The Frankel of Hurdling

Did he look like he would appreciate a gold cup trip?

Such a high bar that we expect from him, that was probably his least impressive performance.

hmm, thought he pushed it out to make sure on the run in and it found nothing.

maybe just me ...

hulk laid it thort wudnt stay

That will be enough to frighten Nicky....we'll have to make do with watching him hose up in the next 3 or 4 Champion Hurdles.

No point in going chasing unless he's a gold Cup horse, which is probably more doubtful than it was 10 minutes ago.

they were cruising along a lot slower than ahoy senor was half an hour earlier ...

nicky sounded gutted ...

True duffy. I know they come in different packages but he doesn't look like a chaser to me. He's got some height but relatively light build.

cant run like it did in the supreme every time..

expecting double figure length victories every time

not even Frankel did that

The racecourse announcer today went right over the top about today’s performances.still as already stated you can’t always be good

Only slow time today, blustery conditions dried ground out, far better on soft/ heavy ground IMHO.

time was slower than the opening chase, crawled round.

when they look back and see how little it found when he asked after the last they might be regretting not making it more of an extreme test.  too busy watching each other playing for 2nd.

Any good in description and Nicky won't run it from now

Went today especially to see him .Was expecting something special over longer trip which i thought would suit him and be against most of opposition. drying ground may have been against him,and Nico was certainly asking like he done in his 3 previous races and response was limited. He certainly didnt look like a horse that would improve over a longer trip .Hes an exceptional jumper of hurdles and if he was mine, today would have confirmed hes going back to a champion hurdle campaign. In the paddock (and despite nearly 50 years of watching horses) im no expert, he looks nothing out of the ordinary, relatively smaller than i imagined but a strong sort thro the shoulder and quarters. If i was Buckley id buy a pacemaker and get back to 2 miles to cement his place in history. Cant see him doing that in Gold Cups 2 years plus down the line.

he was further in front of sharjah when the tapes went up than he was at the finish.

Geoff - I think that's excellent analysis. I agree entirely he looked like a bang 2-miler.

The one doubt in my mind is that is toward the end of the season and could have been over the top. He has after all put up three big ruins this season previously, and he still won yesterday without seeing a rival. We often see horses flop at Aintree after a big run at Cheltenham. It's possible CH ran well below par after a big run in the Champion Hurdle, but was still good enough to win easily. That is to say, he could be a stone-plus better than he showed yesterday (which fits with how Timeform rated the race).

I also think it is about timing between races. CH had a good break before Cheltenham last year and this year and this was by far a quicker return in a tough race. State Man ran at Cheltenham after just 5 weeks running in a very hard race in Ireland and CH had twice the break after winning a much easier race. Backing up at this level is really hard no matter who you are. Frankel's races were well spaced and they were often easy races over much shorter distances. Whether CH stays hurdling, my preference for at least another season, or goes chasing the fact that NH swerves Ireland and spaces their races will be a huge benefit. Something never really considered in the racing until more recently.

I don't buy that Brigust. He's had an easy season and easier race at Cheltenham than novice year. Good job you weren't planning Chaplin's Club races. 8 wins in 19 days ? Including I think win Ayr evening meeting /travel/win Ponte next day.

I don't buy that Howard - some performances may look easy, but they can still take a lot out of the horse. Frankel himself almost got beaten in the St James Palace after crushing the field in the Guineas. Kauto Star struggled in the Gold Cup (was beaten when fell) after winning the King George by a distance. A Plus Tard was massive (ran to 180ish) in the 2022 Gold Cup and has flopped this season. It is certainly possible that Constitution Hill's big run in the Fighting Fifth took the edge off him a bit, and he can certainly be argued to have a  "best fresh" profile.

Howard not all horses are the same and sprint races are not 2 mile hurdles. Some horses need races to get them fit whereas some, free going horses get themselves fit at home. Some horses give their all in a race, without necessarily showing it and some need encouragement. Do I think it is good for racing when a champion runs so few times a season? No I don't but if it was my horse I would be very choosy where it ran and keep it simple. How many times did Flightline run? He was a free running horse and they raced him sparely.
I know horses like Chaplins Club and the majority of racehorses run often when they can but they are not champions and they are fun horses NH, on the other hand, does over do his patience with his best horses but even I couldn't say he was wrong to do that.

As eloquent as ever brigust1
I don’t agree with all your posts, nevertheless they are always poignant reading.
All the best!

Good grief, thank you Saxon. All the best to you.

Never seen a horse win as easy as CH in the fighting fifth. If he had run in Ireland after the supreme that could have been much more likely to have been an issue.  I've got to say though I'm a successful punter on here and it pays for me to just believe the form 9 times out of 10. That's the bottom line. Highly likely this horse is best at 2 miles with a good gallop.

And as regards CH as an individual we know he sleeps and eats and has the perfect temperament. There would likely be more chance he needed a race than anything else. As Brigust says different types.

Yes Howard, they are all individuals. That's the essence of the sport, but it's something punters often seem to overlook. However, we rarely get enough strong evidence to be sure about the preferences of an individual horse,  and it's worth remembering that CH has still only run 7 times, so the evidence is very limited for him. I wouldn't be dogmatic about him at all - you could very well be right. Based on the race on Thursday in isolation, he certainly looked like he prefers 2 miles.

As a throwaway, I also note he got beaten in his 3 m point, by a horse that's now rated 135, though there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then.