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"ONE
TO JUMP!!"
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"One
to jump 2003"
Horses to follow for the 2002/2003 National Hunt Season
by
.t.h.e. .r.o.o.k.
STEEPLECHASERS
- (CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS?)
( 366 )¯¯ BOISNOIR (FR), :¬>-
b, g. Djarvis (FR) - Antoniola (FR)
¦ The Trainer ¦:¬>- Guy Cherel in France
¦ c.o.m.m.e.n.t.s. ¦:¬>- Last season was notable for the absence of so many of France's leading chasers. It was pleasing therefore to note the return to the track of Boisnoir, (arguably the best four- year- old chaser in '00), who won all three of his starts over fences including in May '00 landing the Prix Inspace - Ferdinand Dufaure (Gr. 1), on his fourth ever start, beating Sleeping Night and Chicuelo (didn't he win easily at Market Rasen!!). Whatever ailed this lovely scopey son of Djarvis, it kept in off the track until two weeks ago, where Guy Cherel introduced him back to the track where he jumped around in his own time, eventually pulling up in a hurdle race at Dieppe. If he stands training Boisnoir, (now six), could still be a force to be reckoned with. As he is another one of our One To Jump horses - naturally we will be monitoring his progress with some interest.
( 367 )¯¯ DOUZE DOUZE (FR):¬>-
ch, g. Saint Cyrien (FR) - Kitkelly (FR)
¦ The Trainer ¦:¬>- Guillaume Macaire in France
¦ c.o.m.m.e.n.t.s. ¦:¬>- Douze Douze is another inmate of Guillaume Macaire 's who may appear in this country this term. He ran won three of his four starts over fences, including the Prix Maurice Gillois Grand Steeple-Chase Des 4 Ans (Chase) (Gr. 1) in November '00, beating Sleeping Night (gave 7lbs). Christopher Ile's comments in our Focus on France feature paint an ever better impression; "Douze Douze went to the front after six fences, soon went clear, and basically disappeared off into the distance, producing a huge jump at the water jump, and easing down to win by a comfortable 15 lengths. Sleeping Night and Tango Royal fought out a good battle for second before the latter weakened in the home straight, and the rest were nowhere". He's another horse that may have the French,
gold cup as an aim, however if he fell short of the mark, we may see him tried on these shores
( 368 )¯¯ ILARE (FR) :¬>-
gr, g. April Night (FR) - Vousseliere (FR)
¦ The Trainer ¦:¬>- Emmanuel Chevalier Du Fau in France
¦ c.o.m.m.e.n.t.s. ¦:¬>- I've noted this horse, ever since Christopher Iles mentioned him in one of his Focus on France features... This is what he wrote - "The same card gave a possible reason why the Marquesa de Moratalla sold First Gold - she has a potential star of the future in the front-running grey, Ilare, winning his second Auteuil chase of the season. His previous win came in the same race First Gold used to debut at Auteuil, the year he won the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris... Ilare isn't trained by François Doumen, so is less likely to be brought over here to run, and his entries since suggest a rather lower-key approach than was taken with First Gold". Ilare won his next six starts and subsequently beat all bar Kotkijet in the '01 Grand Steeple-Chase De Paris, an amazing performance really for a horse only in training for six months. We might never see him in truth, however he is such a class act that he deserves a place in the list... Hopefully he can go one better this time around.
( 369 )¯¯ JAPHET (FR):¬>-
b, g, Perrault - Una Volta (FR)
¦ The Trainer ¦:¬>- Guillame Macaire
¦ c.o.m.m.e.n.t.s. ¦:¬>- Japhet was never really given the credit he deserved last season. Guillame Macaire's five-year-old won ten races in his first season of training including the Prix Maurice Gillois Grand Steeple-Chase des 4 ans (Gr. 1). Unbeaten records are nice, however Guillame Macaire is an ambitious man and he sets his sights on a British campaign, a difficult quest for a horse so young and inexperienced (something that was overlooked by pundits). The timing of the Sun Alliance Chase and possible future targets in France during the early part of next season isn't great, therefore to gain experience for Cheltenham, Japhet had to run effectively out of season. To go to Cheltenham, Japhet has had to again experience of British obstacles... nothing else mattered although he showed a glimpse of what he was capable of - his jump at some of the fences at Newbury on his British debut were awesome. He failed to impress some who clearly expected fireworks from this French superstar. They may have been even more disappointed by the negativity shown by jockey Benoit Gicquet in the Newbury race (which arguably he lost) and at Kempton more recently where he only asked the horse to race up the final straight... so much so that their interest became more
centered on stablemate Heros Collonges who had impressed when winning on his only start in this country. Guillame Macaire, whilst praising Heros Collonges has made no secret on how good he believed Japhet could be and now that the objective has been reached. Japhet is an April foal so wasn't even actually five when running in the Sun Alliance Chase, and in my view would have gone very close (I think he would have won) if he hadn't tipped up at the second last. He ran another good race at Aintree , however the effect of his long campaign finally began to tell and I have no doubt that he is a lot better than the well beaten third to Barton suggests. Connections have decided to give him plenty of time to get over these excursions (sensibly) and his campaign will be geared with the aim of winning the
French Gold Cup, as a result we are very unlikely to see him .. which is a real pity.
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MARKET
RASEN
Saturday
31st August
3:00 Audrey Buttery Reunion Novices' Steeple Ch. -
£6000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 6f 110yds, penalty
£4111.25, 7 runners.
Ashgar, Misty Ridge, Sijujama, and Mount Gay, are
the only runners which make any sort of appeal in
the second. Punters are likely to have Ashgar down
as a banker, especially with "A.P." on board....
I can see where they are coming from, however he is
notoriously lazy and makes no appeal at likely
odds. He was very hesitant at his obstacles last
time out at Southwell and if one of his rivals were
to expose this weakness, he could even thrown in
the towel and sulk (which he has done before).
Misty Ridge and Mount Gay, have run creditably of
late over hurdles however it is Mount Gay [a
winning point-to-pointer], who may be able to take
him on. His second placing at Perth 27 days ago was
a sound effort, and he is in my view worth taking a
chance with {if they had been eight runners he'd
have been an excellent eachway wager}.
¦ 1er. - THE WINNER?¹ ¦:¬> Mount Gay,
¦ 2nd place?² ¦:¬>- Misty Ridge,
¦ 3rd place?³ ¦:¬>- Ashgar [USA],
Mount
Gay obliged at odds of 7/1.
.t.h.e. .r.o.o.k.
MARKET RASEN
Saturday 20th July
Tote Scoop6 Summer Plate. (H'cap Steeple Ch.). £65000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 4f, 16 runners.
"As much as I like Demasta, there is so much pace here, that I cant help but think that the front runners may go too fast for their own good here. It makes sense [in my view], to be looking for something likely to be able to travel well... and despite my very negative comments above... I have (since the runners were declared), had a lot of time for the chance of Chicuelo (at eachway odds). I think some horses suit certain trainers, and I think this horse has a better chance of winning a race like this with Martin Pipe than Ian Williams - not because I necessarily think Pipe is a far better trainer than Williams is... its more to do with understanding this type of horse.
Nicholashayne - more than most training establishments - does particularly with their foreign purchases. I think this is in part because due to the amount of time/effort they have invested into studying not only french form, but also how certain trainers educate their young horses - adopting if/when necessary previous regime/style of training. Secondly, (more importantly), some french breds improve after a season's
acclimatization. A look at this horse's form in France and you'll find, for example, his good third to Sleeping Night and Ilnamar (beaten 8½lengths) in the Prix Morgex (Chase) (Grade 3) , or his third to Sleeping Night and Douze Douze in the Prix Maurice Gillois Grand Steeple-Chase Des 4 Ans (Chase) (Grade 1) in November 2000. He has certainly been given a chance here off of only a handicap rating of 116, and I can't see him not finishing in the first four.... He'll do for me".
"ANOTHER WINNER FOR "ONE TO JUMP
2003"
WORCESTER
Sunday, June 9th 2002
Tote betXpress Hurdle {H' cap}. £20000 added, 4yo plus, 2m, penalty £13897, 14 runners.
Cupboard Lover, Saragann, Dick The Taxi, Barren Lands, Boater, Bernardon, Inn Antique, Barren Lands, and Knight's Emperor make most appeal in a decent
handicap hurdle for this time of year. There is bound to be market
support for Cupboard Lover, especially after his smooth win at Newbury on the flat
earlier this week, however in Bernardon, and Inn Antique, he meets two
potentially well treated "improvers". I have a high regard
for Bernardon, who I literally haven't stopped raving about. This
former Group winner in Germany is much better than the form he showed when trailing home at Chepstow last time out, and off of this handicap mark, he is
worth chancing.
Bernardon
held on to score at odds of 13/2ursday,
July 11th 2002
DISCLAIMER:
In no way does "Furlong To Go!! guarantee that selections
posted above will win the specified races advertised.
They are merely an indication based on current form. Whilst
the selections, and advice are the basis by which we will
personally place our own bets, like you, any selections
that are backed, are done so at your own risk.
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