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easily best 3m chaser around but gold cup is further - it wasn't going away at the end
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Will be more suited by Cheltenham, it wasn't going away at the end because it had been accelerating for a mile
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Correct price now for the Gold cup IMO. A fantastic horse
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The best thing about this horse is that he thinks he can fly.
Tom should wear a cape in the GC |
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Thistlecrack now 5-4 for Gold Cup glory
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tom should wear a cape LOL
Thought he was going to weaken when the others closed after the last but the race was won...tom knew that and he started easing down and celebrating. the others just plugged on for pressure. nothing to see there. |
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5/4 is bonkers, even after that brilliant performance, he'll be bigger on the day, supporters would have to worry about him and coneygree cutting each others throats should that horse run just for starters, thistlecrack doesn't look like he'd settle with a horse leading him.
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beat nowt and although everyone says you can set your clock by cue card,he has as many off days than good ones,the loon paddy brennan doesnt help every race either he,s a superstar or whoever beats him is a wonder horse.at 5 to 4 we can afford to find something at a juicer price
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it wasn't going away at the end
He was pulling it up after the last, it was far from stopping. |
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The beat nowt argument is always the sound of the barrel being scraped i believe.
It's the maintained acceleration that sets horses apart, this comes from having a bigger engine than anything else. |
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PLENTY left in the tank believe me.
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According to the Racing Post Thistlecrack won in a time of 3 minutes 44.90 seconds..
should walk home in the Gold Cup ![]() |
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cue cards run between 15 and 20lb below its best ,whether you decide thats because he was trying to force it with the winner is up to you
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Could be feeling his age after so many grade 1 races.
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Agree completely with the last two posters.
Cue Card had a big season last time. |
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according to ruk if the feltham faller had stood up it would have been a quicker time than the kg winner
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You've got to feel that they run Thistlecrack in the King George because they knew Cue Card wasn't the force he was.
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I'm surprised so many people are saying Cue Card tried to force it. I'm going to watch the race back but my initial feeling was that Cue Card didn't force the issue enough, especially early on.
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They went pretty steady. Cue Card was held on to and didn't jump as well as he can having typically taken a good hold. Not his running for me and I think he has been compromised by the run of the race. Wouldn't be arguing that he isn't the force of old. He looked as good as ever at Haydock to me.
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Interesting that the beaten horses were all in a heap rather than being strung out by the winner, coneygree and him going hammer and tongs could do for both of them, thistlecrack won't like anything leading him for sure.
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Well he's not a good is he BB? He obviously can't hold his form like he used to.
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Coneygree can't stretch Thistlecrak so Thistlerack would soon breeze past him, quicken up a tad and be out clear again. Tom can give him a breather and then let him off again.
He has too much pace. Perhaps a trainer can put in a 2 miler to stretch him early, seems like they all need to think outside the box now. |
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its all relative,if they did the old split screen gig he,d have been a few lengths behind light bite going to the last
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Straws being clutched by many (NAP).
If it wins the Gold Cup all we will hear is "the worst Gold Cup for years" (NB) |
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I cannot believe there are still some tosrs on here still crabbing Thistlecrack!. Cue Card is NO back number, and he was well and truly hammered . I prefer to look at the face of Paddy Brennan, listen to what he said as regards March, and he looked and sounded as awestruck as anyone else with a brain! Same old pspot crabbers on here. They would find fault with JC!!
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You are spot on Magic!!
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the oroximity of the 3rd and 4th to cue card would suggest he a/underperformed or b/ isnt as good as he was. the opposition barring accidents in march will include coneygree, djackdam, reigning champ don cossack, valsur de lido amongst others. if he beats all them fair play to him.but at 5/4? hes 5/4 to get there!!
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Unclear whether CC is as good as he was or not.I won't be writing him off though as I think the race wasn't run to suit.Am not crabbing the winner either, he has gears and jumps well. Odds on for the Gold Cup ante post not for me but he is clearly an outstanding horse.
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The clue is in the distance the two of them put between themselves and the pack when CC took him on.
CC only got a couple of lengths up on TFT at that point, while Thistlecrack went five lengths up on CC. Surely an on song CC would have left TFT more than two lengths behind. He'd got 23 pounds in hand on ratings. |
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The straws being clutched are equally matched by the OTT reactions to the performance, it was a very good performance but it was a sub standard field with CC under performing and the rest not really counting, you can take any of coneygree's front running displays and see performances just as exhilarating and achieved against deeper fields.
He was great today but let's try and find a little perspective when the dust settles, save the proclamations of greatness until after the GC should he win it. |
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Those horses would have got nowhere near CC if he ran his race. But I take the view that he underperformed on the day rather than being not as good as he was.
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Scudamore was easing down and pulling up Thistlecrack well before the line; the proximity of the others to Cue Card was mainly because Conti and then Cue Card tried to unsettle Thistlecrack much earlier than would like to (where was Josses Hill?) but to no avail.
The best horse won, easily, and 7/5 is an ok price - one is 4/6 - considering Cue Card has the beating of the others already eg Coneygree, Djakadam and Valseur Lido. Also, Thistlecrack likes Cheletenham and that hill will play into his hands more than the others. |
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So how many on here are laying it at 11/8? It seems everything went right for it today, it won't get that in the GC, Cue Card will be different in March, was a poor race today, all these better horses will be running against it in March etc etc. Lay it until the cows come home Shirley.....
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I was looking to lay him around evens when I heard he was odds on. Want to give it some more thought before I lay 11/8 tbh.
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I agree Barton regarding CC, but even if you take CC out today how far could Thistle have beaten them by? I think it was a very good performance and is a worthy GC favourite and couldn't be a layer even at the prices now, and cannot see an even on song CC reversing places with Thistlecrack at Cheltenham.
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why on earth do people think that thistlecrack not leading would be any sort of an issue for him, he never made the running over hurdles and is totally straightforward as to tactics.?
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I think he will happily sit in behind something that goes off at a silly pace that tries to upset him. I would be more worried about being in a bigger field with a bit more hustle and bustle etc but how many will line up in the Gold Cup?
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He would be even better settled behind a fast pace. Everything else would fall away whilst he would still be cruising along on the bridle.
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A lot of sceptics still clinging to their original position are really clutching at straws I feel. Cue Card tried to put it up to Thistlecrack too early (in hindsight) and destroyed his own chances in the process. Once Thistlecrack had dismissed CC, Scudamore lifted his foot off the gas and saved the horse for the bigger test that lies ahead. Thistlecrack was the only horse not full out at the end and did not have a hard race which is fairly remarkable for a novice. I imagine Tizzard has left plenty to improve upon and remember that arguably his best performance last season was at the festival. I think the only horse capable of beating him is himself but plenty could still go wrong in the lead up to or even during the race so 5/4 is not for me. I think that a lot of the opposition will have been sufficiently scared off after today though to make it an 8/9 runner gold cup. Coneygree will just be a sitting duck for Thistlecrack imo. The horse that will finish closest to him will be one that rides its own race rather than trying to live with this beast. Today proved as much with the proximity of the others to CC at the finish.
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