EIDER CHASE SAT ANY FANCIES ?

Catch Me ifyoucan 05 Feb 12 19:06
Just noted these comments after racing....
Following Portrait King’s win, Phelan said “he was unlucky the last day and deserved that. He has been placed in hurdles and bumpers but that is his first win, apart from a point to point. He’d prefer further and will get four miles.

“He’ll head across the water for a staying chase, probably the Eider Chase at Newcastle at the end of the month. He loved the testing conditions and it’s a tougher track than Fairyhouse which suited him.”

1     P2F-60     Arbor Supreme73     10     11-12     Jonjo O´Neill36         144     —     —
2     4P-206     Swincombe Rock78     7     11-6     Nigel Twiston-Davies13         138     131     153
3     7P341     Mister Marker19     8     11-3     Nicky Richards50         135     128     143
4     63021     Portrait King20     7     10-13     M Phelan         131     102     148
5     0-5P30     Whinstone Boy7     11     10-7     Caroline Bailey20     Andrew Thornton     125     114     151
6     12414     Eyre Square30     9     10-7     Keith Reveley40     James Reveley     125     116     147
7     44442     Captain Americo57     10     10-6     James Ewart78         124     138     152
8     P9816     Drybrook Bedouin61     10     10-5     Nick Mitchell         123     108     154
9     6-1P1P     Victory Gunner5     14     10-4     Richard Lee33         122     97     149
10     1P-P31     Morgan Be30     12     10-4     Kate Walton67     Richie McGrath     122     120     147
11     9-8714     Douglas Julian57     10     10-2     Sue Smith33         120     127     149
12     7-3412     Posh Bird19     9     10-0     Peter Niven     Brian Hughes     118     128     144
13     2P-464     Incentivise73     9     9-12     Richard Lee33         116     149     154
14     2P/3-P     Present M´Lord38     12     9-11     Nick Williams60     Peter Buchanan     115     —     —
15     PP-531     Negus De Beaumont49     11     9-11     Ferdy Murphy38     Lucy Alexander5     115     119     153
16     2/P96U     Boris The Blade11     10     9-2     Tina Jackson         106     29     92
17     4551/3     Captain Nash33     9         Chris Grant50         110     21     102

Eider Handicap Chase - Winner  2012-02-25
Favourites:    Portrait King (7) , Eyre Square (8) , Posh Bird (8) , Mister Marker (9) , Morgan Be (9) , Captain Americo (10) , Negus de Beaumont (12) , Arbor Supreme (14) , Drybrook Bedouin (14) , Incentivise (16) , Present MLord (16) , Douglas Julian (20) , Swincombe Rock (20) , Captain Nash (25) , Victory Gunner (25) , Whinstone Boy (33) , Boris The Blade (50)

Potrait King runnin off 13lbs higher than Irish mark - walofs

seriously fancy him, will stay all day but 13lbs ffs!

11lbs****

Question for you Irish boys.

Doesn't this horse need bottomless ground ?

It's good/good to soft at the moment.

Has been placed on yielding which is prob g/s over there


I think the step up in trip has been the making of him, the further the better

He has done nothin much on heavy ground either, but the step up in trip seems to have improved him massively!

I dont think the ground will be a problem

most of these want testing ground respect eyre square but arbor  supreme a class above these two lung openers in hurdle races mark has tumbled and i can see him going really close

apologies mark hasnt changed but that run splitting the midnight club and oscar time very good also for last two seasons he has needed his first two runs each season before running well

I think Arbor can outclass these if returning to form

Eyre Square has to be on my side at 8/1. Won the class 2 Borders National off 120. Now only 5lbs higher.

stick with those at the bottom of the weights like Incentivise,Negus de Beaumont, Victory Gunner and Drybrook Bedouin

Tks Barry

judorick i think top wieghts do well in this race!
im surprised reveley didnt enter benny be good,
he must fancy eyre square.

While the Eider must surely be favourite, Eyre Square also jocked up for race at Warwick on Friday.

Arbor Supreme also appeals to some extent as does Incentivise from much lower down, but no play AP in this race and I will wait for final decs to see if anything appeals then

Looks a dire race to me.

Negus De Beaumont has pulled up in this race the last twice. Will he get the trip? Both times the going was Heavy though so better ground may help in thet respect.

11lbs doesn't seem to harsh BJG ? Didn't he win rather well last time out ?

The 11lbs is on top of what he was put up lto sint - e.g 11lbs on top of his irish mark

Seems to have changed on the RP site now - Was up 7lbs for the win lto 113 up to 120

And runnin here off 131

But its changed now - he never went up 18lbs for winnin lto surely

yes its 18lb and as well as he won it will take some doing off this higher mark arbor supreme for me he only has to repeat his run in last years bobbyjo

up 18lbs for winnin lto

Won't be bringin' him over so

Well i think he was put up 7lbs to 120 and the english hcapper added 11lbs


I could be wrong tho!

Douglas Julian. On all known evidence looks a non stayer.Is seriously one paced, but I have a hunch that
extreme trips may will be the making of him, being by Overbury.Will have a speculative few quid win & place

had a few quid speculator on Posh Bird whilst 4 places are still available. Form figures over further than 3 miles are 271 and she looks to have hit form in her last two runs finishing 1st and 2nd.

sintonian have to agree, looks a shocker of a race...

For me I quite like Captain Americo, he never seemed happy in the borders, just never seemed himself. He seems to appreciate Newcastle, and I think the trip will place to his strengths. 8/1 is a fair price.

He was the other one I was considering VK, might save on him.

Eyre Square

ALL IN - 7/1!!!

11 declared.

i've gone for captain americo 7 gtd as i hope the good ground will suit and help him see the trip out

Now decs have been made, have had a small e/w on Incentivise.

Can run off it's true mark with Arbor out, proven at distances, trainer good with these type of horses and new jockey made some appeal. In what people have already described as a poor race, the price more than makes up for his recent level of form. If runs to his best could go close

Captain Americo needs 4m + imo, but has long struggled over the bigger obstacles, missing one or two out and rarely fluent, that said i think the better ground will help his fencing although not enough to tempt me to invest.

it really is an awful renewal....

The Irish raider appears a warm order on merit , I just cant see Douglas Julien staying the trip, but Captain Americano and Incentivise look more likely to??...

Can Lucy A galvanise Negus??....and can Morgan B repeat near miss of 2 years ago??....

Portrait King 5-1 b.o.g. that looks fair to me. 7-y-o improver, only had 5 chase runs, good economical jumper. So his English mark is 11 lb higher than Irish but 8lb hasn't stopped others in the past and this is a dire race.

Portrait King totally unexposed at this sort of trip and brings in a totally different formline. Impoosib;e for the handicappers to know what to do with him. Doubt he will come off the bridle against this crowd.

18lb higher than his win in ireland and totally different ground not for me

18lb higher than his win in ireland and totally different ground not for me

Douglas Julian has loads of stamina in the pedigree, well worth a nibble at the prices IMO.

V V poor race.
Only 4-5 will finish.
Total curveball.
Boris the blade.crazy price.
Track trip ground,time of year,not too old at 10.
glimmer of promise last time out.
surely overpriced

Portrait different class to this lot,

after several hours of cogitation I have come to the conclusion that the best way to play this race is BACK to lay in play on CAPTAIN AMERICO at 8.2/8.4

What I have visualised is that he is going to get a soft lead from all the hold up horses, certainly for a lap at least. The only one who might give some pace pressure is Negus de Beaumont but he is not in great form and I can't imagine he will hang around long

So, on the second circuit when there are only 6 or so fences to go the race should start to unravel and if he has conserved enough energy by going slow enough long enough Captain Americo should be quick enough to shoot clear as they jump the 4th or 3rd last. At that point the price should collapse, as all the jockeys on the stayers start getting animated to get their mounts going for the finish, and I will be happily getting matched for 1.5 times my back stake and not caring if he gets to the line first

Mark Miwordz

This race needs moving to September or October. It bears little resemblence these days to a Grand National trial.

Today we have a topweight running off a rating of 135 in a 0-150 race.....says it all.

Shift it to the start of the season when the Irish have their staying chase sequence, incorporate it in a recognised GN series of fixtures and it will take on more of the relevance the race should have.

THe going description today of good to soft is not the norm at the Gosforth Gluepot, and that may have caught a few trainers out. The usual mudbath tends to knock the stuffing out of the winner for the remainder of the season.

That idea would potentially devalue the race as no trainer with a horse with improvement in it that is being aimed at the GN is going to show its hand over 4m before the weights come out. Perhaps move it closer to the GN as more of a consolation race for those not likely to get a run at Aintree.

Agree however that not a trial for GN as too close to the actual race - was it ever really considered a trial?

comply or die won it the year he won national

all of the last 10 winners carried at least 11 stones which could be an angle but unfortunately that includes the first 3 in the market

anyway back to lay on the Captain as I said but now he's 9

Boy Wonder - fair enough there's my answer and duly corrected

As pointed out the usual going at Gosforth is pretty heavy. When Comply or Die won it was good to soft. He didn't go beyond his 'elastic' limit that day.

The issue with this race is that in a normal year it wrecks the winner. Take last year, won by Companero...who pulled up in his next race.

The BHA and co. are missing a trick. They (the BHA and the GN organisers) are tinkering with the entry qualifications for the GN, yet aren't taking advantage of simply changes they could make to enhance the overall race programme through the year. The Eider being a race that could benefit massively from a fresh look.

easy money

well done all PK backers - unlucky sint though you had it then

Wd Portrait backers.

Posh Bird collects the place money but thought she was going to win when she shot clear but just set herself as a target for the winner who rallied again. She jumped and travelled sweet though and is progressive, just not as much as the winner.

Me too Roobuck but at least we got a run for the money, cant complain winner is progressive.

wd Judo

wd Judo

Catch Me ifyoucan 21 Feb 12 16:15

Catch Me ifyoucan 05 Feb 12 19:06
Just noted these comments after racing....
Following Portrait King’s win, Phelan said “he was unlucky the last day and deserved that. He has been placed in hurdles and bumpers but that is his first win, apart from a point to point. He’d prefer further and will get four miles.

“He’ll head across the water for a staying chase, probably the Eider Chase at Newcastle at the end of the month. He loved the testing conditions and it’s a tougher track than Fairyhouse which suited him.”

AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU to.....

pa lapsy 21 Feb 12 16:07
Yeah catchme,you gave future plans for Portrait king, seems you may well be right as he is declared for the eider.

WON AGAIN TODAY.

Following the win, trainer Maurice Phelan stated he's had a lot of problems and has done a tendon and two pelvises all on different occasions.

2015 - REPEAT THE DOSE ! OR wait for the Scottish Grand National

Looks a fair bit stronger for Portrait King than his easy win in 2012 off 131,the English handicapper hasn't been too kind this year(140 against his true 134),still.
Thought it was a bit of a bizarre race he won at Punchestown,neutral on it as he stayed on best after being well behind,impressed with his second at Punchestown though,Embracing Change looks a real improving good horse,Denis O'Regan gave him a carbon copy of his Eider win,racing near the front and asking to quicken at the finish,he did pick up again though the winner was eased. a very likeable run.
Truth be told i'm not too well up on the opposition,all the main stables have an entry,nothing jumps out at me.
With the injuries he hasn't had a lot of racing,hard not to see him run a decent race despite his weight,ground shouldn't matter,a rare antepost for me at double figures and thought he would be less.
Entered in Aintree but has a habit of putting in an odd slow jump,love that trip but would be very worried that he would get around.
Horse is a credit to "small man" Mr. Phelan and hope he repeats the feat.

I Was at Newcastle when he won the Eider and really fancied him for the race and backed him accordingly, although his price was slashed in the morning of the race by T.S. tipping him up! Won nicely after looking beat at the last, but I agree not only was it a weaker race, he was in tip top form before the race.I have invested again but only for sentimental reasons. I remember Mr Phelan stating at the time that he was a serious horse but unfortunately has been beset with several major problems and it`s a great credit to the trainer that he has kept faith in the horse who is showing signs of his old form, will return to Gosforth to hopefully see him again and wish all concerned the very best of luck.

I like RATTLIN e/w, seems to be finding form, decent enough race latest,right end of the weights.(that will do) 33/1 +

I like Alpha Victor 20s

The pricing for Soll suggests he may not start for this race range from 9/1 to 14...? Does anyone know whether he will turn up?

Glad to see Buchanan on Alpha Victor...very eyecatching - after winning on Lie Forrit proven can be a big day jockey...

the obvious one is an improver who acts well on soft going and likes Newcastle.

There is one. He has won 2 of his last 3 and is bang in form. He has scope to improve for the extra distance.

I am taking of course about the mighty Sharney Sike.

Just because he is trained by an unfashionable trainer he is not the reasonable value that around 20/1 would represent.

He is amazingly available at 50/1.

Has to be worth a shot at such a stupid price.

Annoying Pipe didnt even declare Soll or Broadway Flyer...

Not sure why he couldnt give a hint early in the week...

Anyway, looking at the decs... FILL THE POWER seems to be a big price @ 25s kORALS?

Sue Smith won a race with a similar profile horse with a low weight (INVICTA LAKE)...

suzy smith LEWES SUSSEX trains INVICTA LAKE!

lol - yep thought it was her...

thanks for pointing it out...!

may as well tear my ticket!

annoyingly alpha victor was pulled out last week when i had fancy ante post prices for the national trial but even at 10/1 for the eider hes a small bet for me along with shotgun paddy but nothing as confident as my violet dancer bet

Tutchec for me in this, much better than what he's shown, stable doing well. I also thought Wicklow Lad was a silly price at 66/1 if he stays, so chucked a few quid at that one also.

Neptune equester for me...

cryoftruth, Unlucky with Sharney Sike was fifth... but ran really well most of the race... thought he was gonna win it...

worth following that horse (if he runs at Newcastle)

skybet were 1st 5 hope you were on