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Indeed it was Duffy , surprised you hadn't heard of it previously
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hey irish a few irish over here fair skinned lads mostly try to stay away from the sun,,like myself tho cant help it when golfing or out on the bike ..love the climate tho..how about yourself are you a sun worshipper plenty of those here as well?
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Not as much as I worship HDB
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prefer his wife myself..funny enuff gingerish with fair skin,,,wouldnt like too much sun
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fully agree with OP - never understood the nationalistic fervour from some quarters for French bred horses owned by an American just because of where the horse happens to lay its head each evening
I personally couldn't care if my horse was English, Irish or from Timbuktu if it was carrying my money as long as it came home first, I don't know anyone who cares about the Prestbury Cup that the media seems keen to big up each year. |
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spot on flemenstar
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I am not interested in the Prestbury Cup but I do care if there is a bias that ensures that most of the winners are trained in Ireland as it gets a bit galling to keep backing losers. How is anyone in England supposed to judge the Irish (or French) form? And don't ell me to look it up in the RP. The Irish domination has drastically reduced my interest and my betting turnover on the meeting.
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My theory is that last year's greenwash was mainly due to Covid and not handicapping or buying or any of the other more popular theories, so the conclusion is that this year we are back on a level playing field and British runners might be more value.
Trouble is, British trainers do believe it and so some horses are skipping the Festival. |
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I hope you are right ramruna because we can see the best irish horses at dublin or leoopardstown or punchestown. If you have no competition over there , why bother going ? The money is better in Ireland and you havent got the travel problems.
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agree OP, load of pish, same with Greyhound derby parading with a tricolour, a load of nonsense.
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Anyone else experience it apart from on here ? Maybe the posters have more political agendas as this barage of anti British is year long not just around Cheltenham.
I’ve been in the Paddie box at Cheltenham many times and looked forward to the craic with the Irish lads where both Irish and British punters back the horses not countries. The biggest cheer one year was Altior and the whole box went bonkers….go figure that reading the dross on here. 80% of my antepost bets are Irish horses so hope they win and make it an incredible festival. |
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80% are fictional
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Vast majority of English v Irish divide comes from the British.
Only last week here is what the BHA had to say ..... "While results in the Cheltenham handicaps last year were disappointing from a British perspective, a detailed statistical analysis highlighted an area within the ratings files that went beyond a basic Britain v Ireland issue – one in which we could improve our work and provide a better product for British jumps racing year round. " So they admit there is a Britain v Ireland Issue and want to improve British jumps racing ...... So they penalise the Irish...but hang on ...I thought you wanted to see the best horses no matter where they.come from ? Why could that be ? Because the "results in the Cheltenham handucaps were disappointing". could the British establishment not be happy with seeing the best horses no matter where they come from..... And don't kid yourself its just in the handicaps. |
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It is natural to wonder why the Irish bias in handicaps is so big these days. If every horse had an equal chance then if there are 40% of runners from Ireland there should be 40% Irish wins. Any other outcome means that the GB handicapper is underestimating Irish horses. It might help if GB trainers ran more horses in Irish handicaps. Quite different in condition races where handicapping is irrelevant. Australia reacted pretty fast when Irish and GB horses won their big handicaps.
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Yes sageform one would have thought most countries would want to protect their horse racing industries.
The problem I have with the BHA is the way they act , or the way they try to do it. They appear to be run by a bunch of bungling amateurs . Fire fighting at its worse. Its the same in Ireland by the way ! |
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You mention Australia Sageform and I visited back in 2013, visiting Geelong, Ascot and Flemington for the Cup. It was some eye opener.
This year I was lucky enough to visit San Franciscos Golden Gate fields. Again a massive eye opener. I think we dont want to learn from these former colonies. They do a much better job marketing and promoting the sport. The food at the tracks is very good in comparison. I didnt see any bands being advertised after racing. I saw jockeys being introduced to the crowds before mounting the horses. Its a very relaxed atmosphere, No bookies in the states just the tote but dividends readily available .....no "WINNER ALL RIGHT",cr4pp like you get in Ireland. |
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I have been racing in the US a few times and it is cheap and there is plenty of space. They soon tore up the Santa Anita AW surface and put the dirt back when Europe won most of the Breeders Cup races though. No racing authority wants to see most of their prize money going abroad. Punters may be happy to back foreign horses and cheer them on but they don't see GB horses training costs, stable staff missing their win bonus, and all of the other knock on affects of a decline in GB horses.
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Found an Irish bred winner ...
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The journey starts today
Fully wound up and itching to go Good luck to all and sundry on here Have a great few days .....I will |
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I honestly don't know why anyone would want to bet in these Cheltenham handicaps anyway?
The books must love it. Here;s hoping all come home safe - horses and jockeys, and that the racing is unhindered by poor starts, low suns and missing obstacles. |
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Paddy Power advert is gross and just makes my point TBH- Nationalism and division is not helpful
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I never used to see any division until this clown Chamberlin invented it. I've been with the Irish in another sporting environment and win or lose they are bloody good crack.
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indeed LH
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It is not about the racing fans (although Irish punters have supported Irish horses for as long as I can remember), it is about the continuing swing towards Irish domination of the sport. There may be NO GB trained runners in the Turners Novice Chase next week which demonstrates the point. Much of the blame must go to GB trainers who don't give novice chasers enough experience in competitive races and the BHA for not changing the programme to help them. GB punters are providing the prize money for Cheltenham and Aintree don't forget. When it comes to flat racing, we have relied on foreign (middle eastern mostly) money to breed and buy the best horses, but they are not interested in jumping. Take away the Makhtoums, Juddmonte and a few others from that region and GB trainers would not win many top flat races either.
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The 6lb the British Handicapper put on Surprise Package didn't seem to have much affect in the Imperial Cup!!!!!
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Tha onslaught has started early,something to be said about running in competitive races and don't come on here with carrots or juice,if you want evidence of juice just look back to super Saturday turf sprint in due-bye
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Didn't mention anything about juice, Bent
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Not aimed at u brandy sorry,just before on the forum I've read along those lines and the only evidence I have witnessed is in duebye over the years and all the British and Irish we're tested but none of the shieks at super Saturday
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Does anyone think any horse will go twice this year? I seem to remember Willie Wumpkins winning two races one year, way back. Am I right anyone?
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@LoyalHoncho -- they changed the rules a couple of years ago to stop horses running twice, so no (unless they changed it back without telling me).
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Many thanks.
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Not sure about Willie Wumpkins but he did win the Pertemps final 3 years running. Not sure which other race he could have run in. Moody Man won the Imperial Cup and County Hurdle in the same week for Jim Burley and Philip Hobbs.
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and Blowing Wind did that.
Mysilv was the last I can remember to run twice at the festival, 6th in the Champion and 2nd in the stayers. |
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Our Armegeddon was pulled up in the 2004 Arkle then won the Cathcart 2 days later.
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I go with you sage. The memory not as good as before. I do remember a horse who won two days running at Cheltenham though - about forty years ago - and it was Irish as I recall.
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generosa won the pertemps on the tues and was btn a neck and a hd the following day in the coral cup.trained by the legendry j l hassett .inkslinger was the last horse to win twice at the festival won catcart after winning the champion chase the previous day, montelado is the only horse to win conscecutive races winning the bumper and then winning the supreme the following year,
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Loyal
I remember, as I'm sure many others do, an Irish trained horse winning consecutive races at the Cheltenham festival |
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The answer is Montelado,and the answer to OP is it lies solely with GB the report about Hillcrest not travelling and pulled up where all the report concentrated on him bar 2 lines telling us Ginto had suffered a fatal injury and 3 others pulled up GO FIGURE
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Desperate about Ginto, as for Hillcrest, probably need to wait for the nearly 4 miler if it's through the slop to see him in his element.
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