Bothy and Menorah

do you think the 3+ month gap to his last race is a negative?

Yes/no. He runs well fresh but stats are terrible for horses not running in same calender yr

have you got those stats?

i also have the same opinion on time for rupert in the rsa whose lay off must surely be a negaive

So long as a horse has had 2 runs that season I tend to not worry about it tbh. Menorah has had two and won two.

the negative for Rupert, statswise, is that he spent two seasons over hurdles, which is quite uncommon for an RSA winner.

I don't think the gap for Menorah is at all worrying.

The trainer decided what he needed to do to maximize his chances of winning and did it.

Stats like the ones you quote are pretty largely complete b0llocks and not worth even thinking about.

always runs well after a break.
would not worry there.

Given that Menorah is out of Novice company i'd be far less worried about him turning up relatively fresh if I had backed him, than a novice going fresh in any of the hurdles or chases for example.

This is what put me off Somersby last year in the Arkle, tbh. When Henrietta said he would go straight there with just two runs I immediately turned my attention to sizing Europe.

Bothy showed once again that he is a very good performer in these big field handicaps when there is some soft in the going. It will be interesting to do some analysis on the time of the race today. They looked to be going a reasonably strong pace throughout, as you might expect, though many of those ridden at the front end for a long way weren't wilting acutely in the closing stages.

We have had more strongly run Greatwood's than the one Menorah won, though for the conditions it wasn't a bad time. It is a point in Menorah's favour, imo, that he has those two wins in big field races at Cheltenham (the Greatwood and the SN), with different underfoot conditions and both races run at a reasonable enough clip.

He is likely going to have to run a fair bit faster still to win a CH and people will have different views about whether he will be able to do that. I thought he got there travelling very easily in the SN and held on to win despite hitting the front earlier than ideal and jinking around at the last two hurdles (novicey at those hurdles perhaps or maybe a reaction to seeing too much light in front??). The run overall left a very positive impression about the horse in my mind. I am pretty convinced he will have the engine for the CH; I would like to be a bit more convinced about his hurdling, though when he gets it right he is very good in that department.

But a tough, tough race on paper, seemingly, and perhaps a race where the only punters with good reason to smile at this stage are those who are on the likes of Menorah, Oscar Whisky. Mille Chief and PC at double figure prices from earlier in the season.

Teddy, not got them to hand, but they are bleak from memory - most of the above comments suggest they are useless, however, so no point in furnishing them apparently. This horse will add to them though because he is not going to win the Champion Hurdle in my opinion. RC.

menorah is the best hurdler ive ever seen

hes got everything

feel free to post the stats RC, orcourse they have relevance, it's just my opinion that as he has had two runs this season i'd not be worried about an absence if I were a backer.

The horse in the Gold Cup with just one run would worry, however. Even though i've backed Denman.

*horses

disagree, cry, stats are relevant, they just evolve.

The other way of looking at Menorah's comparatively long break is that they have kept him off the worst of the winter ground and presumably his preparations won't have been as much interrupted by the freezing conditions as may have been the case with some of the horses following a different race/training schedule.

I see a lot to like about PC, but running on deepish winter ground at Kelso so soon after reports he had a cough, just makes you hope it hasn't set him back.

Offhand, I can't recall there being any signs of Menorah appearing too fresh when he ran in the Greatwood. Might be worth checking the race again on that point.

I wouldnt take much notice of the cough to be honest when it avoided a clash with Binocular.

Will try to dig them out Sint, certainly.. If I can get my hands back on them, will post.

Fwiw, I treat stats with caution, but figure they are always worth bearing in mind.

Alvarado - when you say best you have seen, what do you mean - over a hurdle, or absolutely everything?

everything theres not one thing this horse hasant got

brillant turn of foot
great jumper/traveler
loves a battle
unbeaten at cheltenham

the best hurdler around 2nd best sorry Inglis Drever would be the best oh i miss hat horse so much

Thanks Al - certainly Menorah travelled better than the great Inglis, but both seem to love a scrap!

how many more pointers for menorah ch hurdle claims do people want?....perhaps s conti today.

reading between the lines .. Hobbs thinks Menorah is better than Rooster Booster, im sure of it.

FWIW, 27/28 Champion Hurdle winners had ran that calendar year

47/47 in the RSA

Yesterday's race does hand Menorah a big compliment, and has solidified my confidence in it for 15th March.

Binocular seems a bit hit and miss to me, PC is unbeaten yet I really don't think they would have wanted to send him to Kelso in an ideal world.
Hurricane Fly? No course form and I wouldn't touch it at double the odds.

I just think you pretty much know what you're going to get from Menorah, it has superb course form and won't mind a battle.

cheers Deep my theory is that you want to be "race fit" for the true test of a championship race, other horses may just have that extra edge

Thanks Deep Impact - i referred to the stats then promptly forgot to retrieve them.

Bino it is then [;)][:D]

Menorah reminds me of brave inca and hardy eustace- great determination with a never say die attitude.

Peddlers Cross is more like Hardy than Menorah is imo

Menorah is more like a reverse Rooster Booster, he travels but not like a dream (Rooster) however he accelerates better than the Rooster imo.