Cheltenham Festival
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That Champion Hurdle was a bit of a joke
That Champion Hurdle was a bit of a joke
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By: This user is online. CVByrne
Date Joined: 14 Mar 06 Add contact | Send message When: 23 Mar 13 16:35 Joined: Date Joined: 14 Mar 06 | Topic/replies: 3,654 | Blogger: CVByrne's blog Graeme the racist. Rangers fan NAP. no that would be me...  |
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I'm stuck as a Villa fan  Damn you Paul McGrath. |
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Can't say the season hasn't been eventful
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used to see mcgrath up brum on a sat night at a few after hours clubs fcuk me he could drink....
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Understatment of the year
I remember Italia 90 Irish team. McGrath, Townsend, Houghton, Staunton. Cemented Villa in my Heart. Been over 2 decades of ups and downs since then to say the least. Fergie time still grates  |
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Harch agree with what you say. It is crazy for punters to be biased when assessing a race. The anti Irish form thing must have cost numerous punters a packet this year. In this business one must never let the heart rule the head.
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I find it difficult to believe that ANY knowledgeable & sensible punter would have such a juvenile attitude when the money's down...it's rank stupidity!
Maybe the mugs do it, but anyone that considers themselves as a fan of the sport, surely does not have such an outlook. |
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So much can be learned from the Daily Mail readers on here. Not being convinced by the Champion Hurdle makes me an anti-Irish racist by the Irish fool(CVByrne) who called me a 'stupid English pryck', even though i'm Scottish. Now we have Arklearkle stating that i had an anti Irish angle throughout the festival because i have shared my opinion on the Champion Hurdle. Of course, Conor Byrne is one of these wee activists behind the keyboard who scream 'racism' everytime you even mention Ireland. What a Oirish moron.
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Graeme you stated "now we have Arklearkle stating that I had an anti Irish angle throughout the festival". Could you please enlighten me as to when I said that.
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Grandouet going over 2m4f to see if he is Champion Hurdle standard
 ,Chemical been hitting the bottle again no doubt.http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/article/465/8591644/exciting-line-up-for-liverpool-hurdle |
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Graeme - You know what the Irish are like though
I'm Scottish and I know that HF is the best since Istabraq |
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Wonder what would happen if some of those since Istabraq met each other at their best.
eg:The likes of Rooster Booster,Binocular and Hfly meeting up would be interesting,and i for one would not say the winner with great confidence. Pointless though really,cannot be proved,bit like some of the comments on this thread to be honest. We can have our favourites and opinions but unless the horses actually compete against each other at their best,its all just that....opinion. I mean take those that say HF is better than Binocular,yes he has a better race record and won more grade 1's,and is the better in those regards,but would HF have beaten Bino had he run in the CH that Bino won?? |
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I think Hurricane Fly would definitely have won the Supreme the year he was injured. He was head and shoulders above the rest so he'd probably be a 3 time festival winner now.
On a line through Go Native, Go Native was never ever a match for the Fly when they met (apart from their last meeting this year). After Go Native won his Supreme, the Fly battered him at Punchestown. Go Native then went on to be the Champion Hurdle favourite and imo was the best horse in that race; it was a shame that he got injured during it. To be honest, I rated Hurricane Fly so highly as a novice, I think he would have probably won the Champion Hurdle as a novice, the year Punjabi, Celestaial Halo and Binocular fought it out. |
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Trainer Harry Fry, speaking at Plumpton, said: "He's come out of Cheltenham really well and he goes to Punchestown, where we'll take on Hurricane Fly again. I know Noel is desperate to take him on again on better ground."
"He [Noel Fehily] feels if the ground had been a little better at Cheltenham he'd have been able to kick again at the top of the hill and not let Hurricane Fly get back into the race, so yes, I think we can beat him." Thank you Harry  |
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Yeh, if it was better ground he could have gone even quicker early doors and picked up his iron lung at the top of the hill
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Hfly is a good Churdler,no doubt,but great ones dont struggle to keep up during the race.
Personally think on his day Bino was the better,problem he had was he did not often have his day,and now it looks like he never will again. As for ROR he is well capable of beating Hfly again,their aint much between them. |
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I agree there Budd. I don't think there's a great deal in it, and i'd also like to see Grandouet travel to Ireland aswell. I'd be dissapointed in a racing context if he didn't go there.
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I wonder what more Hurricane Fly has to do?
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maybe win 15 G1s
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a horse running in a champion hurdle 4 weeks before his 10th birthday will never have anything in his favour, everything was against the fly going into that race, it was only the sheer brilliance of the animal which saw him grind them all into the cheltenham mud and reclaim the title that was stolen from him in his last years race by the masked bandit rock on ruby
hurricane fly will be remembered as one the truly great hurdlers of our time were as one-hit wonders like binocular and ror will be rightfully forgotten |
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harsh on ROR who has won one and second in another. ^^^
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He's fishing Howdi. If connections of HF could've written their own criteria for race conditions they couldn't have got it more ideal for the horse. Soft ground, small field, no front-runners.......just like being at home!
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Desmond of course he was running against slow(er) horses also. HF has always run against slower horses. His record proves that beyond doubt.
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desmond the race times indicate it was good ground....
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The ground was dead.
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Not knocking the horse, just pointing out that conditions were ideal for him, in response to the earlier poster who would have you believe he overcame obstacles of a sisyphean order.
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Excuses out in force again.
The Fly won because he was the best horse in the race and as said above would have another Festival win had he been there in 2010. |
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Don't think he would have beaten Binocular.
Very good he was that day, and imo more impressive than HF in his winning years. Thought ROR was more impressive when he won his as well. |
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I'm a huge fan of Hurricane Fly, but I don't think he's been at his best at Cheltenham, and I don't think he's at his best on good or faster. I thought this year's race was unsatisfactory. They went too fast. If Ruby had just let them go, he might have picked them up a lot later and a lot easier and we might be hailing the Fly as the best ever, even though the truth would be that Ruby had just been the one jockey who got it right. First thing he said when he pulled up was that he got there two furlongs too soon.
I was at Leopardstown the day HF made Go Native look as if he was standing still after the last, and Go Native won the Supreme two runs later. I've also seen HF produce various other highly impressive performances around Leopardstown and Punchestown, and I've seen him produce less impressive performances around Punchestown as well, and I've seen him win two Champion Hurdles on a track he doesn't like and one of them on ground he didn't like. I've seen him cruise through the last two furlongs, and I've seen him battle like a lion when he's had to. He's won left-handed, right-handed, on flat and undulating, on good and soft, coming through horses and coming round horses, and he was able to make the running when he had to at Punchestown this season, and he stays at least two and a half. He's definitely one of the all-time greats, but yes, if it comes up good at Punchestown, I'd give ROR a chance. Binocular looked a hell of a horse the day he won the Champion and on one or two other occasions. He's been a joy to watch on his day. |
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^^^ hailing him as the best ever......no we wouldn't!
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you would have to think poor Darlan would have gone close after the way the 2nd and 3rd ran - he was running all over them before his fall
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Good summary, Haventaclue. What more does this horse have to do to convince some people. Can't think of any hurdler since Sea Pigeon who has proved his worth so often under different conditions against proper horses. Yes, an all time great.
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Better than Istabraq ....never
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I think so Howdi.
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Judging by todays results it looks like whatever wins the 2014 champion hurdle will still have to beat the 10 year old. Even the "slow" Thousand Stars just beaten.
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Istabraq would have made Peddlers Cross look 2nd rate, and was never outpaced and struggling in a CHurdle.
No comparism imo. I do agree that HF has put in some great performances in Ireland and been ultra consistent on all sorts of going. I just aint sure hes the best at Cheltenham since Istabraq, thats all. Personally prefer the performances of Binocular and Rooster Booster and also i don't think he would have beaten Hardy Eustace, but its all just my thoughts. Don't use Aintree form for next March Arkle imo. |
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Very poor field of hurdlers in Binoculars champion. The only two good hurdlers in the field were either injured and/or off colour. Granted he could only beat what was put in front of him.
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Very poor field of hurdlers in Binoculars champion. The only two good hurdlers in the field were either injured and/or off colour. Granted he could only beat what was put in front of him.
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It's all conjecture of course but I think Istabraq would definitely have had Hurricane Fly's measure over the Champion Hurdle C&D, but if it was a typical Irish race, then it would be a close thing - despite winning two of his three runs at The Festival, Hurricane Fly just doesn't look the same horse there to me.
They're both very hard horses to fault and they are the outstanding hurdlers since the Sea Pigeon era. |