great shout from the opening poster ,Foyles,  100-1 on Cue Card was a great pick.
I'm on Cue Card too but agree with others this heavy going could definitely help the staying ability of Long Run.
I hope Joe doesn't disappoint the horse and try to drop CC in. He is a naturally keen and exuberant sort, he likes to front run and see his fences. I think Joe has done quite a good job with him thus far and fingers crossed he sticks to front running tactics and gets Long Run out of his comfort zone and exposes his poor jumping.

For Non Stop non runner.

if you look over the last 30 years, this race has hardly ever been won by anything priced bigger than 10/1, in fact most are 8/1 or less so I will be extremely surprised if an outsider wins but of course incidents do happen like Barton Bank falling with the race won

I've had some 7.2 Cue Card, 10 Grands Crus and 9.8 TGB and will be playing in running

good luck folks, what a great race in prospect

With the ground as it is (heavy) i expect Long Run will take the prize 2day.
Gd luck all.

Laid Al Ferof antepost and Cue Card in running. Happy.

Well done LR backers.

Foyles, you got a great price but CC did not enjoy that from the outset - serious blunder at first, mistake at 2nd, took a bad bump turning away on first circuit which seemed to unsettle him even more. Must have had every chance of getting that trip on good ground; nothing went his way today (although he won at Exeter, he might well have a preference for going left handed) but you should get your cash back in Ryanair

And Dynaste's time in the Feltham was 3.5 seconds faster than the King George winning time, and he finished like a fresh horse.

You have to balance against that the fact that there was a lot of rain before / during the King George which would probably have made the ground even more testing, but still a very encouraging performance by by Dynaste.

and

Agree Brooksielad. Doubt the Gold Cup winner ran in the King George today.

Brooksielad 26 Dec 12 22:01 
grand cru ran quicker in the feltenham. I wouldn't look to much into the times. really surprised conti hasn't shortened for the gold cup. captain Chris pleasantly surprised me and could turn up in a national one day. pretty disappointed with kauto stone thought he was going to enjoy the ground but he just seemed to get swallowed up by it. cue card as expected and as for tgb well the trainer must feel a right prat after giving it the big'n this morning. don't think we've seen the gold cup 1st 2nd or 3rd run today imo


He did seem to win it very easily though, which in today's conditions was all the more impressive.

10 of the last 11 Gold Cup winners were 1st or 2nd in either The Lexus or King George,Bring on the Lexus as i can't see LR regaining the GC.

judorick 19 Dec 12 11:56 Joined: 27 Nov 11 | Topic/replies: 19,782 | Blogger: judorick's blog
It's always very interesting to see how people think about stuff and the comments they make

I've had Cue Card on my mind for quite some time now and have been reflecting on everything that has happened. My conclusions are that everything he has done in his entire racing career (which consists of just 13 races since 25 Jan 2010) has been preparation for this stage of his career. He is about to embark on what will be, his trainer thinks and hopes, a career as a top class steeplechaser and next week the King George is going to reveal plenty about him and his likely future. Drawing hard and fast conclusions based on what he has done so far hardly seems worthwhile, I think the best we can do is think about the spectrum of possibilities and rank them in order of likelihood. There are doubts about his stamina, from some quarters, and people already say 'he's a two and a half miler' and so on but I remind you that there were similar doubts about Best Mate at the same age (also won the Haldon Gold Cup on debut as a 6yo). I don't think anyone can say for sure but the trainer and jockey have no doubts that he will stay. They also report him as 'much stronger' which is entirely normal for a horse about to turn 7 years old.

My own opinion is that, on balance, the horse is more likely to end up a true Grade 1 staying chaser than anything else. The other possibility would be that he remains at intermediate trips and tries 3 miles now and then in King George. I think it extremely unlikely he will be tried at minimum distances. The collateral form is outstanding and I think we can already see that getting that close to Sprinter Sacre in the Arkle, over a trip too short, was an excellent effort. Indeed, Kicking King ran similarly when second to Well Chief in the Arkle and he went on to be a top staying chaser. With Al Ferof, Menorah (won a Grade 1), Sprinter Sacre and Cue Card himself all winning since the Arkle it really points to the strength of the form. Bobs Worth has of course also franked the form in no uncertain terms - we could argue all day about whether BW is better than CC as that issue is yet to be resolved. However, I do think the Arkle form is significantly stronger than the RSA chase form so it will be interesting to see how that progresses over the next couple of years.

I have not had a bet in the King George but I have taken up the 'ante post offer' from VictorBet which gives you a bet to the same amount if the horse does not run and I have backed Cue Card for the Gold Cup at 33/1. If CC wins the KG and the trainer then states his intention to go for the Gold Cup, and I think he will if happens, then surely CC will be trading somewhere near the head of the market. And if CC fails to stay then he surely won't run in the Gold Cup meaning I get to use the 'ante post offer' and stick the bet on another horse or race.

As I said earlier in the thread, I have looked back through the race all the way to 1980 and I have to say that Long Run is really the only horse that truly fits all the trends as a typical King George winner so I will not be surprised if he wins at all. Kauto Stone also fits quite a few of the trends (won more than 1 Grade 1 chase, won at 3 miles, won last time out etc) so he would continue the trend if he won. However, I'm hoping that Cue Card fulfills the other key trend that struck me when I was researching the last 30 odd years of the King George which is that this race has been the proving ground for top class horses. Time and again stars reveal the true extent of their ability, for the first time in their career, in the King George. Kicking King, Best Mate, See More Business, Desert Orchid, The Fellow, and I'm sure others, all displayed their class (and or ability to stay) here for the first time before going on to have fantastic careers. The race is a proving ground for stars and I'm hoping that everything Cue Card has done up to now has set him up to make a similar impact and that he turns out to be a truly top class horse. Hope I'm right, would be great to have another new superstar staying chaser around

BTW Foyles must think that it is Summer time in 2014

You had less doubts than most Judo, that`s for sure.

I didn`t like the idea of Cue Card being restrained over the extended trip and in the KG last year they were up against it on heavy ground, perhaps they should have withdrawn him in hindsight it was too much for any 6 year old.

judo had massive confidence and enthusiasm for the horse this season and he stuck to his guns so all credit to him and his work is beggining to bear fruit with some cracking  ante post odds on cue card ,hope you got some  k.george gold cup double odds judo .  touch wood we will have decent ground for king george and the horse will get the chance to show his true form, the early mistakes and being buzzed up ( they seem to have got that sorted now) didnt do the horse any favours last year also trying to jump out of bad ground he couldnt get into a natural rhythm ,now they know 100% he gets 3 miles  and on good to soft can see him pinging the kempton fences and getting a lot of the field at it a fair way from home.
thinking  about cue cards chance in the gold cup and the more i think about it the better his chance looks as bobs worth dont look as solid as he did on paper before the betfair. 8s is very fair for cue card as if he wins the king george he will be much shorter  and i think i will have some of that . bit of a speculative one i have also backed simonsig for the gold cup at massive odds  a lot of ifs buts and maybes but, connections may fancy their chances and one of a few with untapped potential and plenty of room for improvement .good luck

ange gab well done on the ryanaire call , good insight .

Final field ratings:

Horse    Score
Long Run 92%
Captain Chris 62%
Kauto Stone 61%
Riverside Theatre 53%
Grands Crus 50%
Junior 45%
The Giant Bolster 44%
Champion Court 35%
Cue Card 35%
For Non Stop 34%

Selection: Long Run

The trends knew!