noel meade at cheltenham

Thought Meade was very unlucky with the weather for Road to Riches, he would very probably have won only for the sizeable downpour,Apache Stronghold stayed on up the hill for 2nd.

Are u seriously trying to say Road To Riches didn't find for pressure?Horse was out on it's feet and ran a very brave race in defeat.

If Coneygree wasn't in the race, Road to Riches would have won.

Think Noel Meade had a good festival. Apache Stronghold ran a fine race. Road to Riches ran a career best and may have won on better ground . Ground also went against Ned Buntline who ran well. Wounded Warrior ran well. The big disappointment was Very Wood.

Road to Riches ran an absolute belter and battled the whole way up the hill.

Road to riches ran its heart out  only bit of an excuse that could be made is the rain helped the other 2  tho not inconveniced by soft ground has won on it better ground would have helped

Ned Buntline was taken out of it by that horse that fell in front of him - ran a fine race considering

Monksland ran a very disappointing race, was there any reasons given?

Monksland made a shocking error early on and I think struggled afterwards.

Apache Stronghold ran a stormer,take out the freak of Nature and he was the winner of a decent JLT

Road To Riches ran a savage race as did the two in front of him. That was an exceptionally good Gold Cup with Coneygree setting a brutal pace and remarkably saw it all the way out. Road To Riches and Djakdam were the only two that came close to him and even then they could never quite get on terms. I watched the re-run and one by one they fell by the wayside ... Lord Windermere first, Bobs Worth, Sam Winner, Boston Bob, Home Farm all beaten on the last circuit. Smad Place and Carlingford Lough beaten at the top of the hill on the far side. Many Clouds & Silviniaco Conti next to go. Holywell plugged on.

Mention of Meade should also lead to a mention Mr. Carberry who himself had an unlucky enough Festival with seconds on Eastlake (He has a fair record on them JP second strings in that race) and Apache Stronghold and thirds on The Saint James and Wounded Warrior. His ride on Taglietelle I was disappointed with.

Also I agree with a previous poster...From Meade's point of view Very Wood was the big disappointment of the week. He didn't jump well and Nina never had him going like he was the last day at Navan.

Would love to see Geraghty and Carberry split the good English McManus horses between them this winter coming. Let geraghty keep the Hendo job and allow Carberry to pick up what Geraghty can't ride.

Meade's runners were for the most part beyond reproach, they've said a gillion times they can't train Monksland like they want so I'd excuse that.

Hopefully entering another Golden Age of staying chasers with Vautour stepping up next year and Don poli there as well. Vautour and Coneygree is very Kauto v Denman to me.

They'll probably meet in the King George so that should be a Christmas epic.

Would have thought that Carberry was in the market for a pipe and a nice pair of slippers myself.

If you can keep him interested he has still got it I think BP, I've come round to that since the Grade 1 at Leopardstown he won. It won't happen as JP wouldn't retain somene wh was nearly always available anyway but I'd like to see him do it on a loose basis at least. He could be an asset in those big Saturday handicaps in England, lots of attention, that's his thing.

Neill , not sure Paul would be interested , having recently read his auto , one of the things that stuck out was his dislike of traveling up and down the UK ...

carberry is near the exit im sure..1 more season imo..

Cause of Causes to win the Grand National with Carberry aboard. JP has always been a fan of him ... doubt he'd ride as a full-time retained rider but I am wondering if there will be a retained rider post-AP. Apart from Geraghty who already has a good job and Townend, hard to see who else there is. None of the English-based jockeys stand out (Bar maybe Fehily who did end up on Kitten Rock .... which I found interesting).

I'm not sold on Vautour yet either ... granted I'd be the first to admit his JLT win was bordering on sensational but he was very poor at Christmas and his penultimate win in a 3 horse race was not convincing. I think he might be very dependent on better ground. Certainly I'd like to see more consistency from him.

Coneygree on the other hand was gone from strength to strength. Whether he'll be able to repeat that monumental effort in the Gold Cup, who knows. But he has achieved far more this season than Vautour.

Feel fairly strongly that Cause of Causes won't get around SYT.

Are you kidding me SYT?Vautour is a machine,He murdered a very decent field in the JLT,Made them look like selling platers.
He is a freak.

It take all sorts ... ....

SYT, if one horse out of Coneygree and Vautour is ground dependant, then on all known evidence it is certainly Coneygree.

What Vautour done on Thursday was phenomenal. Coneygree was great to watch, but he won a very very poor GC.

Vautour may never win a GC, but the GC is not the race which determines the best horse. The KG does that, and granted an injury free run, Vautour will win plenty of them. What he done last week was a unbelievable.

I disagree .. Coneygree has been consistently good all season. He won the Kauto Star Chase and the Denman Chase and fitting then he won the Gold Cup.

What Vautour done last week was phenomenal I agree, but Coneygree's performance was also phenomenal. I disagree that it was a weak Gold Cup. To see horses struggling to keep up with a circuit to go in a Gold Cup is rare. For Coneygree to lead all the way was a fair effort.

Vautour will have to reproduce that run again before I am convinced as it was not in the trend with his runs so far this season.

So winning a Supreme and a JLT by a street not enough?

Sure WPM said he nearly sacked a lad for running him at Leop at Xmas. Its very hard to judge what he done on his next run. His Supreme run, his chase debut and his JLT performance all smacked of greatness. Until he proves he is not, I will assume he is that great one.

The GC was a poor race. Those in behind had holes the size of Vegas hookers in them. It was a scintillating performance, but you mentioned ground dependency. I would wonder would he have beaten Don Poli on Wednesdays surface.

In a good to soft ground KG, I would have my stones on Vautour in an even money match bet. I don't think many would lay it though.

Vautour is odds on to be running in the Ryanair next year though injuries permitting with UDS (QM) , Djakadam and to a lesser extent Don Poli.

A not much spoken point but fair dues to MOL for not letting WPM walk all (WPM would have run DP in 4 miler) over him with race selections,Graham Wylie is being treated as a subordinate to Ricci and has been for a couple of years.

DP-Only to a lesser extent because of ownership (ie Giggi won't be swayed).

DP looks the most likely winner but 8/1 on SC with Coral to win thee KG looks generous (shouldn't run in another GC)

I would happily lay evens he goes to the Ryanair dj.

Granted last Fridays war o attrition wouldn't have been up such a classy sorts street, but the plan at the start of the season will certainly be the GC.

If I had him, I would run him in the Punchestown GC. Find out now whether he stays, and plan the next campaign properly.

I though Sil Conti was beaten too far out on Friday to blame the course/distance?? Travelled and jumped like a dream til halfway, then started jumping out to his right, before emptying quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if he was hurting.

I am full of admiration for Giggs policy.

Irish racing, and racing in general needs their attitude.

As a side question callit,I know you're a big Carberry fan.Anyone that follows racing will know that he gets certain horses travelling for him etc but my god he's riding sh!t since he returned at Listowel last year??

His ride on Tagliatelle in the Coral cup was a disgrace,rode a grinder for speed and finished full of running.

Give me a jockey with brains (rare enough) than great hands any day.

I wonder if his heart is really in it anymore?? I wouldn't be surprised if he finished up this year himself. A lot of the class animals Meade has now are Coopers rides. Hard to take for a lad at the end of his career. Its like Ruby who can throw the leg over Riccis.

I cannot see Meade throwing it in tbh.  He probably has a few more years left near the top!