morning mate

after going through the pedigree of finians rainbow, his sire tiraaz won the prix gladiator over 1m 7 1/2 furlongs and was 2nd in the prix du cadran over 2.5 miles, added to this his dam trinity gale (by strong gale ) then 3 miles + could even suit this strong travelling classy animal who has also shown he can act at the course so a good few positives . i am no breeding expert but his pedigree does look stamina laden to me.

in finians only point to point in ireland over 3 miles on heavy ground he was in front  at the last and in command when falling leaving the race to be won by hampshire express ,those behind were of little account ,jury is obviously out regards the trip against top class performers who he will meet at kempton or possibly  cheltenham but encouraging nonetheless.

yeah resner the king george could be right up his street and i am green on the race through others ,i think i will probably lay finians for at least my stake for the gold cup just before the king george and still be in a decnt position whatever happens ,and if he were to win  the king george then m.buckley said the gold cup will be next, good luck !

it was awful ground i'd question the wisdom of running him on that first yp his jumping never got going and im surprised he was still trading odds on half way through the race mate.

agree funny times

I think there's a chance that Finian's Rainbow could get the King George trip but I just can't see him even running at Cheltenham in the Gold Cup even if he won it - if by some miracle he did so, I'd give him little chance of staying, even though he's a 3M PTP winner - the RP website doesn't have that info but I think I read that a while ago...can anyone confirm that?

As for getting 20f really well...it's very rare for a Champion Chaser NOT to get the extra half mile, so I wouldn't read too much into that - I think he'll probably end up in the Ryanair, though I hope not, as I've a decent free bet on him to follow up in the QM.

Henderson has many options for the Gold Cup so I can't see it happening, and although the Ryanair lacks the prestige of the QM, the trip might be what he wants and it'd also avoid the possible embarrassment of usurping his much vaunted stablemate (and champion elect) Sprinter Sacre.

Sometimes things can fall a horse's way when stepping up in trip, as is what in my opinion occurred with a similar sort as Finian's Rainbow in Kicking King.
The opposition he could be facing over longer trips would be a far tougher challenge than what Kicking King faced in his pomp, as the cards fell really smoothly for him in terms of the opposition being at a peak.

If that's the case...it's bewildering how he could have been ruled out of that so early, before the King George
If there was one race that should be off his agenda, it's the Gold Cup!

As I see it, it's a relatively simple choice of defending his QM CC or stepping up for the Ryanair.

Thanks Howdi...I hadn't heard that.

I reckon he'll have to go to the QM as he'll only have one proper horse to beat, but I still can't see him getting too close to Sprinter Sacre.

I'm not convinced that Sanctuaire has fully turned over a new leaf and I won't be surprised if he turns sour.

Also, Sizing Europe will be 11yo come Cheltenham, and at that age, the speed isn't there any more and you don't win Champion Chases!
Only the great Moscow Flyer defies a stat like that!

There's also a lot of miles on his clock and his owner is keen to have a crack at the longer trips (probably a wise move) so he mightn't even run.

He was frighteningly good at Sandown but I'm very suspicious of that form, although I don't have any valid enough reasons as to why I think that - I'm reluctant to take that performance at face value.

I just don't like the horse's attitude (seen plenty of evidence with him) and this sort always reverts to type at some stage.

Besides...the 'element of surprise' has now gone, and anything up against him this season will know how he's gonna run, and he won't be able to 'steal' a top-class two mile chase so easily again - when Sprinter Sacre meets him in the Tingle Creek (on Sanctuaire's territory) if he's forward enough, he wins easily.

Now the fizz seems to have be curbed, there doesn't appear to be a weakness in Sprinter Sacre, and he's similar to Frankel in that respect - it should be a feast of fluent fencing in a couple of weeks as this pair really can jump.