Taquin Du Seuil - Jewson(hopefully)

Indeed, a top chase prospect and should win a few races this season, especially when the mud is flying.

Not sure if I could have him on my mind for Cheltenham just now, backed him for The Neptune and you have to say he was disapointing in that. I came to the conclusion it was the better ground that found him out (he does have that high knee action), it will be interesting to see how he gets on today on similar ground with a view to the festival.

A high knee action indeed. Def needs to dip his toe in.
Be interesting to see how he jumps today. He looked very sticky i thought on his debut. Might have been down to he was pulling double against inferior opposition to be fair to him. A better pace might suit him.

gotta be pleased with that

yep a effort indeed giving the 2nd £5

Sounds like they are keen on the Arkle. McCoy wants to drop him back to 2m he said post-race, and trainer says he shows loads of speed at home. They would have run him in the 2m chase on Sunday but the owners have Dodging Bullets entered there. 14/1 with sly bet.

guaranteed good to soft at the quickest on the Tuesday as well

couldn't have him dropping back in trip,yes he outspeeded OW today if that's the word, but the point is, all things being equal he shouldn't have done, today shows that that OW is below par more than Taquin has the requisite pace to compete against the best at even this trip let alone dropping back, his knee action is quite dramatic, not quite coneygreeesque, but he's getting there.

the going today was quicker than he'll face all season. And given how slow they went, literally no more than 20mph for the first 3 fences, I can't see a strongly run two miles being any problem for him tbh. Oscar Whiskey is non stayer over 20f+ and has always shown speed yet he was out-sprinted today when in receipt of 5lb.

I thought it was quite telling how both Jonjo & AP were quick to play down the race and say they learnt nothing today. Well, for me, they learnt this horse can handle decent ground and has the speed in the finish of race. It was so slow today it was akin to running 2 miles not 2 miles 4 furlongs.

plenty of horses that ran 20f+ in their hurdling days dropped back to 2 miles and won the Arkle, don't see any reason not to have a go

Lot's of negatives for OW and Taquin just managed it, myes he gave him 5lbs but he's a fit horse to off-set that, and with all the negatives just pointed out against OW, does that then promote taquins performance in just getting up or negate it? his knee action indicates that he will spend too much time off the ground to win a speed contest for me.

Slow pace against both of them.

Fwiw, McCoy on RUK ''For the time being we'll treat him as an Arkle horse''.

Tidal Bay won an Arkle so if this one is good enough I don't see lack of speed as an issue

I've backed him at 20's & 16's, seems a fair risk at the price.

Yeah Judo, mildly pleased. He ran well enough, but there was no gallop there. I'm not one to go over the top for obvious reasons. I'm a small stakes punter, plus anything can happen with these national hunt chasers. I do like watching ante post propositions run in these sort of races though. It gives extra emphasis to these sort of races. There are still many good horses to come out.

The only positive out of the race for both Oscar and Taquin would be they jumped much better once they sprinted from 3 out.

taquin gave mytentoryours half a race over hurdles over 2 miles n mtoy is quick, i really fancy taquin for the arkle and 16s is a very fair price, gooooood horse.

Not sure how anyone can take that race too seriously for future punting to be honest.
As Henderson said - it was a total b0ll0cks of a race

Hopefully we will find out next time they run,in particular as re OW as it was his debut and he slipped into the 1st fence and hit it quiet hard.Being reigned back so much would not have helped them today either.
Most unsatisfactory all in all,although we do know they can jump a fence at speed,those last 2 fences were impressive.

I was there today and I thought it was anything but a bollox race winner won well

it was a 2m5f race turned into a 4 furlong sprint,think that's what he meant my friend.
And hes right in that regard.

ok budd

blame BG he didn't have to make it a 4f sprint.

if it was anything but a bollox race howdi what was it??

just a public school to my eyes

I hear what you say mate,but today was about education on the track for OW as far as his connections were concerned,thats why it was a watching race for OW fans-well I thought so anyway.
it was clear OW was going to be given a lead,and that all went at the 1st fence as the horse sposed to lead messed up and left OW in the lead,even though he messed up as well!!
it was then farcical for a long way.
Watch them next time,we will learn a lot more.

Interestingly Taquin Du Seuil has another entry for next week, which obviously he won't run in, but it over 2 miles. It was clearly a back-up plan incase something went wrong today e.g a first fence fall, but they clearly think 2 miles won't be a problem. How often do we here people say you need a stayer for the Arkle? Every year.

Would not put anyone off backing TDS for the Arkle if they like him,jumps well enough to me and stays well.

McCoy seems to think 2m will be fine as well.

The prudent thing is to treat him as an arkle horse, they can always adjust as the season unfolds, can't see it myself though, just look at that near fore and the way he, well lolloped..... I suppose is the best word.... his way clear in the challow in that ground.

Finian's Rainbow looked like winning the Challow Hurlde before stamina got the best of him and he finished 3rd.

We'll see, I can see why some people would not fancy him for the Arkle and tbh i've only backed him because I think the odds are big enough given available evidence and info. There is still a long way to go! Champagne Fever runs this weekend too and he's priced up like he is a Sprinter Sacre or Simonsig.

yeh,and CF not even a definite for the arkle-2m 4f this weekend.

If Dodging Bullets proves to be a good chaser, Taquin will surely go Jewson won't he?

well right now it seems DB would be the most likely Arkle one out of the two-given their races so far-but that could all change as the season progresses. I would imagine though that the owner would not want them both in the same race.

Dodging Bullets just won nicely over 2 miles at Cheltenham which makes his form figures at the track 1191, but for me he is way below top class. Not in the same bracket as the owners Taquin Du Seuil anyway.

Totally agree Sint but if DB keeps winning I can see him being the Akle horse and TDS being switched to the Jewson,

Yeah possibility Uncle. Owners love having more than one runner especially on different days. That said, if they believe he has a good chance of winning it, they have to run!

DB was very sticky early on today, he looks a ready made jewson horse, got better the further they went.

Hopefully TDS goes for the 2m Grade 1 at Sandown and can really stake his Arkle claims.

Chelt tomorrow over 2m5f

very nice price this horse tomorrow...got his ground

don't trust oscar anymore, so am happy to accommodate the 11/8 on offer very reasonable

It's more than fair Harry. He has everything going in his favour. I'm not sure what he will learn though. No pace in here again.

agree, 5lb better off with OW from the last time too.

Thought he was very decent in Henry VIII, just tapped for toe and made a mistake 2 out I think but not too far behind at the end.

Will be all the better for the extra 5f.

Well, this race today should be right up TDS's street.

Both real Jewson players for sure.

He'd be very interesting in an RSA for me.

Jumping needs to improve me thinks to have any chance of beating Oscar at Festival.

He should have handled the ground better than OW. I've not given up. One more run and then hopefully the festival. I've had very few bets, and doubt i'll be having many more, so i'd like to get one or two there with a chance.

will step up to 3 miles now surely !

Don't jump well enough to win at the festival imo.
Better horses around anyway in all the races he would run in.

Just watching that race again, he just cannot jump like that.
He could still concur with my original thoughts about him in the Jewson if he could jump better, but he don't look a natural to me. Not sure at all about 3m for him.

i would probably agree with you,if he couldnt beat ow yesterday in that ground he wont beat him in the jewson,i would go back over hurdles,only beat a length off mtoy giving weight away last year !

I wouldn't make too many decisions based on yesterdays race. The 5th, 6th, 8th, 14th, 15th and 16th fences were omitted due to standing water. It didn't represent a proper 2m4f novice chase in too many ways with 6 fences left out and soft/heavy conditions. You can have all the views on the horses but don't take too many punting decisions based on the race yesterday. it was an "interesting but no relevant" race for me.

fair points,but the way he was jumping suggests a fair beating if they had jumped every fence!!

I think yesterdays race was a good boost for Wonderful Charm.

I personally don't think Oscar or TDS will win the Jewson, but for Wonderful Charm to only go down half a length, giving 8lbs to Oscar Whisky, and then for him to come out and then beat one of the leading candidates for the Jewson, has to be good.

With Champagne Fever's participation 50/50 and Felix Yonger looking better over shorter, I think there is a lot of mileage in Wonderful Charm's price at the moment.

After that race Nicholls said "It was a great run and he's improving rapidly. I'll put him away until March now. There's no point running him on winter ground as he needs it good and I'll give him a break until the spring festivals.", so hopefully he'll turn up at Cheltenham and Aintree

Some fair points and opinions, but i have to say CUFC mate, he ain't a RSA horse. He doesn't have the constitution at this stage to dourly stay. He's too tender also. I also think his demeanour is more Jewson, because he can be slightly apprehensive at this stage, and lacks the authority of a toughened 3 miler plus stayer. He ought to be Jewson bound, and i've not seen a great deal to make me too pessimistic.

i think you will find graham that it would have ran in the albert bartlet last year but johnjo wanted ap on so it ran in the neptune,and anyway although i aint seen the horse in the flesh he looks like a 3 mile chaser to me ! just think it wont beat oscar whiskey on goodish ground if it couldnt beat it the other day !

Ahhhhh nah, can't agree with any of that mate. I just hope he gets there. If he does i think he can give a good account of himself. Never a RSA horse for me, but that's your opinion, so fair play. Just because a horse runs in a big 3 mile hurdle, it doesn't mean they will stay in a top 3 mile chase.

i know that but it was a year younger last year and the ab is a hard race,i dont think it is a natural jumper anyway,just dont see the point in it racing oscar whiskey again,i would even consider going back over hurdles with it if it doesnt go for the rsa !

he looks a 3 miler to me aswell.....

Has Wonderful Charm been tipped up today or something?

Blue all over Oddschecker.  Maybe someone read my post on 2nd Jan and has backed accordingly

Satisfactory.

I think we got a bit of luck there. The track had a wee bit of juice put down, and JP allowed AP to ride. Have to be greatful. I think i read Jonjo mentioning the gold cup, so some of you may have had a point. I thought this was the ready made race for him all the same.

No luck. Best horse won.

He was that Sint. I meant luck with circumstances, because that horse needed to be ridden by the jockey who knew him. If JP hadn't allowed it, he may not have won. Plus he was hampered at one point. So a small rub of the green, but he was the best in the race.

well done graeme,was there for 1st 2 days and thought ground wouldnt be soft enough,travelling home today so if i had seen the ground before the start i might have done him even though i thought he needed further,biggest antepost winner for me last year would have been him !

yep, well done Graeme. Maybe you'll stop moaning for a change.

Great shout.

what graeme not moaning anymore !

It's a shame graeme had to sweat for 2 hours before finally giving in and bumping it himself, whilst trying to make it look like he wasn't doing just that!

well done Graeme, big fan of the horse but sadly didnt back him yesterday but he did me a big favour in the challow.

I read the other day his blood isn't quite right. Probably a question mark whether he gets to the festival or not. Just have to see what happens.

He's cose me a packet this season