a 4 & 5 yr old means he wouldnt be outbattled as a 7 yr old! So on your line with Oscar Whiskey Binoc would have beaten the Fly by 8 lengths on Tue...now that is a ridiculous thought...I knew we'd have the naysayers to crab the form after Binoc was pulled out...hope he turns up at Punchestown so we can put this to bed

of course it does, he is not at his physical peak. That is basic logic.

You just ask McCoy and NJH who the better horse is and see what they tell you.

Bino was upsides PC at Newbury After the last flight when he was half fit. He'd beat him next time, no doubt about it.

well  I think its basic logic to suggest a horse can have mental issues with prolonged battles irrespective of the stage they are at in their careers...I hope Binocular takes on the Fly at Punchestown although I'm sure you'd find another excuse for him once he gets turned over by the Fly there!

what have I posted which is an excuse ?

It was this time last year I backed Hurricane Fly for the Champion Hurdle just gone, 14/1 with Paddy Power; best bet I ever done [:)] Straight after the race the Fly came into about 13/2

If these run against each other I wonder how it would effect the price for next year?  For next year, the Fly is currently 7/2 and Bino is 6.  If Bino wins I think his price would go to about 4, and if the Fly wins probably about 3 maybe??

The Fly keeps winning when he shows up whereas binocular doesn't.

Bino is only ever campaigned for one race. They have always said that.

for the record, I hope they both meet in Ireland .. provided the ground is not soft/heavy

Binocular is likely to go to Aintree so I doubt they are going to meet.

Might get a form line through Peddlar's though although it's over a different distance!?

If they trained bino to win more than one race a season you'd hear him rattle.

Henderson saying in RP column today it's possible both Bino and OW will go to Aintree for Aintree Hurdle - if PC and Solwhit also show up will be a race to savour.

I'd prefer Bino to go to Punchestown to take on HF though.

Lads, are we overlooking the fact that Ruby said Hurricane Fly never settled, in which case isn't he much better than the winning margin?

Hope Binocular turns up in Aintree is Henderson is afraid to send him to Punchestown.
He'll be beaten there by Solwhit

Sint I underestimated the thread Peddlers posed in the Champion hurdle, Menorah was the unknown danger in my eyes, he was impressive visually in the bula but I'd no idea if Cue Card was a good horse or not. Once he was stuffed in the Supreme I thought Fly became a certainty and went in again at the track. I didn't think Peddlers 1l defeat to Starluck amounted to much. But what I was wrong about was Peddlers keeps finding more and more and more, he's a fantastic horse.

Fly never settled at all in that race and it wasn't his best performance at all. Yes he won but he's a lot better than that run, he needs them to go quicker to settle. Mullins has said that all season.

so hes better than the winning margain then and has more in hand on Peddlers, Peddlers Arkle winner imo btw

Peddlers defo will go chasing I'd say.

Hurricane Fly is much better than his Champion hurdle run, I'm sure of it. If they went quicker he'd have settled and he could have waited to nail them after the last. He's never going to win races by 10l because he's got the devastating turn of foot which means he can always nail horses at the end.

What I love most about him is his consistency, no matter the ground or how the race is run or the distance for that matter he gives his all.

Hurricane Fly very impressive. Doesn't matter what course, country, track, going, competition, time between races, he keeps winning. Hope he stays sound next season. Like others went off Menorah when Cue Card proved himself a stayer like the other horse beaten in the Bula. This year's champion looked a much better race than last year's.

Yeah defo better race than last year especially given Go Native got injured and Solwhit was sick, the rest of  and the field aren't much.

Fly is now 9/10 in his runs in Ireland and England. Proper Champion. Just a pity he might only win 1 more champion before age catches up. He's good enough to win last years race and he was entered in the champion hurdle at a novice in 08 as Cousin Vinny was fav for the Supreme.

Definitely a better champion than Binocular who seems to need an army of vets (struck off or otherwise), chiropractors, blood testers and faith healers to get him right on the day.

yep.its good to have a champion that wins his races during the season.
Very impressive horse.

The muttering after the Stayers' was that Big Bucks wouldn't be far away in a Champion Hurdle. Well, given that Hurricane Fly has never shown any sign of stopping after two and a half miles, I think there's more chance that he'd win a Stayer's than Big Bucks win a Champion !
A great champion, and I think speculation about Binocular is pointless. Those who were on Binocular will feel robbed, while HF fans are most unlikely lose much sleep over his absence. However, if Binocular finishes his season with a convincing win at Aintree, what a showdown we could anticipate next year. Other than, perhaps, Zarkander, I can hardly see a single horse quoted in the betting that could be in the same league as these two and, with neither likely to cross the Irish sea before Cheltenham, we can anticipate an Anglo/Irish clash the likes of which you have to go back to Sea Pigeon/Monksfield to compare.

HURRICANE FLY WOULD HAMMER BINOCULAR - END OF!