unclepuncle 16 Nov 11 14:53
Don Cossack is the Irish novice hurdler I'm most looking forward to seeing (not in any of the betting lists for Cheltenham and may not there go this year).

Looked an absolute machine in his bumper last month

Just in case anyone thought I might have been aftertiming I started my Don Cossack fan club over a year ago.

I can pick em.

Has consistently been the best staying chaser now for 12 months, the form of the King George was upheld and proved the strongest. It's a pity Cue Card fell to deny a clear cut victory though I think DC would have had his measure. There will be more ifs buts and maybes about Vautour who in my opinion is the only other horse capable of beating Don Cossack. For now though its the day of the Don.

Watching the run-in again, I reckon he was dossing.

And don poli ran exactly to script too....outpaced and wondering what the fook was happening before staying on

Well done to you guy for keeping the thread going. He deserved it. You guys do aswell.

Feel lumpy of throat and humbled by this superb beast.
Thanks for the kind words guys.
Something more coherent from me later, I hope.

Massive shame that Cue Card fell and that Vautour was rerouted- robbed us of a potenitally epic race.

Not sure any of this years novices look up to Gold Cup class, so with Cue Card surely too old next season it's between the Don, Vautor, Djakadam and ,maybe on really soft ground, Don Poli.

ps well done to mr cooper gave the horse room like he needed, that may be his coming of age ride after a hard week with losing NMH

Good result, the best horse wins!

Unlucky Cue Card supporters, going really well when coming down. But he's ok, that's the main thing!

Great interview after the race Lydia speaking to Gordon then Bryan.
Look how powerfully Don travelled then put the race to bed in matter of strides with Cooper hardly touching him on the run in.
Awesome.

Come on Cyclops you can do better than that. Much better ways of spending your winnings than shopping in London!

Good ground next year and he will be extremely difficult to bear. Soft ground and I'm hoping the monster that is Coneygree has got one more huge race in him.

Hoping the Don will come to Aintree for the Bowl, a race that would suit Vautour better than Punchestown imo. If Cue Card is OK, he'll be there too, and I really want Valseur Lido to have a crack at them; the way he flew up the hill I'm the Ryanair was similar to how Don finished in that last year after he'd been hampered.

ALL TIME great thread!

Ching Ching what a day at what a horse.

well done by the don. good ride from cooper

A few ancillary thoughts, following Don Cossack's finest hour.

Firstly, the headgear saga, orchestrated largely by Matt Chapman, disappeared into the ether. He had been screaming on Racing UK that connections had missed a trick by not trying him out in cheekpieces at Thurles. "Something has to change!", Matt yelled after that win. Watching the Gold Cup, Don Cossack travelled as well as he's ever done. I hope we never see him in headgear, though possibly heavy ground might make Elliott feel the need one day.

Secondly, a Salsify moment wasn't that far away. Twice, the Don yanked his head at almost 90 degrees to look at the crowd up the run-in. Cooper also said he wanted to head off and go round again where the tape was fluttering. He certainly lost concentration for a few strides and credit to Cooper for not panicking when he did so. Just relied on hands and heels and knew there was plenty left.

Thirdly, looking at the race again, how easily he won it. He came under no sort of pressure at any stage until he'd surged away from Djakadam. The reservations many had about his suitability for the course dissolved into nothing, as did the arguments about alleged jumping issues.

Finally, the consensus now seems to be that he's a horse who is "claustrophobic" and doesn't like being amongst horses. Tom Segal started that one. Not many Grade 1 races have that many runners so its not one to focus too much upon. However, all I think that happens is that this is a horse who needs to be organised well in advance of his fences for optimum jumping. At the crucial third last, Cooper rode him for the fence from nine strides out which you can only do if you have a clear view. However, as the horse is now ridden closer to the pace than previously, it should matter if there are many or few runners. If you're sat in third place, it doesn't matter how many you have behind you.

Roll on Punchestown, if he goes there. Will be fascinating to see who runs.

Looking at yesterday form it looks like Paddy has no reason to be upset for the GC as he would've been behind both Djak and DC

Cannot figure that one out at all, but there you go.

@chief, I get why he's upset because its a question mark and who knows what would've happened, but based on his performance against Don Poli yesterday he would've been behind Djak and DC in the GC and on ground that Paddy himself said it suits CC much better than the fast one encountered at Cheltenham.

Sorry Timtin, I just think that is like comparing apples and pears, using distances beaten on a different course, in a different field, only a few weeks after the Gold Cup.  I would be astonished if Djakadam finished ahead of Cue Card had he stayed up.

We will never know if Cue Card would have beaten Don Cossack, but they would have been the one two, I'm sure.

Cue Card was saved the run in, but he had a hard season and had raced a lot more furlongs this season than Djakadam and Don Poli, so I can't have that he was nice and fresh because he raced 1m less than them in the Gold Cup.  You could have added another 5 lengths to the winning distance if they wanted too.

Btw, Don Cossack was a worthy winner of the Gold Cup, I'm not disputing that.

There will always be a doubt about end of season form in my eyes, no matter who wins (some may disagree I know).  You know that they are trained to the day for the King George and the Gold Cup, not Aintree and Punchestown.  Whoever loses at Punchy will have the "he was probably over the top" line from the jockey/trainer afterwards.

I don't think the Aintree race was representative about the distance between Cue Card and Djakadam, like I didn't think it was between Don Cossack and Cue Card last year.

I'll hold my hands up and say yes, sometimes Aintree and Punchy form works well, but I think a lot of the time it doesn't.  The fields are often smaller, and not ran at a Cheltenham pace.

Petit Mouchoir gaining 10 lengths on Beveur Dair, Apples Jade 45 lengths on Gorbatov etc.  Sometimes the results seem too good to be true.

What an about turn in fortunes/luck for Gigginstown? The Cheltenham Gold Cup and double Grand National winners, the lost of No More Heroes through injury and now possibly Don Cossack who might not run again for the same reason.

From two credible bullets for the Gold Cup to probably none - what a cruel game horse racing could be especially for the horses!