spirit son

I think being kept over hurdles and IMO is the cear one to beat.

* clear

Definitely some value in his price when you consider his Cheltenham then Aintree form of last year which has been franked in no uncertain terms since. I don't trade but anyone who does must be looking at horses like him to shorten next Autumn with the top of the market looking so tight.

Very good horse, just depends if he ever comes back as good

what's been wrong with him exactly?

Do they ever really come back as good as before the injury.

i read somewhere Henderson nearly had him ready for Aintree so must be ok and resting him for next year do no harm.....GET ON

I think he must be ok.  NH must be confident with him. He has back up with Darlan and Grandouet also.  If he had doubts surely Simonsig would stay over hurdles.

Nothing about this horse in the Nicky Henderson section of Mark Howards One Jump Ahead. This seems a bit odd as he lists all his best prospects horses. It could be an accidental omission as Spirit River is listed out of (alphabetical) order.

Anyone have any news, has the injury not cleared up is he a doubt for the season?

lovely horse be interesting to see how he goes

roll on the jumps!

It is a great shame he is not mentioned in MH's book.

It's hard to be positive about him in terms of future betting because we've not seen him for ages. Surely we have to wait and see how he is now?

NJH always maintained his injury was minor, as did his owner, but I would like to hear a more recent update.

shame indeed sint, on balance they generally fail to reach full potential after these long lay offs

Chemical Nicky got some serious fire power if they are all fit

The only place in the book Spirit Son gets a mention is in the appendix when MH is talking about possible tentofollow horses. But the quote from Henderson is from before the last setback.

I do wonder if the fact he's not mentioned at all in the Henderson section is just an accidental omission. I've e-mailed Mark Howard to see if he can confirm one way or the other I will post if I receive a response.

I dobt if it is accidental tbh, but we'll see.

With Henderson the omission is likely to be anything but accidental. Tread very carefully with this one.

I received a response earlier this evening. It seems no info was provided on Spirit Son, therefore MH is assuming he's not 100%. He had nothing more definite however so I guess it's a wait and see situation, but it'll be disappointing if this one doesn't make it back

Cheers rnl,dont sound too promising that.

Would you trust this trainer after the last 2 seasons of lack of info re certain horses in yard!

Hopefully it is just vicious rumours but there are stories of a fractured neck emerging

Where did you hear that bbf?

i emailed atr last week to get some info but surprise surprise  nada

A few people have said it resner, stil money up to back for CH tho so dunno

Fickin apalling if that is true this trainer is a disgrace regarding welfare of his animals re the running with public. Lost all respect if this is true?

Another Bloodless Coup re Spirit Son

Steveo, why so angsty mate, trainer is entitled to do things his way. Anyone backing this horse having not seen him all last season deserves to lose their money as far as I am concerned.

Sint not backed him for any race matey,why is Henderson not only one i know, not give any updates re high profile horses till after stable have layed off or on re Binocular, Grandouet amongst others. Sorry just pisses me off wouldnt back any of his a/p ever again history tells you he is full of crap1

! Whoops

The thing is Steveo at the moment we are still in the flat season in mid-September. Maybe the trainer just doesn't see fit to issue an update yet?

I would like to hear an update as soon as the next person, but I dont see the need to be slagging him off. We dont know what the issue is.

Sint, I disagree that anyone who has backed Spirit Son deserves to lose their money. All antepost bets have an element of risk, some (this one perhaps) more so than others. But there is never any guarantee of a horse that's currently fit even making it.

I backed Spirit Son back in March/April when he was 20/1. I did this as the info at the time was fairly positive, his previous form looked good, and the 2013 CH looked fairly open. I didn't put much on him, and I certainly accept I can, and in this case probably will now, lose my money without a run. That doesn't mean I deserve to, otherwise you could level that at most losing antepost bets.

SS is hardly the same as most ante-post bets Resner. He has not been seen on a racetrack since April 2011 and people want to back him? Crazy imvho.

Risky, yes. Crazy not imo. Next March it has/had the potential to be a very good bet. Riskier than some ante post bets definitely but crazy and deserving to lose I think is a bit harsh.

Anyways I guess if we all had the same ideas and thoughts about bets it wouldn't be as much fun and there wouldn't be much to discuss!

Im talking about NOW Resner. If you backed it last March then fair enough. But there are people leaving their money up waiting for it to be matched, or at least it was there. That is high risk.

I'm in the same boat as you Res.  Backed him ages ago @ 20/1, which I thought was a very fair price.

I'm not tearing up my antepost voucher yet though; very very early days - could be a post Christmas time reappearence for all we know

I too would like to be kept fully in the picture on horses health, but might it be possible that the owner has asked Henderson not to talk about certain horses. As examples - no mention of Spirit Son in Mark Howard's book but equally nothing on Mossley, Solix and several other lesses lights. Both Mossley and Solix have been well regarded at one time of other. Equally no mention of Invictus for Alan King in the same book which some would say is as big an omission as SS. Might just be that some owners don't want to speculate on horses that are under a cloud. Can't say I agree - but surely their perogative?

Invictus is out injured though

Mossley and Solix both sold on Corporal. Mossley I think has gone to Robbie Hennessy and Solix to Ian Williams.

Thanks for the info RC - rules out my thoery then!! Will be interesting if either can improve their jumping. Mossley especially is on a good mark.

Yes, reports say Invictus is OFTS - we could do with the very sad but very useful OFTS thread.

Confirmed in todays Racing Post Spirit Son out for the season with neck injury

Cheers for clearing that up stormey.

Not the news I wanted to hear, but c'est la vie.

As far as I'm aware he was out last season with a leg / tendon injury, so at least this is unrelated - maybe he is the Jamie Redknapp of the horse racing world?

He was my strong fancy for the Champion - back to the drawing board now.

Same here Well Chief - what a shame.

2 years off will be tough to overcome. This time next year he will be 7 so not the end of the world but a return to his best perhaps improbable and fulfillment of his huge potential maybe even less likely. Grim news. one of the best novices I have ever seen and I thought multiple Champions would go his way.

RC, I believe Henderson has said it is exceptionally unlikely he will ever race again (fwtw).

'multiple cheltenhams' ....big strong!!!

Very sad agree RC looked up there with the best novices I've seen and would have been a Champ Hurdler probably more than once

I CANT HAVE SOME OF THE ABOVE STATEMENTS HE WAS 8-1 (ISH) TO WIN CHAMP HURDLE LAST SEASON SO SAYING HE WOULD HAVE WON MULTIPLE CHAMPIONS BIG STRONG .

But it's a game of opinions

NJH rated him on a par with Sacre.

Thanks Strontium, how sad. Such a  tough game this.

Hi Howdi, I seriously believed it! I thought he was that good and thought the world was his oyster. What a pity.