MCcain clearly no fan of Sprinter Sacre

He had a similar disrespectful tone towards Hurricane Fly before last years Festival. Lacks class imo. The Fly wasn't long shutting him up anyway

Well it beat Peddlers easy and Peddlers has only beaten poor handicappers too

SS may only have beaten "poor handicappers" at Newbury (a multiple Grade 2 winner actually, but we'll let that pass). However, those horses were the finished article - i.e. experienced, battle hardened horses. I'd expect all of Peddlers, Al Ferof and Cue Card to be better than French Opera in time. I'd be surprised if any of them could give FO a similar whomping now because they are all immature and all still developing.

perhaps we could hurry a new bill through parliament that states ...anyone stopping short of orgasm whilst discussing sprinter sacre should serve an immediate custodial sentence.

handicappers or not stront, wider evidence suggests that Newbury favours young horses against old.  on the narrow point of the horses in that race, evidence also suggests French Opera does run to 162 first time out and that I'm So Lucky has never run up to his best form on big flat galloping tracks.   The rating given for that race could be anything from 10 to 20lbs over the top.  Seen this sort of inflation before with RPRs and ORs for maximum hype types  remember how horses were magically improving 10 to 20lbs just to inflate Dunguib's ratings 2 years ago...

That's fair theives and I didn't use or rely on numbers. I don't see how aany of these novices except perhaps AF can have an accurate rating at this stage.

I did however watch SS thrash some useful, experienced horses hard on the steel. I'd have been mighty surprised to see one of the others do that.

[Which does not mean he'll get up the hill at Cheltenham etc etc etc etc.]

Flat track bully.

And I missed the word not out as well on FO.  does NOT run to 162...  Must be this head cold.

That has to be the doubt thieves, I agree. I hope not though - I'd like to see a new star. It was also an impressibve looking performance in its own right, whatever the circumstances.

I won't be backing him at the prices - maybe Al Ferof with the PP offer, but I think he's the most likley winner.

I knew what you meant about FO

Don't disagree about the visual aspect at all.  Just that I know from experience how deceptive these things can look.  Also I'm psychologically programmed to fervently oppose any short price favourite

Good trainer, but a disrespectful idiot.

the vibes coming from the stable and jockey suggests they know what they have got,henderson compred him to remittance man and gerraghty thinks he could be the best he has ever ridden suggests you dont want to lay him for too much money.he didnt get home last year at cheltenham and he was beat over 2 1/2 miles at ascot which suggests stamina could be a problem but henderson claimed he was a weak horse and didnt really want to run him at cheltenham last year,he doesnt seem to have any doubts this year

Thieves, I think that's fair enough, especially at the Festival and especially then in the novice races. It's my first instinct too (it's just as discussed on various threads you've got to find one to beat them!).

The wont see which way he went

What's he beat Donald? Just to rejig your memory old fella he left the best horse in your yard 16 lengths behind on the snaff just after Christmas. Even if Peddler's left a leg at home I wouldn't be questioning what the horse has beat. Totally disrespectful.
BTW sorry some of us get a bit excited about the best novice for god know's how long turns up. In the wrong game if you can't appreciate horses like this.

McCain is 100% Correct imo,There's no doubt that SS was impressive last time out at Newbury,But if he wasnt Hyped to the high heavens by Gerraghty and Henderson there's not a hope in hell he'd be such a ridiculously short price in the arkle,Do people not remember the same hype over punchestowns? Mick Fitz and Henderson were telling us he was the best Horse since sliced bread,only for it to be proven otherwise,

and anybody who thinks peddlers cross ran to form at Kempton when thrashed by Sprinter Sacre must be on drugs,i mean i could kind of understand SS price if this was a weak looking Arkle,its anything but on paper,Fair play if SS dots up in the Arkle,but anyone backing him at around Even Money to beat a high class field of Chasers must be off their heads!

Quite Simply has to be laid at his current price,after all,Layers have peddlers cross,al ferof,cue card and to lesser extent menorah all on their side,if he wins the Arkle in the same manner as he won last time out at Newbury,Then i'll be the first to talk about him as the next coming,until then,he's not streets ahead of the opposition that were led to believe by the vast majority,hence why he will be laid

You including Cue Card on your side? I think you've got PC and AL Ferof running for you. After that you are struggling.
On what they've done with the exception of Al Ferof the rest are streets behind

he didnt get up the hill last year as he couldnt breath hense the wind op...

sj,id like to hear why you dont think Cue Card has a chance,his form is not bad at all,
He'll make the running in the Arkle,and its up to the rest wether they can catch him or not,i dont think he will win but to write him off is a bit silly imo

I'm writing him off because I dont think his jumping nowhere near good enough for me. It wouldnt be the first time I was wrong though. I really dont think he gets round mate

Could be right,as i said i dont think he will win but wouldnt shock me if he did manage to win,i couldnt disagree with you re his jumping,if they manage to improve that,he's in with a shout

Don't expect Hendo will give a hee haw what McCain thinks. He's forgotten more about training Festival winners than the bold Donald will ever know.

festival,i very much doubt that to be the case given who his father was

How many Festival winners did Ginger train then OTS?

Henderson is a brainless twit to be fair, hasn't the foggiest idea about how his actions and comments are perceived by the public.  If he hadn't had a knack for getting horses to gallop and jump at speed he would probably be Prime Minister now.

Sorry i meant in terms of knowledge of the game.
But he did win a Grand National or four to be fair to him

This horse bears no relation to Punchestowns. Trainers and jockeys are often the worst judges of a horses true racecourse potential. Punchestowns never fenced with the fluency needed of a top chaser and seemed to get worse with every run. This one has been absolutely electric at his fences even outjumping more seasoned chasers at Newbury. If the heavens opened and it turned into a slog there may be cause for concern but outside of that I think the only thing which can beat this horse is a  truly outstanding performance by one of the others.

Do I think he'll win; yes... Do I want to back him at the price No.

I didn't see the interview but it's understandable why McCain would get annoyed with constant questions regarding SS, and not PC.

I still have reservations regarding the hill, hence my reluctance to back him. Would imagine they will go a very good clip with the doubts over the Hill and SS to try and catch him out. I still believe with a different jockey Cue Card could really serve it up to him,

as none of them have jumped around the undulations of chelt at championship pace on good ground , any jumping seen in previous races is almost irrelavent,one things for certain at least 3 or 4 wont run their race and ss might be one of them

SS would be the NAP of the festival

thats fair comments 1tp,totally different race ahead of them to what they have been used to over fences.

McCain has said peddlers cross might go for the jewson now,wtf?
Wont be laying SS if pc doesnt turn up,thats for sure.

personally would never have a novice chaser as a nap of the festival.

Did he really say that ONS?

Blimey. Never thought that would be an option

"The Arkle is Plan A but it's been a longish road back. He had his issues after Kempton and I think it's only fair to the horse to keep our options open and we'll see how he is over the next 10 days before we decide," said McCain, who virtually ruled out a Champion Chase bid.

"That has always been the plan but if there are any question marks over him we can always think again.

"We seem to be where we want to be. I've not schooled him a huge amount, which I need to do a bit more of to be honest, but that's because we wanted to get him back and rolling first.

"He's a very special horse so we've got to do what's right by him.

"Timing-wise it all depended on how long it took to settle down but it took long enough that it prevented us from getting another run in.

"Also, if we ran him again (after Kempton) we could have put him back to square one again which was the main decision really," he told Racing UK.

Wahhhhhh

Yes,just read it on RTE Racing CCM,just put it up on its own thread there

That interview doesnt inspire confidence in his chances for any race at the festival does it?!

The fact he's come out with this statement definitely means he is considering running him in the Jewson instead.

Backed him for the Arkle myself, but I couldn't blame him for running in the Jewson instead if he really wants to give the horse the best chance of winning at the Festival.

Exactly what i was thinking CCM!
Doesnt sound like their convinced he's 100% over his problem,whatever it was,
after putting me right off him that

The horse doesnt seem to jump well enough or have Queen Mother pace over fences at the minimum trip. Can fully understand them thinking of stepping him up as htats where his future is, so why not prepare him for it now.

I thought it was only last week that he was ready to take SS head on? The horse hasn't had a run since Kempton, has taken a while to get back and needs to do a lot more schooling? Obviously spot on to lay it down to the monster then.

Agree with that ryan. If they think he's not quite 100% it makes sense to go for the weaker race.

But even the Jewson would require him being something approaching his best, and he has said enough for me to give him a swerve I think. You'd think he would have had plenty of schooling following the last run, but clearly not.

7/2 NRNB with 365 certainly isnt tempting!

how many times have we seen horses impressing on flat tracks cruising through the race on the bridle and getting hyped to the maximum ,we all want to see the next superstar and a lot of people are more than happy to accept the hype  that we have the second coming ,
the reality is i suspect that he may well cruise through the arkle for most of the race ,but he will be meeting horses also  trained and tuned to the minuet and ready to run th race of thier lives , i may be wrong but i dont think this is going to be the  stroll in the park that many think it is , he has some serious opposition in peddlers ,al ferof ,cue card,menorah ect all capable of improving and putting it up to sprinter sacre .
do i think he is value at his current  price .....no.... i have already backed 3 e.way  in the race against him . good luck to those who  want to play at just above the 5/4 -11/8 mark but the festival is littered with the shattered reputations  of short priced favs .

eric,ive long though he'd be a Gold Cup Horse one day,just didnt think it would be anytime soon,
Step up in trip will 100% be in his favour,but i think id rather have a bash at the arkle than winning a jewson tbh,even if he gets beat in the arkle,no one really remembers jewson winners,anyway,im just glad i didnt back him for the arkle or lay SS!

As of the top of the thread he didnt give off a great vibe concerning peddlers imo and didnt exactly sound bullish..more so pi**** off being asked about SS again.

My feeling on it is Mccain thought/thinks the sun shines out of Peddlers backside but after getting beat in the Champion Hurdle, Aintree and by SS he is having to pipe down a tad. I think he thought peddlers cross would be a world beater but now looks simply a very, very good one but one that doesnt strike fear into the opposition. Im very much in the SS camp and have been since his bumper win at Ayr.Its a love affair and im more convinced then ever this is a legend in the making. Seeing him in the paddock at newbury is like looking at near perfection.Classy is an understatment. Im sure PC, along with Cue card and al feerof would all win an arkle most years but this isnt most years.

PS sorry to go on but nice to hear the thoughts of stable jockey Andy Tinkler on Spriner Sacre at the Warwick chelt preview night.

This horse is a freak and weve never seen anything like him before. He WILL win next years Champion Chase and BG has never had a feel of a horse like it. We have to work him on his own as he d break good horses hearts...we cant work Oscar Whiskey with him as he d  ruin  him, its frightening. !!

Is he a Chapion Chaser or Gold Cup horse?

French bred Arkle winners are often in the money

Sprinter Sacre, Gold Cup? Don't think so...

100 % Champion Chase Eric, he s pure speed and would have zero chance of staying the gold cup trip in the future imo.Clearly we need to get the Arkle out the way first but long term you could certainly see him as a King george type with his speed round Kempton.

SS another Azertyuiop

Has as much chance of staying the Gold Cup trip as Captain Chris

I totally agree Loftgroovv...he reminds me very much of Azertyuiop.

if tinkler were anywhere near right why wernt the gambling mad lads at hendo,s hammering the decent prices months ago,up untill his ist run the fancy prices were easy to get,or do they save up their pennies for when he gets an injury,removes any risk i suppose

FFS - the gushing in this thread is even worse than in the others, enough to induce liquid burping.

Top class trainer, lacks class IMO.

istabraq years I agree. If you like to look at horses in the paddock SS is a must. You will not see a better made animal for jumping fences. I actually still feel he has a lot of growing up to do physically & is likely to improve with another year on his back. Monster of a horse.

FFS again!

Comparing SS with Azertyuiop now? Get a life! Pass me the crack pipe!

Azer was an Arkle & QMC CHAMPION capable of beating the legendary Moscow Flyer!

F'ing SS has won nothing, ZERO, zilch at Cheltenham!

Come in! You gushers have all gone bonkers!!!!

Dunguib... Harcon... Kasbah Bliss... You'llneverwalkalone... Sweet Wake... Black Jack Ketchup :-) ... and so on and so on.... hype horses who do f'ck all at Chelts and have no Chelts form.

Black Jack?????

Sorry left Dunguib and Youllneverwalk alone off my list all 3 festival winners, I wouldn't mind owning any of them.

Black Jack Ketchum... another hype horse!

Look him up.

I call him Black Jack Ketchup cos that's all he was worth :-)

Soon as he run against any quality he was buggered.

Oi Oi Oi BJK beat the legendary Powerstation 10 lengths or so iirc in his novice hurdle win

SS is a fabulous jumper no question , but his speed away from a fence is most marked when he is lunatic into it , BJG has a firm hold on his outside rein for many of his Newbury fences , letting go in plenty of time for him to jump straight , then he is comparable to the other superb jumping novices , Grand Crus and Invictus . One wonders in the Arkle , when  he is really wound up whether he will still be able to take a tug and lug him right before he takes off , so if he cant , he is too free or he is being over restrained and gets it wrong , presumably bitting/nosebands  could change . Menorah too has plenty of attitude towards a fence , Cue Card to me is more likely to not want to jump it , PC falls somewhere in between , not always a bad thing .

See COM2 post on Peddlers Cross on Irish Forum. Its under CMIYC preview reports fred.

If your star horse isn't 100% right would you run him in any race at Cheltenham...

Would be ****ing idiotic imo. Could ruin him for good.