The first time I noticed Our Conor was when he raced Ruacana the last in Leopardstown. I couldn't believe my luck that the bookies were so generous to offer the horse I then thought would be the triumph hurdle winner at 10/1 - as it happened he got beat 9Ls that day and both the horses that beat him that should be backed to day but in particular Our Conor the easy winner that day
5pts Our Conor 7/2
1pt e/w Diakali
I'm going to skip the next 2 races due to wedding commitments and go straight to the big one. I've had a small cheeky bet on the previous festival winner Cape Tribulation who I expect to run a huge race today on the ground. Can't like SDC on ground that is getting to soft side and so am willing to unleash at the very generrous 3s offered on Bobs Worth who only ever wins when he goes to Cheltenham no matter what timeof year it is.
3ptsew Bobs Worth
1pt ew Cape Tribulation
Of the rest I think Kelles Bells will outrun his ridiculous 50/1 odds in the Martin Pipe and Chapourtugeon will probably reverse last years form in the donkey derby
Friday, 15 March 2013
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Waiting for Godot?
2 days down and our horses are now coming with their own ketchup and onions - some of them are literally playing chicken with immovable fences to avoid winning us cash. Surely it can't last. Can it? Our Conor's race can't come soon enough but in the meantime we'll have to make do with tomorrow fare.
I think connections have got it right with Dynaste in sending him for this. RSA was never his race and he should deliver the cash here. On formlines through the RSA winner and likely winner 1 out its hard to think that Texas Jack shouldn't be shorter but he may be racing the rest of these for the placepot. Prob a good race to take advantage of PP's MBS special of cashback if 2nd to the favourite.
1pt Dynaste win 13/8
2pts Texas Jack to place 3.5
Sam Winner may be the good thing people think in the pertemps but enough negativesat a price of 9/2 for me to look elsewhere if i washaving a bet. Possibly might throw some loose change on Ballybough Pat e/w at 18s if I get really desperate to get involved here but our cash can find better homes for itself on other races.
I really did try not to be so predictable in the Ryanair and try to find an alternative to the horse I really wanted to be backing in the Gold Cup, but the truth is there is none. First Lieutenant is the class of the field here given that Cue Card turns out again a little too soon after delivering our cash in the Ascot chase. Champion Court is horse I also really like normally but I think he may have left his season behind in the mud at Kempton over Christmas - definitely hadn't recovered from that when going down to Alasi last month. Only sentimentality could make me back Menorah against him and I'd struggle to make a case for any of the rest.
2pts win First Lieutenant 5/2
The World Hurdle is a race I was quite excited about - obviously now seeing how the week is going it only fills me with the dread of the amount of cash I am likely to lose on it but sure here goes anyway. It would be a bit disappointing if a potential Coral Cup candidate ended up being good enough to win this but Wonderful Charms connections will guarantee he goes off a single figure price which is not for me. The pick of the Irish has to be Bog Warrior and I think regardless of the drying ground he'll see off Solwhit and Co. again. His name and he racing record may see him drift tomorrow and if he does get out towards 12s 14s I'll probably want a bit e/w. Oscar Whiskey and Reve De Sivola couldn't be more closely matched on form but this is not the race for Oscar Whiskey - if he was mine I'd keep him for the 2m4f at Aintree and given I think he doesn't quite see out the 3m in a true run championship race I guess that means we are going to have to put a stroke through RdS as well...besides why back RdS when you could back the horse that beat him 1 1/2ls at the festival here 3 years ago, a horse that went on to get within 1 1/4ls of the imperious Hurricane Fly in the 2011 CH before spending a whoe year figuring out he didn't jump fences very well. He may not last the trip here but rather take my chances on one that may not than one that definitely won't.
1.5pts ew Peddlars Cross 10/1
Take a well deserved break after his victory to count your cash and then prepare to unleash again in the X Country at the end of the day. As advised Tuesday Any Currency and Bostons Angel are the 2 to look out for here.
If by some miracle us or any of the aforementioned horses survive the day tomorrow I'll be back tomorrow to tell you how much I like Our Conor and think it is time to stop all this pussyfooting around and to start betting like men on him.
I think connections have got it right with Dynaste in sending him for this. RSA was never his race and he should deliver the cash here. On formlines through the RSA winner and likely winner 1 out its hard to think that Texas Jack shouldn't be shorter but he may be racing the rest of these for the placepot. Prob a good race to take advantage of PP's MBS special of cashback if 2nd to the favourite.
1pt Dynaste win 13/8
2pts Texas Jack to place 3.5
Sam Winner may be the good thing people think in the pertemps but enough negativesat a price of 9/2 for me to look elsewhere if i washaving a bet. Possibly might throw some loose change on Ballybough Pat e/w at 18s if I get really desperate to get involved here but our cash can find better homes for itself on other races.
I really did try not to be so predictable in the Ryanair and try to find an alternative to the horse I really wanted to be backing in the Gold Cup, but the truth is there is none. First Lieutenant is the class of the field here given that Cue Card turns out again a little too soon after delivering our cash in the Ascot chase. Champion Court is horse I also really like normally but I think he may have left his season behind in the mud at Kempton over Christmas - definitely hadn't recovered from that when going down to Alasi last month. Only sentimentality could make me back Menorah against him and I'd struggle to make a case for any of the rest.
2pts win First Lieutenant 5/2
The World Hurdle is a race I was quite excited about - obviously now seeing how the week is going it only fills me with the dread of the amount of cash I am likely to lose on it but sure here goes anyway. It would be a bit disappointing if a potential Coral Cup candidate ended up being good enough to win this but Wonderful Charms connections will guarantee he goes off a single figure price which is not for me. The pick of the Irish has to be Bog Warrior and I think regardless of the drying ground he'll see off Solwhit and Co. again. His name and he racing record may see him drift tomorrow and if he does get out towards 12s 14s I'll probably want a bit e/w. Oscar Whiskey and Reve De Sivola couldn't be more closely matched on form but this is not the race for Oscar Whiskey - if he was mine I'd keep him for the 2m4f at Aintree and given I think he doesn't quite see out the 3m in a true run championship race I guess that means we are going to have to put a stroke through RdS as well...besides why back RdS when you could back the horse that beat him 1 1/2ls at the festival here 3 years ago, a horse that went on to get within 1 1/4ls of the imperious Hurricane Fly in the 2011 CH before spending a whoe year figuring out he didn't jump fences very well. He may not last the trip here but rather take my chances on one that may not than one that definitely won't.
1.5pts ew Peddlars Cross 10/1
Take a well deserved break after his victory to count your cash and then prepare to unleash again in the X Country at the end of the day. As advised Tuesday Any Currency and Bostons Angel are the 2 to look out for here.
If by some miracle us or any of the aforementioned horses survive the day tomorrow I'll be back tomorrow to tell you how much I like Our Conor and think it is time to stop all this pussyfooting around and to start betting like men on him.
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Thats racing guys...thats all it is
'If you are going through hell, keep going'
Not the start we were hoping for but we will fight on.
The first race tomorrow I'm going to ignore due to time rstraints (although I have backed Rival d'estruval at 9s ante-post and expect a big run there)
In the second I'm going to make the quite possibly foolhardy decision to oppose King Alexandre and instead side with Chatterbox who had My Tent or Yours behind him earlier in the season that may be false form due to the pace in that race but taking things on trust with a lot of these horses but at least for this guy the price is right.
Chatterbox 1.5pts ew 10/1
Took my a while to convince myself any of the entrants this year were good enough to win the RSA so decided to side with Houblon Des Oboux in the end. 4th last year in pertempts behind Cape tribulation who is no no-hoper in Fridays GC he also ran Court in Motion to a 1 1/4L earlier in the season. Can't be far off on the pick of his form.
1 pt ew Houblon des Obeaux 12/1
Worst Champion Chase I can remember Sprinter Sacre is unopposable no matter how hard I try. Sit this one out and applaud a 2 true champions and toast Sizing Europes imminent retirement. At least he is given the opportunity to be carried out on his shield, disgusted no one else had the courage to even try to beat SS. (I had to go and look up the 3rd favourite to see who he was given the strength in depth here!)
A lot of reasons not to back Pendra in the Coral Cup due to age experience field size and never having tried over 2m1f before. He was however second to Melodic Rendezvous in a Tolworth and races under 11-1 - thats good enough for me!
0.5pts ew Pendra 8/1
Ruacana is the best horse in the Fred Winter whether that will be enough I really don't know. Hard to get involved with anything here with much confidence
Probably would be tempted by Vieux Lion Rouge in the bumper if he wasn't a 4 yo as it is it will probably be down to Milo Man to carry whatever pennies I have left in the last but don't plan on winning your drinking money on this race unless you've already taken the pledge
Not the start we were hoping for but we will fight on.
The first race tomorrow I'm going to ignore due to time rstraints (although I have backed Rival d'estruval at 9s ante-post and expect a big run there)
In the second I'm going to make the quite possibly foolhardy decision to oppose King Alexandre and instead side with Chatterbox who had My Tent or Yours behind him earlier in the season that may be false form due to the pace in that race but taking things on trust with a lot of these horses but at least for this guy the price is right.
Chatterbox 1.5pts ew 10/1
Took my a while to convince myself any of the entrants this year were good enough to win the RSA so decided to side with Houblon Des Oboux in the end. 4th last year in pertempts behind Cape tribulation who is no no-hoper in Fridays GC he also ran Court in Motion to a 1 1/4L earlier in the season. Can't be far off on the pick of his form.
1 pt ew Houblon des Obeaux 12/1
Worst Champion Chase I can remember Sprinter Sacre is unopposable no matter how hard I try. Sit this one out and applaud a 2 true champions and toast Sizing Europes imminent retirement. At least he is given the opportunity to be carried out on his shield, disgusted no one else had the courage to even try to beat SS. (I had to go and look up the 3rd favourite to see who he was given the strength in depth here!)
A lot of reasons not to back Pendra in the Coral Cup due to age experience field size and never having tried over 2m1f before. He was however second to Melodic Rendezvous in a Tolworth and races under 11-1 - thats good enough for me!
0.5pts ew Pendra 8/1
Ruacana is the best horse in the Fred Winter whether that will be enough I really don't know. Hard to get involved with anything here with much confidence
Probably would be tempted by Vieux Lion Rouge in the bumper if he wasn't a 4 yo as it is it will probably be down to Milo Man to carry whatever pennies I have left in the last but don't plan on winning your drinking money on this race unless you've already taken the pledge
Monday, 11 March 2013
Pounds, Euros, Dollars...any currency really
Well hope everyone has a good warchest set aside for 4 days battle. Hopefully this time tomorrow the satchel men will already be beating their retreat. Most of the main ones for tomorrow are covered already (only 7 runners takes some of the value from backing Arvika). Ruby's decision to ride Champagne fever and WH decision to pay 5 places have created even more value for us since then so hopefully people generousity continues for the whole week.
Just a quick disclaimer that handicap are not my strongest suit and I don't spend as much time researching here as on the other races. I have a few key trends I follow and some rules of thumb to try to limit the amount of horses I have to look at as much as possible so will in general be advising smaller stakes here.
In the JLT Chase just by looking at the age (7-10) and weight profile (<10st 11lbs="" 14="" 1lb="" 2="" a="" already="" and="" are="" ba="" bad="" be="" been="" br="" came="" can="" contenders.="" course="" doesn="" down="" eliminate="" enough="" for="" fruity="" get="" ground="" have="" he="" heavily="" here="" hopefully="" horses="" improve="" it="" last="" like="" likes="" loch="" lower="" o="" of="" off="" once="" ooney.="" ooney="" options.="" or="" quickly="" raced="" rest="" scan="" season="" second="" seem="" should="" t="" that="" the="" this.="" this="" to="" too="" we="" win="" worry="" year=""> 0.75pts e/w Fruity O'Rooney 11/1
The one handicap I really like though is the cross country and it sets itself up nicely with the bare 16 runners. The answer I seem to find this year is not the one I thought it would be though. Generally you want to be wary of anything without course form, generally want to side with the Irish and if possible Enda Bolger/ Nina Carberry. You would think that this would naturally lead me to Arabella Boy who has all the right connections and 2 wins in Punchestowns Cross Countrys and was going well here when falling over the winter but hard to justify backing AB when in my mind Bostons Angel is fairly closely matched with that one and I actually think in the near 4mile slog BA will get the better of Nina's mount. If someone offers me tens on him in the morning I won't say no. But for me the one I can't get away from is Any Currency. A classy animal that should have won more in his career he has never raced over this course before but Keighley did have him out schooling over these fences last week and was impressed with how he handled them. At 14/1 I'm willing to take my chances on him.
1pt ew Any Currency 14/1
(0.5pts ew Bostons Angel at 10s or better)
The last race is one that is hard to get interested in although it is quite a compact handicap. The favourite is Colour Squadron at 6/1 who was beaten 17Ls by Ohio Gold off level weights on soft ground back in January. Today he is carrying 5lbs less and is 4 times the price - thats good enough for me to have a nibble
0.5pts e/w Ohio Gold
Just a quick disclaimer that handicap are not my strongest suit and I don't spend as much time researching here as on the other races. I have a few key trends I follow and some rules of thumb to try to limit the amount of horses I have to look at as much as possible so will in general be advising smaller stakes here.
In the JLT Chase just by looking at the age (7-10) and weight profile (<10st 11lbs="" 14="" 1lb="" 2="" a="" already="" and="" are="" ba="" bad="" be="" been="" br="" came="" can="" contenders.="" course="" doesn="" down="" eliminate="" enough="" for="" fruity="" get="" ground="" have="" he="" heavily="" here="" hopefully="" horses="" improve="" it="" last="" like="" likes="" loch="" lower="" o="" of="" off="" once="" ooney.="" ooney="" options.="" or="" quickly="" raced="" rest="" scan="" season="" second="" seem="" should="" t="" that="" the="" this.="" this="" to="" too="" we="" win="" worry="" year=""> 0.75pts e/w Fruity O'Rooney 11/1
The one handicap I really like though is the cross country and it sets itself up nicely with the bare 16 runners. The answer I seem to find this year is not the one I thought it would be though. Generally you want to be wary of anything without course form, generally want to side with the Irish and if possible Enda Bolger/ Nina Carberry. You would think that this would naturally lead me to Arabella Boy who has all the right connections and 2 wins in Punchestowns Cross Countrys and was going well here when falling over the winter but hard to justify backing AB when in my mind Bostons Angel is fairly closely matched with that one and I actually think in the near 4mile slog BA will get the better of Nina's mount. If someone offers me tens on him in the morning I won't say no. But for me the one I can't get away from is Any Currency. A classy animal that should have won more in his career he has never raced over this course before but Keighley did have him out schooling over these fences last week and was impressed with how he handled them. At 14/1 I'm willing to take my chances on him.
1pt ew Any Currency 14/1
(0.5pts ew Bostons Angel at 10s or better)
The last race is one that is hard to get interested in although it is quite a compact handicap. The favourite is Colour Squadron at 6/1 who was beaten 17Ls by Ohio Gold off level weights on soft ground back in January. Today he is carrying 5lbs less and is 4 times the price - thats good enough for me to have a nibble
0.5pts e/w Ohio Gold
Thursday, 7 March 2013
The blog is back...which can only mean one thing - it's nearly festival time again! Just a few quick thoughts on Tuesdays racing to get us started. I guess we might as well start at the start:
Supreme Novices:
All the talk here has been about JP's 2. Not hard to see why My Tent or Yours is top of the market after crushing the Betfair Hurdle off 148. That win left him with a lot of nasty stats to overcome but a fair bit better than most of horses that have previously tried this route to Supreme glory. Could have gone off second fav if he had gone for the Champion. A lot of respect for this guy but at 7/4 and the weight of history some some pretty decent horses against him I'll pass on him scaling the same heights as the betfair again so quickly.
Less deserving of his place at the top of the market is Jezki...don't get me wrong I think the Royal Bond is probably the strongest piece of Irish form to go off but 5/1? Really? Wasn't exactly great in the bumper last year and although he looked like getting into contention at the bottom of the hill he never looked particularly happy. Hasn't done anythin wrong over hurdles with 4 good wins but on his best form he was 1 1/2ls better than Champagne Fever getting 3lbs. Champagne Fever won the bumper last year never having been headed from the tape. This seems to be his standard operating procedure and I am assume he will go off in front to try and gallop them into submission again. At least we don't need to worry about him not liking racing in a crowd and know he can run downhill at speed without getting unbalanced - 2 key things in a supreme. (17 of the last 21 winners had previous won a race with 14 or more winners and everyone knows how important course form is ie the ability to run up AND down hills). Good ground would be needed to see him at his best and give him a chance to front-run without getting collared up the hill. He is more than 3 times the price of Jezki at 16s which looks wrong but still couldn't back him with rain and frost forecast.
One horse that will enjoy it if it comes up soft is Melodic Rendevous who comes with pretty strong form having taken down the G1 Tolworth before smashing the G2 winner Puffin Billy the next time out but think unless we get a downpour he'll find a couple too pacey and classy for him here.
Another horse who had been making hay in the mud (if thats possible) is Un Atout who could be anything, but a chaser in the making I would be more interested in backing him for the 2014 Arkle than this years Supreme especially at 7/1.
So who does that leave us with... a horse with course form and the second highest rating in the field. A horse that has beaten last years Supreme and Triumph hurdle winners already this year and yet is still only 4th favourite - Dodging Bullets @9/1 Won't be popular with the trend boys as he breaks pretty much every trend that will be quoted between now and next Tuesday although most of them I am happy to disregard the one worry is he hasn't raced since coming 3rd in the Christmas Hurdle (a piece of form that puts him well clear of everything but MTOY). Would like to have seen him have a spin around a track in Feb but Nicholls is charge and if any man knows how to get him there right its him. The only race DB didn't win at Cheltenham was last seasons Triumph where he came a close fourth not quite making it up the hill. He has had a breathing op since then which should help. Think the commentator mentioned him once in that race before the bottom of the hill before he arrived on the scene to challenge. With CF racing like a startled hare out the front he's sure to get the pace he like and come like a train to challenge late. What better way to start the festival than dodging a bullet when the short priced 'certainty' gets turned over.
1.5pts e/w Dodging Bullets 9/1
Arkle:
' He seemed to lack moral courage and just surrendered when challenged' - that is what I had to say about Simonsig in last years preview about 12 hours before he put in one of the performances of the festival to win the Neptune by 7Ls. You would think that I would have learned my lesson at this stage given he then started his chasing career with 3 wins for a combined winning distance of 99Ls .....but I just can't bring myself to bet this guy at 4/6 in comfortably his toughest test to date. I think it might be I prefer to see a horse get into a fight and win before getting stuck in a short odds in a proper G1. So if not him then who? Not exactly like there is much strength in depth here. You would think the logical place would be last years champion hurdle second who has 3 similarly easy chase wins so far this season but I prefer to go for a horse who has actually had to race something other than Aunt Sally's, who has won 2 genuine G1 chases and has had his jumping tested to the limits already (and broken) - Arvikka Legionnaire knows what it takes to win a battle having overcome Dedigout and Oscars Wells previously and would probably have accounted for the useful Beneficient if standing up in his last race. Didn't give him the credit he deserved when he beat Dedigout thinking Russell had let him steal a soft lead but he's proved himself since then. When Simonsig wins and i'm drying my eyes with some more losing betting slips at least I can console myself with the knowledge that at least this time SImonsig will know he's been in a race
Arvika Legionaire 1 pt e/w @8/1
Champion Hurdle:
2pts Zarkander
Mares Hurdle:
Having despaired with Keats crazed ramblings I decided to turn to Shakespeare for some inspiration on this one and he gave some pretty sage advice as could be expected:
"He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's health,
a boy's love, or a whore's oath."
Every year after 10 months Quevega re-emerges from the mists of Kildare to win 2 graded races at miniscule odds without any prep race and every year as everyone else empties and then reloads their wheel-barrows proclaiming her to be the surest bet since they got that broomcupboard out in Santry for only 600k I try to stand firm and decry their insanity for what it is, and every year I gradually get poorer and they get richer and more cocky...well I guess part of Cheltenham is the traditions so here goes my attempts to topple the queen of the Cotswolds!
Actually only 1 horse i'm going to bother mentioning here because with the honourable exception of Zuzka who probably won't run here the rest of these would struggle to win a claimer in Kilbeggan. Une Artiste is a different kettle of fish though. A festival winner last year in the Fred Winter and winner of 2 listed races so far this term this is a proper filly. If Willy S is right and anything goes wrong with the fav we will be on to a good one here.
2pts ew Une Artiste.
Right thats me done for tonight - don't worry I haven't forgotten everyone's favourite ATM the cross country chase but that will have to wait til issue 2 (probably Sunday)
Supreme Novices:
All the talk here has been about JP's 2. Not hard to see why My Tent or Yours is top of the market after crushing the Betfair Hurdle off 148. That win left him with a lot of nasty stats to overcome but a fair bit better than most of horses that have previously tried this route to Supreme glory. Could have gone off second fav if he had gone for the Champion. A lot of respect for this guy but at 7/4 and the weight of history some some pretty decent horses against him I'll pass on him scaling the same heights as the betfair again so quickly.
Less deserving of his place at the top of the market is Jezki...don't get me wrong I think the Royal Bond is probably the strongest piece of Irish form to go off but 5/1? Really? Wasn't exactly great in the bumper last year and although he looked like getting into contention at the bottom of the hill he never looked particularly happy. Hasn't done anythin wrong over hurdles with 4 good wins but on his best form he was 1 1/2ls better than Champagne Fever getting 3lbs. Champagne Fever won the bumper last year never having been headed from the tape. This seems to be his standard operating procedure and I am assume he will go off in front to try and gallop them into submission again. At least we don't need to worry about him not liking racing in a crowd and know he can run downhill at speed without getting unbalanced - 2 key things in a supreme. (17 of the last 21 winners had previous won a race with 14 or more winners and everyone knows how important course form is ie the ability to run up AND down hills). Good ground would be needed to see him at his best and give him a chance to front-run without getting collared up the hill. He is more than 3 times the price of Jezki at 16s which looks wrong but still couldn't back him with rain and frost forecast.
One horse that will enjoy it if it comes up soft is Melodic Rendevous who comes with pretty strong form having taken down the G1 Tolworth before smashing the G2 winner Puffin Billy the next time out but think unless we get a downpour he'll find a couple too pacey and classy for him here.
Another horse who had been making hay in the mud (if thats possible) is Un Atout who could be anything, but a chaser in the making I would be more interested in backing him for the 2014 Arkle than this years Supreme especially at 7/1.
So who does that leave us with... a horse with course form and the second highest rating in the field. A horse that has beaten last years Supreme and Triumph hurdle winners already this year and yet is still only 4th favourite - Dodging Bullets @9/1 Won't be popular with the trend boys as he breaks pretty much every trend that will be quoted between now and next Tuesday although most of them I am happy to disregard the one worry is he hasn't raced since coming 3rd in the Christmas Hurdle (a piece of form that puts him well clear of everything but MTOY). Would like to have seen him have a spin around a track in Feb but Nicholls is charge and if any man knows how to get him there right its him. The only race DB didn't win at Cheltenham was last seasons Triumph where he came a close fourth not quite making it up the hill. He has had a breathing op since then which should help. Think the commentator mentioned him once in that race before the bottom of the hill before he arrived on the scene to challenge. With CF racing like a startled hare out the front he's sure to get the pace he like and come like a train to challenge late. What better way to start the festival than dodging a bullet when the short priced 'certainty' gets turned over.
1.5pts e/w Dodging Bullets 9/1
Arkle:
' He seemed to lack moral courage and just surrendered when challenged' - that is what I had to say about Simonsig in last years preview about 12 hours before he put in one of the performances of the festival to win the Neptune by 7Ls. You would think that I would have learned my lesson at this stage given he then started his chasing career with 3 wins for a combined winning distance of 99Ls .....but I just can't bring myself to bet this guy at 4/6 in comfortably his toughest test to date. I think it might be I prefer to see a horse get into a fight and win before getting stuck in a short odds in a proper G1. So if not him then who? Not exactly like there is much strength in depth here. You would think the logical place would be last years champion hurdle second who has 3 similarly easy chase wins so far this season but I prefer to go for a horse who has actually had to race something other than Aunt Sally's, who has won 2 genuine G1 chases and has had his jumping tested to the limits already (and broken) - Arvikka Legionnaire knows what it takes to win a battle having overcome Dedigout and Oscars Wells previously and would probably have accounted for the useful Beneficient if standing up in his last race. Didn't give him the credit he deserved when he beat Dedigout thinking Russell had let him steal a soft lead but he's proved himself since then. When Simonsig wins and i'm drying my eyes with some more losing betting slips at least I can console myself with the knowledge that at least this time SImonsig will know he's been in a race
Arvika Legionaire 1 pt e/w @8/1
Champion Hurdle:
- "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," – that is all
- Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know
2pts Zarkander
Mares Hurdle:
Having despaired with Keats crazed ramblings I decided to turn to Shakespeare for some inspiration on this one and he gave some pretty sage advice as could be expected:
"He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's health,
a boy's love, or a whore's oath."
Every year after 10 months Quevega re-emerges from the mists of Kildare to win 2 graded races at miniscule odds without any prep race and every year as everyone else empties and then reloads their wheel-barrows proclaiming her to be the surest bet since they got that broomcupboard out in Santry for only 600k I try to stand firm and decry their insanity for what it is, and every year I gradually get poorer and they get richer and more cocky...well I guess part of Cheltenham is the traditions so here goes my attempts to topple the queen of the Cotswolds!
Actually only 1 horse i'm going to bother mentioning here because with the honourable exception of Zuzka who probably won't run here the rest of these would struggle to win a claimer in Kilbeggan. Une Artiste is a different kettle of fish though. A festival winner last year in the Fred Winter and winner of 2 listed races so far this term this is a proper filly. If Willy S is right and anything goes wrong with the fav we will be on to a good one here.
2pts ew Une Artiste.
Right thats me done for tonight - don't worry I haven't forgotten everyone's favourite ATM the cross country chase but that will have to wait til issue 2 (probably Sunday)
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