POND HOUSE

Think the Triumph winner ran today imo

I'll tell you what lies ahead.

Evasion, half-truths, waffle, 'he's a nice horse, we'll talk with the owner re his target', weapons-grade bullsh1t and talking half-an-inch-of-meaning into 50 feet of noise.

In fact if Jonjo O'Neil ever joined Pond House the world would implode into the vacuum of not-answering-the-question that would emerge from there.

Some very interesting thoughts and comments on this lot in Paul Nicholls' book

FFT surely that horse will go for Imperial Cup/Fred Winter instead?! Very interested to see what mark it gets.

rogerthebutler Date Joined: 01 Mar 03
Add contact | Send message When: 11 Jan 12 11:27 Joined: Date Joined: 01 Mar 03 | Topic/replies: 4,949 | Blogger: rogerthebutler's blog
I'll tell you what lies ahead.

Evasion, half-truths, waffle, 'he's a nice horse, we'll talk with the owner re his target', weapons-grade bullsh1t and talking half-an-inch-of-meaning into 50 feet of noise.

In fact if Jonjo O'Neil ever joined Pond House the world would implode into the vacuum of not-answering-the-question that would emerge from there.

rodger the butler has been piped at some point, i also think it may have happend on more than one occasion

who is on the grands crus wagon train

There we go!

Grands Crus doesn't want a hard race with Cheltenham in mind. So they'll wait a few weeks closer to the Festival when they'll find an easier race (presumably slaughtering some inferior novices) which will tell connections nothing but put the horse spot on for.......????

We'll let you know nearer the time....no decision has been made...he's a nice horse....got to speak to the owners....

No, I've never been bitten by a Pipe horse ante-post, because I never back them for precisely this reason. I just enjoy listening to their pretzel logic with a bemused sense of detachment.

This lot could waffle a t~urd back up their own ar$e$ with a spatula.

Handicaps at the festival

why is pipe such a sneaky b8stardo?   he is like my ex gf.  i love him but i also fcuking hate him at times.  he is so smug in interviews, he is always up to no good.

i dont think the punters even enter his mind. in fact i think he enjoys tormenting us.

Just think most trainers - bar a couple of stellar examples - don't see it as part of their job description to be straightforward with the public.

They think owners, not racegoers, pay the bills - a pretty shortsighted view IMO - but after a while in the game you get to know the 'gambling' stables and treat everything they say with a Wealth Warning.

doesnt it wind you up though rodger, it winds me up big time.

i think if i get piped one more time i am going to my local track and do him

You try not to let it but God knows it's hard!

i dont know where he gets it from

You would think this latest stunt would of done more harm to bookies than punters. There was no reason for anyone to bet Grands Crus for Saturday's race before he had been confirmed. If your fancy was Captain Chris or Time for Rupert however, who had both been confirmed, made good sense to bet early

...and us racegoers who were looking forward to seeing Grands Crus take on the big boys on (ahem) 'Trials Day'?

I actually think it's the right decision not to run him, but why put him in the 5 day decs?  Same decision could have been made then!

Bang on shockster

Not really.  The reason he's not running is because of how the field shaped up.  He would clearly not have known that until the 5 day entries were released.

....and he had to put the horse in to find out.

So what do you think changed connections minds?

The size of the field or the quality of the opposition? Personally, I'd have said there was never a chance of Kauto or Long Run turning up so who out of the rest that were actually declared are they scared of?

They might have thought that there was the possibility of a Pen kick against 3 or 4 rivals though Rog run at a sedate pace, dont think there's that scenario tomorrow with Midnight Chase in there, and its probably the biggest field for a long while.

Such is the pull of the festival nowdays that not many trainers want their charges having a hard race even with a 6 week break afterwards, the NH scene seems very top heavy from late march through Punchestown, a matter of around 6 weeks which also encompass's Aintree, Ayr and the Whitbread

Dont have any love for Pond House but when it comes to the festival it does help if horses have not had hard races beforehand. If Grands Crus was going to take the race by the scruff of the neck and go on early he might still have a hard race.

That's a possibility Zilzal, but if they did think it was a penalty kick, what would they have learned that they aren't going to learn having him run against some novices two weeks closer to the festival?

Also, I'm pretty sure they would have won more prize money taking the Argento.

Like I've said elsewhere, I genuinely think there is a tug-of-war going on between connections regarding Grands Crus and his festival objective. I don't think they have a clear plan / objective yet, although the RSA looks the more prefered option now.

This state of affairs is then compounded by Pond Houses hopeless PR efforts and love of waffle.

Whatever. I've not backed the horse and whilst I'm at Cheltenham tomorrow and will be disappointed not to see him in the Pillar, that's the extent of my 'care factor' really, other than to while away a few hours chewing the fat in this forum!

rogerthebutler,
I suggest you look back at recent renewals of the Argento.  No doubt they, like most of us, were expecting something similar.

IMO Grands Crus is now more likely to run in the Gold Cup than before, as getting beat on Saturday would have definitely had him running in the RSA.

You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Fact is, we're in the pre-Cheltemham 'phoney war' period. We've now got a plethora of races at which decent animals can be aimed, rather than obvious, definite targets. The 'Cheltenham Preview Night' industry will soon be in full swing and we're supposedly getting a big freeze soon too, menaing cancelled meetings and missed pieces of work and prep races.

How the hell are we supposed to make head or tail of it all!!?

Not forgetting the "Last minute" setback and injury crisis, usually to about 3 of the festival fancies