Navan

Good to see a thread for there considering the graded races,see someone thought that I Shot the Sheriff may be a bit harshly handicapped,couldn't disagree more though like yourself think it may not be his day either. One of them cards where nothing stands out for me but decent racing to watch,best of luck.

Gilgamboa  and will fire a couple of quid at very wood

I really fancy railway tommy in that 2m6f handicap hurdle. He got a nice handicap mark based on his bumper form and ran a very eye catching race behind sub lieutenant on his final maiden run. He did well to finish 2nd @ Limerick considering he was being niggled along a fair way out and made a bad mistake @ the last and wasn't beaten far. He was stepped down to an inadequate 2 miles @ Gowran and then and stayed on strongly for 4th. 2m 6f @ Navan will hopefully be far enough to bring the est out of him and still on a good mark with decent claimer taking off 5lbs, I think 9/1 e/w is a good bet.

King of the Picts e/w at 33/1, In he last few runs he has  has been pitched in against the best Grade 1 performers over two miles. Although well beaten in those heats he appeared to be running on well and it is no surprise that he has been upped in trip against lesser opposition.  Question marks about a few in the race so he just might be a bit of place value at least.
Dom Lukka @ 10/1 will hopefully make every post a winning post. Ran very well last time out over 3 miles where he only gave best at the last. He is having only his third run for his present trainer and is dropped in trip. He is very fairly handicapped and should be spot on for today.

Briar Hill very unlucky there,Was coming to win his race imo

He could well have,good performance by Dedigout over a bit less than ideal,another world hurdle outsider to consider if he goes there.

World Hurdle wide open this year.

Thought Cooper should have kicked on more between the last 2 flights as it was still in the mix if Briar Hill had pinged the last and he was in any way flat footed,still Dedigout looks like an improved animal this year.

CHELT very sorry  DIDNT SEE THIS THREAD

WORLD HURDLE DEDIGOUT AGREE PA

Trainer and Jock both said there he needs ease Norn ,thats the danger,has run well on better before.

norn iron 15 Feb 15 14:02 

MASTER RUFFIT EW
after timing BUT I NEVER MISS MCNIGHT HOSS DOWN SOUTH WHEN HE BYPASSED DOWN ROYAL

DEDIGOUT
REV4CAST BRIARS HILL

I SHOT THE SHERRIFF LAY WIN AN PLACE
EW DOMM LUKA 

GILGAMBOA WIN TODAY AND CHELT

NOBLE EMPEROR  NAP
REV4CAST APACHE JACK

EW BLOOMSDAY / FAINNE AN MAE

SARWISTAN EW
FREE STONE HILL

not the same horse that gilgamboa?..does that put uds form up for thought? maybe the horse has a problem..?

JUMPED VERY LOW  BUT STILL DISAPOINTING RUN

Doesn,t say  much for real steel as well ,Tony

Real Steel is trained by Mouse Morris.....they are considering making the fact that he trained a Gold Cup winner.....the eight wonder of the world....

Real Steel has had 5 tough races on the bounce and might need a break,don't know what to make of Gilgamboa unless it also had a harder run than we thought LTO.

LADS ANYONE NO HOW  FIND OUT  MOSCOW MAGIC PULLED UP DOWN ROYAL WED SEEMED GO WRONG THREE OUT JESSIE HARRINGTON TRAINS ?

MANY THANKS

couldn't have had the winner at any price to be honest..

You'd have to be of a very forgiving nature to fancy Very Wood,But im in the kind of forgiving nature today' C.R....    sometimes its a good thing to forgive C.R.  VERY WOOD WON WELL

Cheers frank i always forgive a horse that has pulled up previously (price dependant) because 9 times out of 10 there's a reason for it.

WELL DUN CHELT

Thanks norn,Whats seldom is wonderful.

It's great to see Noel Meade able to go to war with his team of horses at Cheltenham. Very Wood is another that will now surely join Road to Riches, Apache Stronghold, Monksland & Wounded Warrior at the Festival. Remember a year ago he only had two runners at the whole meeting. Very Wood won and Ned Buntline was second.

Giggy have some team of stayers too. Dedigout now a legitimate contender for the World Hurdle along with Lieutenant Colonel. Very Wood now up there with Don Poli, Wounded Warrior & Valseur Lido not to mention the team of novice hurdlers. Cooper will have some serious decision making to do in a few weeks. How he is 10/1 ot be top jockey is a mystery.

indeed welldone chealts

This years Cheltenham races getting better by the day,

Nice jesture from Ruby at Navan , he was heading home just before the second last race and I was right behind him on the way out , it was lashing it down and he only had one of those light racing Uk jackets on , when a woman stopped him and asked if her young child could have his picture taken him , fair play to him he stood there in the rain and let them take a few snaps ..Nothing to write home about you might say , but you should have seen the smile on the kids face and the pride in the Mothers eyes ...Well done Ruby...

Nice story workrider which goes against the grain of the thoughts of a lot of people about RW.

Backed very wood myself @ 7/2 cudnt believe the drift out  to 7s had to go in again

^ one last w@nker

Bit harsh Pre-fat,he did say he was doing him at 11.49.

Eh whys that pre fat ??? Just because a horse drifts dosnt meant it can't win

Don't mind him one last chance,all pre fat does is knock people,well done lads with the winning selections,

olc..great bet mate..delighted for you good to see someone get reward for sticking with their choice...I couldn't have the horse..welldone again

Gilgamboa holds entries in the Arkle Trophy and the JLT Novices' Chase at Prestbury Park, but trainer Enda Bolger is in favour of giving his charge a break.

He said: "He seems fine. He had a bit of a cut behind, but that wasn't the reason he disappointed.

"He just ran very flat on the day. He'd seemed fine at home since Leopardstown, but Mark (Walsh) said he didn't jump or travel with the same fluency as he had before.

"I think he needs a bit of a break now, so that's the plan. I'd say it would be odds against for him to go there (Cheltenham).

"We'll give him a break and bring him back later in the spring. He's crying out for two and a half (miles) and I'm looking forward to next season with him.

"I feel sorry for the horse that he underperformed, but these things happen."

Pre fat the serial loser. gimp.

Gilgamboa was very disappointing yesterday. He could be excused what I thought was a slightly below par run against UDS, because he was taken out of his comfort zone early, and never got into a rhythm. But yesterday was poor.

The JLT, having had the potential to be the race of the festival, has had a lot of its X Factor reduced in recent weeks. Gilgam is gone, Ptit Zig took a bad tumble on Saturday, and Valseur Lido had his bubble somewhat burst at Leop. He may have been a gallop short, but was still a bit disappointing he couldn't oblige.

If the same Vautour that showed up for the Supreme, shows up for the JLT, he wont be beaten.

An interesting interview with Matt Chapman and Willie Mullins can be seen on the atr site in the video features section.Nice interview but yet again WM doesn't know or wants to commit.
The Tullow Tank seems to get the green light for the JLT,better run but miles off a realistic chance in it i would think.

Yeah TTT has been a big disappointment. Missing Fenton's potion??

I thought he might just be resenting fences, and be re routed to the Coral Hurdle, but he jumped better the last day.

It looks a very unsporting and negative decision not to send Annie Power to the WH. Zarkandar is fav, and probably a deserving one, and she made sh1t out of him last year. Its not like Ricci has never had a festival winner, he has plenty, and will have a bucket load more. So why not go for the big one with a mare that deserves better??

Annie worked very well this morning,it would be the logical choice for the stayers with her for me as well.Willie in that interview(9.40ish in) seems emphatic citing her preparation as the main reason.Rich Ricchi said Vautour would be staying over hurdles in an interview very early in the season so they aren,t to be taken as gospel but with all the humming in haaing in that interview it seemed to be the most adamant statement.

If as expected she goes the mares route probably could be worth keeping a close eye on what he does run of his other 6 entries in the stayers. Could be a reason we are in the dark,the Wylies would obviously like to target that,could Pont alexandre do a lazarus?,doubt it but wouldn't shock me.

Pa , I'd say Willie is up to his tonsils trying to decide where to send what , he has a stable full of potenial winners at Chelt , trying to make sure you choose the right race can be a nightmare ..Imagine having to please huge egos ,especially going into this meeting ..His relience on assitant trainer must be massive , keeping certain owners runners apart etc ..A nice problem to have all the same...

Yeah, it kind of goes against the grain of what I perceive to be the case in that operation. Glens Melody would have a favourites chance in Mares Hurdle if AP went to WH. And AP would be fav in WH. That would be  maximising Rubys chances of winning both races. Which is the usual way things get done.

Maybe he has a 'dark one'.

That interview was enjoyable WR,you could tell he seemed a bit flummoxed at times,but a shrewd fish though and would say he has a good idea all the same.
Don't think Glens Melody would have been "a good thing" personally in the mares W/O Callit,favs chance but very beatable,Dedigout and Mullins Abbysical and Briars Hill had nice runs over the weekend,huge prices ew if they do line up,thankfully a bit of time to adjust the sights yet.

I must have a look at the interview PA, t.y.

Backed B/Hill @ evens w/o dedigout yesterday , I think he might have run down the fav if staying on his feet ..He only made one other mistake , down the far side , so overall a huge improvement in the jumping department , he looked really well in the paddock ...I wonder will Cheltenham be a little early for him . I'd bet they would love a extra week or more to get another run into him before the meeting...

wr,..I,d bet briar hill wont run again this season?..he broke his cheek bone at Cheltenham and they had been trying to get his confidence back..that was a bad fall again yesterday..so I think they may pull up stupps?

CANT SEE THAT FALL STOPPING HIM EITHER  HE JUMPED GRAND UNTIL ONE MISTAKE  WH OR AINTREE OR BOTH


I BACKED DEDIGOUT BUT THINK HE WAS FORTUNATE TO WIN

Tony ,although it looked bad ,he got up quickly and ran home as if nothing the matter with him ..He stepped at the hurdle and payed the price ,thats what i mean by them having a extraweek or more , just to get his confidence back quickly...Norn agree , think he woud have won as well...

a bow to your view wr..it must of looked worse than it was..

The pace was very sedate throughout the race........ most horses can get over them at a slow pace....... but in a championship race at a solid pace throughout his jumping will be tested at every hurdle. It`s o.k running in Ireland at the crawl they go, and I really feel if a horse like Briar`s Hill can`t get over them at that speed what chance has he got at the proper speed at Chel..........

That`s what happens to horses who win Bumpers and are expecting to be top notch over hurdles......... it does not work that way........ a totally different sport.
Like top notch hurdlers season after season (i.e running three seasons over hurdles rated 158+) and then asked to jump a fence and expected to compete at the same level, again a different sport.......... very few hurdlers have made the switch successfully VERY few.