The Game Spirit aka Super Saturday Chase

i think sprinter sacre is capable of making this lot look ordinary. surely 4/1 hold fast is a joke?

Horribly weak. Really shows up how weak the 2 mchasing division is at the moment. Let's hope the current nvoices fulfil their promise so we get some decent racing next season.

For me Cue card has a lot better chance of beating SS at newbury than at cheltenham and could put up
stiff resistance on Saturday. Still think 5/4 on SS is quite generous as he doesn't look the type of
horse who takes much getting fit and is possibly a star quality horse.

Cue Card gets a few useful pounds,has course experience and its speed just could force SS into making an error or two. I would want nearer 3-1, however.

I think Sprinter in unbelievable value tbh. 9/4 for the Arkle or 5/4 for this?

Quite a poor race tbh, would love to see Cue Card with a proper jockey on board. Convinced the horse is the real deal, just will never prove it with him on top.

5/4 does look big for this race

Good point Viking, I'd say CC could well be the one to give him most to do in the Arkle as well, I'll probably be a backer at 5/4.

Neil for my money Tizzard is a 10lb penalty, Cue Card just cant get away with that in a Cheltenham G1 (There was limited he could do wrong in the Bumper).

It's ashame, he just seems to unbalance a horse so much. I'm desperate for him to get a suspension for Cheltenham!

This will almost certainly provide massive clues for the Arkle, Cue Card is a great yardstick, if SS wins easily giving 3lbs it will vindicate Kempton and will have to shorten to around 11/8, if CC wins we will probably have 2,3 or 4 vying for favouritism. As yet there are no real form lines between the top few in the betting if you ignore kempton (not necessarily the right thing to do), hopefully newbury will tell us a great deal

Really think CC could blow the SS bubble wide open but Joe?? Not sure what the play is a Lay of SS or CC win. Really don't like a lot of the others. Opera at his best would have shot but with Geraghty on SS could be a fishcake jock unless AP is not busy.

If I can get 3's CC even with Joe on board I'd be happy to take the chance. Honestly I could see CC beating SS very easily (I mean 5+ lengths) assuming there is a good pace. If it turns into a kickers race nothing will touch SS.

SS..4/5 with WH now

My worry is Joe setting a false pace in front. No doubt SS would have the gears on all of these if it turned in to a kickers race but who knows if French Opera harries him the pace might be decent by default. Put it this way if STD was on board CC I'd make him fav.

Think CC wants farther than this & has jumped better from the front, will it lead...I can see SS jumping to the front,
a superb jumper..even in close its very clever, looks an absolute natural.
SS has recorded 2 very decent times in both its chases & has looked a different horse since the wind op....just cant see it beat over this trip  if it reproduces another excellent round of jumping.

yep sure SS over this trip will take all the beating.

not fussed about the nicholls handicapper either.

Even money, definitely worse bets around

yes if you are a short price punter this one looks worth the risk at evens

Viking....if Joe is a 10lb penalty, that puts the horse about a stone better than Bobsworth,and on a line through For Non Stop,about a stone better than Al Ferof. You don't really think the horse would win the Arkle hard held with a different jockey, do you? On your line of thinking Hey Big Spender goes close in the Gold Cup,and Third Intention would have won the Greatwood with a different jockey.....

People love to blame jockeys but while he may not be everyone's favourite Joe is a perfectly capable jockey. The 5/4 was very big about SS and I still think anything evens or above is value.

Well put it this way, Cue Card would of won at Newbury by 3-4 lengths at Newbury imo. He lost the horse so much ground at the last 2 fences alone. Secondly Bobs worth of a flat track over 2.5 miles? Would be far from ideal, the horse is all stamina. So Cue Card was racing Bobs Worth on very favourable terms and Bobs Worth was never going to produce any where near his best.

The race at Newbury the last day was a joke, some of the worst jumping you could wish to see. The form in terms of figures was worthless. If you hadn't been told who was running you would of been foregiven for thinking it was a seller.

Fair do's to Joe he gave Hey Big Spender a decent ride at Warwick, the pace of the race did full into his hand. Also with a more experianced horse they know their task more, where as Cue Card who is still learning a lot having Joe on top is more of a negative effect.

Look, this isn't pocket talk as I refuse to back any horse he is riding, will occassionally back him in a bumper though.

For me Joe unsettles the horse going into fences, and quite often gets caught napping tactically. Thats my opinion and I'm not the only one, Timeform also have this view

do timeform take jocks into account when rating a race?

Reve no they dont. But I saw Kieron saying last year he wouldn't back Cue Card based on Tizzard. He said when removing Tizzard from the saddle quite a lot of the horses go up by nearly a stone (reckons they have lots of examples of this), and that was enough to stop him backing him in the Supremes.

It's a tough race to foresee developing one way or another. Am sure French Opera will not be putting it up to SS from a long way out as there is no way Hendo will want his pride and joy to have a harder race than normal.

Also don't think CC connections will be dismayed as long as he is competitive. A nice round of jumping and finishing within a few lengths of SS would not necessarily count him out of reversing the form, especially if this does turn into a sprint, which I can see happening.

Am very interested to see how well Hold Fast runs as I have a suspicion he is a fair bit better than his official rating (although not a credible QM challenger).

I agree re Hold Fast - I suspect he could be too Tom.

Can't see it being a slow pace if Stagecoach Pearl starts!

Hi Viking,
Just backed Oaseiu de Nuit for the Queen Mother.When it comes on a stone without Joe it should be a shoe-in....
Do you really think Cue Card jumped badly last time out at Newbury? I have watched the race over and over;I thought its jumping was generally sound.Definitely better than its rivals!Should be a fascinating race, let's hope its on.

Well I thought Cue Cards jumping was better than the rest but the bench marks wasn't exactly high! At the end of the day Betting is about opinion, and my opinion is Joe anywhere near a horse is a huge negative. IF Joe weren't riding him at Cheltenham I'd be all over him in the Arkle, think he fits the bill very nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XjhHffSZHw

1.58

So I aint the only one

Just out of interest we have two novices with limited chase form as short priced favourites in what looks a poor quality race, it appears that most people are having none of Hold Fast, well i maybe wrong but i remember backing Master Minded for the Champion Chase after he won his handicap chase at i think Sandown, he then came into this race with lots to do on ratings but won easily before going onto destroy the champion chase field, it could be dangerous to dismiss Hold Fast, he is young and has tonnes of potential and that win last time was very impresssive

yes but Cue Card did not get beat in the Supreme because of the jockey - the horse simply was not good enough and the form of his novice win and the run against Menorah were over rated. Spirit Son went on to hose up at Aintree and no jockey would have got CC to finish in front of him let alone Al Ferof

but I do agree in general he is far from the best

Judorick, agreed he was beat at Aintree no questions asked... But for me he was always going to be a 2 mile chaser, and would improve for the switch to chasing. I dont think he can show this truely until Joe is elsewhere.

yes always looked a chaser and he would do better with a proper jock on board like a choc, timmy or someone like that

but some of his defeats are not down to joe

Hold Fast isn't that young though, he's 8 already.  He is lightly raced though, only 5 chases.

Cue Card out of the race.

Real shame.

5/4 backers counting their money already though

Also just looked at CCs last run at Newbury as at the time I thought though racing with zest , he wasnt having a real cut at his fences , what he actually does a stride or two before the fence is turn his head to the left (thoughts of running out cross my mind )then back again, then jumps .He did this at most of his fences , when he didnt , he made a mistake . So perhaps its a quirky thing with the horse rather than JT . For what its worth I dont see him finishing up the hill this year either.

5/4 backers are not counting there money as my bet was refunded.

5/4 backers are not counting there money as my bet was refunded.

Mine wasn't and neither was anybody else's I know, bet still shows as open. I put various bets on, AP singles and doubles last week with 3 different companies involving this race. I was expecting all the bets to be voided but only 1 of the bookies (PP) has, I can't be arsed to check the Antepost T&C's with each but I thought it was normal procedure that if the entries were re-opened then the bets were voided?

I will be absolutely fuming if they void them now and will close my accounts with those bookies. If they had been voided when the race re-opened I would have still put the same bets back on at a shade under evens, as I did with the PP bets.

5/4 backers are not counting there money as my bet was refunded.

Mine wasn't and neither was anybody else's I know, bet still shows as open. I put various bets on, AP singles and doubles last week with 3 different companies involving this race. I was expecting all the bets to be voided but only 1 of the bookies (PP) has, I can't be arsed to check the Antepost T&C's with each but I thought it was normal procedure that if the entries were re-opened then the bets were voided?

I will be absolutely fuming if they void them now and will close my accounts with those bookies. If they had been voided when the race re-opened I would have still put the same bets back on at a shade under evens, as I did with the PP bets.

No way bets should stand - real nice gesture of the bookies if they let them stand cos they have to refund CC. I mean what if Zaynar won and your selection came 2nd to it. It's open and shut, all bets void after they reopen and change date.

Really gonna be scraping the barrel to get SS beat no though still think he's a fraud. French Opera at his best could do it but 300 days off against a stable mate. Hardly think Hendersons gonna be too motivated to have it 100%.

Oh well bubble will have to burst at Chelt though think SS could cruise throughout this and then not find a great deal in the finish here winning by 2 lengths or so.