You could if you were racing at Wetherby...

Serious point behind the joke though is that using times in NH racing is fraught with dangers, even if there are some nuggets in there for those who work hard enough.

Perfectly possible that they are racing over a slightly different distance and on different ground to what is advertised in any race, at any track, and on any given day...

I'd accept that argument if it was run in England. But Punchestown are very good at ensuring their racing distances and the race was run at a fast gallop from start to finish. Accuracy of the time isn't needed as it's a full 14 seconds quicker on softer ground than in April.

All I'm saying is along with how he carried his head I'm sure he was below form in April. Understandable given the very hard race he had at Cheltenham and he is 10yo.

Jezki is trained to peak at Cheltenham. While I think Fly is aiming for 5 in a row Irish Champion Hurdle in January. He'll be hard to beat at his fav track on his fav ground.

Do you think Jezki will reverse form next time?

Jezki has plenty of form on soft. He is just not good enough to beat the Fly on that ground.
I find it strange people knocking the Fly when he has been the outstanding hurdler the last 5 years.
Last year he was still better than the rest when he had his conditions. He has never produced his best at Cheltenham but that is nothing to take away from him.
One poster suggested that Jezki only had to run to 150 to win the weekend??!!!!  The Fly has only recorded a below 160 performance in his last 20 runs.

Not after timing as didn't have a chance to look at this weekends racing this week.
Just find some people's comments bizarre.

Horses as popular as Fly will always have large amounts of people who dislike him. On here it's the same people who haven't liked him from the start. It's the same with all horses. I imagine lots of it stems from his 2012 loss in the Champion Hurdle where he lost at odds on when people piled on him. If a horse loses you a lot of money you will build a dislike for him.

Kauto Star and Hurricane Fly only won twice at the festival. But are best remembered for their stunning consistency and longevity at the top.

I'm not sure that is wholly accurate. People like simplicity and this kind of debate panders to that simplicity and desire for black and white. Of course there will be some people who don't like a specific horse because they did their cash on that horse. More often it is people taking a view based on what they believe to be the case at a certain point. There's absolutely nothing wrong in asserting that Cheltenham didn't play to The Fly's strengths and that in spite of rather than because of that Cheltenham showed what a great horse he was. He remains a very difficult horse to beat given his ideal conditions. I do agree that his season probably won't be built around a Cheltenham campaign this year and nor should it. He can pick up a lot of additional prize money serving it up to the young brigade who are being prepared with an eye on their date in March.

Well we're all guilty of it bud. I don't like to some degree, Sil Conti, TNO and Sire De Grugy.

What my exact rationale is differs. Take Sire De Grugy, the only time I bet on the horse was when he lost to Kid Cassidy, I opposed him then in Tingle Creek and then made the mistake of assuming he didn't like Cheltenham and he goes and win the Champ Chase. My own mistakes, but I project my frustration onto the horse himself to some degree.

I'm not justifying it, but explaining something that is common in the spot, people like and dislike horses for their own reasons. Mostly to do with the annoying time of when you back him he loses when you back against him he beats you.

My mate backed Peddlers Cross (2011) - Hurricane Fly (2012) - Rock on Ruby (2013). As such I don't blame him for his dislike of Hurricane Fly. I also know lots of people who piled into Kauto both times he was beaten in Gold Cup at odds on yet never backed him ever in any other race. Simple to back the Champ when he looks unbeatable.

That's racing folks

It's not the horse I build up an antipathy towards, it's the jockey. They're dumb animals doing what they're told and the horses are much the same.