Queen Mother Champion Chase 2021

[Ray]

Having the arse about the pull out is just a quick reaction, when you think about it, we dont hang around the stable and see altior, we dont lnow whats best for him, wipe your nose and get on with it..if he rocks up in the champ chase. COOL!

[Pendil1111]

Oh that's so frustrating, was looking forward to seeing one of the best ever. Just typical Henderson to do it at last moment.

He has got form , last year for example , still sickening tho'

[Captain Chris]

I appreciate what Charlie is saying and if it's for the welfare of the horse then I fully understand. But then I look at Nico's Unibet blog from yesterday...

"He has come a long way since winning his bumper on his debut in the summer of 2014, and let’s hope the fires are still burning in the winter of 2020. All the indications at home suggest they are. I am sure you have seen the videos of him schooling at home, and the Newbury racecourse gallop he had with Epatante, and we like to think he comes here plenty straight enough. Ideally, you may want as better ground as possible for him but we know he handles soft exceptionally well too, and he is five-from-five around here, including when beating Un De Sceaux in this race in the soft first time up two years ago. We fully respect Politologue after what he did at Cheltenham in March – a race we had to miss – and the up-and-comers like Rouge Vif and Greaneteen too, but the past tells us that they should probably be worrying more about him than we are about them. Let’s see how he gets on, though."

I must have missed the bit where he says," Ideally you want as better ground as possible for him and he won't run if it's too soft"

[Hardy Eustace]

Hendo is a pussy hendo is a pussy nah nah nah

[KingSprinterSacre]

Going update from the clerk of the course this morning - chase course is a mix of soft, good to soft.
fresh ground on both courses and it should stay dry..

[robith]

Youd think with all the grief he's got in the last two seasons Hendon would be a bit more careful on signing off the auld "hes a machine and nothing can beat him!" blogs if there was a chance the ground could go against him

[opatcho]

I personally don't think we'll see Altior at the Fez. Very strange to pull him out tomorrow. Think he actually needs Soft ground now to help him. Feels like a smokescreen to me.

It's very strange, I agree with that
I dont know where this "Altior wants good ground" has come from. I always thought he was better over soft ground, making it more of a stamina test
Not keen on this 'protect' the horse for the Fez attitude, always had Altior down as a little battler and a horse that loved racing. Just seems odd to me, yeah he's 10 now and had a niggle before the Fez last year but it's as if his legs are made out of glass now

I'm in deep AP with Altior, credits I've already written off.... but I want hoping for Altior to run today and win, so I can just leave the QM alone. Now I'm doubting the chances of Altior missing the Fez... and feel as-if I need to play my hand again before Chancun run

[Quevega]

I'd love the people getting annoyed with Nicky to share their thoughts about horse physiology, health longevity as horses age, and basic principles of asset protection.

Doubt it would fill a post-it note. You have 'wet panties' on your post-it Q - barring 'funny' digs and generic stuff like 'its bad for the game', what do you actually have in terms of substance to knock Hendo's decision?

I've not backed him for the tingle creek (for context)
I've actually backed politologue.

Please note Nicky's recent published comments, his comments have been replayed by several posters on here (take a look).
You seemed to be having a night of missing several posts for some reason.

The horse is 10 years old and has not many years left to race in grade ones.
The going on the chase course is Soft (good to soft in places) only 4mm of rain overnight and a cold dry day forecast.
He messed the horse about last year and ruined his season. He was crying out for further this time last year !!

There is no obvious reason not to run today, except that Nicky has decided not to for some reason, and I bet the reason is a wet one. Or he's lying.
He has pulled the horse out before for having just a bad feeling (the exchanges were a tell the last time)


Ps, your first sentence is pseudo smart.

I could go on for days about asset protection.
And I know the horse is 10, I know the ground is soft (good to soft places), I know he's had no problems with this ground in the past, and probably won't run again till February or March. And although I'm not the trainer, I have read his comments all week and he seems to think he's in tip top shape and as good as ever.

Hope this is better than some 'funny' digs.

[charlie]

I've not backed him for the tingle creek (for context)
I've actually backed politologue.

Please note Nicky's recent published comments, his comments have been replayed by several posters on here (take a look).
You seemed to be having a night of missing several posts for some reason.

The horse is 10 years old and has not many years left to race in grade ones.
The going on the chase course is Soft (good to soft in places) only 4mm of rain overnight and a cold dry day forecast.
He messed the horse about last year and ruined his season. He was crying out for further this time last year !!

There is no obvious reason not to run today, except that Nicky has decided not to for some reason, and I bet the reason is a wet one. Or he's lying.
He has pulled the horse out before for having just a bad feeling (the exchanges were a tell the last time)

Ps, your first sentence is pseudo smart.

I could go on for days about asset protection.
And I know the horse is 10, I know the ground is soft (good to soft places), I know he's had no problems with this ground in the past, and probably won't run again till February or March. And although I'm not the trainer, I have read his comments all week and he seems to think he's in tip top shape and as good as ever.

Hope this is better than some 'funny' digs.

Marginally better, but it's still just a long-winded way of saying you disagree with the decision. It doesn't matter what the reason is, it's their decision to make. You don't pay the fees and you don't know the in's and outs.

[charlie]

You seemed to be having a night of missing several posts for some reason.

That's because I was pissed Q

[Quevega]

Marginally better, but it's still just a long-winded way of saying you disagree with the decision. It doesn't matter what the reason is, it's their decision to make. You don't pay the fees and you don't know the in's and outs.

It is their decision - no problem with that. You didn't say that the first time.

It's also my decision to criticise it, in the manner of my choice.

Don't ever forget Charlie that punters indirectly pay the fees, and without good horses running, we'd have less horse racing punters/enthusiasts.
And misleading the paying public via published articles and public comments, will also be to the detriment of this.
Consequently, the sport would have less funding, and would potentially degrade over time.

[Hurricane fly]

Rightly or wrongly Henderson clearly got himself in a bind with his reasoning for pulling Altior out.

He says in the above posted blog that Altior wants as good ground as possible but can handle it soft. - Fair enough and evidence agrees. If he had in his mind what ground wouldn’t be acceptable this is a perfect place to do so. “If it’s soft we probably won’t run him” for example

He pulls him out due to the ground being too soft - again I would understand this BUT it is soft, good to soft in places. It’s December, are you really going to get better ground for him than this? 2 of the last 3 Desert Orchids have been run on Soft ground, so does he pull him out there?

The last 2 CCs have been run on Soft, aka worse ground than today, never raised as a concern in the build up. So what stars actually need to align for him to make his debut or even reach the racecourse? Anything other than genuine Good-to-Soft or better shows Nicky to be a hypocrite and that is where a lot of the frustration and questioning comes from.

[charlie]

It is their decision - no problem with that. You didn't say that the first time.

It's also my decision to criticise it, in the manner of my choice.

Don't ever forget Charlie that punters indirectly pay the fees, and without good horses running, we'd have less horse racing punters/enthusiasts.
And misleading the paying public via published articles and public comments, will also be to the detriment of this.
Consequently, the sport would have less funding, and would potentially degrade over time.

You are right, everyone is entitled to their opinion on this (despite seeming like I don't, I can see both sides of this).

The don't forget line is a good point, I just think it's a thin argument when made in reference to one horse not running on one afternoon. Will the game suffer long term because Altior didn't run today? IMO absolutely not. Will it leave people less enthusiastic about racing in general? IMO absolutely not (although it may make them less inclined to back Altior again).

[SharpHat]

Yeah but a better question is how many grade ones can politologue be gifted, if you were his owners you'd be laughing your ass off at all this 'ground not quite perfect nonsense

[Hurricane fly]

You are right, everyone is entitled to their opinion on this (despite seeming like I don't, I can see both sides of this).

The don't forget line is a good point, I just think it's a thin argument when made in reference to one horse not running on one afternoon. Will the game suffer long term because Altior didn't run today? IMO absolutely not. Will it leave people less enthusiastic about racing in general? IMO absolutely not (although it may make them less inclined to back Altior again).

It might not make people less enthusiastic about the sport, but it certainly helps push people to Irish Racing in my opinion.