DC had had only two runs at Cheltenham both of which a valid reason could be attached for his defeat eg mistake, and fell in the RSA (1st), and Ryanair (2nd, trip too short and hampered at the crucial moment); if DC had not shown true potential over 25f when winning and going away after jumping the last when beating the 2nd and 3rd of the CGC at Punchestown fairly and squarely, I'd agree with most of what had been said against him.

Thistlecrack ran badly at Cheltenham but that was finally put to bed this year; it is unfortunate DC could only prove the beating of Djakadam and RTR at Punchestown was no fluke, its highest rating and/or its adversity to Cheltenham at Cheltenham again and not sooner.

HF just needed soft and slow pace or to stay off pace when a strong pace was set, nothing about Chelt as he proved when he won twice and when he lost at Punchestown without those ideal conditions. This fellow fell once and had a horrible run of things last year, nothing to do with the track. Anyone under the impression that Don doesn't handle Chelt might as well say he doesn't handle Kempton, absurd. If Cooper gets him into a good rhythm nothing out there has yet shown a better form.

His laziness lto showed that he keeps alot to himself which is a good sign for a GC. As for Kauto comparison, he posted 5 higher Racing Post figures than Don and at their best there's 10lbs difference but if he wins this well from Vautour and CC who are already top class rated then Don might reach Kauto level, it all depends on how the race is run and hopefully Smad Place makes it a good test. I know layers are hoping for another fall but how many times can he be that unlucky?

You need luck in this game

I'd put it down to bad luck, looking at how he looks at the end of his races you'd expect him to love Cheltenham.

Now the cult of DC is comparing him with KS!
... Next he'll be winning the Dubai World Cup (if, of course, he's lucky enough to avoid falling!)

Don't think I am being mendacious Cyclops.
As I posted previously, DC has fallen more times than a lot of the other contenders put together.

His jumping is, at best, suspect.
And his chelt form is unquestionably poor for such an acclaimed horse.

I would still be interested to know whether any other cgc winners have run in 18 or more chases...

@harv you should try to double read the posts, I was referring to @slowerthanjohn comparison with KS regarding the amount of top races he won and I've said that in form terms if Don wins this GC well from top rated horses like Vautour and CC then he will breach the gap, as of now he's 10lb short of KS best performance which was the `09 KG. For your last question I think Dessie had about 40-50 chase starts before finally winning a GC.

And anyone else thinks that the Dubai WC is won by something other than donkeys ? It was won by Prince Bishop last year, Prince fff bishop who was treading waters any amount of lengths behind Nichols Canyon 2 years ago.

@charwell according to the clock KS wouldn't have been ahead and as we all know time is the master. On Good-Soft ground the best Kauto run to in the KG was as a 6yo doing 6m 5.70s, while on the same GS going CC got there in 6m 3.50s. Thats why form is important and it says Don, based on 2 under-rated performances as a side note, is only 10lbs below Kauto's 2009 KG. Starting evens or shorter didn't helped him in winning the 2008 GC when 10/11 and 2010 when 8/11, I wouldn't take the SP as an important factor for potentially winning a race with so much quality in it, like we have year.

Harvester.
Kauto had 20 21 chases when he won his second GC.
I take it Don Poli is your strong fancy

One thing I forgot to mention in my summary above.

It may sound strange and could, of course, be made to look unwise, but there is a sense among DC supporters (certainly this one) that he could still be unexposed. His 9/11 winning spree over the past two seasons says plenty but there is just that thought that the best is still to come. Yes, you need to have your DC glasses on in respect of the Ryanair and the KG, but I do. No horse gets it together every time - certainly none of the Gold Cup contenders - but nothing to my way of watching has been a better horse than him in any of his last 11 races.

Nothing has lived with him at the business end for a long time now.

distant whiff.

In the ryanair i firmly blame cooper he gave him a stinker, i was screaming at him the whole way round. Had him in a great position and then decided to get him in all sorts of problems, flew up the hill and was beaten by a record time i believe?

The GC is going to be run at a decent clip. In my mind theres a big chance Cue Card and Vautour don't stay. That brings Don Poll into it as he will stay and more, however they will have him massively off the bridle, from a long way out meaning he's more likely to make mistakes and the question is yes he will be finishing but will he be too far out of his ground, or will the class of Vautour break him, meaning he puts in so much effort to stay with him he just be run off his legs and have nothing left. Cossack has shown they can have him of the bridle over 3miles on a sharp flat track, and still had the class to be in there with them win lose or draw 2 out. The extra 2f is going to be in his favour more than them 2, especially with the stiff finish.

For the life of me in those conditions i couldn't have polli being able to hang with them (V, CC) over that trip (3m) and track (Kemp) like cossack did. once again the trip, track (GC) will bring him into it.

My point is i think he's going to be further back then cossack and i know he's a stayer but cossack stays like a train also and i cant see him going past cossack, he may make up ground on him but he won't have the class to be close enough to live with the gallop Vautour (is pure class)  will set. I mean i was gobsmacked at kempton his performance for 90 per cent of that race took my breath away he literally was tanking.

When Vautour was out to 10-1 i thought it was great bet to lay as there was no way he wouldn't trade at least half that in running, the reason (and I'm kicking myself for not) placing the bet with cue to lay is i was worried reg him running in the ryanair and it wasn't NRNB. My bet will be Don cossack for reasons mentioned above plus i think he's made for the gold cup i liv him. I will be having a saver on Don Polli, however not at the stupid price of 6-1. Anyone backing him at that price needs there head checking. He will trade at least at 5x that price. I will put back in at 20, 30, 50, 100 and maybe couple stupid ones. He is the type of horse that could really pick up the pieces but as i say 6-1, can anyone really see him not trading massively bigger even if he wins? I dont think Djakadam is as good as DC and is coming from a less than perfect prep. As mentioned earlier cant have V and CC staying. The rest are not in my eyes good enough.

Sorry for the massive post lol

Maybe Walter White didn't die in Breaking Bad? because somebody has to be supplying some of DC fan club with illegal substances.

I've got a feeling they may require anti depressants after DC in the GC.

Well I'll timtin you'll need to increase your dosage after DC fails yet again at Cheltenham.

Yes and I would've appreciated some healthy replies instead of what we got, I know not everyone believes in Don but I'm sure there can be better opposition than just insulting and accusing us of being drugged. I take those in good spirit but they're not doing any favours to this forum.

Agree timtim and Billy. Unfortunately forum is ruined by certain people.

Agree with Timtin here,not so much re DC,although I do think he's a massive player,but do we really need to resort to childlike behaviour.?

This forum seems to be a heck of a lot better now than in previous years,be good to keep it that way.
We lost a good poster in Miltons Sophie last week who imo added an awful lot to this forum,cos he got fed up I guess.......something about stalking?? and reading his posts at the time he sounded frustrated with some people,and decided it weren't for him......shame.
Yes we like a bit of fun,and there's ways of doing that,but main reason I'm on here is to discuss sensibly and with reason my favourite sporting event.
Pi55ing people off is not going to do any good,for any of us.

Ps might Miltons Sophie not have been a "she"?