DOM,
Thats the beauty of this game,no certainties as to what will happen in a race.

However confident one can be.

agreed foyles

Even if he was the best he'd trained (which I very much doubt) it still wouldn't be good enough in my opinion.

Al Ferof ran in the Arkle thats probably why, Ruby was under instructions to make the arkle a stayiing afair which was on the cards until he winded himself with that awful mistake. Anyone looked at it like this... perhaps this tank SS gets his furious gallop then finds nothing, this big massive tired horse just about getting to the other side of the last...

Nice to see we are actually getting some objective comments as the race gets nearer.

Brooksie,thats a fair point you make about AF,and Ruby more or less said that the other day.
And yes,i have looked at that scenario,and its possible he may not find a lot,he did not in the Supreme and has not really been off the bridle since.
Yeh,i know he was said to be weak in the Supreme,bot nonetheless he still has his ability off the bridle to prove for me.

farfromt,i have been thinking about this one myself ,why didnt they run sanctuaire in the arkle ?  1. either they did not think he was good enough full stop  in which case he is probably wasting his time turning up at sandown for win purposes . 2. or they knew he was good but  being he has history of throwing a strop they did not want to test him so soon   with limited chase  expierience in a grade 1 championship race ,(they did say aintree was a possible target !) and risk bringing that to the surface again . 3 . they did not realise quite what they had untill they put him in against decent handicappers at sandown ,may be he doesnt show that much at home ! it could be anyone of these answers or a combination of the 3 ,or just as likely none of them .
of course he could be on a par with his other grade1 2 mile winners and it still may not be enough to beat sprinter sacre if he is as good as most people are saying !

tataniano, sanctuaire,mon parrain and even for non stop, all in their time produced an "apparent" monster performance that seemed to produce mass hypnosis.

Kumbeshwar wins this.

Serious note though Nicholls kept conti away from Cheltenham last two season. Sanctuaire is obviously doing something right on the gallops to excite nicholls, and I'd much rather back a horse first time out trained by nicholls than Henderson and at the prices Sanctuaire is probably more of a working man's bet...

Good thread.

Think Sanctuaire beat Somersby fair and square tbh. Don't think the collerateral form should be looked at too literally and moreso the nature of how the race was won. This horse destroys good horses from the front with v good flat speed and super slick jumping, as good as SS.

Interesting point made by someone stating Barry should pressure Ruby early on, this would be my tactic also but I still think Sanctuaire will get a lead of a number of lengths right from the start, he has fantastic flat speed and I don't think this can be over estimated enough.

Having said all of that, Sprinter Sacre is the right price, his performances today have been something else and I expect him to come out on top. One mistake from him however and I can see him in trouble here.

CV knows

See absolutely nowt wrong with discussing what i(and apparently others)think is a fascinating race.

Always best to approach races with objectivity imo,even if you have a favourite who you want to be the best you've seen.
No room imo for biased,sentimental claptrap either,and to totally disregard a horse thats won his 3 chases so easily is quite frankly ridiculous and amateurish imo
But ive seen this sort of thing happen before when people get carried away with a horse.

look the bookies have sprinter sacre as a 4/9 fav so he should win ! but we all know things are never as cut and dried as that ,especially in racing , we all want to see a superstar and we may well do but things happen, the unexpected happens frequently ,the way some are talking we may as well give sprinter the prize money for the tingle creek and champion chase now  in all probability he will win but  from what i have seen and at the prices i will be backing sanctuaire,  right or wrong win or lose .
and whoever wins can we have no excuses  lets give the winner whoever it may be respect (oh sprinter needed the race .or sanctuaire didnt jump as well as he could ect,ect,

whoever wins can we have no excuses  lets give the winner whoever it may be respect (oh sprinter needed the race .or sanctuaire didnt jump as well as he could ect,ect,

What FOYLES said. At the end of the day, grade 1, two mile chases are about jumping fences well at speed. Most of the top rated horses have the flat speed to win.

I just don't see the event as a betting proposition (can't oppose the monster, as I have been a believer for a long time) but will be glued to the screen whilst the race is run. Pure theatre. Lets hope they both run their race and may the better horse on the day win.

one of the  reasons i put this and a few other threads up is to get other better informed  posters talking and airing their  views , i  can often  pick up some valuable snippets that i may not have latched onto and these can and do often  prove profitable !

sorry should have said we all can gain valuable sippets ect^^^^^^^^

I'm just nailing my colours to the mast for this. There is no way bar an incident like a fence blunder or inteference that will cause Sprinter to lose, if he has a clear round he'll win.

Was right when people doubted Kauto in winter 08
Was right when people doubted Fly in spring 11

Amazed that anyone is doubting Sprinter Sacre though.

The famous line from Tinkler rings true from last season, they work Sprinter Sacre on his own because they don't want to break the hearts of horses like Oscar Whiskey.

If SS comes under pressure at least we'll finally find out what he does off the bridle..If he doesn't then the QMCC is over for 2013 bar a injury,Can't wait for the weekends racing with so many great match ups and interesting horses running...
Thread has been a good read and thanks to everyone who contributed towards it,
Good luck for the weekend one and all :)

So whose doubting SS?

for me its whose doubting Sanctuaire,and the answer quite a few.

I see no reason to doubt hes a darn good 2 miler that bowls along and jumps really well and loves Sandown,and we should appreciate a horse that runs as exciting as that.
I have no idea whether hes good enough to get SS into a race,nor does anyone else,whatever your opinion of SS is,the only proof possible will happen saturday.
No one is trusting end of season form,well i aint anyway,and i aint trusting any form with beaten horses from last season from both horses.In fact if you DID do that then look at French Opera who was having only his 3rd race of the season at Sandown.
I look at both horses and cannot find fault with either over fences.
Like i keep saying,they both win far too easily to compare the beaten horses.No one has a clue how good these 2 can be because of that,and they are both probably improving at different rates!!
In fact if you DID do that then look at French Opera who was having only his 3rd race of the season at Sandown.
Yes nail yer colours to the mast,of course,but keep an open mind imo,and dont treat horses with disdain,they dont deserve it,theres ways and theres ways imo.

In fact if you DID do that then look at French Opera who was having only his 3rd race of the season at Sandown

oops

COTC reports 6mm overnight - no change to the official going but got to ride slower surely?