yes that should provoke some debate.

Its my opinion and is informing my Gold Cup punting strategy for this year.

I'm taking a break from the site but just thought I'd leave you with this one lifted from the rotten 'King George, shouldn't all bets be voided?' thread. How do you solve a problem like eric? Stay strong wor Bob.


Poor eric. Let’s see if he can work out how he’s compromised himself by studying the following exchange with trev w, taken from this thread. It may take him some time so please don’t be harsh to him over the coming years.

Exhibit 1:
trev w                                         09 Jan 11 19:20
lets look at it another way. If KS had pulled out at the same time for a minor injury but was in rude health before final decisions were made would the race have been re-opened...of course it fukkin would have.

Exhibit2:
eric_****                                    09 Jan 11 19:22   
It would not have been. All of the horses in the race should face the opponents they would have faced on Boxing Day. That is fairest to everybody involved in the race and imo this is what would have happened irrelevant though your point is.

Exhibit 3:
eric_****                                    10 Jan 11 08:06
Can you imagine the effect on racing of front pages stating Kauto Star has surpassed the great Desert Orchid's achievements in his most prolific race, the public will sit up and take notice of that so popular was Dessie and you would struggle to remember the opportunity to promote racing more.

The whole of racing with the exception of connections of those hoping to spoil this party, whose horse was a none runner well before Boxing Day and therefore a legitimate none participant, are looking forward immensely to the race. Racing For Change will be boosted by this event greatly and the BHA should be congratulated for remaining strong in making this correct decision to all but the minority.

But don't the owners have to pay entry fees at every declaration stage? I can see why Bobby is loathe to help pay for the Kempton Xmas party on the off-chance the race may be postponed for 3 weeks and not reopened.

why would the nightangale have been n/r? hope it werent cos he was injured as IC was,and quiet correctly withdrawn because of that.

i mean surely if a trainer knows he cannot make a race he should be withdrawn as soon as possible to prevent people backing it.if a race is re arranged when the horse is fit,thats tough,should not be a reason to keep an injured horse in.no way would i be happy if i were backing an injured horse!!

He can tell punters that the horse will not run, but say he's leaving him in incase the race is  postponed

Yes,he could,and i had thought of that,but Is that realistic though CV,would everyone get that info?? and realise thats the case,and to be honest i cannot think of a trainer actually doing that myself.Probably has happened but not to my knowledge.

Zeb is too fast for MM on quick ground. Nicholls knows that.

CVByrne Date Joined: 14 Mar 06
Add contact | Send message When: 13 Jan 11 20:23 Zeb is too fast for MM on quick ground. Nicholls knows that.

Second greatest 2 mile chaser of all time running scared is he?


We'll have to see about that. MM wins the QM on  the snaff again

Big Zeb will need to pull out 180 to beat it on any ground.

Wind op, the rib problem fixed and its jumping is absolutley back to its best. In 30 years of watching I have never seen a horse jump like it over 2m.

Big Zeb has sorted out its jumping which is great and its a massive clash but there is only one winner. And Panto's money will be down.

just a brief interlude,nowt to worry about imo

Are you worried about the long break Imperial Commander has had Bobby since Haydock?

A quick resume of the commanders record after a long break should tell you all you really need to know [;)]

Paddy didnt seem too happy

Perhaps another gallop will wake hoss up

If Bobby checks anytime soon would be great for an update on IC's well-being. Few conflicting reports going around.

There was something on the racing forum abot a month ago with words to the effect that Bobbie was hacked off that he got hassle from a couple of numbskulls about the running (or not ) of IC.

He did appear on Purple about a month ago but hasnt been heard of since.

Hope this is not right as I loved Bobbies reports on here and I am sure I wasnt the only one to benefit from his insight and wisdom.

Nothing from Bobbie since Jan 20th unfortunately

Beryl - I wounld't put you off Cresecent Island on ability, but he is quirky and crashed out going right handed in a bumper at Ascot and then again over fences at Perth. On that basis I think his price of 20/1 is merited if you factor in the risks. The price of Mostly Bob 10/1 is probably where my few sheckles will land.

Imperial Commander is progressing well and will have a spin around Kempton before racing at 1.00 p.m on Saturday, we think the pilot will be more than happy with the progress since Warwick. I am not sure what conflicting reports mean - as unless you understand Imperial then any judgement is superficial in the extreme. To quote one of the foremost Racing Post experts after his Kempton gallop last year "I wasn't very impressed and cannot see how he can win a Gold Cup on this evidence". After the same gallop our pilot was convinced we would win.

No preparation goes in a straight line, if it did we would all be trainers - just work them every other day until fit and then off you go. That is as true for the rest of the intended runners as it is for Imperial - all of them will have thrown in the odd indifferent piece of work during the preparation. I am not sure what the so called experts think they are looking at when they judge work or racecourse gallops, but Warwick and Kempton are about measuring progress and keeping him interested. Most of what has been written is simply nonsense. 

Imperial is 10-y-o and his aches, pains and niggles need management. This preparation started the same as every other in that we get him going then assess any areas of concern that need to be addressed. Irrespective of anyone elses view he considers himself to be very good, and has his own views on exactly how much work he needs to do. So in order to create the best preparation you have to manage his problems and use a mixture of persuasion and subterfuge to get him to put his best foot forward. He is difficult to read with a result that he was only about 80% for the Betfair if that. We normally have a benchmark from the King George to start from, but didn't have that this year - hence the Warwick gallop. We went into that knowing he would need it badly, he did had a good blow and has improved a tonne for it.

All I can tell you is that as of this morning we are more than happy with his progress and preparation, but he is still WIP for a a race in three and a half weeks time - we think he will love his spin around Kempton and then we will kick on into his final preparation. There are obviously greater authorities than me who post on this and other forums, who have all sorts of inside information - unfortunately I am not privy to any of it so can only comment on what I see.

Great stuff Bobby. Cheers as ever.

BD delivers an excellent post yet again. A timely reminder to us all just why the victory of the commander in last seasons gold cup was so warmly received on this very same thread.

Good Luck BD, get him there, and more importantly, get him home in one piece. The lad owes nothing to those that have followed him over the years and he carrys the good wishes if not the hard cash of yesteryear from most of his loyal admirers.

Hail Caesar !

Very well said DR