Annie Power

She's got three options, but I can't see Ruby Walsh getting of Hurricane Fly or Quevega. He will jump of Boston Bob though.

I'd be more interested if she ran in the WH as she looks like she will stay so well, the more hurdles the better as she jumps so well too, we don't really know how she would cope in a CH with the pace, that would be pure speculation and something completely new to her......fascinating how Walsh sees her in respect to BB, I'd imagine they will have a keen eye on the cleeve just to see what walsh thinks BB goes like, if they detect a chink then it could be all systems go.......what you wouldn't want to be reading between now and the festival is a set back for Quevega.

wont be running in the ch with hf. willie wont want her up against quevega at the prospect of winning 5 in a row.

hard to see her not running in the wh.

wont beat BB.

My thinking is slightly different. I think Ruby knows Hurricane Fly is more vulnerable than Big Bucks and Mr Ricci has a lot of nice horses Ruby wants to be riding over next few years so I reckon they will run Annie Power in Champion Hurdle and there is a very good chance Ruby will be on her. Business is business and Ruby is not a sentimentalist. No way Annie Power will run in Mares race unless Quevega is injured. Just a though to consider/ponder before plunging any hard earned cash on Annie Power in World Hurdle.

Interesting to hear all your thoughts. I hope she goes for the champion hurdle myself, though I doubt she will. If she really were to stay an extended 3 miles well she would be likely to give Big Bucks a very hard time indeed in the World Hurdle. I think she is very good maybe as good as a 170 hurdler, and as a mare she would get weight from the geldings in any championship race.

Could be another Dawn Run.

It's all about opinions but wherever Annie Power goes she will be a formidable opponent, how do we know Big Bucks will comeback as good as ever?

machine

yep, I don't think Hurricane Fly is more vulnerable than Big Bucks now - I might change my mind after the Cleeve if Bucksy engine still firing on all cylinders.

Mullins on ATR the other day was talking about maybe running Boston Bob in the Cleeve.

this meeting the conditions were farcical, would have been called off if it was anywhere else, we didn't see any festival winners today imo

She could skip Cheltenham and go for the race that Zarkandar won at Liverpool, on what we have seen so far, I reckon she would probably be favourite.

unless there are bog like conditions at Cheltenham or Aintree I cannot see her at either festival...

Lolololol. Ruby will pick her over HF in the Champion? You are a comedian Billy. She'll either run in the World Hurdle or skip Cheltenham. She'd probably beat Quevega imo, but with the record they're building with her, they won't want to endanger it. In any case, I'd rather be placed in a championship race than win the Mare's.

*Mares'

We shall see…………..I guarantee you one thing and that is Annie Power will win more G1's in the future than Hurricane Fly and Rich Ricci will own more G1 winners than The Flys owners and Ruby aint no sentimentalist when it comes to his rides. I think this mare might just be special enough for Ruby to make the switch. Of course they might avoid the drama and opt for the World Hurdle but I don't think they travelled over to Cheltenham on New Years Day for a 3 runner event without the intention to return for one of the races. She will run at The Festival in March. Just don't know where and when.

personally doubt he'll switch to AP in CH if scenario arises, he was never too keen to get off Kauto even though there were occasional opportunities to do so  - don't think it's because he's a sentamentalist though, imagine he got off Fly for AP and Fly won, much worse scenario for his judgment and reputation than the other way around.

Agree with the point about them going to Cheltenham yesterday for a Festival reccy though.

I would be amazed if she misses the festival.
Unlike HF,i think Annie will be even better on good ground and what ever race she ends up in,she is a max bet for me

has she even run with the word good in the going description???

Her only worthwhile piece of form over 2 miles to date is a 3 1/2 length defeat of defy logic, where she had to be pushed out receiving 8lbs...they haven't even raced her over the trip for nearly a year,so as her appeal at the moment is largely based on visual impression, it's fair to say that visually she has been more impressive at the longer trip.

I don't agree with the statement that Ruby is not a sentimentalist. Everyone is to a degree. He wouldn't get off a horse going for his third Champion Hurdle for a ride on one that has bags of potential but is as of yet unproven at the top level. I'm sure the Riccis would not take that decision personally. They'll be more than happy to use the best jockey around whenever he's available.

At the end of the day we don't know so I am just putting up a potential scenario. I think Reaseheath makes the most relevant point. Can you imagine the loss of face is Ruby got of HF to ride AP and then HF won. That just  not a risk he is likely to take. I would love to see AP in Champion but I suspect she will go WH. Sadly from my perspective. And that is not pocket talking at all.

He won't get off Hurricane Fly or Quevega. If Annie Power went for either, Paul Townend will take the ride...and that shouldn't be an issue as he's top class.

at the moment the only race you could run her in where you could guarantee Ruby would be on board would be the World Hurdle....but surely the decision of where she goes won't come down to Ruby.....Willie will be the man that makes the decision. Ricci pretty must trusts him 100% and lets him do whatever he likes now (campaigning Ricci horses in France and Japan) so can't see there being a problem with whatever decision is made.

ruby will convince them.

he used to do the same with nichols re big bucks when nichols had kauto and denman, why would u be running him in the gc, he had somewhat of a point but he still said it even when the other 2 clearly werent at their best and BB certainly on top of his game. he wants premium rides in as many races as possible and the best chance to win as many as possible, maybe we'd all be the same i suppose.

he has Q, he has HF and in annie power he has a horse that COULD topple BB  even tho i think he'll beat her if hes gotten over the injury and u can bet your life ruby will be putting that across to willie even tho the last word does lie with willie and ricci.

if willie is anyting to go by regarding Que over the years he will line ap up in the WH because  im sure he thinks he has the other 2 races covered with the best horses in the races, whether he does or not is another thing.

I'd say it's 1000-1 that Ruby would ride Annie Power in the Champion Hurdle if she was to run in it. Let's not forget he stayed loyal to Kauto Star the year Denman beat him in the Gold Cup. At that point, Ruby had won six Grade 1s on Kauto and three on Denman. Both horses had won a Grade 1 at the Festival for Ruby at that point, and both had lost one as well.

Compare this to Hurricane Fly, who has won 12 Grade 1s for Ruby to this point, and is two from three at the Festival. Annie Power has won one Grade 1 in her life (for Ruby), and never been to a Festival. These stats speak for themselves.

Leaving Ruby aside for the moment, Mullins will also want to give himself the best chance of winning as many races as possible and Un De Sceaux really only has the Champion as an option. Therefore, it'd make logical sense to have two darts at the Champion with him as a backup to Hurricane Fly, one at the Mares with Quevega, and two at the World with Annie Power and Boston Bob. It is of course a little boring but surely this is by far the likeliest plan.

I suspect she will run in the World and I suspect Ruby will ride her. She should probably run in the Mares, but that's very unlikely given Quevega's dynasty on the line. As someone else said above, I'd be happier taking the NRNB option at 5-1 for the World though, if you fancy her, because if Quevega didn't make the gig for one reason or another, she'd surely line up in the Mares this year.

Limestone Lad Hdl at the end of January then rested until Aintree.

As it turns out she runs over 2 miles at Doncaster on Saturday over 2 miles on the least testing track, stamina wise, in the UK. She has that very nice filly Cockney Sparrow and a few in the Postmark range of 150's and 140's to beat. I expect her demolish her field once again on Saturday and shorten considerably for the Champion Hurdle.

I know that they are always cautious, but it seemed to me that the owner was pretty clear that he would like to see her run in the Champion Hurdle.

I think she is possibly "the one". She is starting to do a pretty fair impersonation of a champion hurdler isn't she? Can be held up or run from the front, has speed and stamina and aside from the mistake at the last,which Ruby said was his fault, she was even slicker over the hurdles today than she has been before.

Best mare I have seen over hurdles, possibly bar none, and I do remember shedding tears more than once over the great Dawn Run, and was a very big fan of Lady Rebecca.

I am beginning to think that trying to concede Annie weight will prove impossible up the hill in this year's champion hurdle.

Oh and tomdean can I have a couple of quid at your 1000/1 please?

It is my belief that MRS RICCI will make the choice of where ANNIE POWER will run
as she pays the bills, MR MULLINS is her employee.
Stud value will surely come into whichever decision is made.

Only Mrs Ricci by name Baz, it`s Rich Ricci who will make the decision.

We need to bare in mind that she was intended to go chasing but given a season to see it she was a Champion Hurdle horse.

Walsh and Mullins have their own agendas,and this years festival for them is all about HFly winning his 3rd CH,and quevega her 20th Mares!!
Any horse that potentially could upset that will be sacrificied.
So no Annie Power in the CH or Mares,and no Un de Sceaux in the CH.
That's unless the owners of these 2 horses actually grow a pair and insist on having them both in the Churdle,where they belong.
I believe Mullins and Walsh are sh!t scared of both of them as re their beloved Fly winning again. Cant prove it,they wont admit it,but I believe that.

Yeh,go on, im fecking crazy!! Don't care, that's what I think.

If you were crazy the evidence wouldn't back you up. If anyone can show me the potential champion 2 milers either of those horses have raced against this season I'd like to see it.

Yep, deliberate campaigning to try to hide the horses true potential.
These hoses could have come over to England and contested our top hurdle races.....bula, xmas, fighting fifth.....why not?
Mullins said he would bring more horses over this season, Annie Power has been over for two bit races.
Its all just such a shame, and imo quiet pathetic.

To be fair on her first run they sent her against Zarkandar, over 2m 3f, probably Zarkandar's optimum trip. He had only lost once last season when beaten under 7 lengths in the Champion Hurdle and had most recently won the Aintree Hurdle, the premier race for two and a half mile hurdlers. Going in against a horse of that calibre on her seasonal debut was hardly sending her in against a yak.

It's debatable whether Zarkandar has been the same horse this season but on paper they couldn't have chosen a much tougher assignment.

Also to be fair to Annie Power has shown a similar level of ability to The New One through her form with Zarkandar.

Nobody is questioning her potential or collateral form over further. What some of us are questioning is why out of numerous opportunities to run her in a decent 2 mile race to see where they stand they haven't?

So we know shes pretty useful over 2 and a half m against Zarkandar.
What we don't know is how good she is at 2m at the top level and at 3m. And its those distances that she would need to be running at the festival.
I suspect had she had a run against MTOY or TNO, she would now be the CH fav.
I also suspect her connections know that ,and its what they want to avoid......HFly may well not win then.
Her campaigning suggests that.

If she and UDS don't run and HF gets beat, they will regret all this....big time.

EO

They have avoided giving Annie Power too hard a race on her travels to England and still picked up 88k and kept her fresh. She could have gone instead for the International at Cheltenham and battled it out with The New One for a 74k winners pot but could it have left a mark after only 21 days from her win in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot. The Christmas Hurdle is 57k to the winner and 21k to the runner up but that mares race at Doncaster was an easy 21k.

So in short to keep the mare fresh and mentally at peace with herself they have mopped up 88k. They don`t want to travel over and do battle with her so early in the season, and they also have no need to take on HF so early on. Cheltenham in March is where battle commences, horses need to be A1 there and then.

yes, fair point about being A1 in March,and fair enough IF she is being targeted at the CH. And they think its the right prep for her as re the CH.
But we don't know that.
Had she ran in one of the trials instead of the Coral Hurdle, or maybe the Irish Champion instead of the walkover at Doncaster,it would be totally different, and I suspect she would still have been A1 at the festival as I suspect those that ran in those races will.

I'm not sure I buy that logic Angel.

If this is all part of a strategy to give her the best champion hurdle chance can you name me another previous winner with a similar prep?

If you wanted to give a horse an easy time of it would you load her into a horse box and travel her over the Irish sea three times to race when you could find similar opportunities in Ireland? Sure in retrospect the victories over Zarkandar turned out to be easy but at the time of the first she really looked to be up against it.

If it's about the money I could understand the first race with only Zarkandar to beat for £50,000 but the second for £15,000 after again travelling over the Irish sea?

Going back to the prep for the big day angle if you were the owner wouldn't you want Ruby riding her? Of course you would. Consequently, wouldn't you put her in a race at least once to test her credentials? Both the December race and the Irish champion provided perfect opportunities. Had she beaten The Fly off convincingly Ruby would surely have allowed his head to rule his heart in March? As it stands you have a new jockey and unless you can get a Geraghty and inferior one. So what could have been a strength becomes a potential weakness and if you were the owner how would you feel about this prep if she runs and is short headed by Ruby?

EO you are missing one very crucial point regarding Annie Powers 2nd race this season. Yes it was only for 15k but where was it at? Yep, Cheltenham. Rich Ricci would have thought if we can beat Zarkander at Cheltenham then it could give them a real gauge on her Festival chances. Yes a slowly run 2.5 mile race is not CH credential worthy but at least she will go back to the course with no negative memories regarding the hill, and it showed she can skip around there and uphold her form. It`s all a learning curve and options are still left open.

You could ask the question, when was the CH won by horse that hurdled as poorly as The New One

Choosing the appropriate race is more important than worrying about the jockey, but if she went for the CH she would have a good chance of winning. The race needs to  pan out for every runner. You was against Hurricane Fly last year EO, will you be laying him this year?

We have a dodgy hurdler - TNO
A 10 year old - HF
And others with question marks in the CH.

However i think the World Hurdle is there for the taking. Shirocco horses seem to have plenty of stamina and pace on their side, she is superior to a horse like Voler La Vedette who gave Big Bucks a scare in 2011.

The owner explained the decision to go to Doncaster when he said that they had decided not to go up against the "big boys" yet and that a ares only race was deliberately chosen. There was also the obvious advantage at Doncaster of running her over 2 miles on going that was not like a bog and on a fast track. That way they could learn a bit about her powers over the minimum trip.

I think they have been quite honest. They are clear that no decision will be made until nearer the time. They know so much can change; if the going actually became good on the first day, it would very probably be against Hurricane Fly.

I personally believe that the owners would like to try for the champion hurdle. It is the race, you may, as an owner, unless you are JPM get one chance to win a champion hurdle. This mare Annie looks pretty special to me. She may be a couple of pounds below Hurricane Fly but she gets 5 lbs. this is a few lengths. Not sure that it will be easy to beat her giving her the weight.

I agree about the New One's jumping. He definitely needs to jump better, and even if he does I prefer the chances of MTOY. Maybe the biggest danger will be. Our Connor. He can improve again and the memory of his utter slaughter of the Triumph Hurdle field is not easily forgotten.

MR MULLINS would not care one jot if ANNIE was to run in the CHAMPION HURDLE and
won as it would go down as a CHAMPION HURDLE winner trained by MR MULLINS, as would
HURRICANE FLY if he won.

Agree Baz, all`s fair in love and war and Cheltenham. Hurricane may pick up his old injury at anytime. It could be jumping the final flight who knows,he may flop completely, why would they rely just on the 10 year old if they had another very good chance with another.

However i think the idea of Annie tanking along next to Big Bucks over 3 miles will be the image they prefer.

I believe the stud value would rule in her case and a CHAMPION HURDLE has more cache
than a world hurdle, plus a bigger value to winner.

Really good thread lads. At this moment my betting boots say back HF. Having said that I'm convinced that My Tent Or Yours will be in the first three. What do I do? Money piling on HF as I speak....(9K waiting to be laid at 4.5.)

Not looking for advice, but I'm thinking My Tent Or Yours might be the safest option? (I will be having a bet on HF regardless, win only)

Any opinions welcome.

I may add that all bets might be off if AP runs in the CH. Personally I think it's the better option for this horse.

Unless the rain returns Hurricane Fly will not have the going that all his best performances have happened on and he would be a big drifter and definitely opposable.

On going nearer good than soft I would fancy Annie and Our Connor as the 2 most likely but do think My Tent would confirm form with the. New One.

Like the clevers ones have said,according to his interview on racing post website Ruby wont be getting off H Fly even if Annie goes for Churdle,Everything pointing towards World hurdle for me.

Ruby Walsh when asked about Annie power said ...she stays so well

Feb 23, 2014 -- 5:36PM, cryoftruth wrote:

Unless the rain returns Hurricane Fly will not have the going that all his best performances have happened on and he would be a big drifter and definitely opposable.On going nearer good than soft I would fancy Annie and Our Connor as the 2 most likely but do think My Tent would confirm form with the. New One.

Good thing the rain is coming next week again then. The Fly us going to get his optimum ground by the looks of the forecasts so I expect OC to be the drifter.

Mister Westsound • February 27, 2014 9:55 PM GMT
Feb 23, 2014 -- 5:36PM, cryoftruth wrote:

Unless the rain returns Hurricane Fly will not have the going that all his best performances have happened on and he would be a big drifter and definitely opposable.On going nearer good than soft I would fancy Annie and Our Connor as the 2 most likely but do think My Tent would confirm form with the. New One.

Good thing the rain is coming next week again then. The Fly us going to get his optimum ground by the looks of the forecasts so I expect OC to be the drifter.


Good thing Cheltenham isn't next week then  HTT

Biggest hint to date from Mullins that she goes for World Hurdle.

Yep looks like world hurdle based on that.
1st time willies given us a clue on Annie?

WH it is.

If she trained by anyone else it would have been 60/40 in favour of the CH. However this decision was only going to go one way, especially when Ricci gave Willie the decision.

Ruby stalking Big Bucks will be one of the highlights of the meeting, i am sure that it will be edge of seat stuff.