Kempton off on Sunday. Boxing day will be like Christmas without presents, a time for sober reflection. Until the Lads take on Man U that is.

bobby is there any chance imperial commander can be put back into the king george now its taking place on the 15th , obviously yesterday/today would have came too soon but with amother 2+ weeks until the 15th is there any chance ?

sorry, davescrazy not crazy dave

He has missed a lot of work, but is back cantering and well in himself. We have not really assessed his fitness, and it isn't clear on what basis the King George has been moved to the 15th, (i.e. whether it is to be reopened or limited to the original list of declarations). So unlikely even if allowed.

Great stuff

superb news bobby, surely its now common sense for kempton to reopen the  entries , surely they want the gold cup winner in the race ?????

Meatloaf - Roll Along back on the walker after a number of setbacks, so still someway from a reappearance.

Bobby I'm off to Warwick tomorrow, any thoughts on your fella's chances there?

TVM Bobby.

top tipping - hope u won plenty. thx

cheers Bobby,had a little on the reverse!thanks again

Bobby, all being well will Paddy maintain his partnership with Keys at the Festival? I thought he gave him a brilliant ride the other day and the horse certainly runs for him. It's only when you see the head on that you realise what pressure they were under, what with Jason Maguire trying to worry Keys out of it with a very passable imitation of Jamie Spencer on Pizarro.  You can see why they call them bumpers.
Paddy kept his cool and managed to give Keys a fairly tender ride which was remarkable in the circumstances.

Still can't jump Tucho.

Sorry for the missed replies - been in bed with a bug.

Redandwhite - hope you continue to post, in either event you have my contact details so we can keep in touch. Will you be down in March, there is a great preview night at the Hollow Bottom on the Monday evening ? Paddy thinks a lot of the Charlton horse and with nothing in the NTD yard likely to emerge I would say he will be onboard in March. Looks like she will be better over further as well.

Tucho - sorry only logged on after the race.

evening bobby , do you think you will run IMPERIAL COMMANDER before the gold cup ? or a race course gallop .

R&W

Best not to respond and stick to conversing with the more sensible members. When I was talking to Paddy he said she which is where I got confused, don't suppose he will be able to claim the mares allowance then. If he was mine I would be giving him three spins on the flat and heading straight to the Northumberland Plate - looks a really nice prospect.

Hi all. Back on the forum after an extended break to refresh both mind and coffers! Interested in all the discussion re the reigning champ in the gold cup. A few thoughts to throw into the mix (that i posted on another thread)- interested in your view Bobby:

Couple of thoughts for those who think IC is too old at 10:
Firstly, he is a young 10 year old - born late May 2001 - so will actually still technically be 9 come March.
Secondly, he is very lightly raced for a 10 year old. Just 18 runs and only 12 over fences. Six runs as a 5/6 yo, three as a 6-7 yo novice, four as a 7-8 yo 2nd season chaser, and four last year.
Compare that to Denman (22 runs, and 17 over fences), and Kauto (35 runs, 25 over fences). Therefore not only is he a young 10 year old but he is also a young ten year old with very few miles on the clock, particularly compared with Kauto (who i love but just can't see regaining the GC again - please lord let him win a 5th KG on Saturday).

Finally (and this is striking), check out his record on the sportinglife website and tick the box that highlights his runs off a 60 day (8.5 week) break: 111211, with the 2 being the infamous "dead heat" with Kauto, if the photo had been a yard either side of the line then his record would be unblemished. 
Add to that his record at his beloved Cheltenham in chases: 114111 (with the 4 being a distant last in a novice race in which he was injured). I think we can justifiably discount that run, which again leaves an unblemished 11111 record at HQ over fences. Wins in Gr1 chases at the last 2 festivals can't be a bad thing either!

To my mind he is unlikely to face as stern a test in this year's gold cup as last year's, given that Kauto and Denman are both 11 year olds with plenty of miles on the clock, so i feel he is a very solid bet indeed at 4/1 NRNB.
If it were genuinely soft ground (unlikely) then i would worry about Pandorama. If the GC was run at Newbury in soft ground then i would definitely fear Diamond Harry (in fact I think DH would win if it were), but given a GC at HQ and normal good or g/s Friday ground I am really struggling to put up credible alternatives (possibly pride of dulcote?) and I don't see why/how Kauto/Denman should turn the tables after last year....

Meat loaf. I know you've backed money trix at silly odds. But what one piece of form entitles him to get anywhere near the main 4 or 5 challengers? The horse needs a bog which hasnt happened at Chelters in god knows how long.....

You could probably say the same for Joncol aswell.

I can't see any horse bar Kauto and IC winning this. They are streets ahead of the rest (bar Denman). I don't believe Denman will win, no reason he should reverse for with IC and I believe Kauto is a superior horse to Denman. It's all down to regression and how much regression the two experience from last season.

Around Cheltenham Denman is superior to Kauto Star on all available evidence.

Denman's RSA and Gold Cup are both performances beyond the ability of Kauto Star. Last Year Kauto Star couldn't live with them. The year Kauto did beat Denman the latter was on the road for recovery from a life threatening heart condition and was ridden articulary sympatheticaly by Sam Thomas.

On the evidence of the Hennessy run and the fact that it will be going to Cheletenham a fresh horse Denman is a far more likely winner than Kauto Star (a flat track horse these days albeit a wonderfully talented one).

IC could spoil the party but leaving that to one side I can't understand why Kauto Star is shorter in the betting than Denman. I really cant.