Jonjo is making less sense than usual.

reading between the lines if mccoy dont pick him he wont run

Then he ain't running because there have been several reports that the horse hardly does a tap at home which was why McCoy was amazed when on his first start he went past the supposed stable first string like his ar5e was on fire. Which is a shame because I think he's a better horse than AFC and so does the official handicapper.

And to slightly rephrase that i think both Big Buck's and if she runs Annie Power will beat AFC but this one could yet be anything and so you'd give him a chance.

Professor Brian Cox has spent years working out the origins of the Universe, when it's patently obvious it was born out of the black hole of waffle Jonjo comes out with every time he's asked a straightforward question.

I thought that this was one of Jonjo's better efforts at clarity......

You have to ask, why hasnt the horse run over 3 miles already ??

THe problem with jonjo, he campaigns every horse to get a nice mark, he is fooked when he gets a good one.

I did inded sir. Given it's been off for three months and has an official mark of 160 with plenty of juice to be squeezed out you have to scratch your head when you see so many horses going wrong that often it is a question of when rather than if. Perhaps he just likes looking at it.

If you are supporting More Of That it must take something of a leap of faith to believe his optimum trip is going to be a mile further (in likely testing conditions) than his full brother who actually appears to have improved for dropping in trip.

You may be right but I couldn't base a view on a sample of one when there is so much stamina on both sides of the line and the fact that he has gone and done it over three and a bit furlongs shorter on the course. Of course you'd have wanted to see the horse over 3 miles which makes his absence for 3 months all the more puzzling but my gut feeling is that he'll thrive for the distance which was why I backed him whilst accepting that he would need to step up again from his easy beating of Salubrious.

AP has confirmed he will ride AFC tonight

Early to confirm that BJG? Surprised at that myself. AFC may finish ahead of him, but I definitely think More of That has more chance of winning. Nothing against AP, but quite happy he has chose AFC. Market always overreacts to a jockeys opinion.

I'm not surprised so much if he's chosen AFC but as callit says the timing is most peculiar. Jonjo said AP was going to ride the horse next week before making a decision. If the ground dries out to goodish by the Thursday I wouldn't have AFC with counterfeit with his problems. In fact unless it's soft or worse I'll be most surprised if he's in the first three. MOT would have been a slightly higher risk option but I share the view that whilst he may have finished down the field he'd have been a more likely winner.

Maybe the early decision is to allow another jockey time to become aquainted with MOT but equally it wouldn't now surprise me if they scratch MOT which would seem a big shame unless the horse has a problem.

I think AFC has the best chance of any of the likely contenders to beat Annie Power. We haven't seen AFC at anything like the horse he really is this season. The Albert Bartlett took a hell of a lot out of him. He showed in the Cleeve that he is finally getting back to his best and he is the only thing that has even the remotest chance of beating Annie Power.

Paddy Power got a special on this they are laying 4/5 McCoy rides AFC

http://www.paddypower.com/racing/horse-racing-specials/world-hurdle-special

I think the ground is a red herring where AFC is concerned. It is a confidence thing. Probably his best performance was on ground which was the good side of soft at Aintree last year. AP really likes AFC so don't write him off. I agree that MOT is a doubtful runner. Isn't he a full brother to Eastlake? So I guess chasing will be his game and he is only 6.

Mc coy has confirmed he is riding AFC in his column today

Some interesting comments about AFC. Who knows but for what it's worth I can't have the Albert Bartlett taking any more out of him than other horses because he gave arguably his best performance at Aintree three weeks later where the times suggest the ground was plenty soft enough. McCoy thinks he'll go on goodish ground if it's that way but curiously he also said that he should come on because the Cleeve was like his first race which I find to be a somewhat baffling comment.

If it wasn't for AFC's jumping issues, I reckon he'd win the World Hurdle, but he's had back problems in the past and they look as though they've resurfaced this season. He jumped better in the Cleeve that he had on his previous two starts, but it was still a long way short of what would be required to win the World Hurdle.

With all respect threads like this one make me laugh when I read foolish statements like not sending a rocking horse to the man. Champion Jockey who won the Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle and gawd knows how many races. Recently trained the winner of the Gold Cup and the National plus a host of festival winners a few of which could have been described as rocking horses. Completely loyal to his owners and always up for a bit of crack...I could think of a load of trainers with a lot less going for them.

Of course Jonjo would want AP to ride his horse in preference to Rebecca Curtis's but considering AFC record at Cheltenham logic says the one to ride.

I'd be very surprised if AFC proved good enough to beat the front 2. Big Bucks and Annie's Power deserve their place in the market IMO. It's going to take a bit of an unknown quantity to beat them and Jonjo's fits the bill having never run at the trip..

AP could end up regretting putting the leg up on AFC.

A blind dog will find a lamp post to pee up a couple of times. I'm inclined to suggest that given the quality of horses that Jonjo's had his record in top races is poor. Sure he's had plenty of festival winners in handicaps but he does have a very good way of getting a favourable handicap mark and laying one out. So did Barney Curley. Some would call that wise and others would use a different word and I'm in the latter camp. For me, as a trainer of quality horses he isn't a patch on quite a few other trainers.

But on the specific issue I appreciate that AP hasn't done him any favours but he's made Jonjo look a bit foolish by saying (the day after Jonjo's quote that AP was going to school the horse this week and next before making a decision) that he'll be riding AFC. Like you say though that's a big call this far from the festival because I'm certainly convinced that AFC would struggle on goodish ground with his physical ailments and his jumping.

I'm intrigued that they have gone for McClernon who rode the horse to his first victory. I'd have thought that JP might have asked someone like Geraghty to ride MOT.

Did I read somewhere there was a reason for Shutthefrondoor's poor performance lto?

Yes willie

They wanted to get his handicap mark down

At the end of the day it most likely AP's decision won't make an ounce off difference if Big Buck's goes there all cylinders firing. AFC wouldn't blow wind up the big horses backside if he was spot on.

Annie Power has never been beaten and she could be something really special but as of yet there's no real evidence she is.

If Big Bucks has gone back and she is a better mare than Voler La Vedette was then she'll hack up. If she is not she'll think she's gone into orbit when she tackles a horse who is half a ton better than anything she's met so far.

I suppose the sensible bet is to Dutch them because unless you have a crystal ball you'd have to be a genius to work this one out with any degree of confidence.