No More Heroes

[Liam301287]

Which race guys? He enterd in 5 races 4 miler Rsa Jlt Gold Cup and one other. Def Rsa or is there value to be had on this horse. Confusing for punters when there still enterd for so many at this late stage. Like there trying mug the punters.

[KingSprinterSacre]

I'll be shocked if its not the RSA

[Liam301287]

Just I'm trying pick a few horses to go into me Cheltenham Heinze and lucky 31. He was one of them if it was the Rsa.

[A_Horsie]

Think they said he's only entered in the GC as cover for the Dons and whoever else they plan to run in it. But yeah like KSS be very surprised if it's not the RSA.

[mayo]

RSA for sure.

[Istabraq]

Which race guys? He enterd in 5 races 4 miler Rsa Jlt Gold Cup and one other. Def Rsa or is there value to be had on this horse. Confusing for punters when there still enterd for so many at this late stage. Like there trying mug the punters.

Similar tales can be said for many horses.
The negative impact of the expanding festival is that trainers can, and do, enter their horses in multiple races and unless you have connections within yards you won't get to find out about their actual target until a few days before.
I don't believe any trainer is trying to mug anyone off, the system just allows trainers to be non committal until a very late stage.
I've said for years that entries should be brought forward to November with a second declaration stage in January where a large fee, say £5k, is paid to confirm acceptance, but if the horse actually runs in the race that fee is refunded (as would a vets cert for not running).
Ante post betting is more guesswork than anything these days, perhaps penalising owners with big entry fees (if they don't run) may bring some credibility back to the market....

[Faugheen_Machine]

I read, possibly on this forum, that entry rules have changed for the handicaps. You can no longer declare horses in handicaps on consecutive days of the festival.

[loveracing]

I read, possibly on this forum, that entry rules have changed for the handicaps. You can no longer declare horses in handicaps on consecutive days of the festival.

Correct F_M.

[Istabraq]

I read, possibly on this forum, that entry rules have changed for the handicaps. You can no longer declare horses in handicaps on consecutive days of the festival.

Yes, probably a positive move, though I read about an Irish trainer (nor sure which one) who had just one festival winner and it came from a horse who was declared in 2 handicap hurdle races, fell early in the first so went out again the following day and won !

Whilst the changes are probably a good thing they don't address the non handicaps so Liam's example of No More Heroes is valid, he could be entered in all 4 novice chases, the 3m h'cap chase and the Gold Cup and none of us will probably know his target until the weekend before Cheltenham....

[Faugheen_Machine]

It's not an easy issue to solve Ista. Restricting the amount of entries a horse can have seems unfair to me as ground conditions and the same stable/owners horses are always going to play a part in where horses from the big stables/owners end up.

[Istabraq]

Absolutely FM, I get the difficulties involved but it seems to me that racing fans in here and beyond have little issue identifying talented horses, the bigger issue comes from working out which race they'll run in, and that's why ante post punting has become a minefield.
My view is that racing has an obligation to protect punters and they have improved massively in recent seasons, but with ante post markets punters are still entirely exposed and you just know someone well connected is laying a horse they know will not run in a particular race without any NRNB insurance...