Punchestown 2014 tips/talk/gossip

The fly to beat Jezki...

Ruby said tonight on Second Captains he plans on racing at the festival and not just to make up the numbers. Riding out this weekend in preparation. That is an unreal recovery.

rossom wrote: »

Wouldn't have thought so. I think they'll try get Hurricane Fly his 20th Grade 1 success and then retire him.

Could they not run both. Un De Sceaux has run in either small fields with no challenge or over a distance that didn't suit in France. Surely the owners will demand he runs to find out how good he is. I would be losing patience at this stage if i owned him.

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Hard to get excited about Punchestown. Holding Ireland's foremost National Hunt Festival at the end of April/beginning of May is about as sensible as Ascot having a Champions' Flat meeting on heavy ground in the middle of October......

It's a double edged sword really.. They want big players..they can't clash with aintree or Cheltenham..they can't have a big festival in February given proximity to Cheltenham and leopardstown..only other option would probably be November..chances the best horses being fully wound up for November is small..really difficult to find another time to run them. Personally I really like the festival, and if some UK trainers were a bit smarter they would run their Cheltenham horses here instead of aintree given how flat some horses run there and how much it suits certain horses

jimjamcos wrote: »

Un de Sceaux confirmed for France on Saturday instead of Punchestown. Hong Kong next eh Willie! :rolleyes:

What distance is that race?


EDIT,,, 2m 3 and a half furlongs

bellybuster12 wrote: »

What distance is that race?


EDIT,,, 2m 3 and a half furlongs

Love the horse but kinda hope he's beaten. Should never be ran over anything bar the minimum IMO.

Strange to hear Ted Walsh completely dismiss the chances of Hurricane Fly reversing the Champion Hurdle placings with Jezki at Punchestown next week during the racing coverage on RTE over the weekend. Walsh seems to have a very selective memory. Jezki has twice finished behind Hurricane Fly this season, and we all know that Cheltenham is a track that doesn't really suit Hurricane Fly, which makes his two Champion Hurdle wins there all the more remarkable. I hope Ted will be eating his words next week.

Un De Sceaux going to France this weekend and not Punchestown, horse has not run at any of the big meetings/festivals in Ireland/England this season :rolleyes:

jimjamcos wrote: »

Willie's also hinting that he could go over fences next season now too. He'll get the horse killed before he gives him a proper chance over hurdles it seems..

I'm pretty sure he knows more about his own horses than any of us. He obviously knows he's no where near Hurricane fly ,and if hes not going to compete in a champion hurdle why not over fences.. Id love to see him flying in the arkle next year. It has to be said all he has done yet like a lot of more or less unproven novices is look good against inferior horses.

jimjamcos wrote: »

Not even getting into this argument with you. Utterly pointless. If you believe that's the reason UDS had been campaigned the way he has then fair enough. Plenty of others with a different view, myself included.

FWIW I'm pretty sure he's somewhere near HF at this stage of their respective careers.

To be fair Jim I've been shouting from the rooftops about UDS since last season and I personally feel a little let down by his run in Auteil actually receiving 7lb's to a 3m 2f horse!!
You could argue that he ran over a distance to far but we know the champion hurdle plays out like a race over 2m all things counted for. You can't get away from the fact gemix got so close to beating him giving him weight..
If you could put the same race in Auteil back in February and a price of 12-1 was available for the champion I wouldn't have backed him...
I personally wouldn't be surprised if blood cotil won the race at the weekend..will have to see the weights.
Sending him over 2m 3 again is madness

ste2010 wrote: »

To be fair Jim I've been shouting from the rooftops about UDS since last season and I personally feel a little let down by his run in Auteil actually receiving 7lb's to a 3m 2f horse!!
You could argue that he ran over a distance to far but we know the champion hurdle plays out like a race over 2m all things counted for. You can't get away from the fact gemix got so close to beating him giving him weight..
If you could put the same race in Auteil back in February and a price of 12-1 was available for the champion I wouldn't have backed him...
I personally wouldn't be surprised if blood cotil won the race at the weekend..will have to see the weights.
Sending him over 2m 3 again is madness

Don't think UDS will ever be at his best over a trip given how hard he goes. Gemix is a very good horse on his own turf anyway as shown when beating Solwhit comfortably last season. He clearly underperformed badly when coming over to Cheltenham this season. I wouldn't back UDS this weekend tbh and would consider backing Gemix pride depending. Do think UDS at least deserves a crack at top 2m race in Ireland though and the excuses trotted out for skipping Cheltenham with him don't really apply to Punchestown given the likely field and how impressive he was there previously.

BumperD wrote: »

Ruby rides UDS Saturday. How in gods name did he recover from that injury so quickly.

Injury wasn't near as bad as first reported, the compound fracture was a straightforward break and the cut above the elbow healed in no time.

Moon Dice wrote: »

Why is Annie Power not in the betting for the world hurdle with Paddy Power?
Quevega is a balls deep bet for me if Annie isnt there

She's not running in it. They want Quevega to get the 5 in a row double.