Denman or Kauto Star?

[my miss storm cat]

For his fans, from RP.....

Straw Bear heads straight to Cheltenham without run

by Keith Hamer

STRAW BEAR will go straightto the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle without another run.

Connections made the decision after the JP McManus-owned seven-year-old had a workout on Wednesday.

That means Straw Bear, a 20-1 shot for Champion honours at Cheltenham on March 11, will miss Saturday's Bathwick Tyres Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.
"He's not running at Wincanton. He's going to go straight for the Champion Hurdle," said trainer Nick Gifford.

"He had a breeze this morning and I've spoken to Frank Berry (the owner's racing manager) and we've decided we're going straight to Cheltenham. The horse is in good form."

[ARyan]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

For his fans, from RP.....

Straw Bear heads straight to Cheltenham without run

by Keith Hamer

STRAW BEAR will go straightto the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle without another run.

Connections made the decision after the JP McManus-owned seven-year-old had a workout on Wednesday.

That means Straw Bear, a 20-1 shot for Champion honours at Cheltenham on March 11, will miss Saturday's Bathwick Tyres Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.
"He's not running at Wincanton. He's going to go straight for the Champion Hurdle," said trainer Nick Gifford.

"He had a breeze this morning and I've spoken to Frank Berry (the owner's racing manager) and we've decided we're going straight to Cheltenham. The horse is in good form."

Thank you!!!

[Hwjb]

Straw Bear is beginning to look a bit of a twicer, now that may be down to physical problems rather than anything else, but even at the top of his game he would make limited appeal for the Champion Hurdle as he's probably not even among the top 3 British-trained contenders, not to mention the Irish! If he's straight, however, he'll make a fantastic novice chaser when the time comes next season.

Whilst The Listener is a top-class chaser, he's proven that several times of the last two seasons, the problem will likely be that he'll encounter ground much less testing than suits him best.

[my miss storm cat]

What about Monet?

Do you see him as having a shot?

[Hwjb]

Monet's Garden was receiving 14 lb and beat Kauto Star 1.25 lengths at Aintree earlier in the year when Kauto was patently in need of the run more than Monet's, so he'd effectively need Kauto to fall to come out on top. The two meet today in the Ascot Chase over 2m5f off level weight and it will be a major shock if Kauto is beaten, even though he won't be spot on for this with Cheltenham just 4 weeks away, whereas I believe Monet's Garden is being kept for Aintree in April, and so is more likely to be trained to the day for this race, which he won 12 months ago. Racing Demon should be suited by the track, however, and I think he can be the one to chase Kauto Star home today. We'll see!

[NoChanceToDance]

Originally Posted by Hwjb

Monet's Garden was receiving 14 lb and beat Kauto Star 1.25 lengths at Aintree earlier in the year when Kauto was patently in need of the run more than Monet's, so he'd effectively need Kauto to fall to come out on top. The two meet today in the Ascot Chase over 2m5f off level weight and it will be a major shock if Kauto is beaten, even though he won't be spot on for this with Cheltenham just 4 weeks away, whereas I believe Monet's Garden is being kept for Aintree in April, and so is more likely to be trained to the day for this race, which he won 12 months ago. Racing Demon should be suited by the track, however, and I think he can be the one to chase Kauto Star home today. We'll see!

I don't agree about the point you made that Kaudo was more in need of the run than Monet's at Aintree at all. Everything about the race suggested that Kauto was by far the the fitter that day, including on paddock looks.

Kauto will win today if he stands up, but the race at Aintree was certainly interesting and although Nicholls said he was "thrilled" with that run, he was pretty down after that and so were quite a few of the staff, as they thought he was "buying money" that day!

[brockguy]

kauto wins as he pleases today.. all set for cheltenham. I have to note Neptune Collonges performance today at Wincanton giving a stone and more to his rivals.. I think he can come 2nd in the Gold Cup - a seriously underrated horse...