Think i will just wait and see.My bets done,and cant be bothered to try and figure out who is right and wrong.
No offence intended everyone.

And that's why I cant back him here.

Try not to back favs at chelt in Novices but FB did hit all stats based on last year's RP Chelt book. The other to hit all is Benefficient......

Re 7yo, very few fancied 7yo in last 9 years, most notable Finians Rainbow, Refinement, Mad Max (11/2-6/1 shots), none at 5/1 or under.

desperate shame if he doesn't make it... the race needed his class...


The five-time winner, who was 7-2 favourite with Coral for the March 14 race, has injured his near-hind hamstring.

Hobbs told racingpost.com: "I'm not sure at this stage if this will prevent him from running at the festival. We'll monitor the situation and will know more next week."


anyone know much about this injury???don't know myself - but a hamstring injury to a human would definitely put him out but whats the score with horses anyone know? can't say I've heard much about this injury before myself in horses...

I'm sorry to bring bad news but have done some reading and would say pretty much certainly fingal bay won't race again this season...desperate shame but instead of the merry go round, will he won't he? this is from a website sacro-iliac.pdf make what you will but I would say for certain he is out. sorry to bring bad news to all...

treAtment optionS
Common traditional veterinary approaches for affected horses includerest and anti-inflammatory medication with phenylbutazone (‘Bute’), pentosan sulphate (course of 3-4 injections a week apart and then monthly to three months) and injections of cortisone around the sacro-iliac joint (requires a 20cm needle and ultrasound guidance). This may be combined with work over poles or on hills with or without anti-inflammatory medication after 3-12 months of paddock rest.
Veterinary, chiropractic and osteopathic treatments are often used to good effect to stimulate the local muscles and the horse’s brain to re-initiate normal muscle tension and movement of the sacro-iliac joints. Muscle release therapy may also be used to ‘turn off’ those muscles exhibiting abnormal spasm that have not receded despite the original injury being resolved.
Veterinary acupuncture is also used to help reset the muscle balance and function of the sacro-iliac joint and to encourage resolution of sacro-iliac ligament and local muscle attachment tears that have failed to fully resolve and are still causing reflex pain well after the initial injury. Prolotherapy, using local anaesthetic and a mild irritant is particularly effective in treating this major part of SIJC dysfunction.
Exercising over poles on the ground and later elevated on bricks and gentle work on hills, especially going diagonally across gentle slopes, has been found to be useful in strengthening the SIJC. Specific programs need to be tailored by your practitioner according to the individual case. Hindleg stretches are also used to encourage shortened muscles to lengthen.
Good results have been achieved from combining    veterinary,    chiropractic, acupuncture and prolotherapy. Most oftenhorses are given only a short rest (days) and are gradually brought back to normal levels of work over two to 16 weeks. Improvement is usually apparent after the first treatment and usually two to four treatments a fortnight apart are needed to get the dysfunction under control. Ideally pole exercises at home are incorporated, but good results can often be seen even if this is left out of the recovery program. Often the difference in height of the middle tips of the pelvis remains the same but the function of the lower back, hindlegs and SIJC return to normal or near normal.
preVention
Stopping a horse falling in the paddock is impossible but there are plenty of other options that can be utilised to reduce the likelihood of injury to the sacro-iliac joint complex. The most important preventative measure is to maintain the horse’s good back posture and CORE STRENGTH, which is vital for supporting and protecting the SIJ complex. Good horse posture and core strength come from many things – good nutrition, plenty of exercise, well balanced and comfortable feet, good saddle fit, good riding technique, good rider weight/horse core strength ratio (note ...not rider/horse weight ratio – two very different things!), comfortable bit, teeth and jaw joints, comfortable wither, girth and back. Horses that drop their back or belly under the weight of a rider or an ill fitting saddle become disengaged behind, tend to work on the forehand and have poor core strength. Vertical casting rails 1.2m apart in boxes can prevent horses straining themselves to get way from a box wall by giving the horse something to push against, making getting up relatively easy. (Some of the worst sacro-iliac joint complex damage I have seen came from a casting accident.)
Sacro-iliac joint complex injury and dysfunction is a very common issue for horses across all disciplines and without adequate rehabilitation and attention to postural and core strength issues it can remain a continuous or recurring cause of pain, resulting in poor or decreased performance. The good news however, is that treatment can allow for successful rehabilitation of this problem.



read the site and make your own minds up but if he pulls through it will be by miracle, of the jesus kind....

Lost three bollocks on that. Hopefully find number four

Trainer's wife said on RUK today at Sandown ''unlikely'' to make it, needs 7-10 days rest. Owner not a fan Aintree either apparently.

Connections of Fingal Bay are downbeat about the prospects of him lining up in the Neptune Investment Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Fingal Bay had been the long-term ante-post favourite for the race but has lost that position in recent days to the Willie Mullins-trained Boston Bob.

The six-year-old is unbeaten in all five of his races to date, including the Challow Hurdle at Newbury last time out, but has met with a setback.

His jockey Richard Johnson said: "It's not great news that he's not 100%, but at the same time he's a very exciting horse and it would be silly to run him unless he was right."

Hobbs' wife, Sarah, said Fingal Bay is, at this stage, an "unlikely participant" at the Cheltenham Festival.

She told Racing UK: "We've had physio on him - it's a hamstring to the back and we're just trying to treat him.

"These things usually take about 10 days to two weeks so it's going to be touch and go for Cheltenham. At this stage he's an unlikely participant really.

"The trouble is his owner Roger Skan is abroad at the moment and we haven't been able to get hold of him or his wife so they don't know yet.

"Roger doesn't like Aintree, he's had a few horses there go wrong so he might go to Punchestown or maybe something here in the future."