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**Old Vic** · 17 March 2015, 10:46 AM

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**mayo** · 17 March 2015, 01:03 PM

Havent been able to get pysched up for the reruns yet but posted them on the other thread.

Happy St Pats to all.

**Mytentoryours** · 18 March 2015, 07:07 PM

Wait For Me. Pulled really hard in the bumper and still came up the hill well for 3rd.

**Mytentoryours** · 18 March 2015, 07:08 PM

Vyta Du Roc already mentioned above but he really impressed me as well. Thought the trip was too short for him beforehand, but he would have been a clear 2nd but for that mistake at the last.

**mayo** · 22 March 2015, 09:38 AM

Two from the Donn (eventually)

It looked like they were going fast in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Tuesday, and it looked like Ruby Walsh was dictating things on his own terms in the Champion Hurdle two hours later, but you would not have thought that the novices would go more than three seconds faster. They did. 3.4 seconds faster, to be precise.

That is not to take away from Faugheen’s performance in winning the Champion, it is more a reflection of the pace in the respective races. It is not an unusual occurrence, that the novices go faster than the Champion Hurdle horses. In 2008, Captain Cee Bee went 1.65secs faster in winning the Supreme than Katchit went in winning the Champion. In 2011, Al Ferof went 1.61secs faster in the Supreme than Hurricane Fly went in the Champion. In 2013, Champagne Fever went 3.75secs faster than the same Hurricane Fly.

It is the comparative sectional times that tell the true story of the respective races. Confirmed front-runner Some Plan took the field along at a strong pace in the Supreme on Tuesday, while in the Champion Hurdle, in a race in which there was no real recognised confirmed front-runner, Ruby Walsh was allowed set whatever pace he wanted, which is always a dangerous concession.

Remarkably, Some Plan went almost two and a half seconds faster from the first flight to the second flight than Faugheen did, and he went almost two seconds faster from the second flight to the third. So by the time they jumped the third flight of hurdles, the first flight in the back straight, the novices were fully four and a half seconds ahead of the Champion Hurdle horses. Faugheen was getting a solo.

People have since questioned how the other riders could have left Ruby Walsh and Faugheen alone on the front end like that, how could they have played into their hands so readily. The answer is simple: none of the other riders wanted to lead. Whatever horse would have challenged Faugheen on the front end would have compromised his own chance of winning. Understandably, nobody wanted to be the sacrificial lamb. And it is probable that Faugheen would have won, however the race had been run.

Conclusions? Faugheen was brilliant, but Arctic Fire’s performance can be marked up at least a little, given that he came from the back and passed every other horse in the race except the winner. In the Supreme, likewise, Douvan was the best horse in the race on the day, no question, but Sizing John did well to finish as close as he did in third place having raced prominently from early.

**mayo** · 22 March 2015, 09:41 AM

and a third

Bumper start

Tom Scudamore said after he won the Champion Bumper on Moon Racer on Wednesday that the start had been a disaster for him. The false start led to a standing start, and Moor Racer took it literally. He stood still for a few seconds until the horses around him had departed before he realised what was being asked of him.

In hindsight, however, it might not have been that bad a thing that the favourite missed the kick. The pace in the Bumper was fairly frenetic from the start. The race was probably run to suit the hold-up horses, of which Moon Racer ultimately was one. The first four home, who finished clear of their rivals, were all held up.

The horse to mark up most from the race, therefore, is probably the Henry de Bromhead-trained Supasundae. He was keener than ideal through the early stages of the race, he was always prominent and he led from fully three furlongs out. He did fade inside the final furlong, but that was understandable, and he kept on well enough to finish sixth.

The Galileo gelding won a Wetherby bumper for Tim Fitzgerald last March, then won a good Ascot bumper in December for Andrew Balding, when he had Cheltenham Bumper fourth Yanworth behind him in second, the pair of them clear of Willie Mullins’ mare Rio Treasure. He is an exciting recruit for de Bromhead and Ann and Alan Potts, and he will be of immediate interest now if he takes his chance in the Punchestown Bumper.

**mayo** · 22 March 2015, 09:54 AM

another four to follow from another branch of the McClean family

Amongst a collection of stunning oil paintings circling the paddock for the Supreme Novices there weren't any looked as sumptuous as Tell Us More. Although only third selection from the Mullins quartet, the son of Scorpion was still quietly fancied by some. Somewhat keen in the preliminaries and requiring two handlers in the parade ring, Tell Us More was far too keen in the race itself to ever afford himself the chance to last home. Having jumped the second last in a joint lead the Gigginstown horse gradually faded as the needle closed on empty. His achievements over hurdles are simply a precursor to his ultimate purpose over fences, but in the meantime he could easily pop up in a decent race before the season's end.

It was an unusual move to see Jonjo O'Neill's €105,000 French import Matorico pitch up in the Triumph after just one run for the yard the previous month. At 33/1 the grey gelding never had any real pretensions to winning the four-year-old championship contest, especially off the back of just one quiet run at Huntingdon - quiet enough to have AP McCoy requested to explain the ride by the stewards. With McCoy on Hargam in the Triumph, it was left to the sympathetic hands of Paul Carberry to steer McManus' Matorico around Prestbury Park. The grey ran exceedingly well until beyond the home turn, after which Carberry was very kind once apparent his mount was not going to be a factor at the business end. There are certainly races to be won with this son of Mastercraftsman and it will be interesting to see what course the yard plots next.

Going into the RSA Chase, Wounded Warrior and Adriana Des Mottes could be seen to have very similar form against both Rule The World and Gilgamboa and very similar chance of winning (very little) and ran almost to the pound by finishing a head apart in third and fourth behind Don Poli.

At six and five years old respectively both still have lots more to give, but over contrasting distances in the future. Adriana Des Mottes jumped and travelled as well as any horse all week at the rear under masterful Ruby Walsh handling only to not quite see out the distance, whereas Wounded Warrior got outpaced before staying on strongly. Their best days are still to come.

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