Celestial Halo

Interesting, I came to the conclusion CH should just be watched in this race. 6/1 available atm which is tempting.

It's quite a tricky race, as there's question marks with several of the main contenders. I concluded Quartz De Thaix could be the bet, as he's progressing at a rate of knots.

A race fit Zaynar over the slightly longer trip will hack all over this lot!

Good Luck today mate. What are your views on Any Given Day? I personally have him down as a horse to follow over 2m4f this season but think he could have taken advantage of his handicap mark before running i this sort of race.

thanks abbott - good luck to you too.  Don't know that much about AGD - certainly looks to have potential and it will be interesting to see how he gets on today with Maguire back on board

Ran a good race to make the frame.

Surprised you can still get 14/1 on Karabak for the WH after that today, he got BB off the bridle last season in the Long Walk when the King stable was under a cloud. Worth a few quid,imo.

My thoughts pre-race too, SC.  Would have liked to see skelton give him his head early....horse would have surely settled better infront?

I agree Headmaster, he was very free and buzzy for the first half of the race, the blinkers having no apparent settling effect. It would have been interesting had Ruby been aboard and able to either settle him or let him get on with it instead of constantly wasting energy. I thought his jumping was slick and he kept on well enough.  I'm not sure where he can go now and wouldn't be surprised to see him miss the festival in favour of the Aintree Hurdle.

abbott, your horse ran on really well mate having looked to have no chance - did you back him?

Steeple, where does Clerk's Choice go now, thought a better pace would have suited more and that he got there a little soon.

I can see a big race somewhere on good ground and a large field

Who knows Zil? At least he proved his run in that horrible suet pudding that was Haydock all wrong (Tellwright strikes again).  The horse is particularly unfortunate in that he's thoroughly exposed, below top class, and needs proper fast ground which everyone tries to avoid providing these days.

I think the jock was caught between a rock and a hard place today with the horse travelling so well off a reasonably moderate pace (in the main group). He'd fear missing the break on the sprint for home, I suppose.

It's a real shame for Mr Banks having the horse of a lifetime which he will probably struggle to win with.  How frustrating must that be?

2012 County Hurdle after about 8 races on soft ground .

Actually if the ground was like it was last march on the 1st day and a big field went to post i could see a place in the big one

Its a pity that the handicapper went mad after that Chelt run, the novices are getting slaughtered by Phil Smith.

he might be 6 by the time he gets below 150

I hope you're right Zil!

ID give him some time off, maybe back for a small race in late feb

Didnt back him but have him in 10-20 lines for the will hills 10 to follow comp. He was just to short pricewise today for me in a tough race, back on softer ground in a handicap(hopefully not up to much) he will be a decent bet.
Celestial looks an out and out 2miler, i would give him 2 months of 1 run back over fences then go for the Arkle

race at Punches festival for Clerks?

I still think Celestial Halo is a 2 mile hurdler. He may not be Champion Hurdle class but that is what he is. I think he can still pick up a few prizes along the way in the 2 mile division. This time last year he was still pretty fancied for the Champion Hurdle and his defeat by Khyber Kim giving weight away didn't turn out to be bad form really.

that was a bl00dy hard gruelling race he had when runner up in the CH,just wonder if that has taken its toll on the horse?

Yes you are probably right there budd. Apart from Punjabi running 2nd in Ireland in his next race it arguably took a hell of a lot out of the first three. Punjabi has never looked the same horse and has been given a year off. Celestial Halo looks to have lost a bit of his finishing toe. What with Binocular looking unhappy most of last year I would say you may not be far out.

I had the same thought buddeliea - he had a tough race in 2009 CH too - have thought the same about Zaynar also.

I wouldn't write CH off just yet at 2 miles plus - I thought he kept on well enough given the energy he burned up early doors

Ye 2 1/2 maybe could be his trip at Aintree where he was going well. I just don't think he will stay in a World Hurdle. Or 2 miles plus at a testing track like Cheltenham.

Difficult to know where to go with Celestial now, doesnt like fencing and doesnt have a turn of pace over hurdles or stay that well?

Wonder if they have thought of trying him on the flat?

Yes, could still prove very effective over 20f, and is just about still young enough to adapt well to that distance in time. Perhaps worth bearing in mind that to make him competitive over 2 miles in the top hurdles races they needed to train him in a way that got him hurdling and travelling a bit faster than he is ideally suited to. Having got the horse 'revved-up' for the 2 miles races, it likely will take time now to get him to adapt to the slower pace of the 20f races and to race well under a bit more constraint than needed to be exercised when racing over 2 miles.

If they can eventually get him settling better over 20f, he should stay the distance well enough and wouldn't need to front run as he often did over 2 miles. I think he is a better horse ridden just off the pace than he is when put out front from an early stage. He is also a better horse on good ground. He was running a big race on decent ground in the Aintree hurdle last April before falling late.

Build his confidence up, give him time to adapt to the less frenzied pace of the 20f races, limit his runs on wet ground and look for races where some other horse is capable of taking them along at a fair pace from the front so that CH can be dropped in behind, and I think he would still be a very interesting one to follow over the intermediate distance. But they need to believe in the horse and provide some consistency now in terms of what they are trying to achieve with him, or else a better solution might be a move to a smaller stable where there are fewer stars to focus attention on.

Yes aka does seem they need to try something new to freshen him up maybe.

Horse wants 2 miles. Nothing to lose by going for the Champion Hurdle or the Arkle imo.

if those 2 races are his best chances of success at the festival,then mat as well skip chelt,no chance in either imo.

FReshen bhim up and go back to Aintree where he was runing a good race before falling

He's always been keen and probably takes a bit of knowing.  I won't write him off till I see how he runs with Ruby back on board.

wants 2 mile, needs hurdles, champion hurdle only option imo

silviniaco conti needs a pacemaker in the ch

Did CH on Saturday in a double with Bob's Worth.

That was an extremely disappointing run, given the turnaround in the weights and the fact that the previous run came after a chasing fall and so he could be expected to come on significantly. He didn't.

No idea what they should do with him now. Absolutely stumped.

probably should just aim for the 2 1/2 aintree hurdle now...

no chance @ chelts imo....

shame he they could'nt get him chasing as the arkles there for the taking

Think Solwhit may have that race in the bag, absolutely made for him (and won it before).

Can't see Halo winning that.

Could be another Tatenen,they dont hnow what to do with him either!!

Could try him as a dual purpose flat and hurdles horses might keep him interested.

last year he was one of the fav's for the champion hurdle at one point. i think they are constantly messing him about. why does he need blinkers for example? personally think they should race him in 2 mile hurdle races and if he wins the odd one or gets some prize money then so be it. it's a tough division at the moment but that doesn't mean it's not what he's best at doing. give him a chance. he far from disgraced himself last year really.

Paul obviously been reading the thread. [smiley:crazy]

Celestial Halo was another horse I thought had winning claims last weekend. He ran a brave race in third but I am coming back round to the conclusion that he is not a 2m4f horse after all. I think he may want a good test stamina over 2m, so he will go for the Kingwell Hurdle next.