The Champion Hurdle

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Harchibald 3-1
Back in Front 5-1
Hardy Eustace 6-1
Brave Inca 7-1
Mac's Joy 9-1
Rooster Booster 12-1

I'm never usually one for backing a horse anti-post but this year I might have to make an exception with HARDY EUSTACE. I backed this horse for the last two Champion Hurdles, simply because Cheltenham and that hill brings out the best in him.

Last year in the County Handicap hurdle there was a lot of words over here for Harchibald so I backed him and was counting my money from 3 out, before they encountered that hill. Carberry was his usual confident self so I was a bit worried but he really did look all over the rest of them. However, harchibald could not cope with the hill like so many before him. In his recent successful run of form he really hasn't had to cope with whats going to come up against him this march.

Everyone involved with Hardy Eustace know he's strengths and believe me, he won't be 6-1 come race day.

fr wishy washy

d'ont fancy harchibald to win it.though carbury defo came too soon in the county.
i'm split between hardy & brave inca and will wait till nearer.

evillive

fade2black wrote:

I backed this horse for the last two Champion Hurdles,

hardy eustace has only run in 1 champion hurdle so far

anyhow my fancy is for back in front who i imagine will be spot on for the race

in his two defeats this year i think rooster booster has been ok and will be in the places he jumps well at speed and will stay well enough

harchibalds performences have been great this year but noel meade has a horrendous record at the festival with only the one winner so that would warn me off there

so back in front and rooster booster for the forecast so

fade2black

evillive wrote:

hardy eustace has only run in 1 champion hurdle so far

anyhow my fancy is for back in front who i imagine will be spot on for the race

in his two defeats this year i think rooster booster has been ok and will be in the places he jumps well at speed and will stay well enough

harchibalds performences have been great this year but noel meade has a horrendous record at the festival with only the one winner so that would warn me off there

so back in front and rooster booster for the forecast so

I meant to say the last two Cheltenhams...the first when he beat pizarro.

You think Rooster Booster can be in contention here? I find that very surprising. And if you think Hardy Eustace won't be in the first two...with his liking of the track, his readyness in Spring and the Trainer's ability to have him gunning in march....well.......

fr wishy washy

fade2black wrote:

I meant to say the last two Cheltenhams...the first when he beat pizarro.

You think Rooster Booster can be in contention here? I find that very surprising. And if you think Hardy Eustace won't be in the first two...with his liking of the track, his readyness in Spring and the Trainer's ability to have him gunning in march....well.......

hardy :1st year was sun alliance hurdle with late kieran kelly on board.

rooster booster placed at best me thinks

evillive

fade2black wrote:

You think Rooster Booster can be in contention here? I find that very surprising. And if you think Hardy Eustace won't be in the first two...with his liking of the track, his readyness in Spring and the Trainer's ability to have him gunning in march....well.......

with absolute respect to the hardy eustace camp their record is excellent

i just thought back in front was very good at cheltenham beating rooster booster earlier this season and that should not have been anywhere near his peak

and i reckon rooster booster carries the 12 stone like a feather and will be a lot better in a fast run race, which despite the speculation every year that it might not be, once the tapes go up the heat is on

Robin1982

this year's champion hosts probably the deepest field i've ever seen for a championship race - by a long way race of the meeting

Redlancer

This is a real cracking race but I would cast doubts on Harchibald and Back in Front both who I think would run better in the stayers.Harchibald for me is a bit like Ridestone Cowboy.Im not sure he will find all that much if he comes under pressure which he will come march.

For me its all about Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca both of whom will be placed in my opinion.Others who I think will run well are Rooster Booster as there will be pace in this race for him and he wont have to make the running as in his two previous starts.

The suprise package I think will be Royal Shakespeare who is great value at 25/1 andwho came so close to beating Brave Inca last year while finishing a good second to Harchibald in Newcastle on seasonal reappearance.

Finally I backed Brave Inca at 14/1 in October after having a chat with a connection who said he would be placed and I have Hardy Eustace at 8/1 so we will see but Rooster Booster I feel is the main threat and will run well

chump

No one rates Macs Joy?

fade2black

To be honest...I think Mac's Joy has done his winning for a while. I think his connections feel the same, about Cheltenham anyway. Would be nice to see him put up a bold show but I think that hill may break his heart.

fr wishy washy

latest betting
4/1 co favs: harchibald,back in front & hardy eustace

just wondering does anyone out there fancy Essex ?

evillive

fr wishy washy wrote:

just wondering does anyone out there fancy Essex ?

i'd give him as good a shout as any, that was a big weight he carried at newbury and he gave solerina a good beating in the curragh late last year
definitely cant be denied a shot at this

still going to have rooster booster for a place at big odds as my bet this year

tiedcottage

Couldn't agree more abou the Booster, who may have his old pre Champion case of seconditis, but it's hard to see him out of the firstthree. But for winning it, cannot go for Harchibald or Macs Joy, has to be Back in Front over Brave Inca for me.

Can't say I agree it's the best Champion in a while, but then again the Champions have been pretty poor recently, the last really decent field was when Alderbrook roasted Large Action, Danoli, Fortune and Fame and Mysilv and I'd still rate that lot as better than this year's.

Big problem is lack of a pace, there's no horse capable of going a fast gallop like a Mysilv, a Make a Stand or a Intersky Falcon int he race, which is a worry for those like RB and Essex who need a fast run race.

masterK

I've been keen on Back in Front for a while now, seems to have all the attributes required.

I am also surprised that Macs Joy has been totally dismissed by so many people, most probably because everybody expected that come Cheltenham the ground would be good, however with just over two weeks to go the ground is still very much on the soft side of good, which will suit Macs Joy. Don't be surprised if a week before Cheltenham if the weather is still bad to see some support for him.

Morgans

Macs Joy would be one of the horses that would like good ground. There are three speed horses in the race (among the favs) Harchibald, Macs Joy, and Essex. Dont forget Accordion Etoile btw. The other three Brave Inca, Hardy Eustace, and Back In Front are not classic champion hurdle contenders. There optimum trip is slightly longer than 2m. (Back in Front less so)

Any horse could win. Ive backed Macs Joy in the autumn at 16s and am happy with that. He was vlaue for about 2l more than the verdict at Leopardstown last time out, havign fluffed his lines at the last, (a Geraghty trait after Essex and Kicking King this season) but Hardy Eustace looked better than ever when winning at Gowran. Looked better than Ive ever seen him that day, and I will have something on him. Both he and Essex are dangerous as they will lie handy to the pace.

Essex doesnt need a strong gallop, the TGT wasnt strongly run nor was the Pierse, he just might need a little more time to grow stronger. Only exceptional 5yos win the race. The lack of a strong gallop will effect Rooster Booster and accordion etoile more than any other horse. BRave Inca and Back In Front despite winning Supreme Novices would also prefer and end to end gallop, where they wouldnt be susceptible to the speed of Macs Joyor HArchibald. IMpossible to be dogmatic, but I will go for Hardy Eustace at this stage.

fade2black

fade2black wrote:

Harchibald 3-1
Back in Front 5-1
Hardy Eustace 6-1
Brave Inca 7-1
Mac's Joy 9-1
Rooster Booster 12-1

I'm never usually one for backing a horse anti-post but this year I might have to make an exception with HARDY EUSTACE. I backed this horse for the last two Champion Hurdles, simply because Cheltenham and that hill brings out the best in him.

Last year in the County Handicap hurdle there was a lot of words over here for Harchibald so I backed him and was counting my money from 3 out, before they encountered that hill. Carberry was his usual confident self so I was a bit worried but he really did look all over the rest of them. However, harchibald could not cope with the hill like so many before him. In his recent successful run of form he really hasn't had to cope with whats going to come up against him this march.

Everyone involved with Hardy Eustace know he's strengths and believe me, he won't be 6-1 come race day.

Happy Days

jimi_t

My throat is sore for roaring in the bookies... Great atmosphere and I'm thrilled for the win but did he really deserve it? I had e60 on Eustace so I'm not being biased here - Carberry should have pushed Harchibald just that bit harder at the end and he would have had it.

chump

my thoughts exactly...

even if it is a one gear horsie, at least TRY to see if it can go up a gear for the last few lengths

fade2black

Dont agree with you lads.

At this stage everyone already knows my opinion on this race but there are a couple of things we have to remember. Firstly, Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca are incredible battling horses...to suggest that Harchibald would have past them easily is doing a great injustice to those horses. As far as I can see everyone has gotton a little carried away with Harchibald. Paul Carberry is famous for making it look like his horse is going a lot better then he really is and lets face it when he ran past rooster booster that time he was passing a horse that had just run a race that tactically was suicidal for him and he was practically walking.

Mr. Carberry said that at cheltenham last year he brought harchibald to the front too early because he doesn't do much when he gets there, this is a fact! If he had've hitting the front he wasn't going to shoot away like a rocket like some people might think from looking at how Carberry was positioned. When he did push him he never looked like getting past Hardy Eustace

chump

but f2b I think where people have the issue is when you say

When he did push him he never looked like getting past Hardy Eustace

It didn't look like he pushed him, he didn't use the whip till the final stride

fade2black

If he pushed him 200 yards before I still don't think he would have got past Hardy Eustace.

ninebeanrows

But that's the exact point, he never pushed him at the finish..

It seemed very fishy to me that he didnt take out his whip
until the last stride even if it wouldnt of won it for him..

fade2black

He was afraid to get the horse to the front too soon like last year

chump

Ah ye,

I understand what you're saying and to be fair Hardy was a good winner for the irish and to stick it to the bookies, it just seems to me that harchibald could have just been given a wee kick at the end... at least if I had seen a kick I would know that he didn't have it in him

tiedcottage

HE deserved to win it, he was up for a battle, Harchibald was not. Harchibald not only can't be treated as a serious Cheltenham prospect ever again, he shouldn't even bother coming her again, unless the owner's see a place as worthy of him. I can understand why some backers were angry with Carberry, but he did all he could.

HE is probably the worst horse to win more than one Champion, but a lot of other CH multi winners were overrated (See You Then's form can be taken to bits for one, benefitting from the seriously unlucky Brownes Gazette). His place in the pantheon matters not a jot to Dessie Hughes, nor should it. He's now won three festivals running in battles, and of champion hurdlers probably only his own ride Monksfield was tougher. And he'll make it three. I may have won well with Arcalis, but he won a very substandard Sup Novices today. Nothing to fear there.

Disappointment of the race, definitely Back in Front, for whom there is now no point in returning. Fences beckon...

chump

give us a few tips for tomorrow tiedcottage

fade2black

My bankers for the meeting from the start were:

Hardy Eustace
Moscow Flyer
Baracouda
Penzance
Missed That.

Tomorrow will be a nightmare

tiedcottage

Need toc heck there's no rain tomorrow, chump. I had Cornish Rebel antepost many moons ago for the Sun Alliance this year, but the good ground's against him. I was also on Mephisto for the SA Hurdle, but he's out. I'm on Azertyuiop for the CC.

fade2black

Traitor!!! lol

tiedcottage

LOL, back.

Actually guys, yours truly is a cursed Englishman, despite the Irish horse user name (yes, I hear you, 3-2 up and even the French might beat us for second, ha-bloody hah). Going for Moscow would have been traitorous. I'm just looking forward to it. So long as Walsh lays it up to Moscow, if he gets beat, he gets beat. The fact is any of the first three would have been good enough to beat virtually any CC winner since Badsworth Boy. Just bad luck for the losing two but great for our viewing pleasure that they came together.

fade2black

Well Moscow Flyer has already proved he's better than the two of them so if he stays up...he wins. (In my very humble opinion)

evillive

i reckon paul carberry should have got some sort of ban or fine i dont think he rode to get the best possible finish position

i was on back in front and rooster booster e/w so my goose was cooked a fair bit out
even though carberry reckoned the horse would empty out when pushed he waved the whip at the horse once and hit it once as far as i could see thats hardly going to get a reaction anyhow

he was just too smart for his own good wanting to look as cool as ice IMO and he had us all believing him until the last 100 yards

something big is going to have to give tomorrow

moscow unbeaten if he stays up
azertyuiop never beaten at 2 miles on a left handed track

i think the dispute as to who is best could be settled once and for all if both jumped the last together and went on from there - now that would be a great finish

Crumbs

I remember about 6 months ago, there was a guy on the Betfair forums saying how confident he was about Harchibald winning the Champion Hurdle and how he had backed it at huge prices including 100/1. This was all before Harchibald started beating class horses in a canter and was brought into favouritism.

The guy was totally lambasted by others and had the p1ss taken out of him but he stood firm and said he was putting a further €20 on it every week until the Festival. I really felt sorry for him after the race. He's said tonight that he stood to profit around €85,000. :eek:

As for Carberry's ride, I thought it was absolutely fantastic! But as for her brother's, hmmm, I dunno. He should have kept Harchibald up Hardy's backside until 100 yards out, then eased him out to go past. When he got into all that daylight too soon, there wasn't much else he could do. Pushing the horse out and giving him a slap right after landing over the final flight would have given him a half-length lead or so but he would probably have been overhauled before the line then anyway.

It's wrong to say that he lacks the stamina to get up the hill at Cheltenham. Some people point to last year's County Hurdle as evidence but he's improved a lot from aged 5 to 6 and yesterday he covered the hill in practically the same time as Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca without hardly coming off the bridle. He's a speed horse alright and would prefer a flat track but I don't think that means he's unsuited to Cheltenham.

Imho, Harchibald is a serious machine of a horse who can never be opposed in any hurdle race in the future, and that includes at the Festival.