Monday December 5th 2022

Not to be.

That Racecard seems to have been a Rogues Gallery of names.

I don't know what was going on there.

Hi Leo, he's getting quirkier and the yard seem to be so worried about his jumping that they just let him go from fence to fence and hope for the best. I think the horse lacks confidence; he's either blundering or launching way too high. Fox seems to just leave him to it. I think it's worth trying a an old fashioned blazing front run with Fox taking proper charge of the horse, especially at his fences. They ought to make everything a stamina test as he has zero change of pace.

Joe. He was also jumping right, at least for several of the early fences.

Thanks Harry, and Jake and Luke. I agree, as Jakebuckfast points out, that nearby horses slowing down exaggerates the perception of any increase in speed, but I am undecided as it did look distinctly like a sudden pace change, unusual in a race that long. Another point is that no matter what type of whipping is used, when a horse is at the end of a long race, it seems to make only marginal differences. In some cases, I have heard, it actually has a negative effect on the horse's mentality. Not my subject, but speed times, if they exist for this event, might be instructive.

I know someone who has backed the horse antepost for the GN a long time ago and holds a 200-1 bet, later laid at 12s. He also backed it for the KG, but no-one knows if that is likely, though his odds in that have fallen after Saturday.

Tom, Whether being hit in the wrong place galvanised him - very possible - he still had the energy in reserve to pick up like that and seems to me a most unusual horse, so I wouldn't rule a Gold Cup out. To come off a hard race in the National and win your only two completed races afterwards - one a Grade 2 - says a hell of a lot about his constitution, as well as his talent. Have never backed him, but will watch with interest. As for Cheltenham suiting, he is 4 from 8 on undulating courses and 2 from 6 on flat tracks.

Joe. Yes, Noble Yeats does appear to possess a startling change of pace. I don't think that the other two horses actually slow at all, which I thought was a possibility. They appear to keep up their gallop.