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Dark Horses (Pun Intended)

With the rider that Willie could change his mind at any time, it seems that Aramon will probably stay over hurdles. If he does, he'll almost certainly be trained for the Champion Hurdle with the handicap fall-back option if he doesn't make the grade. He was quite busy last season and it's possible that he was over the top by Cheltenham. The Leopardstown run would put him in the mix.
 
I think Aramon may just slightly pass under the radar throughout the season, wouldn't be surprised to see a season where he places in a couple of races through the season but still sets off around 20/1 in the Champion Hurdle, especially as KD will be getting a lot of the focus for Willies hurdlers.
 
I think Aramon will struggle if I'm being honest.

I personally believe the only reason Aramon got near KD was the fact he was fitter at that point in the season (and he was still beat). He's been stuffed by KD the other two times.

I'm not sure if there are plans to send him over a fence yet or not, but I think mid to long distances are the future for him.
 
Aramon would be interesting if campaigned with an eye on the county hurdle
 
Wasn't much of a dark horse before his novice hurdling, but now the dust has settled, I think stepping up in trip and taking to fences will be the making of Annamix.

I was kinda hoping for a little more than 33's for the JLT, but I guess being a WPM horse coupled with the supposed high profile he had before running it was always out of the question!

Of course there is the danger that Annamix is just not that good, but personally I think he's better than what we've seen to date, and chasing is usually the making of Martalines.
 
Ferny Hollow might be one to emerge this year , granted he's with Mullins so there is as much chance we might no even see him this season. However with Chevley Park splashing the cash circa 300k and having had two leading lights in the bumper sphere last season no doubt will be popular in early plays especially with Mark Howard OJA be writing favourably this week given Declan wrote favourably about Malone Road and Envoi Allen last year.
 
Outlaw said:
Ferny Hollow might be one to emerge this year , granted he's with Mullins so there is as much chance we might no even see him this season. However with Chevley Park splashing the cash circa 300k and having had two leading lights in the bumper sphere last season no doubt will be popular in early plays especially with Mark Howard OJA be writing favourably this week given Declan wrote favourably about Malone Road and Envoi Allen last year.
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Based on their horses in training list it seems that Willie has received the two expensive PtP recruits this season (DEPLOY THE GETAWAY and FERNY HOLLOW). Willie also has two from France (EL MERANO and EN BETON) and Gordon two as well (FELINO DE BERSEY and FULL OF ZANDRE).

I can’t find much on FULL OF ZANDRE but he seems to be a half brother to Uxizandre

http://www.cheveleypark.co.uk/in-training/
 
Cheers Jack , I've read the ptp section of what will appear in OJA he sends that out to email subscribers early does Declan. All be interesting of course. I just liked the way he powers up the steep climb despite clattering two out at Knockanard. Family ties in with past CH winners too he eluded to etc
 
Interesting Felino De Bersy was in training with Elliot last year so based on the horses in training with Elliot he's only really got one new horse for the season...Though as i say that, i notice the two French recruits Mullins has were also bought for last year, so point sort've ruined haha.

The one i find to be quite interesting from complete guesswork is El Merano- had some time off, hopefully by choice as Mullins does with quite a few of his (does seem longer than normal so probably a setback or the ground issues have delayed things). Finished ahead of none other than Easy Game on his debut and was beaten by another Mullins and JP horse Elixir D'ainay second time out. That horse looked potentially decent behind Vision D'Honneur at Punchestown and was entered in lots of the big races but didn't run again. Racing Post describes Elixir's win over El Merano as a shade cosy, but it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. Struggled to find a replay of the race.
 
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Looks as though Cheveley Park have made chasing their priority with them purchases, as the 6 above look to be serious future chase prospects, and I suspect anything they do over hurdles will be a bonus.

It's going to be seriously difficult over the next couple of seasons to even second guess where the horses are likely to be placed. I'm quite excited about a couple of them on breeding alone.

Jack, you can find the replays on France Galop. You will need to sign up to view.
 
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archie said:
The Thompson's have a long standing love affair with the Grand National.
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Very true Archie. They seemed to had taken a step back though, and now fully involved, with a fair amount of investment these past couple of seasons.
 
jack1092 said:
Interesting Felino De Bersy was in training with Elliot last year so based on the horses in training with Elliot he's only really got one new horse for the season...Though as i say that, i notice the two French recruits Mullins has were also bought for last year, so point sort've ruined haha.

The one i find to be quite interesting from complete guesswork is El Merano- had some time off, hopefully by choice as Mullins does with quite a few of his (does seem longer than normal so probably a setback or the ground issues have delayed things). Finished ahead of none other than Easy Game on his debut and was beaten by another Mullins and JP horse Elixir D'ainay second time out. That horse looked potentially decent behind Vision D'Honneur at Punchestown and was entered in lots of the big races but didn't run again. Racing Post describes Elixir's win over El Merano as a shade cosy, but it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. Struggled to find a replay of the race.
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I still like the winner of that, elixir d'ainay for the supreme, another year to mature. I can see there being improvement in him this year. This years mengki khan / elixir de nutz perhaps.
 
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Good shout Scooby. For some reason I thought he had already won a race.

No price up for the Supreme yet.
 
Scooby91 said:
I still like the winner of that, elixir d'ainay for the supreme, another year to mature. I can see there being improvement in him this year. This years mengki khan / elixir de nutz perhaps.
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Elixir D'ainay will definitely be interesting this year given they upped stumps with him after finishing second on debut. He had an entry in the Grade 1 Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle (formerly Deloitte) too so they obviously liked him a fair bit.
 
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