Thanks for the quotes Cheltenham.
I normally agree with people like Tom Segal when they have valid reasoning and can see his point about Carlingford Lough however I am totally bemused about the Road to Riches comments I've seen floating around, in that he has only beaten unfit horses at the start of the season. I could understand that argument with regards to the Jnwine, but he didn't just win that race, he lead a good quality field a merry dance and was flying away at then end. Then in the Lexus he gave the last two gold cup winners a beating and outstayed lasts years gold cup second on the run-in who'd already had the benefit or a run.
I get that seeing the last two gold cup winners come home last and second last places a few doubts about that form and get that the ground was far from ideal for either, but the same can be said for most of the runners in that field including Road to Riches. Additionally, I don't buy for a second that Bob's Worth (a horse with a fantastic record when fresh) or Lord Windermere weren't properly tuned up for the race and the trainers comments before the race would suggest they were:
Henderson: “Bobs Worth has been in very good form recently. He has bloomed in the last three weeks and schooled with Barry the other day. We both thought it was as good as we had ever seen him. He’s done plenty of work but will come on for it and the heavy rain on soft ground is a worry for him, but he has to go.”
Culloty on LW: “It looks a very competitive renewal but I’m very happy with my horse. The heavy ground won’t be ideal but they all have to get through it.”
In light of this I don't think the unfit comments stand up to much at all. Road to Riches obviously does't have Cheltenham form which is my biggest concern but he has looked an entirely different proposition since Noel Meade openly said they have changed his diet and how they train him and I feel totally the opposite to Pricewise in that of the likely contenders he is perhaps the most promising.
Quality rant.
