Where else could he have run them? Assuming he wanted a run in early November.

exactly a year this week and we have another valbro valdat on our hands horses only do what they are asked to do, untill there asked to do something different,ie VV and sovereign debt to name 2 high profile horses from this year

Its never ran against much so its lack of energy off the bridle is rarely exposed

Overall Mr Geraghty will do you more good turns than bad.

It wouldn't go past it ffs,if a horse runs with the choke out over 2 and a bit mile,it won't have a kick,only goes one pace !

Full bank this full bank that,they are the in words on this forum,I was out when the race was on so no I didn't lay it,I did back it though,watching the replay the alarm bells were ringing a furlong out,stayer in front that always finds,horse had pulled all the way,you could see it happening so there will have been people who mopped up on here,I didn't.

Didn't bet, but Simonsig had schooling in public written all over it from the entry stage, Henderson does this all the time. Simonsig never put in the race to win at any stage, and no real effort from the saddle to win the race. The plan came together perfectly for Henderson, Simonsig had a nice easy reintroduction to racing, and should improve significantly in the future. Henderson/Geraghty couldnt care less about punters money, as long as his own money and that of the horses connections are safeguarded. Henderson does manage to ruin quite a few good horses by trying to be too clever schooling horses in public who instead should be winning the races they are being schooled in.....

sickoflayinwinners • November 7, 2015 4:00 PM GMT
geordie, in truth even tho bobsworth has never really liked soft ground he's always been a thorough stayer and being given  the gift of a 20 length start by 3 riders was always  going to assist him.im not saying i ever intended to back him in running but his price collapsed very quickly in running due to him getting such an easy lead.he was 12/1 pre race and less than 3/1 in the blink of an eye, personally i thought that was a slight overreaction but it may well have turned out to be  a big factor in him winning .
Report Barton Bank • November 7, 2015 4:42 PM GMT
Wasn't a betting race for me. I would have slightly cheesed off if I had backed Simonsig however. Not because he wasn't hard on him in the finish (as you would not expect him to be with a star horse coming back from injury) but because the race was given away at the start and the effort of making up the ground combined with not settling took a toll on him. He wouldn't have pulled any harder if he had raced in touch in all likelihood and would probably have won.
Report Gagging • November 7, 2015 4:57 PM GMT
To be fair to Geraghty [and with Henderson more so than with some trainers] his main consideration is not for punters but for the connections  - often a grey area between schooling in public and not being too hard on a horse - esp bearing in mind that most of these top trainers can get a horse ready at home if they really want to - difficult for stewards / joking club to police

The three most sensible posts on here.

The start was akin to asking Usain Bolt to give the opposition 5 metre start in an Olympic 100m final. Even the great man can't do that.

Put it this way, if Henderson or Geraghty had told the public beforehand they were going to give Bobs Worth a 15-20 length start, would you be a backer or layer of Simonsig at 5-2? Would you be a backer or layer of Bobs Worth ad double figure odds? The race from a betting perspective was only known to the Henderson connections beforehand and the behaviour of the jockey at the start, possibly trainer too if he condoned it, is tantamount to bringing the sport into disrepute.

It was clear schooling in public, something for which lesser trainers/jocks would have been hauled in and given severe punishment.

I leave you with this. If this was a Grade 1 chase over 2 1/2m worth £500k to the winner at the Cheletenham Festival (or a JP Mac owned handicap job with a few million of the bookies cash riding on it), do you think Geraghty will still be giving away 15-20 lengths at the start on a "hard-pulling" horse, irrespective of whether it had a 3 year layoff?

Faux heen, the start was messy all right but naturally BG, knowing how free simonsig was going to the start, wanted to anchor him to get cover. From the moment the tape went up they were spread out like washing so getting cover went out the window.He raced way too keenly, far closer to the pace than BG wanted. Had he jumped off on level terms he more than likely would have bolted(rather than merely pulled too hard) from the start.It certainly didnt look like schooling in public to me and it wasnt the tactics that beat him, it was his own exhuberance

I'm sure the owners of the horse were absolutely delighted with the ride. And that's all that really matters.

But Henderson's finished 1-2! How can they be accused of schooling in public? As a previous poster noted, no-one has asked any questions about the Ferguson horses, one of whom was hot favourite.
Anyone who backed in the race should surely have known that it was likely to be muddling and that Simonsig had been off the course for three years and 2was having a prep run before returning to fences. If they did their dough heavily, you really have to ask questions of them, rather than connections.