Its unlikely to happen in reality!

fun thinking about it for a while though!

Fancy Sizing Europe to retain, from Finians.

I see Kauto Stone stone is entered for the Tingle Creek. I think he may be covering a possibility of soft/heavy ground. Tataniano might be a non runner. Kauto Stone is also entered in the John Durkan, and should be backed for that if he goes!!

But its interesting Nicholls sees him as possibly a 2 miler. I wasnt expecting that!

You make a very valid point Bud, he does have to improve a little.

You have to realise I see Tataniano as the big danger to Sizing Europes crown.

Sizing Europe has been my Cheltenham nap for the past two seasons, so I am a huge admirer of his talent.

It's because Sizing will be 10yrs old when he defends his title, and not many ten years old have won the Queen Mother.

That's the **** in his armour.

That's why Tataniano comes into the equation!

Hes more than a little behind on the formbook.
Been a fair few older winners of the QM over the years,and its better to be a 10 yr old champion than an 8yr old thats not in the same class.

Sizing Europe (5) , Big Zeb (7) , Finians Rainbow (8) , Captain Chris (10) , Tataniano (16) , Master Minded (20) , Noble Prince (20) , Wishful Thinking (20) , Kauto Stone (25) , Realt Dubh (25) , Royal Charm (25) , Captain Cee Bee (33) , Crack Away Jack (33) , Flat Out (33) , French Opera (33) , Ghizao (33) , Medermit (33) , Mon Parrain (33) , Somersby (33) , Dan Breen (40)  - Others  40 or more

I know Howdi! It's just that after I watched Tataniano win off 160, he jumped out as the main threat on normal Cheltenham ground. He could easily lose the Tingle Creek on softish ground, but win at Cheltenham on better ground.

Sizing could easily be the winner, but I'm not so sure this year. He wont be my nap of the Festival that's for certain!

He is on the fringes, very much like Realt Dubh. If it came up soft these two could be one of the big surprises

NP needs further i think

Albion. I take your point. I'm not saying Nomecheki has boosted the form, but he gives it a reasonable benchmark.

Tataniano still won by 8 lengths and visually he looked well in himself and jumped like a Grade 1 horse.

Even if he loses the Tingle Creek, he is still a massive danger to all on Cheltenham Ground.

This weekend could yield a fair few clues with regard to which direction P Hobbs goes with Wishful Thinking which could determine where Captain Chris ultimately ends up in march.If Wishful Thinking were to win or go very close to winning at Sandown ,Captain Chris would be far more likely to be campaigned over further yet if Wishful Thinking disappoints in the Tingle Creek i'd imagine Captain Chris would have a better than average chance of going down the two mile route.Whats also worth considering is that Captain Chris has reportedly been suffering from the effects of what his trainer describes in human terms as  a cold this he has conceeded has jepordised his chances of being ready for the King George on boxing day.If Captain fails to make the King George his trainer is going to be limited to which race he could run him over three miles prior to the festival and thus i believe may lead to the two miler being the race he ends up in

Still think SE is the one to beat come March,but Wishfull Thinking at 20,s is rather tempting.If he were to win tomorrow that price is smashed,and a good run sees him shorten i would think..He is the one horse that i feel could be a real threat given his being unexposed at the trip.He could really take to it and worth a go at 20,s imo.

I'm going to say Sizing Europe

I see what you mean but the best performance I have seen was Masterminded winning in jaw dropping fashion by 19 lengths from Arkle and QM winner Voy Por Ustedes.

But yeah, expecting SE to be very hard to beat

sizing looks a solid bet and i will keep bking him up until the festival. bt the spanner in the wrks cud b flat out got age on his side only 6 i think. prob wud of beat noble and realt if nt fell. still got alot to do 2 beat sizing tho defo e/w claims if he gets an entry in the nxt month or so any news?

Sizing big time particularly after beating Kauto Stone in the Tingle Creek who I think is a proper grade 1 horse in the further over 2 and a half.

Simple as this on a going day nothing can touch sizing.

At the end of the day, big Zeb has beaten sizing Europe 2-1 so at the prices 3-1 or 6-1 I know where my Money would be. Geraghty let sizing have his own way in the QMCC and I dont think that will happen again. The champ has to be given a lot of respect tho.

Despite the stats all this seasons form points to it between them 2, as CC not included last years novices were poor 2013 however we may see a changing of the guard.

I don't take any notice of what Sizing does away from the big days. de Bromehead is masterful at training him to the second and the QMCC is his target. Theu don't care how he runs in his prep races which are just stepping stones.

Is Geraghty that stupid?
Surely he would have known the dangers,and MM certainly werent the only one.

I agree about BZ,hes a class act,or certainly was anyway,but i wonder if hes as good now.In his day he was as good a 2 miler we have seen for some time imo,but he had every chance last season and got beat by a horse that put up a simply faultless display of 2m fencing.
Races that come after Cheltenham often can prove misleading with form,so personally i would not use that as a reason to say BZ will beat SE.
He could do of course,but to beat him imo SE will have to provide an error or 2.

Right Budd - Aintree and Punchestown form can be very unrelaible. Especially Punchestown - it was in May this year!