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2017 Cheltenham JLT

Willie:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'He takes a good grip' - Trainer Willie Mullins on Novice Chase winner Yorkhill <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RTERacing?src=hash">#RTERacing</a> <a href="https://t.co/sfITCJQC3a">pic.twitter.com/sfITCJQC3a</a></p>— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/823177052400459776">January 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Possibly be better with a lead though... seems odd that he settled him in behind and then went past them before the back straight? Can't have been the plan? Maybe they went too slow and his cruising speed would be more of a benefit at Cheltenham than it was today?
 
Ruby:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'It was a fair gallop...I was delighted with him' - Ruby Walsh reflects on Yorkhill's win in the Coral.ie Novice Chase <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RTERacing?src=hash">#RTERacing</a> <a href="https://t.co/bjdoBIgTxY">pic.twitter.com/bjdoBIgTxY</a></p>— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/823178524676624385">January 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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**double post oops**

Feel a lot better after those two interviews.... certainly a case of me hearing what I want to hear though...
 
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Both seem pretty confident. Ruby reckons he had loads left in him. Willie expects experience to iron out the jumping.

Kevloaf said:
Possibly be better with a lead though... seems odd that he settled him in behind and then went past them before the back straight? Can't have been the plan? Maybe they went too slow and his cruising speed would be more of a benefit at Cheltenham than it was today?
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Yeah I definitely think Ruby will look to cover him up in the race like he did in the Neptune last year. I wonder if other trainers will try and force a slow pace and try and make Ruby hit the front too soon? The second fav Buveur D'air tends to settle near the rear in his races too though and Whisper (3rd fav) tends to need the first half of his races to get a feel for his fences so i imagine at least those 2 will also be settled in behind
 
Willie certainly seems to think a bit more experience would help
 
Weren't impressed with Yorkhill at all today.. how can they shorten a horse up that much without it absolutely hosing up? Definitely worth trying to pick out EW options at the prices now. Buveur D'air hasn't shown the form of his hurdling campaign but if Henderson can get him somewhere near that and improvement on his jumping then he must be a big player at the prices. Also acts round cheltenham which is a big positive. If he hoses up in the SI then he will be around 3s
 
Yorkhill quotes

He takes a good grip. He jumps a bit left but that suits around here,. Ruby rode him with confidence but he was obviously very strong when he took up the running going into the back straight. We thought there was enough pace in the race but he managed to change gear and made the running. Ruby was just holding on to him in front. He jumped well and did what he had to do. We thought we would be getting a lead from the two in front but obviously our fellow’s cruising speed is a lot higher than theirs which means we could come back in trip if we want. His pedigree and everything suggests he could go out in trip but whether he’s too strong to go a longer trip or not I don’t know. At least he got today’s job done and we’ll look forward to wherever he goes the next time. I’ll get him home now and see. I’ll have a chat with Ruby to see whether he wants to go again with him. Experience is no harm for those novice chasers. He’s easy enough to train but a challenge to ride. David Casey rides him in the morning and he settles well. He gets him on his own. When you try to keep him in company might be the issue but he’s not as bad as a lot of other horses. I’m not trying to interfere with his jumping much and I’m hoping with more experience on the track he’ll get out of that habit. He makes enough ground jumping and he’s got a good engine so I’m not inclined to interfere with him much.
 
His overly keen style was to his detriment at Aintree and Punchestown, and when he settled it was at Cheltenham- where he was most impressive.


Personally I think in a normal year, he'd be Arkle bound and that longer trips would be next year.

However, Altior changes all of that.
 
I've just got round to watching the race after being out yesterday. I honestly didnt think it was as bad as has been made out here (maybe i was just expecting the worse) Yes his jumping was far from slick especially the first few, but i think he travelled really well and ultimately was barely made to work.. there was plenty of horse left.
 
Regardless of whether he was impressive or not, 7/4 is far too short to back at this stage.

7 weeks out and only 2 outings over fences.

(It would be a different story if they had both been won by a country mile, but we don't know what the winning distance would have been if Yorkhill was "opened up" and as such - there are too many unknowns at that price.)

The question is, does this give us some value elsewhere?

Many in the betting have other possible targets and whilst I like Buveur D'air, again, 6/1 is a little skinny for me...

Any thoughts?
 
My thoughts echo yours Leman. Difficult to know exactly what will turn up for sure too. Market has a strange look to it. 33s for Charbel?

I actually can't find anything inspiring. I did like politilogue so interested in worrying patiently who I backed this weekend ... I see betfair are streams out at 25s?seems very high, I'd he not going to run? I know they said about him liking soft but ... seems big?
 
I did like Poliologue, but comments from a few weeks ago were that they weren't going to rush him.
(That may have meant JLT, rather than RSA but...)

Charbel does seem to be under-estimated at the odds and 33's do tempt me EW..

BUT
Has anyone heard whether this is Charbel's target? Has only ever run over 2 miles thus far.
 
Leman14 said:
Has anyone heard whether this is Charbel's target? Has only ever run over 2 miles thus far.
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5th December:

Bailey said: "I was very pleased with Charbel. He learnt a lot more at Sandown as he made a mistake at the first which hadn't done before and we gave Altior a little bit of a run for his money.

"We will go back and look at races over further next time he runs and the Dipper is a possibility, we will just have to wait and see how he comes out of it first.

"At Cheltenham in March it would probably be two and a half miles for the JLT to avoid Altior but he will be entered in both (JLT and Arkle). At the end of the day he has got to get there in one piece."
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Last I heard on Charbel (12th Jan):

After making a successful chasing debut in a strong event at Uttoxeter, Charbel finished a clear second behind star novice Altior in the Henry VIII Novices' Chase at Sandown.
Kim Bailey has since given his charge a short break and is keen to have one more run before returning to Cheltenham, with Musselburgh's Scottish Future Champions Novices' Chase on February 5 a possible option.
"He's fine and we're just waiting on the better ground," said the trainer.
"He had a few entries over the New Year, but conditions weren't suitable so we decided to sit tight.
"Cheltenham is the main aim and hopefully he'll have one more run beforehand, possibly at Musselburgh, where he won before the Festival last year."
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(That race is 2m3f)
 
JLT Novices’ Chase
Grade One, £150,000 Total Prize Fund. 1.30pm Cheltenham, Thursday, March 16, 2017. Two miles and four furlongs
(2m 3f 198y). For novice 5-y-o and upwards rated 120 & more. Horses who are not qualified for a rating in Great Britain,
Ireland or France may also be entered. Such horses may be eligible providing the Handicapper is satisfied that the horse’s
racecourse performances up to and including March 9 would merit a minimum rating of 120. Weights: 11st 4lb; Allowances:
mares 7lb. Entries closed January 24, entries revealed January 26 (66 entries), scratchings’ deadline February 21, six-day
confirmation & a supplementary stage of £7,500 March 10, final declaration stage 10.00am, March 15.
Horse Age Owner Trainer
A HARE BREATH (IRE) 9 Mrs S N J Embiricos Ben Pauling
A TOI PHIL (FR) 7 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE
ALL HELL LET LOOSE (IRE) 8 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE
ALPHA DES OBEAUX (FR) 7 Gigginstown House Stud Mouse Morris IRE
AMERICAN TOM (FR) 6 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
ARBRE DE VIE (FR) 7 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
ATTRIBUTION 7 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE
AUX PTITS SOINS (FR) 7 John Hales Paul Nicholls
BAILY CLOUD (IRE) 7 R A Scott Mouse Morris IRE
BALKO DES FLOS (FR) 6 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE
BALL D'ARC (FR) 6 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE
BARON ALCO (FR) 6 John Stone Gary Moore
BELLOW MOME (FR) 6 Audrey Turley Willie Mullins IRE
BELLSHILL (IRE) 7 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE
BIVOUAC (FR) 6 Chris Giles Nicky Henderson
BLEU ET ROUGE (FR) 6 J P McManus Willie Mullins IRE
BRIAR HILL (IRE) 9 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE
BURTONS WELL (IRE) 8 Trevor Hemmings Venetia Williams
BUVEUR D'AIR (FR) 6 J P McManus Nicky Henderson
CASSE TETE (FR) 5 John Stone Gary Moore
CHAMPERS ON ICE (IRE) 7 Professor Caroline Tisdall & Bryan Drew David Pipe
CHARBEL (IRE) 6 Julie and David R Martin Kim Bailey
CHILDRENS LIST (IRE) 7 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
CLAN DES OBEAUX (FR) 5 G Mason, Sir A Ferguson, Mr & Mrs P Barber Paul Nicholls
CLOUDY DREAM (IRE) 7 Trevor Hemmings Malcolm Jefferson
CONEY ISLAND (IRE) 6 J P McManus Eddie Harty IRE
DAYS OF HEAVEN (FR) 7 Mrs S K Johnston Nicky Henderson
DIAMOND KING (IRE) 9 Diana Whateley Gordon Elliott IRE
DIFFERENT GRAVEY (IRE) 7 Richard & Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes Nicky Henderson
DISKO (FR) 6 Gigginstown House Stud Noel Meade IRE
FLYING ANGEL (IRE) 6 R J Rexton Nigel Twiston-Davies
FRODON (FR) 5 P J Vogt & Ian Fogg Paul Nicholls
GANGSTER (FR) 7 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE
GENERAL PRINCIPLE (IRE) 8 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE
GWENCILY BERBAS (FR) 6 Barry Connell Alan Fleming IRE
HAYMOUNT (IRE) 8 Mrs C M Hurley Willie Mullins IRE
HELL'S KITCHEN 6 J P McManus Harry Fry
IBIS DU RHEU (FR) 6 John Hales Paul Nicholls
IDENTITY THIEF (IRE) 7 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE
ITS'AFREEBEE (IRE) 7 Rebel Jumping Dan Skelton
JETT (IRE) 6 G M McGrath Jessica Harrington IRE
KILCREA VALE (IRE) 7 Alan Spence Nicky Henderson
KNOCKGRAFFON (IRE) 7 Mrs Barbara Hester Dan Skelton
LE PREZIEN (FR) 6 J P McManus Paul Nicholls
MERCIAN PRINCE (IRE) 6 Paul Murphy Amy Murphy
MIGHT BITE (IRE) 8 The Knot Again Partnership Nicky Henderson
MIN (FR) 6 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
NAMBOUR (GER) 7 Gigginstown House Stud Mouse Morris IRE
POLITOLOGUE (FR) 6 John Hales Paul Nicholls
ROAD TO RESPECT (IRE) 6 Gigginstown House Stud Noel Meade IRE
ROBINSFIRTH (IRE) 8 Christine Knowles & Wendy Carter Colin Tizzard
ROCK THE KASBAH (IRE) 7 Diana Whateley Philip Hobbs
ROYAL CAVIAR (IRE) 9 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
SHANTOU VILLAGE (IRE) 7 Jane Gerard-Pearse Neil Mulholland
SIZING TENNESSEE (IRE) 9 Ann & Alan Potts Colin Tizzard
SOME PLAN (IRE) 9 Roger Brookhouse Henry de Bromhead IRE
43
STARCHITECT (IRE) 6 Paul & Clare Rooney David Pipe
THEINVAL (FR) 7 Mr & Mrs Sandy Orr Nicky Henderson
TIGER ROLL (IRE) 7 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE
TOP NOTCH (FR) 6 Simon Munir & Isaac Souede Nicky Henderson
TULLY EAST (IRE) 7 Barry Connell Alan Fleming IRE
TWO TAFFS (IRE) 7 Walters Plant Hire & James & Jean Potter Dan Skelton
WAITING PATIENTLY (IRE) 6 Richard Collins Malcolm Jefferson
WHISPER (FR) 9 Walters Plant Hire Ltd Nicky Henderson
WINNER MASSAGOT (FR) 6 Masterson Holdings Limited Alan King
YORKHILL (IRE) 7 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE
66 entries
31 Irish-trained
 
DeeBee said:
Anyone heard anything more on American Tom?
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Personal view is that people are looking at the colours and not the horse.

Quotes not indicative of a real good un...

After race at Punchestown Sun, 11th Dec, 2016 (1st) He hung a bit to his left but he’s a very inexperienced racehorse, and I hope it’s something that we can iron out. Hopefully it’s not something physical and only greenness. He might prefer to go left-handed, and we’ll find another novice for him. W P Mullins

After race at Gowran Park Sat, 21st Nov, 2015 (1st) It looked like we were fortunate there but we'll take every bit of luck we can get. They maybe went too slow. We thought that would suit him but it looked like they slipped him and we were fortunate. We'll have to go up in grade now and see. Looking at him there it looked like he wants a longer trip. W P Mullins
 
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