What next for Long Run?

Was given a good ride today i thought.

Doesnt get the credit he deserves. 1 gold cup and 2 king georges. Plus placed in 2 more gold cups.

I doubt they will train him for a grand national. i think he'll be racing in the same rcaes as this season.

i think the national will be the target next year

I'm amazed it has won a gold cup because in the last two it has appeared to stop on the run in and not get home imho

I have mentioned this before (are you listening CVByrne?)

Long Run showed last year that he is not willing to give his all up the Cheltenham hill. Today went as expected, from looking like a contender at the last fence to flattening right out up the hill.

Last year the excuse was that it turned into a sprint finish with Synchronised out sprinting Long Run ( this was your theory CVB was it not)...so what is the excuse this year? Long Run is a thinker and he does not want to know about the Cheltenham hill. He has only produced once at Cheltenham, yes he broke the track record but the conditions of the race suited him that day as they went off at a blistering pace and the two old timers old timers burnt each other out.

ive never seen such a contrasting round of jumping,He walked through half of them and cleared the other half with a foot to spare,

Went a lovely pace that suited his stable companion right down to the ground,He was never gonna win from the front.

As i said,Very strange run as he certainly wasn't tired having jumped the last 2 so well,Maybe as is been mentioned,He doesn't put it all in,

But one things for sure,He ain't ever winning another GC.

The Grand National would seem an obvious target, people forget the massive prize money for the race plus good old Phil Smith will knock a good 6 to 8lbs off it's handicap mark comparative to the field. Not the most fluent of jumpers but gets from one side to the other with all legs on the floor, could just take to those fences too, certainly would be interesting and the Waley-Cohens are nothing if not sporting and usually have a runner in the race.

That`s 4 times out of 5 at Cheltenham he has failed to produce his best. Yet at Kempton he produces it everytime. I was convinced after last years race he was finished with giving his all up that hill.

I don`t think that they will risk him at Aintree, his concentration was pretty bad today, imagine him in that frame of mind over the National fences.

You dont win 2 King Georges and a gold cup in front of Kauto and Denman by being a slow boat

Eh,Kauto and Denman who were quite clearly past their best.

so Kauto did nt come back to win a KG after that race?

Yet he manages to keep up with the speedier types in the KG before outstaying them with a power packed finish.

Gutsy as they come!!!!! No bally dancer but cn not knock his courage.....  WELL DOME TO WALLY TOO.....

Gutsy as they come!!!!! No bally dancer but cn not knock his courage.....  WELL DOME TO WALLY TOO.....

Will win next years GN OTS given some give in the ground,that is his target according to molerat.

i must have watched a different horse, best he's ever jumped today, just bumped into 2 too good on the day, no shame in that. will be back next year no doubt, 25 runs and never unplaced, unreal record!

i must have watched a different horse, best he's ever jumped today, just bumped into 2 too good on the day, no shame in that. will be back next year no doubt, 25 runs and never unplaced, unreal record!

Best he's ever jumped??Did you watch the race?Nearly took half of them with him,Beginning at the very first fence!

very good horse , not great but very good ,never out of first three or falling ,which is quite a surprise consider n the way he jumps from time to time .I have a feeling that the op did his money on this horse today and thats why he's slate n the horse ,i also backed him and was quite happy did everything he should but win . it also did'nt help that SDC was in his face the whole way round , but after the last , his stride was so short ,maybe angel g is correct he just does'nt like that hill .I also heard on atr that the horse was bought to bring the family together after a loss in the family ,so i very much doubt he'll ever go for the national ,as means so much to the family. i dont think the good one's ever should they paid the way else were.

OTS............lump on for next years GN.Not often I flag up Auntie Post but my man at 7 wheelbarrows is Adam Ant he will win all being equal.A run in November over the big fences on the cards he says.

Won 2 King Georges - won a Gold Cup and placed in two others.

Still only eight - the same age as the much vaunted novice Boston Bob who is the equine equivalent of the second coming according to some.

Back to the original question which is a good one. I can't see him winning another Gold Cup - they'd probably still gear first half of his campaign around the King George so an imaginative tilt at the Hennessy is out - he could wait another year for the National - they could try and pick up the Betfair Bowl at Aintree in 2014 with a fresh horse who was n't subjected to a hard race in the Gold Cup - then onto Whitbread.

I very much doubt they'll try and do anything remotely like that because of the obsession with Gold Cup and Grand National.

GN is the target.

thought it poorly 2day,,,never cleareda fence apart from the he frogleaped

sorry GT missed the last line of your first post - it would be more interesting if they give him a sighter over the National fences, presumably in the Becher.

I'd go and watch that.

How can anyone question the horse's conviction when he has been placed in 3 GCs? Some discuss horses on here like they are machines - stopped on the hill, not trying, jumped poorly at some… like to see how some of you get on going round Cheltenham at championship pace over 3m2f on soft ground. Long Run ran another fantastic race today for the 3rd year running in arguably the most demanding G1 staying chase of them all.

The National could make the horse imo

Say what you like about Sam WC but his record over the National fences is very good indeed. I'm not/never have been the biggest Long Run fan but i'd be keen to back him at Aintree

cheltenhamroar - please tell me a race its jumped better in? because i cant remember one? its shape over most of the fences was so much improved, it brushed the first but no major errors, in its gold cup win it made much worst. the first race ist run where ive never questioned the jockey, just got beat by 2 better horses on the day. everyone connected with the horse can be proud today.

King George, Gold Cup and maybe an entry for the National depending on how the season pans out. He brushed through so many fences today but still finished third when that would have knocked the stuffing out of most horses. He lacks the class of a Kauto but reminds me of The Felow because he's tough, genuine and by happy coincidence has won two King George's and a Gold Cup. Plus he deserves a bit more credit that he receives.

LRs jumping today cost him 2nd place imo.

His intensive schooling taught him to jump big but not at racing pace,not a natural at racing pace anyway but always was safe.Had he had a race before the GC to implement his schooling it might have been different.Would not have beat his stablemate but would have finished 2nd.

Robert WC is head of Cheltenham, while Long Run is competitive he will always go for
The Gold Cup.... I backed him today, thought he jumped well and  I thought he was going to win
until 10 yards after the 2nd Last... Beaten by 2 very good horses, can't see Long Run beating either of
them around Cheltenham...  Although he never seems to fall, I don't think he seems the type to jump
around Aintree..... Good Luck if he go for the race but he won't be seeing my money...

How can anyone question the horse's conviction when he has been placed in 3 GCs?

The conviction is being questioned coming up the hill. See him battle in the KG and compare that to his last 2 efforts in the GC. The horse is a thinker and as soon as he approaches that hill he chucks in the towel.

Mustapha..............he will eat Aintree............nailed on.

GOOD PRIZE MONEY FOR THE FAMILY.

World Hurdle has always been the best race for him, and still is. His jumping style has always been better suited to hurdles than British fences. Would probably have beaten Big Buck's too. But he was bought as a Gold Cup horse, and even if he'd wanted to, NH would not have been allowed to train him for anything else.

not the horse he was 2 seasons ago - peaked early.

Mentally he has not wanted to know at Cheltenham since his win. You need to be mentally in peak condition to win the GC. The 2011 GC was over rated imo regardless of the track record. What A Friend only being 11L behind proves what a one off race it actually was.

The GC finishes most horses off. The first two yesterday may never match that form again. LR has already exhibited more longevity than many GC winners.

He till has it at Kempton though Cider. I have never thought Cheltenham was his cuppa tea. Just goes to show how  well he was in 2011.

*still