Cheltenham Eyecatchers

Voix du Reve- off 20 mnths before this season & all 3 runs over too far, refusing to settle long way Coral Cup; didnt look short of speed when fell last in 2016 Fred Winter (hit 1.22 IR) & surely a 2miler

Seddon- gave up outside to no-one in bumper but trav well long way and beat more than beat him

Bacardy's- unexposed beyond 2½m and looked to have plenty left when tumbling last in muddling Stayer's

Theinval- real favourite who just found soft ground blunting him at business end in GA; remains 3lb lower than when leading over final fence in last year's valuable Red Rum at Aintree

Voix Du Reve......Totally agree with this one.Same trainer/owner won the last race on national day 2016,with Ivan Grozny,conditional jockeys over 2m,interested to see where they go with this lad.

The eye's of a pocket talker

What do you mean he had loads in the tank?...the ground fecked him because he was tired come the end and when he needed to find he had nowt left.

i can get you a nice shetland mare for 100 euros
she will teach you all you need to know my friend

dont you. believe it
hes a low striding horse
he coukd have picked native river up and carried him on his back on half decent ground
watch the replays
flicking his ears ten yards from the line
you dont often see one on his toes at the end of a gold cup
watch when the jockeys are shaking hands
mitebite almost kisses native river
"thanks for the ilead mate"

So...irish is implying that it is the horses action ( low striding) that prevented the horse from picking up despite having loads left

However, it's that low striding action that tires the horse out because it necessitates the horse to come into contact with the gluey ground more often than a typical soft ground horse with a higher action . MB wouldn't have been as able to propel himself out of it as well, he did it well enough but the cumulative effect took its toll come the end.

I guess Hendo was referring to the fact that he did turn right last year.
This year he did'nt.

I think the jurys out on Might Bite until he runs against NR in decent ground.
Only then will we know for sure.
My take on it,MB would definitely have a better chance on decent ground,but i am unsure whether he would beat NR on any ground in a Gold Cup.I hope he can,i love the horse,but NR is a class act imo, who won a Welsh National.

Don't bite

Might Bite ran a cracker, travelled like a dream and would have been an impressive winner without Native river. I can't see the point in blaming the ground for him not winning. It was soft ground,much the same as they were
racing on all season.If they ever meet again it will be a different day and a different race but there were no hard luck stories in the GC.

Who knows what the ground will be like for next year's Gold Cup but whatever it is its not as if its already shaping up into a 2 horse race again. Its 500-1 that the same 2 horses will fight out the 2019 GC. You have to go back to Lord Windermere to find the last horse to make the lineup the next year. Might Bite will be 10 and may not be quite as good as he was this season.

At this stage there are probably 30 horses who could win it next year and it will take about 9 months from now until the race even begins to take shape.


)

irish...native river was the 1st gold cup winner since bregawn in 83 to improve on a previous placing in the race

I think it was evidently clear Might Bite (MB) was matching stride for stride with Native River (NR) until after the last fence, and the heavy going could have exposed the stamina limitation of MB who'd never run beyond 3m prior, but one cannot be sure.

NR is an out-and-out stayer and also excels on easier going, a ground he did not get when beaten by Sizing John (SJ) last year; whether NR had improved or not is unclear given the absence of SJ and a drastic change in going this year compare to last year.

Unless one is sceptical about the assertion of Hendo - the trainer of MB - that MB is a better horse on good ground one cannot be certain MB was inconvenienced by the heavy going, but MB was clearly outstayed by NR; if good going is encountered next year and the same scenario prevails eg NR and MB in unison at the 2nd or last fence, and the same result prevails then one can safely conclude NR is a better horse over 3.25m than MB on better or easier ground.

However, if MB beats NR in the King George (KG) over 3m given the same scenario (all things being equal) and the going is heavy then one can safely conclude that 3.25m was a stretch too far for MB given the ease MB was going 2 and 1 fence out in the Gold Cup; if MB beats NR convincingly in the KG on better going (all things being equal) then one can safely conclude the better going certainly has helped MB to cement his victory over NR - the nature of Kempton Park could have been a factor but only to a far lesser one than the reduction in distance, one can safely infer I firmly believe.

On the topic of who's posting or not on this platform, this is a public forum and anyone is welcome to contribute, I believe, provided one is not rude, threatening, abusive or behaving in an infantile and immature manner to other posters which is contradictory to the purpose of this platform which is to share and exchange knowledge or info; this is not a platform to exhibit or inflate one's ego or "superior" knowledge on horse racing.

Horse racing is not nuclear physics, so try and keep it simple; it is a sport of opinions with many factors determining the eventual result. Any disagreement or differing views accepted (or not) could be marginalised at the touch of the 'ignore button' to nullify any ill-feeling and unsavoury climate on this forum. But  the views of any poster, far fetched or not, should not be stifled. If anything, go against the herd, that is the (rewarding) motto.

Personally, I can assure anyone I've used the 'ignore button' regularly and will continue to do so should I feel necessary.

^^It looked that way and MB was still over 8l infront of the 3rd horse Anibale Fly; NR is a thorough stayer and on easy going is certainly the one to be on next year, if he turns up which has not been the case the last 3 years eg Coneygree, Don Cossack and Sizing John; I do hope Sizing John makes a 100% recovery and makes it to the gig next March.

"staying" is relative, without NR, MB would have been a good winner and we'd all be lauding his stamina.

However the presense of NR saw the level of performance regarding the stamina side of things raised to an even higher level than that of what MB could achieve.

MB ran an incredible race but ultimately the race has put a ceiling given certain circumstances as to what MB is capable of.

On better ground the crucial thing would be for MB to force NR to go a stride or two quicker than what he'd want to earlier on and to break him up, he'd then be able to settle into a lead and get home better.

All that before you even bring in the likes of PP and SJ to mention just a couple...who I'd want to personally be with anyhow.

The only known form of NR on good going was in the Gold Cup (GC) won by Sizing John. Maybe NR could be excused of eating too many pies before the GC gig. Hopefully, NR goes to the King George (unlikely I understand), but if so, my money will be on MB with a smaller amount on NR...with a free ride on both (hopefully).

I hope Sizing John comes back 100% in the winter and makes the GC - he's of the same age as NR. Nevertheless, one must not underestimate the severity of a pelvic injury to a horse.

The use of the 'ignore button' is a last resort, and only to those with a history/propensity of belittling or 'shouting down' or 'hunting-in-a-pack' with their forum mates eg those old fashioned, antagonistic and cantankerous, on any poster whose views are not conducive to theirs; these posters like to think of themselves as the aficionados of horse racing. Personally, horse racing is a game to be enjoyed; if it creates stress I'd eradicate this stress by not reading their posts - usually bland and non-informative. So far, this practice has not been a disadvantage, and unlikely to be in the future either given the depth of new posters, their opinions (creative or otherwise), enthusiasm, etc - they give a new approach and richness to horse racing and betting/punting, period!

If someone can copy and paste that I'd be grateful becasue the dumb tw*t probably has me on ignore and won't see it.

mite bite is a monster
but he doesnt do chelteham

good thread - until imp decided to make it about him (he forgot to mention that he also blocks you if you correct any of his multiple factual errors).

Anyway I concur about The Worlds End (still got reservations about his form figures of 8447 after winning 5 of his first 7 races - is he going to be good enough at Grade 1 level in open company over hurdles?), Topofthegame (3 mile novice at Aintree is a good shout, nothing to lose assuming he'll be novice chasing next season) and particularly Chesterfield (can't think that even his connections were expecting him to run that well on that ground).

Would add Moon Racer (best effort for a long time in the County Hurdle, dropped 3lbs since) - assuming he's sound, he could be one for the 2m 4f handicap hurdle which opens Day Two of the Grand National meeting, I think he'd prefer nicer ground too.

In fairness, you could have similar reservations about him to the ones I expressed about The Worlds End but he will be running in a handicap.

Surely if you are going to go a stride quicker than NR would want to in the early stages then stamina is going to be the key @ the end?
Budd you seem to be suggesting the slower they go it will suit NRs stamina. Not that Johnson would allow it to be a steady gallop.

another from pipes is kings sock who travelled very well and was always in prime position until dropping away towards the end,maybe a drop in trip or easier track but he has been flagged up a couple of times in post and weekender so probally be short price next time out but one to watch