the Fly post mortem

1)last years novices were quicker than champion hurdle
2)wins on heavy ground in jan in ireland mean nothing
3)ruby was topspeed horse in race - fastest horse won
4)neptune best novice race of the 2 ,it ran brillant last year in this.

got beat of better horse no post mortem needed

£1000 Treble
Hurricane Fly 9/4
Quevega 6/4
Sizing Europe 11/4

£1000 Treble
Hurricane Fly 2/1
Sizing Europe 3/1
Long Run 11/4

why did the fly choose not to fire today very very poor effort,was struggling from a long way out,maybe would have failed to win even had he fired

Probably isn't a determining factor, but as an 8yo by Montjeu, it is possible that his best days are behind him, he isn't bred to last this long really. The irish Champion was impressive, but as was said, a totally different test to that today. He was just taken out of his comfort zone it seemed.

sweated up badly today apparently

horse got very warm pre race and was obviously fretting...don't think he was good enough on the day...am an avid believer in the bounce factor myself and you could say he bounced...he certainly wasn't the same horse that won on bottomless ground at leopardstown

The stronger pace should have suited him A tip top Fly would have gathered in Overturn ffs?

I have done a chunk yes, and if the Fly not 100% it wouldn't really make me feel any better but I am surprised people are not asking questions.

just given you one reason why pal...he got extremely warm which is not ideal for any race horse and even though he is a montjeu he hasn't been like that before

He's a Montjeu,When their good there good...when their bad there bad.
Not a chance that was his true ability today,
Rock on ruby strikes me as another Katchit/punjabi,
Not a sexy hurdler,just a tough Grade 1 animal,Lacks that bit of class imo

True,might be just what i like to see in a Champion Hurdler
Having said ROR is not a classy type,it's hard not to like him,
Haven't seen him in the flesh,be interesting if anyone has and have any thought on him as a Chaser?

To my untrained eyes it seemed that Fly and Bino got tactically outwitted by the front pair.

The evidence is there that the front 2 stayed there to the end including Overturn a horse outclassed on slower ground before by those in behind yesterday. The time was fairly quick suggesting the ground was pretty good, which made it easier for the leaders to bowl along without having to be pushed along at the head. Effectively an easy lead due to the conditions which on slower ground they would have had to have more use made of them to maintain the same tempo and position. You dont want to be giving a healthy gap to a lead such as this which unfortunately Walsh decided to do (maybe his tactical failure on Al Ferof had affected his confidence when he made good use of him and failed, so decided to ride a waiting race here). McCoy followed Walsh so he was suckered as well. A couple of poor rides, Hurricane made a lot of ground up the hill but off such a lead was not going to get to them unless he sproughted wings which he didnt.

Poor ride from Walsh misjudged the race imo legends can be made and broken by them..A horse who looked like Istabraq previously was made to look ordinary.

ROR (and Overturn for that matter) used more energy at the start, and had more left at the finish. People are deluding themselves if they think tactics beat Hurricane Fly.

I agree with Cuder....one would assume Fehily and Maguire got the tactics wrong at the midway stage of the race, and that Walsh and McCoy had theirs spot on. Hurricane Fly and Binocular backers blaming the jockeys for their defeats clearly don't understand the basics of pace.

Whatever excuses you want to make he was hugely disappointing - if he really was a superstar in the first place. I am the last person to defend jockeys - particularly ones like Walsh who can appear overly cocky - but I think he was close enough if good enough. When asked what there was in terms of a response was very tame. Perhaps he has seen better days, perhaps the race he won last year and consistently beating up second-raters in Ireland wasn't as good as it first seemed. Even if he returns successfully it is going to be very hard to wipe out the memory of yesterday's failure.

My own take on it is that HF was flattered last year. He beat stayers for pace. Which is an opinion I posted up pre-race btw This year was made a test, which of course can blunt the finishers. Perfectly judged rides from the first two, gave themselves to best opportunity, they took advantage.