Horse Racing

[George1994]

Here they are. The boys themselves. Mullins and Ruby Walsh! Ruby is the leading jockey at the Festival with 25 wins, he could very well extend that to 29 today if all goes to plan! That track is stunning too!

[George1994]

Douvan storms away with the win, made it look easy!






This was a demolition. Un De Sceaux ran away with this, never left the front, perfect jumping! Amazing!


Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins owning the first day so far, looking like it could continue! Brilliant couple of races!

[George1994]

Druids Nephew with a great run race, I had him at 9/1. Beautiful jumping!







Now the big one!



And the rumours are true. Very VERY true! Faugheen the Machine! Demolished a field of 4 of the best hurdlers I have seen, and who between them shared 3 Champion Hurdles, and not far off 30 grade 1 victories!

WHAT A HORSE!

[George1994]

Well I'm in shock.

Last horse of the Mullins / Walsh quadruple to go off strong favourite, Annie Power, 11 wins from 12 races, 5 lengths clear at the final fence, going to win by 10, it is clear! And she clips the hurdle and collapses in a heap on the floor... Both horse and Jockey are fine, but that slip cost me £915 in winnings.



Here she is 2nd to last hurdle...

Congratulations to Glens Melody, winning after losing to the legendary Quevega last time out in the same race.

[George1994]

It has become clear what happened with Annie as she came to the last. Had no horses next to her to judge the jump by, and seeing as the sun was so low, the shadow cast by the fence was what saw and what she tried to jump. She is perfectly fine, the fall was very heavy but she is none the worse for it! William Hill estimates the money saved by that was closer to £50,000,000.

Here is a video of the final fence and run to the finish, such drama. DO NOT VIEW THIS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE A HORSE FALLING!

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/h...-power-5307576


On the second day there was even more drama! In the cross country, Toutencarmont pulled left over a big fence, and took out Quantitiveeasing with him, smashing through the rail and right into a cameraman, who fortunately dived at the last moment, possibly saving his life!

Here is an image from that incident! Will be cool to see if the photographer has any on his camera of the horses storming towards him!



I had a bad day in the betting, a lucky 63, in which one pulled out, three placed and only one won.

Very happy for Dodging Bullets in the Champion Chase, it was well deserved! Shame that this will more than likely be the end for one of the best 2 mile Chasers in history. Sprinter Sacre! Was pulled up 3 from home, Barry said he didn't feel right and didn't want to risk him!

Here's to you lad, you was amazing to watch!

[George1994]

I can't believe I missed the update of the Friday at Cheltenham! The Gold Cup day! The biggest race in British jumps racing! £315,000 in prize money, The Gold Cup!

Who did we have lining up?

Silviniaco Conti - been here twice before, lost both times! Had the best season of his life so far, is always dominant!

Djakadam - Willie Mullins / Ruby Walsh team up again!

Road To Riches - Bryan Cooper on his powerful Gigginstown House horse!

Many Clouds - Oliver Sherwood has seen a bit of a comeback season after some poor ones recently!


The race went as expected, top draw jumping, no mistakes from anyone! All grouped up close! This is how they normally go, we had the big hitters sat in midfield, the novice Coneygree was fronting the field, pushing them on at quite a solid pace.

Coming round the final bend, pretty much all but 3 were out! Conti was dead on his feet, Many Clouds was no where to be seen! Coneygree, Djakadam and Road To Riches were staying on!

Over the last! Coneygree is still there, Road To Riches and Djakadam are reeling him in!

Not fast enough! CONEYGREE! First novice in over 40 years to win the gold cup! What a performance! His jumping was impeccable, his front running speed was awesome, and Nico De Boinville on board done everything he needed to guide him home! Great jockey, really underrated, hopefully he picks up some better rides due to this!









I love that last photo, great shot!

[George1994]

Some great videos here from the Channel 4 Racing team, shows Paul Nicholls' fabulous 4 in all their Cheltenham Glory!



The Legends - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C235lhMMcw

Kauto Star - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoIZUg_G9lY

Master Minded - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awhtRllGXYA

Denman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFrCMZ1X_-o

Big Bucks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUXKWsoqMJA



These are all well worth the watch, if you want to get a feel for them, then I'd watch Kauto or Big Bucks, the two best in their respective fields. Steeplechasing and Hurdles. As mentioned in one of the videos, you have to be in your 60's to have witnessed Arkle in all his glory, but Kauto Star came very close to the magnificence of Arkle, and was enjoyed by millions of people all over Britain!

Some of the videos do show horses taking some tumbles, rest assured, all of these get up and were okay.



In other news, Davy Russell has been axed by Jim Culloty, after claiming that Davy wasn't good enough... Complete rubbish, but that is Jim for you, complete idiot. The news just gets worse for Russell, took a fall at Gowran and suffered a broken arm!

Barry Geraghty is out of the Grand National meeting, after suffering a fall at Punchestown and sustaining a hairline fracture in his Tibia. He hopes to make it back for th e Punchestown Festival. Big knock for any Druids Nephew fans, I had a great feeling about him for this years National, but without Barry on the back, I'm not sure how it will go.



Barry on The Druids Nephew above.


AP McCoy has also announce he will probably retire there and then if he wins the Grand National on April 11th. He has a great shot, Shutthefrontdoor has proved himself a big contender and will most likely go off second, with my bet of the Festival, Balthazar King, going off second favourite.

On the topic of Balthazar King, his trainer claims he is doing great work at home, but hasn't been on the track since a cross country event in November over in France. However, a fresh Balthazar King, is a dangerous Balthazar King! It will be a great day, the build up has me excited already!

[George1994]

Saturday 28th March 2015. The most lucrative horse race the world has ever seen! $10,000,000 in prize money for one race, the Dubai World Cup!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_World_Cup

Meydan Racecourse in Dubai will be the host, the evening also holds many other prestigious races, on a night where there is $28,000,000 in prize money up for grabs!

The Americans are sending over their hero, California Chrome! In my opinion he is over-rated, but lets see what he can do on the dirt of Meydan! He faces some very stiff opposition in the way of African Story, last years winner and Epiphaneia, the winner of the Japan Cup! African Story will be in the excellent hands of James Doyle, whose record around Meydan over the past 30 days reads:

Race date, time	Horse	Distance	Fin pos	Trainer	Prize money
07 Mar 15, 4.05	Hunter's Light (IRE)	1m 1f	1 / 12	S bin Suroor	£629,309
07 Mar 15, 3.30	African Story (GB)	1m 2f	1 / 9	S bin Suroor	£839,078
07 Mar 15, 2.55	Sky Hunter (GB)	1m 4f	1 / 10	S bin Suroor	£150,001
26 Feb 15, 6.15	Tha'ir (IRE)	1m 2f	2 / 12	S bin Suroor	£95,215
26 Feb 15, 3.55	Local Time (GB)	1m 1f 110y	1 / 5	S bin Suroor	£524,427

[George1994]

Well, Chrome couldn't do it in Meydan. He was beaten by the 8yo Godolphin horse, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Prince Bishop. He was last of the pack most of the way. Had to come very wide of the pack to hit the front late on and was like a steam train! Flying round the bend! No excuses for Chrome really. Bad draw, but no doubt had an easier race than some of the others around him and had a much easier race than the winner. Connections are now saying they want to take him to Ascot... Bad choice. He will not beat the best of the British on our turf. We run on it day in, day out. We know our turf, know who rides it well, and have a proven track record on it. Also Chrome minus the Lasix... I don't know haha!

Anyway. The Irish national was held at Fairyhouse this weekend. It was won by 20/1 shot, Thunder and Roses, ridden by Katie Walsh. Sister of Irish Champion Jockey, Ruby Walsh.



Good looking horse!




Looking forward, we have the Crabbies Grand National race coming up. Held over 4 mi, 3 f, 110 yd (7,141m) it is a slog! 40 horses, 30 fences and a huge day of betting for Britain!

My money is on Balthazar King! Stunning horse, amazing cross country horse, best jumper I have ever seen and has proven stamina when finishing 2nd last year! But, this is the national. Anything can happen, and it often does!





The final declarations for the race will be announced on Thursday.

I will keep you all updated when they are out so you can place your bets

[George1994]

Firstly, let me get the sad news over and done with. We lost 2 great horses over these 3 days of festival. Firstly Balder Succes, fell in the Melling Chase and badly injured his shoulder. The vets could not save him and had to put him down early yesterday morning.

We also sadly lost Seedling, in the first race of national day. At a fast gallop down the straight, he hit the last hurdle and fell. Fatally injuring himself and dying instantly. Very distressing scenes and terrible for all those involved. My condolences go out to them.

Now, onto the racing! On the Thursday we saw Silviniaco Conti back to winning ways in the Betfred Bowl. Was a pretty straight forward race for him, you could see he was still a bit tired from Cheltenham but his jumping was perfect and did all asked of him! Top horse!

We also saw Jezki vs Arctic Fire, not the same race after Hurricane Fly pulled out but still a good standard! The two stalked the field until 3 out when Ruby and AP let their mounts go. And go they did! Nose to nose coming up to the last and Fire takes a tumble, a heavy one! He hinders Rock on Ruby at the same time! Jezki makes it an easy 12 length win! Arctic Fire got up and is perfectly okay!

On the Friday we have the big race of the day, the Melling Chase! Champagne Fever, Al Ferof, Balder Succes, Don Cossack, Cue Card! Top race!

Unfortunately we lose Balder at the third, and he is fatally injured, but the race carries on, Champagne Fever is looking strong, as is Cue Card and Don Cossack! The race comes down the back straight and everyone is losing ground on Don Cossack! He eases home to a 26 length win!

National day!

39 starters in the National this year, one pulled out late on! Rocky Creek, Shutthefrontdoor, Balthazar King, Monbeg Dude, Oscar Time, Pineau Du Re, Soll!

So many top horses to choose from! The first fence claims 3 riders! Many still going strong!

Fence 8, Balthazar King takes a tumble! Reaches for the fence, really unusual for him to make a jumping mistake! As he is getting back up, Ballycasey storms over the jump and clatters into King... I thought the worst. I had lost my bet, but that was the last thing on my mind. I thought I had just witnessed the death of one of my favourite horses. The screens go up and the vets come rushing.

Many fallers, brought downs and pull ups over the next 2 1/2 miles! One still going markedly strong is Many Clouds! He needs it after his poor run in the Gold Cup!

Final fence, he clears it easily, on the run in you can see he is never going to get caught! Beautiful win, 2nd National in a row for Leighton Aspell, first national win for Oliver Sherwood!



Balthazar King is surviving currently. He is suffering a concussion and 4 broken ribs. He looks like he will pull through. He is an incredibly tough horse, so I have full faith in him doing so. Heart goes out to the Philip Hobbs team and all connections of Balthazar.

Lastly, but most importantly, an update on the Robbie McNamara situation. He took a massive fall at Wexford on Friday. 8 broken ribs, punctured lung, bleeding in the lungs and chest cavity and a broken T11 vertebrae.

He went into surgery on Saturday for the spinal issues, which are now stabilised. The other injuries will recover in time, but really don't help with his recovery of the back problem. Only 26 years old. Here's to a full recovery! Good Luck Robbie!



Hope to see you like this again one day soon!