A Poor Festival this year?

No such thing as a poor festival CV.Im sure two weeks today your stomach will be churning with excitement again

Wednesday is atrocious. RSA, Neptune & Champ Chase. Wouldn't want £10 on anything at their current prices.

To be fair as current prices stand then you have a valid point but as you well know,not all these hotpots go in so there is value out there

somewhere

Not sure I agree CV. I think the quality is high in a lot of the races, it's just that the nature of antepost betting these days means that the prices on offer at this stage do little to get the juices flowing. The bookies are so scared of the Mullins stable nowadays, that the markets are all skewed by their reluctance to take chances with his runners.
For example, UDS at 4/7 is a joke - realistically he is 4/7 to get to the Festival and 6/5 to jump around. In truth, he may well be 6/4 to small stakes on the morning of the race - but you see my point.
Now, if you had 14/1 Douvan - 6/1 UDS and 7/1 Faugheen - your juices may well be running over - that's the nature of the antepost game. By the same token, as one or two people have got those prices,the prices now on offer are bound to be tight. The outcome of day 1 will shape this festival from a punting point of view.

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life".

the Champion Chase is a shocker, to be sure. Any race with Mr Mole at 8/1 has to be questionable. Couldn't have him or Dodgy Bullets at any price. As for Sprinter and SDG - I dunno - think Sprinter may be pulled up at the first sign of trouble and SDG's prep is just too panicy for me. can I really back Champagne Fever in this race? I might have to.

I have to say there are some miserable types on here bandying around terms such as shocking and atrocious. As with most walks of life individuals take themselves far too seriously when in reality they have absolutely no right to do so. Enjoy it for what it is and if you think it is shocking/atrocious go and find something else that takes your interest. Really, I have never read so much rubbish in all my life.

Yes, it's the best 4 days jump racing in the entire universe.

What's not to love?!

CV are you saying the fez this year, lacks class or just not much you can find to bet on? H

The Arkle should be a fantastic spectacle. For me I don't need to have a bet to enjoy a race.

Couldn't disagree more. Lots of class and standout bets.

It's all a matter of opinion as to whats value.

Maybe the quality isn't the highest but the big 3 races all look like really interesting races to me. There seems to be a really good bunch of novice chasers this season too imo.

im not sure (yet) you can say quality isnt the highest....potentially....

^^ usc (HIGHEST RATED NOVICE FOR MANY A YEAR) fAUGHEEN (POTENTIAL SUPERSTAR) New One (brillaint horse) Spriner v SDG last two winners. etc etc

Aye, GC looks the best renewal for years.

As Howdi says, not sure you're worried about quality of races or the bets you have lined up?

Completely disagree,think it's areally good festival,potential superstars and fascinating races,many wide open.
Really looking forward to it.

Belting 4 days coming up.  Can't understand your thoughts really CV.

To be honest the next 2 weeks will drag as prices are now set and it's too late for any more AP bets.  I get a bit bored from now until it starts and the threads on here dry up as really not much more to be said.

shockster
     22 Feb 15 17:25   

Belting 4 days coming up.  Can't understand your thoughts really CV.

To be honest the next 2 weeks will drag as prices are now set and it's too late for any more AP bets.  I get a bit bored from now until it starts and the threads on here dry up as really not much more to be said. 


Only the load of old toot that gets spoken at Preview Evenings that gets recycled in here, that has to be ignored.

Its possibly a changing of the guard year but for me this makes it all the more interesting,like others lm happy to just watch good quality racing and dont feel the need to bet if l cant or already havent found value.

So you are annoyed because there are no certs at 10/1. Strange that!

I remember when Tanya (c4) tipped up Countrywide Flame at 33s for the Triumph at official festival evening. I got a hard on at the finish line

Yuk!!
Hope you weren't too close to anyone.

I won't comment on that one, if you don't mind Buddeliea.

personally finding this years festival very tough to fathom betting wise, lots of tricky tight knit affairs but the only thing i am finding tiring is individual horses actual targets, making it hard to form a solid opinion...no different to other years class wise apart from world hurdle that really hasn't got a stand out bar a horse we have only seen once this year, the rest of the racing looks up to scratch imo it is just whether the edge is there come the day as the markets are lop sided at present

the O.P remarks about the champ chase are ridiculous and another remark about mr mole the most improved horse in training also seems very harsh by another poster - really looking forward to this race as it looks the most competitive renewal of the race i can remember

i'd probably find another sport to be interested in tbh if you can't get up cheltenham

Probably just as well!!

Feb 22, 2015 -- 9:16PM, harry callaghan wrote:

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but fair to say no one went home disappointed.

Sorry CV but there is no such thing as a poor festival.

I get your point about some of the prices. A lot of WPM horses are stupidly short, Douvan is a classic example. Short priced because he is WPM horse, take him on!!!!

Tell the truth OP, you're just less excited cause you know that the tasty AP docket you have for Peace & Co is not looking as certain as it did before. I think you've exhausted yourself since that Doncaster race, over 2 months ago, where you literally blew your load. You're suffering from a touch of anti-climax. :)

Their is such as a thing as a poor festival but i dont this is the case this year.

Just a year of change imo.

I thought last years was a year of change....we could see several supersars coming in here

Surely the OP is looking forward to seeing his beloved Peace & Co? The horse he thinks is a combo of Frankel, Arkle and Istabraq; all rolled into one?

A silly, attention seeking thread IMO.

Hipster thread imo

Hipster thread imo

OP. Stop being such a drama queen. U r taking yourself too seriously. Get a grip.

The only thing poor about Cheltenham is you can't take a bevy out on track.  Get a grip racecourse management!!

Can't remember a QMCC or World Hurdle that I've looked forward to as much in the last 6 or 7 years, mainly because no odds on shot taking up most of the market. Although Big Bucks first one vs Punchestowns and Kasbah Bliss was a good build up.

Gold Cup is very wide open, but will never live up to the Kauto/Denman days.

Champion Hurdle-have to say the build up to last years was epic. The Fly, TNO, Jezki, MTOY and Our Conor. Not been as intruiging this year, but I'll be there screaming as loud as I possibly can for the Fly.

Novice hurdles - only one Mullins shorty this year instead of all three last year has to be good.

Novice Chases - can't wait to see UDS, JLT looks an absolute cracker, and the front three in the RSA could be the front three in the Gold Cup betting next year.

Can't wait!!!

Howdi
CV are you saying the fez this year, lacks class or just not much you can find to bet on? H

It's a combination. I think UDS and Peace & Co are going to turn out to be real stars. But of all 4 Championship races, I've close to zero emotion beyond pure hope for Fly. Then when I look for something to have a big bet on to make the festival I'm at a loos. Nothing really stands out at the current prices, so many horses who are similar quality and the right price. The Neptune and RSA are the worst renewals of the race I can ever remember. Both as betting races and in quality.

I'm just not feeling that excited about this years festival. It'd be good if Mullins had a terrible festival as he's kinda ruining the whole antepost experience.

Agree re Neptune, and I'd probably throw Supreme in that category too,but looks a top renewal of the RSA to me.

The thing that is ruining the festival for me is the fact you don't know what races certain horses are going in ,

been happening for a few years now .

I hope it don't go to 5 days and the gold cup is run on a Saturday cos that will cripple it imo.

No such thing as a shocker of a festival, but I think it takes 3-4 years after to look back and see where it ranks. Zealot, I feel 5 days will happen eventually, mabye 5 years time, it makes so much money, for the course + bookies, that they will push it through...

I've been feeling similar to the opening post about the whole jumps season this year to be honest, not had many weekends where something's made me sit up and watch the racing back. As someone mentioned earlier perhaps we are just in a transitional period and I've no doubt come the Supreme il be going mad with excitement but at the moment I'm very "meh" about most of the races at the festival

I agree with the OP that the Mullins dominance has had an effect of the AP markets however I do think that this year's festival will introduce us to a number of horses that may in future years make us look back and say 2015 was a good year.

The horses that may be included in this category Douvan, UDS, Faugheen, Don Poli, Vautour and Peace & Co, No More Heroes and a "dark horse" Blaklion.

I am happy to watch their respective races without needing to have a bet if I feel the price is short and still enjoy the atmosphere of the 4 days.

Enjoy the buzz.  Enjoy the feeling of hope each morning that you may win a few bob and see a horse that you will remember for years to come (A Mastermind, a One Man or a Desert Orchid or even the Dickinson Gold Cup).

Forty

sounded like the OP was more about not being able to find a bet which is understandable compared to the quality of the horses which to me looks fairly decent. Of the 4 main races we potentially have an above average CH (2013 & 2014 winners) and above average CC (2013 and 2014 winners both entered and 1st and 2nd in the betting), the world Hurdle looks wide open and maybe there isn't a superstar horse and I might argue that the GC is a little bellow what is was in say 2008/2009 (although it does have the most recent KG winner and all the main G1 winners of the year so far).

Maybe the ante-post markets are just getting more efficient over time as betfair matures, more people focus on Cheltenham at the expense of other AP markets. As for WM I am sure as always one or two of his novices who no one could see getting beat will flop (So Young and Pont come to mind), the Neptune never looks a particularly strong race from an AP perspective it always feels like a bit of 2nd class race compared to the Supreme in terms of quality.

"Maybe the ante-post markets are just getting more efficient over time as betfair matures"

You hit the nail on the head here. The build-up to Cheltenham is just so ridiculously early and getting earlier every year. I remember Don Poli winning back in November and WPM said "I think that's his game - he should make a good staying chaser. He appears to idle all the time and I hope there's lots left in the locker when you go for him. It's early days, but he seems made for the four-mile race at Cheltenham. He gallops and he stays." It's 3 months later and we still don't know where he goes. The focus on Cheltenham has gone OTT. imo

Cheltenham is Cheltenham and it's impossible not to get up for the festival.

Punting aside it is upsetting if you can't get up for the greatest of meetings.

I do agree that the punting side has been ruined. Bookies price up the leading prospects months in advance and if they win their trials on route as expected they get shortened and shortened so they become unbackable.
But I feel we are half to blame.

We have been chatting and debating on this forum since October regarding who will win what. So obviously bookies will react to public demand.

I personally haven't contributed much recently as we have been going over the same debates for months.

Betting angles may have gone but the excitement for the meeting remains.

Also knowing which race a novice may run in is not new. It's been going on for years.  The only difference is that so many top prospects are in one yard. I do not blame him for waiting till the last minute to finalise plans.

If this is the only thing in our lives we can complain about we are very fortunate people.
When you see  parents willing to risk their families lives to board a barely floatable ship to find a better life for their family puts it all in prospective.

I've put on two silly Yankees for the festival. One is worth 95G the other 130g. If they come in every penny is going to the Red Cross to help these Middle East families.

RACING is life. BEFORE or AFTER is JUST WAITING.

Glossy
Joined: 22 Feb 09 | Topic/replies: 19,115 | Blogger: Glossy's blog
Surely the OP is looking forward to seeing his beloved Peace & Co? The horse he thinks is a combo of Frankel, Arkle and Istabraq; all rolled into one?