November 1st 2011. Why do I remember the date so vividly? It was the day I failed my 1st driving test and lets just say I had a royal strop on! Particularly as I failed it on the last corner, d***! The failure was redeemed slightly when Medermit carried my money to victory in the Haldon Gold Cup, the money was suitably used to repair the fist sized hole I created in my bedroom door earlier in the day!
Anyway, getting back on track. Philip Hobbs has declared this week that Menorah and Captain Chris will be returning to Exeter for the Haldon Gold Cup next month for their seasonal reappearances. In my opinion Philip Hobbs' disappointing season began when the duo unseated Dicky Johnson at the meeting last year. Both horses looked to be well on their way to winning reappearances and having blown the cobwebs away, both would of been set-up for exciting winter campaigns. This unfortunately was not
the case.
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| Menorah |
Menorah is probably the most inconsistent jumper of a fence I have seen, when you take how classy he was over hurdles into account. He would wing one fence making a superb shape whilst airborne, getting from one side to another as fast as any seasoned chaser there has ever been. But at the next fence he would inexplicably walk through it, tip up and leave anyone who backed him thinking: 'What the hell was that all about?'. His season culminated in a really impressive win at Aintree in the 2 1/2 mile Manifesto Novice Chase....but to be honest, he was going to get it all together eventually. I think the slower pace of a 2 1/2 mile race assisted him as it placed his jumping under less scrutiny. With a rating of 160 it's unlikely he will be competing in handicaps this year. However the Haldon Gold Cup, which is a handicap, is definitely a winnable task for the gelding. You would imagine he will be carrying a weight near the top end (Captain Chris ran off 160 last year and carried top weight 11-10), but if he can put in a solid round of jumping he has a good chance. The 2m 2f trip should also be ideal bearing in mind the slightly slower pace will help his jumping. However, looking beyond Exeter I'm struggling to see where he can go from there. I can't see him winning a championship race, unless his jumping has improved remarkably over the summer, it will surely be to his disadvantage when travelling half a stride quicker in the better company. To be competitive I think he has got to improve his jumping as there is no doubt he is top class on his hurdles form. However, I believe that his mistakes were due to a lack of concentration as he proved he can jump effectively over the occasional fence last year. I expect to see the odd howler from Menorah again this season but with another years experience and mental maturity the gelding may just find the improvement to win the Ryanair or a race of that nature. He needs to engage his brain at every fence to do so.
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| Captain Chris |
Captain Chris has a severe tendency to jump right. He might as well have only one eye, why does he have left eye? It's pointless, he only uses his right one. The only excuse I can think of is Richard Johnson may be discretely sticking on an eye-patch on the gelding during running. He was desperately unlucky to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by unseating Dickie boy in the Haldon Gold Cup last year, which he then followed up with a decent attempt in the King George by finishing 3rd. His next appearance was the strange one. He ran appallingly on Festival Trials Day over 3 miles when he consistently leapt right handed, sometimes at right angles, it just didn't make any sense. I remember watching a David Pipe horse called Milan Deux Mille do something similar at Kempton in 2007, like Captain Chris he basically ran down each fence from one wing to another - he still won. A better effort in the Ryanair at Cheltenham in March when travelling left handed has kept some optimism for the coming season. Exeter is right-handed which will obviously play to his advantage but like his stable mate, where can he go from there? He needs to go right handed so the King George at Kempton will probably be on the geldings agenda but he surely won't be good enough to win with new comers such as Grands Crus around in addition to the old guard such as Long Run. I'm still not entirely sure he stays 3 miles but I don't see many other options for him when also needs to go right handed. The Punchestown Gold Cup in the spring is likely to be his ideal race.
I think the winner of the Haldon Gold Cup will come from the Hobbs yard but which horse is a more difficult question to answer. I think a telling factor will be which horse Richard Johnson rides, I just hope he can stay on one of them this year! That day at Exeter hasn't exactly been kind to him when you look back at previous years. In 2006 he was jumped into by a loose horse while aboard Chilling Place causing him to unseat. Later that day he was in front on Out The Black 15 yards from the line, I think Betfair had suspended betting on the race! Unbelievably the horse slipped and Johnson was catapulted forwards and slid over the line on his tummy all alone whilst Out The Black was sprawled on the floor behind roaring him home.
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| Johnson sits on the deck, you wonder why you've never had a jockeys title? |
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