IT’S going to be costly for some, but there are people out there who still don’t understand how good Shishkin is. You poor things!
I know this, because over the weekend Energumene was a thoroughly decent winner of the Grade 1 Patrick Ward & Company Solicitors Irish Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown.
The Willie Mullins-trained inmate was brilliantly ridden by Paul Townend to smash up Franco de Port by ten lengths in a decent time, albeit nearly 15s slower than standard.
Some esteemed pundits suggested this now set up a huge clash with Shishkin in the main Ankle at Cheltenham next month. No no no. No it doesn’t!
You see, it’s just impossible for there to be two horses as good as Shishkin. There were not two horses of the ability of Kauto Star, or two like Sprinter Sacre. And there won’t be two like Shishkin.
If you want to build up the Arkle as a match so be it. But Shishkin is different league. If you don’t believe that then just lose money. The choice is yours!
This column was delighted with Chacun Pour Soi in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase, and the decent prices readers have about the horse for the Champion Chase are looking very tasty now.
As for the Champion Hurdle, Honeysuckle is a big player, although I’m still hoping Saint Roi will show us what he can do in a big field and off a strong gallop on hopefully better ground. Fingers crossed.
Honeysuckle is another example why the 7lb mares allowance is crazy in Grade 1 races. It should be abolished straight away. Quite simply it’s unfair to colts and geldings. Unfair I tell you.
Tony Mullins new Kilcruit was special because he told Sky Sports Racing viewers a long time ago at a Cheltenham Preview Night I hosted last year.
He was right as the horse bolted up in the bumper at Leopardstown Saturday.
Mullins’s boy, Danny, banged in the Gold Cup Sunday on Kemboy, and it will mean much to the family to have a Gold Cup in the bag.
Of course Tony was jocked off Dawn Run back in the day at Cheltenham. His boy has a Gold Cup in the bag.
Monkfish starred at the Dublin Racing Festival in another Grade 1 rout
Appreciate It and Monkfish will take all the beating at Cheltenham in the Supreme and the staying novice chase.
They both impressed at the weekend and Monkfish has gone from a clumsy but talented novice hurdler to an awesome beast of a staying chaser. Both are outstanding.
Bookmakers escaped what they estimated would have been a multi-million pound payout after the final leg of a gambled-on big-priced treble went down at Musselburgh.
The Daragh Bourke-trained Gallahers Cross was sent off 4-5, having opened at a general 33-1 on Saturday, but failed to follow up the earlier successes of Blowing Dixie at Southwell and Fire Away at Musselburgh.
Gallahers Cross travelled strongly into the straight in the 2m6f handicap hurdle for Alain Cawley and touched 1.4 in running but began to struggle between the last two hurdles, with the Paul Nicholls-trained Get The Appeal running out a decisive winner.
Earlier, Blowing Dixie landed the second leg with a comprehensive success in the 1m4f handicap at Southwell.
Trained and owned by Iain Jardine, Blowing Dixie was sent off 4-6 favourite having opened at 9-1 on Saturday.
That victory came after Fire Away had landed the first leg of the gamble in the opening extended 2m4f novice handicap chase at Musselburgh.
This sparked real questions about the new SP system. Because it is currently decided off course, the starting prices of the gambles were ridiculously short.
If they had been decided on track, they would no doubt have been longer, with the major bookmakers doing what they can to lay off liabilities.
Going forward something will have to be sorted here. And on these occasions in the future the SP might have to be decided by a mixture of the two methods.
Certainly it showed punters that an off course SP is going to be terrible on occasions. Although that said, in the main it’s not been a bad thing every day of the week.
At the moment those towards the top of the market are, on average, shorter than they would have been, and the bigger priced horses are at longer odds.
FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to SE. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sportingexcitement.com/horse-racing/hollie-doyle-intimidated-by-stewards-during-probe-that-led-to-six-day-ban-for-jockeys-use-of-whip
