** Official Cricketweb Horseracing thread **

[_Ed_]

Well, that was a fitting end to an absolutely stunning season by Enable. Not sure I've seen a better three-year-old filly in Europe in my lifetime.

 

[Athlai]

Bet $90, won $96.

Hooray for me.

 

[_Ed_]

And a mega-rich casino owner finishes first (for the sixth time, no less) and second. Hard to be excited about that, although the father-son training angle is at least something.

 

[social]

Maybe just the circles that I mix in but there definitely seems to be a lot less interest in the Cup/horses in the field these days

People will still take the opportunity to party & watch the thing but nobody I know had the foggiest about any of the runners and didnt care either

Would obviously be different if a Winx was in the field but yesterday was all a bit ho hum

 

[_Ed_]

Holy ****, that performance by Winx today.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Hopefully Enable does the business again.

 

[_Ed_]

The Autumn Sun is a very special three-year-old. Ridiculous win in the Caulfield Guineas yesterday.

 

[the big bambino]

Hopefully they'll broadcast the Everest on the sails of the opera house next year.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Too Darn Hot looks a bit of a monster. Absolutely hacked up in what looked a hot renewal of the Dewhurst. Take a good one to beat him in 2000 Guineas next year. Unusual for the Lloyd-Webbers to have a colt but they made a good decision not selling this one.

 

[_Ed_]

Have to admit to being jealous of my boss and the 38,000 or so others who were lucky enough to be at Moonee Valley to watch Winx today. Once-in-a-lifetime stuff.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Magic Circle for me in Cup. Kept for the race after winning the big races in May and the stable very capable of readying one after a layoff. Owner is a nutter so I hope he gets the win as Melbourne won't have seen anything like him for a while.

Also what is it with the name change for Cliffs of Moher you stupid bunch of crims?

If he stays Rostropovich could be massive value as he has been running in better company all season and has a low weight.

Big race of the day will be won by San Benedeto at Exeter.

 

[_Ed_]

Hmm...

 

[Dan]

**** the Melbourne Cup

 

[_Ed_]

Heart-breaking to see what happened to Cliffs Of Moher. Found it hard to care too much about the race afterwards.

 

[social]

Heart-breaking to see what happened to Cliffs Of Moher. Found it hard to care too much about the race afterwards.

6th horse down since 2013

Absolute farce

I am anti PC but this has gone beyond a joke

 

[Flem274*]

given the thousands of races run daily without incident this recent trend with the cup is grim. people lured by the cup and putting their horses into situations they'd otherwise withdraw from?

 

[_Ed_]

I really don't know what it is. There are other races that I have some concerns about regarding horses being pushed quite hard to get there, like the Golden Slipper (inexperienced 2yos) and the Victoria Derby (2500 metres for just-turned-3yos), but the safety record of horses in those races in the same time period is exemplary.

Cliffs Of Moher was highly experienced (but not over-raced), fit and from the stable of one of the world's ATG trainers. For whatever reason, he just seemed to take a bad step.

I think a lot of the incidents have just been horribly bad luck. Like Araldo a few years ago - a ****wit waved a flag at him, he spooked and smashed his leg on a fence. Flemington quite rightly cracked down on **** like that as a result.

 

[Flem274*]

stats i read were 120 deaths each year from 190,000 starters in australia which is below the natural death rate of horses of racing age (0.07% compared to 1.5%) so the melbourne cup having so many issues this decade should cop the blowtorch from the industry you'd think. the likes of PETA and friends are already good enough at spreading incorrect statistics and general bilge.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Cheltenham week looms and I can't wait.

Going all 4 days for the first time and really looking forward to seeing Buveur D'air and Altior. Got loads of good antepost bets going but 33-1 about Lalor who is now 4-1 and 10-1 about Epatante who is 6-4 and the best bet of the week are my best.

 

[andmark]

Is the Grand National as big a thing as the media make out?