Biggest Let Down

ste2010

Just set up a thread to nail down the let downs over the past few years. These can be hype horses or ones that just never lived up to their expectation on a grand scale. There are always some every year

Fingal Bay
Dunguib
Notre Pere

The Mig

Mikael D'Hauganet for me. Ruby said he could win a Gold Cup after winning the neptune!

longshotvalue

Tataniano, is probably my favourite horse and produced an epic diaplay of jumping at speed at aintree and only reproduced it once since, in a handicap a couple of years ago of a big weight. I did see some signs last time out that he may be able to win again and hopefully ill be on when he does..

Marooned75

Carvills hill what a horse if only he wasn't as fragile never got the chance to win a few gold cups some run in welsh national

brandon_flowers

Weapons Amnesty for me. Even though he delighted me on many days he would have had a massive shout for a few GC's had he stayed right.

convert

Was actually thinking about Dunguib over the last few days and had a look at him. He hasn't run in quite a while - was there any particular reason, such as injury, or did they just decide to retire him as he didn't live up to expectations based on earlier runs?

shamdrog63

convert wrote: »

Was actually thinking about Dunguib over the last few days and had a look at him. He hasn't run in quite a while - was there any particular reason, such as injury, or did they just decide to retire him as he didn't live up to expectations based on earlier runs?

Think he,s on the comeback trail.

boysinblack

Flemenstar...

kiers47

Black Jack Ketchum. Looked outstanding when running away with the Spa Novices. Never really lived up to that level out of Novice company.

shamdrog63

Mention of Fleminstar brings Bog Warrior to mind.Remember him making a massive impression at Navan when beating Fleminstar but never went on from there.

themandan6611

nick dundee, was a machine and such a shame he ended the way he did, could have been something special

jimjamcos

Camelot, Leger. And everything after.

BumperD

Rite of passage failing to win the champion bumper but good enough to win two Ascot gold cups. Proof if ever needed that NH > Ft racing

pointtopint

dunguib has never been sound since his champion bumper win almost..shin splints of some sort ..[i not a vet ..thats what i was told by a lad has horses with fenton]
i also though that the round of jumping that bog warrior put in was amazing at navan ..he fell twice after [correct me if i am wrong ] and never was right after ..beef of salmon was another disappointing one for me..never really cut the mustard when the big chips were down ..for this season long run has been a big disappointment for me ..the big hype is no more ..i thought he would replace kauto star as the new chasing legend !!

jimjamcos

pointtopint wrote: »

dunguib has never been sound since his champion bumper win almost..shin splints of some sort ..[i not a vet ..thats what i was told by a lad has horses with fenton]
i also though that the round of jumping that bog warrior put in was amazing at navan ..he fell twice after [correct me if i am wrong ] and never was right after ..beef of salmon was another disappointing one for me..never really cut the mustard when the big chips were down ..for this season long run has been a big disappointment for me ..the big hype is no more ..i thought he would replace kauto star as the new chasing legend !!

In fairness to him, Long run was remarkably consistent for his first 26 runs and has probably just ran 3 races too many at that level. Couldn't call him a let down in any shape or form.

kksaints

Cooldine and Boston Angel.

Harry Angstrom

Harcon and His Song.

klairondavis

Nick Dundee. He was running all over Looks Like Trouble.

NewApproach

Bannow Strand

UrbanSea

Trafford Lad and Cooldine. Both looked to have huge futures

Gringo180

Noland, Voy Por Ustedes.

Hulk Hands

pointtopint wrote: »

dunguib has never been sound since his champion bumper win almost..shin splints of some sort ..[i not a vet ..thats what i was told by a lad has horses with fenton]
i also though that the round of jumping that bog warrior put in was amazing at navan ..he fell twice after [correct me if i am wrong ] and never was right after ..beef of salmon was another disappointing one for me..never really cut the mustard when the big chips were down ..for this season long run has been a big disappointment for me ..the big hype is no more ..i thought he would replace kauto star as the new chasing legend !!

Beef or Salmon did it when the chips were down plenty of times, including beating the then Gold Cup winner War of Attrition and the Listener in the hennessey, both when he was well past his best. The horse was incredible, but he didn't like Cheltenham, simple as that. For some reason that unfair track will always divide the heroes from the villains in national hunt terms. For all that I love the festival, it's one of the sports few flaws

huey1975

I thought First Gold would win three Gold cups after watching him win his King George.
I watched Montelado win his supreme novice and thought he was the greatest hurdler I would ever see, but I thought there was a horse called "The Ill-fated Golden Cygnet" so the ones that don't make it achieve an immortality seldom achieved in reality.
The fact Harchibald never won a champion hurdle was a huge disappointment to me

kiers47

Gringo180 wrote: »

Noland, Voy Por Ustedes.

In fairness Voy Por won a Queen Mother and an Arkle as well as winning the Melling twice and winning over £1M in prize money hardly that disappointing?

Colonel Sanders

Not so much a let down as that's (unfortunately) part of NH racing but for me it has to be Nick Dundee

He'd have put up an outrageous performance in the 1999 RSA Chase had he stood up. Williamson said he'd have beaten Looks Like Trouble, a good gold cup winner) 20+L & the way he was travelling with Carberry (wasn't it?) looking over his shoulder on Looks Like Trouble to see were there threats for 2nd backs it up

tryfix

Marooned75 wrote: »

Carvills hill what a horse if only he wasn't as fragile never got the chance to win a few gold cups some run in welsh national

They should have sent him to the Ascot Gold Cup on the flat, he was good enough to win that or any hurdle race ( he once beat Classical Charm the Irish Champion Hurdler and 2nd in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham by 20l or more in a racecourse gallop ).

Fekin fences Jim Dreaper was obsessed with them, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was the worst place you could send him to.

Remember Jenny Pitman with Golden Freeze in the Gold Cup trying to put him out of the race to give Toby Tobias the best chance of winning. Kept jumping across him IIRC and he couldn't perform at his best. Still probably wouldn't have won but it was a really nasty tactic.:mad:

klairondavis

Colonel Sanders wrote: »

Not so much a let down as that's (unfortunately) part of NH racing but for me it has to be Nick Dundee

He'd have put up an outrageous performance in the 1999 RSA Chase had he stood up (Williamson said he'd have beaten Looks Like Trouble, a good gold cup winner) 20+L & the way he was travelling with Carberry (wasn't it?) looking over his shoulder on Looks Like Trouble to see were their threats for 2nd backs it up

I doubt Best Mate would have won three Gold Cups had Nick Dundee stood up this day. He looked a chaser of immense potential.

klairondavis

tryfix wrote: »

They should have sent him to the Ascot Gold Cup on the flat, he was good enough to win that or any hurdle race ( he once beat Classical Charm the Irish Champion Hurdler and 2nd in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham by 20l or more in a racecourse gallop ).

Fekin fences Jim Dreaper was obsessed with them, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was the worst place you could send him to.

Remember Jenny Pitman with Golden Freeze in the Gold Cup trying to put him out of the race to give Toby Tobias the best chance of winning. Kept jumping across him IIRC and he couldn't perform at his best. Still probably wouldn't have won but it was a really nasty tactic.:mad:

Didn't Pipe have him when he ran in the Gold Cup?

hucklebuck

Punchestowns, looked like he was going to dot up in the RSA and all downhill from there.

Diamond Harry and Burton Port who were both out for about a year after delivering on their potential in the Hennessy and haven't been near the same since. Both could end up in the National.

Last Instalment getting injured was a shame especially after the potentially brilliant Weapons Amnesty getting injured for the same connections.

kksaints

klairondavis wrote: »

Didn't Pipe have him when he ran in the Gold Cup?

He ran twice in it I thought. Didnt he fall in Desert Orchids gold cup in 1989?

klairondavis

kksaints wrote: »

He ran twice in it I thought. Didnt he fall in Desert Orchids gold cup in 1989?

You're correct. Wasn't he a novice that year and all?

hucklebuck

kiers47 wrote: »

In fairness Voy Por won a Queen Mother and an Arkle as well as winning the Melling twice and winning over £1M in prize money hardly that disappointing?

Agreed and also he was unlucky enough to run into Kauto Star, Masterminded and Imperial Commander and to a lesser but wonderful extent Monets Garden and Albertas Run.

kksaints

klairondavis wrote: »

You're correct. Wasn't he a novice that year and all?

He could have been but Im not sure. The race happened 2 years before I was born so Ive only seen recordings of it.

klairondavis

kksaints wrote: »

He could have been but Im not sure. The race happened 2 years before I was born so Ive only seen recordings of it.

I think he was. Same thing happened Beef Or Salmon. Timmy Murphy said he was only a shadow of the horse he was after falling in the Gold Cup as a novice and yet he still went on to win a bucket load of grade 1s.

Colonel Sanders

klairondavis wrote: »

I doubt Best Mate would have won three Gold Cups had Nick Dundee stood up this day. He looked a chaser of immense potential.

More painful every time I look at it

Not sure why Williamson thought he needed a big one 3 out but his quick thinking grabbing the horse may well have saved its life.

That was my leaving cert year, always say I'm glad I wasn't in full time employment as I'd have lost my tonsils on it

hucklebuck

klairondavis wrote: »

I doubt Best Mate would have won three Gold Cups had Nick Dundee stood up this day. He looked a chaser of immense potential.

Very sad alright, am I imaging it or did Carberry look back a few times after the race for Nick Dundee.

Gringo180

kiers47 wrote: »

In fairness Voy Por won a Queen Mother and an Arkle as well as winning the Melling twice and winning over £1M in prize money hardly that disappointing?

True enough but he did disappoint in his last year chasing, retired at only 9.

hucklebuck

Gringo180 wrote: »

True enough but he did disappoint in his last year chasing, retired at only 9.

Those Frenchies down tools early though

redzerdrog

aran concerto

UrbanSea

No lads Voy Por was found to have been running for over a year with some sort of undiagnosed fracture, came back in the Ryanair and injured himself again you can hardly say he disappointed

Gringo180

UrbanSea wrote: »

No lads Voy Por was found to have been running for over a year with some sort of undiagnosed fracture, came back in the Ryanair and injured himself again you can hardly say he disappointed

No way didn't know that, no wonder the owner gave Alan King the bullet shocking that is :pac:

Sir des champs

"golden cygnet" had the potential to be the greatest of them all.his 15 length hammering of the supreme field was described as the easiest winner ever seen at the festival .he won in a time alot faster than that years champion and was installed favourite for the following years even before that years had been run.he was described by the master vincent o brien as the greatest hurdler he'd ever seen i think that statment coming from him says it all.unfortunetly they ran him once to much that season breaking his neck in the scottish champion.the galway syndicate who owned him still to this day cant believe how things ended but on the other hand maybe it was a case of greedy owners.dorans pride been shot at the last fence in the foxhunters also springs to mind.

Imhof Tank

The flat has been riddled with let downs over the years. 2 immensely promising 2 year olds that didn't train on were Arazi and Storm Bird. Also all those Derby winners that failed to win again after Epsom.

In NH terms there have been plenty of fatalities and injury cases such as Golden Cygnet etc but you couldn't really classify those as "let downs" per se.

Notable recent NH let downs for me would be Time For Rupert and especially Mikel D'Ag over fences.

NewApproach

Horatio Nelson.

I had been backing him for the Derby since the previous summer (33/1 down IIRC), his was the first major position I took in an Ante Post market.

Sir des champs

NewApproach wrote: »

Horatio Nelson.

I had been backing him for the Derby since the previous summer, hs was the first major position I took in an Ante Post market.

yeats getting injured before the derby was a big derby let down.

Dr. Bre

anybody remember Harcon from the mid nineties? he was the fav for the RSA chase and disappointed, never seen him again

Dr. Bre

more recently Grand Crus springs to mind

Marooned75

Dancing brave getting beat in the derby starkey made a dogs dinner of it

Harry Angstrom

tryfix wrote: »

They should have sent him to the Ascot Gold Cup on the flat, he was good enough to win that or any hurdle race ( he once beat Classical Charm the Irish Champion Hurdler and 2nd in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham by 20l or more in a racecourse gallop ).

Fekin fences Jim Dreaper was obsessed with them, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was the worst place you could send him to.

Remember Jenny Pitman with Golden Freeze in the Gold Cup trying to put him out of the race to give Toby Tobias the best chance of winning. Kept jumping across him IIRC and he couldn't perform at his best. Still probably wouldn't have won but it was a really nasty tactic.:mad:

Carvills Hill was a mudlark. He wouldn't have won an Ascot Gold Cup in a million years.

Sir des champs

dawn run the great mare not returning to defend her gold cup crown was dissapointing.the owner mrs hill demanded her to run in the french champion hurdle against the trainers wishes, what a costly mistake that turned out to be bringing a gold cup winner back over hurdles.

tryfix

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Carvills Hill was a mudlark. He wouldn't have won an Ascot Gold Cup in a million years.

He would in the mud