Equinties - Knight is BACK!

Gm Equinauts

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HEADLINE ROUND UP

BMG vs GMG

The Brave man of Ditcheat locked horses with the Game man of Fethard in the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase on Saturday and it was the Irish raider who walked away as the victor.

The race itself was one full of drama as AHOY SENOR took them along in the early stages of the race before his mistake at the 9th and subsequent pulling-up before the second-last – people are calling for him to return to hurdles but he notoriously comes on for his first run of the season.

From there, BRAVEMANSGAME jumped effortlessly and held the advantage over GENTLEMANSGAME right up until the last fence which he landed on.

Which caused this reaction from Nicholls… 

Nicholls’ stable star took off too early at the final fence, allowing the gallant grey to gain an advantage and ultimately win the race. 

The question is, would BMG have won if not for the blunder? Twitter had its say in a recent poll and the results were exactly 50/50.

BMG is a brilliant horse who jumps amazingly and travels easily in his races, though the one criticism from Racing X is he doesn’t find an awful lot in the final stages.

So? He owns a consistent speed with a cruising average which puts the best under pressure. He is running the worlds best NH races and nearing the end of 3m, horses aren’t supposed to find turbo’s like FRANKEL. If horses finishing average is quicker than the rest, they win.

It’s oh so easy to say ‘he was never winning that race anyway’ … because he didn’t win. It’s a flippant argument generally thrown out by people who have never ridden a horse. BMG was travelling, took off too early, slammed the fence and lost momentum ahead of a very short run in. 

This is not to say GMG wasn’t putting up a monster performance. He rightly won, but, our view is BMG lost the race because of that mistake. 

That said, it was less than seven days ago that BMG was still likely for the Betfair Chase, though connections took a last-minute decision to send him to Wetherby when he may have only been 90% ready. 

Who can blame them? Nicholls envisaged saw the race would cut up (which it did) and we imagine they  knew they it was a two horse race with GMG. That shows how much of a monsyer BMG is, he should have won 90% fit. 

Fair play to GMG though, he has made himself a general 25/1-shot for the Gold Cup with owner-mate GERRI COLOMBE at 7/1.

More: https://www.racingpost.com/news/reports/bravemansgame-beaten-on-return-as-gentlemansgame-pounces-late-to-land-charlie-hall-chase-aWTWd8G9TCKB/

ROYAL ASCOT & CHELTENHAM DOUBLE?

BURDETT ROAD, the MUHAARAR 3yo who. won the Golden Gates Handicap at Royal Ascot this year, made his hurdling debut a successful one yesterday for James Owen as he bolted up by 12 lengths under Harry Cobden at Huntington. 

Rated 101 on the flat, he was sent off 4/9 and jumped smartly on the whole despite pulling his head off the whole way round.

He was so strong under Cobden, when watching live we thought he he’d blow up in a big way and be another flat to jumps disappointment, but boy were we wrong. 

He looked very good and as a result, bookies introduced him into the Triumph market at 25/1. 

Jockey Cobden seems to think he has the quality for something like the Triumph Hurdle, and with his Flat form behind the likes of DESERT HERO and WEST WIND BLOW, he should be considered in these top-level juvenile races this year. 

On a wider point about his pedigree, plenty of people have been quick to knock A DREAM TO SHARE, the Cheltenham Champion Bumper winner, ahead of this season over hurdles because of his sire MUHARAAR and his flat pedigree. 

BURDETT ROAD’s win yesterday shows that Flat-bred horses can do it over obstacles, if they are good enough, and it will be nice to see A DREAM TO SHARE when he eventually makes his hurdling debut. 

VAUBAN’S TO LOSE? 

By the time the next newsletter comes out, we will know the winner of the highly-anticipated Melbourne Cup and by the sounds of it, there is only one horse Racing X wants to win.  

All the hype is for VAUBAN, and why shouldn’t they get excited for a horse like this?

The two year (or even longer) plan is finally coming to fruition for Willie Mullins and his five-year-old has a lovely weight of 8-9 and stall three to help his chances. Having once been 66/1 for the race in the depths of the summer, he can be backed at 5/2 under the guidance of Ryan Moore, a jockey fresh from his good weekend at the Breeders’ Cup.

Looking at the field, who could be his biggest danger? WITHOUT A FIGHT did well to beat WEST WIND BLOWS in the Caufield Cup 17 days ago while giving three pounds away and had GOLD TRIP, the current second favourite, back in third. Stall 16 could be tough, but he is a classy animal. 

Does anyone remember CLEVELAND, the 2022 Chester Cup winner for Aidan O’Brien? Since his move to Kris Lees, he has found things tough but finally got his first Aussie win in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup two weeks ago. His British & Irish form from 2022 is good and off just 8-3, he is well-weighted to do well but again, stall 23 will be tough. 

Another former European horse is SOULCOMBE who was last seen in the UK bolting up in the 2022 Melrose Handicap. Chris Waller is his current trainer and one can imagine that the Melbourne Cup has been the long-term aim all season, so with his draw in four, he could give VAUBAN something to think about.

SHE’S BACK 

And finally, in news that no one could have predicted, Henrietta Knight is set to return to the training ranks at the start of 2024. 

The legendary trainer, who trained BEST MATE to three Cheltenham Gold Cup successes between 2002 and 2004, ceased her training career in 2012 and has since been pre-training horses for many operations such as Sevenbarrows, all alongside her job as racing manager for the late Mike Grech.

The 76-year-old has spoken to the BHA and has got the process of applying for her license in motion with the hope of having a team of 25 to 30 horses by January 1st. “People will probably think I’m made starting again when most people are stopping,” said Knight. “But I like doing things and I miss the buzz. Everything, all the facilities including the schooling field, is still here at Lockinge. “Cheltenham’s where I love and I can’t wait to get back there. The emphasis will be on trying to find a few chasers to take me back to Cheltenham. I’m very excited and want to get going.”

Brendan Powell Snr is set to be her assistant and she will continue the schooling and jumping service for fellow trainers.

More: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/racing/2023/11/05/henrietta-knight-returns-to-horse-racing-after-11-years/

TODAY’S BEST STATS

Eye’s on the combo of Mulholland and McLernon - they are 2 from 2 together at Plumpton and run 100k point recruit HAWAII DU MESTIVEL.

16.30 MOUNT ATHOS is unbeaten (2/2) at Kempton and returns for the hattrick for a stable who are 3 from 8 in these types of races this year at course. Looks a race to make notes in.

RISK ON

We really like this mare today:

That Wincanton performance was exceptional and we think she could be quite smart in time. We just hope she’d firing for today.

The next few newsletter jumps bets will be focused on bumpers as that is out main source of yield in the NH season.

Away from the turf, we quite like Fellowes hype horse in MORAWIG. It’s a bad race and Charlie has been quite openly purring over this lad so is worth a small play at 12’s to find out but if you’re wanting to leave and continue in jumps mode - we won’t blame you.

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