Horse Racing (General)

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Originally Posted by Hibs1972

Right lads, Cheltenham about 4 weeks away so had a wee look for a few tips to make us all a wee bit cash in time for pubs being opened again!
5 horse acca to start:Shishkin(Arkle) Concertista(mares hurdle) Monkfish(brown advisory chase) Envoi Allen(Marsh chase) and Chacun Pour Soi(Champion chase) all look good individually I suppose but just can’t see what(apart from the fences) can beat any of them. In the Supreme I’m going for Thedevilscoachman at 20-1 must be a cracking ew bet, admittedly well beaten by the fav before but has came on leaps n bounds since then and won easily last twice. Lastly Honeysuckle in the champion hurdle. Good luck!!!

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Cheers :aok:

I liked the look of Monmiral at Haydock today. 4th race, 4th win and he does it with minimal fuss. I was intrigued to see if he was heading for the Triumph but he's not. He's joint owned by John Hales and Alex Ferguson and they, along with Paul Nicholls, have decided to head straight for Aintree then onto chasing next year. It's a similar path as the one he went with for Frodon and Clan Des Obeaux so will be interesting to watch over the next couple of years.

Cyrname pulled up again. His form reads 2F1PP for his last 5 and I'll be looking straight past him for the Ryanair if he runs as they surely won't press ahead with his Gold Cup entry now.

Cyrname's form is very strange. He was jumping well today, only to suddenly seem to stop. Don't know if something is wrong physically, but it was alarming how quickly he ran out of petrol.

I didn't see Goshen's race that he won by 22 lengths. He might be re-finding his form.

Goshen chucked a grenade in the champion hurdle market which looked to be between Epatante and Honeysuckle. Could be a belter of a race this year.

I see Paul Nicholls has confirmed Black Corton is to retire after being pulled up today. He's going to live with Bryony Frost which is a good ending for him.

He is one of those horses that is in a weird position though. Only 10 so realistically could have a couple of years left and would qualify for the veterans series. However he's not quite good enough for graded races anymore but almost too good for handicaps as he is landed with top weight regularly. You get the freaks like Denman or Many Clouds who can lump 11st 10 or 12lbs round and give weight to everyone but for many winning races is almost a curse.

I'm not sure there is really a solution but it seems it's far easier to go up in the handicap than it is to come down gor some horses.

Apologies for the Daily Mail link. However if there is anything in this then it really doesn't reflect well on Gordon Elliot....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sp...mpression=true

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

Apologies for the Daily Mail link. However if there is anything in this then it really doesn't reflect well on Gordon Elliot....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sp...mpression=true

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WTF? Is that genuine?

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Originally Posted by Hibernia&Alba

WTF? Is that genuine?

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I'm sceptical, something about the picture doesn't look right. However his response in Twitter doesn't read like much of a denial.

I really hope it's not or it's a gift to the antis.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

I'm sceptical, something about the picture doesn't look right. However his response in Twitter doesn't read like much of a denial.

I really hope it's not or it's a gift to the antis.

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He has now admitted the photo is real.

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Originally Posted by stantonhibby

He has now admitted the photo is real.

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The excuse is right out the Dominic Cummings play book.

Horse died of a heart attack, I was standing over it to help remove it, my phone rang and I instinctively sat down to answer it then someone shouted on me so I gestured I would be 2 minutes.

Sure thing Gordon.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

The excuse is right out the Dominic Cummings play book.

Horse died of a heart attack, I was standing over it to help remove it, my phone rang and I instinctively sat down to answer it then someone shouted on me so I gestured I would be 2 minutes.

Sure thing Gordon.

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Funny that, Cummings was the first thing that came to my mind as well.

I've never taken to Elliot, always thought there was something about him. Now we await what action will be taken against him....hmmmm.

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Originally Posted by stantonhibby

He has now admitted the photo is real.

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Then he is a total prick. Why does he have a big grin on face after the horse has just dropped dead?

Can he be sanctioned by the racing authorities in Ireland? Deserves to be.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

The excuse is right out the Dominic Cummings play book.

Horse died of a heart attack, I was standing over it to help remove it, my phone rang and I instinctively sat down to answer it then someone shouted on me so I gestured I would be 2 minutes.

Sure thing Gordon.

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Fat fool expects that to fly? GTF.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

Apologies for the Daily Mail link. However if there is anything in this then it really doesn't reflect well on Gordon Elliot....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sp...mpression=true

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Disgusting. Lost all respect for the guy.

Elliot dropped by Betfair from his ambassador role but unsurprisingly, not by Michael O'Leary.

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Originally Posted by Hiber-nation

Elliot dropped by Betfair from his ambassador role but unsurprisingly, not by Michael O'Leary.

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He probably took the picture.

Enjoy my racing but more of a flat fan, however still keep an eye on the jumps and got family who are close to a couple of racing yards.

Cannot believe how stupid Elliott has been here. Imo he has effectively ended his training career. I feel sorry for the hard working staff at his training centre who are likely to bare the brunt of the fall out in terms of cut backs etc. I see the BHA (an institution I have little regard for) have released a statement saying Elliott's horses cannot run at Cheltenham until the IHRB investigation is concluded and a decision reached. The most sensible course of action now would be for GE to step down voluntarily until after Cheltenham and Aintree with a full apology (not the mealy mouthed attempt at mitigating his actions he released last night).

There are rumours there are further revelations to come, makes you wonder who has been behind it, as stupid as it was the timing is deliberate to cause maximum damage. The collateral fall out to racing in general has been disastrous.

A horrible affair to be involved with. I have heard from a couple of Irish mates that there was a massive bust up at Elliots yard involving a couple of female employees both apparently seeking Elliots affection. One was Kate Harrington, daughter of Jessica and not too sure who the second woman was. Harrington apparently left with quite bad facial injuries

Purely speculation however one of said women may have leaked this photo to an anonymous twitter account. Don’t hold me as gospel to this however have seen some WhatsApp messages relating to this with a detailed story. Elliot as apparently a pig of a man so it may not all be rubbish.

In actual racing news. Tiger Roll out of the National. Giggingstown unhappy with the weight allocation.

Cheveley Park removing all their horses from Elliot. Envoi Allen going to Henry De Bromhead.

WTF is wrong with these people?

Disrespecting the dead animals that they derive a very good living from. I'm a racing fan who has slowly been drifting away from it but if the authorities do not absolutely ostracise them then that might be it for me.

There are no excuses or exceptions and certainly not the pathetic ones they are hoping to get away with here.

In Elliott's case I think the picture and the excuse probably tells us much about the true nature of the "man".

Biggest regret is more likely to be that they were outed.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...55e4c60bd5.jpg

Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk

It's a bit hypocritical for the likes of Scudamore and Walsh to come out in emotional defence of racehorses when we've all seen them and others laying into their mounts like lunatics in the run-in.

Racing can be a cruel sport for a horse unless it's one of the pampered few. Otherwise it's off to the knacker's.

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Originally Posted by heretoday

It's a bit hypocritical for the likes of Scudamore and Walsh to come out in emotional defence of racehorses when we've all seen them and others laying into their mounts like lunatics in the run-in.

Racing can be a cruel sport for a horse unless it's one of the pampered few. Otherwise it's off to the knacker's.

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I remember a few years ago Walsh caused a bit of a furore just before Cheltenham when he said horses were 'replaceable'. It was a bit unfair on him because it was reported without context, he had been speaking about the injury and subsequent death of JT McNamara a couple of minutes before and suggested the death of a horse had to be put into perspective.

People can make their own judgement on that. However I think there has to be an acceptance that some people in racing will view horses as livestock. A farmer doesn't get emotionally attached to the sheep that make him his living; if one gets an infected tick bite he will dispatch it without a 2nd thought. Ultimately Thoroughbreds and Selle Francais horses are bred for a specific purpose and to all intents and purposes they are livestock. Gordon Elliot has hundred of horses in his yard, top jockeys ride hundreds of horses a year and it would be a fool that thinks they love every single one.

That doesn't change the fact that they should be treated with the utmost respect in life and death though. Owners, breeders and trainers should be obliged to rehome horses whenever their careers end. That may stop the overbreeding of poor quality stock that is seen as dispensable. Further actions like that of Elliot or Rob James should be treated as the reprehensible acts they are and punished. Just because an animal is 'only' livestock doesn't mean it doesn't deserve due care and attention.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

In actual racing news. Tiger Roll out of the National. Giggingstown unhappy with the weight allocation.

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A real shame for the race, but they have to do what they think best for the horse.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

Cheveley Park removing all their horses from Elliot. Envoi Allen going to Henry De Bromhead.

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Aye, ultimately the owners will decide Elliott's fate. If enough of them decide not to send their horses, he won't have a yard left. It will be interesting to see what happens.

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Originally Posted by Hibernia&Alba

A real shame for the race, but they have to do what they think best for the horse.



Aye, ultimately the owners will decide Elliott's fate. If enough of them decide not to send their horses, he won't have a yard left. It will be interesting to see what happens.

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He'll get a knuckle rap. He probably knows too much about other bigwigs in the game.

Gordon Elliott has been banned for a year - the last six months suspended - and has been fined €15,000 by the IHRB. The ban will begin on 9 March.

That's far more than I expected. It won't go far enough for some of course but it's a pretty hefty ban.

I assume it's him personally that has been banned rather than his yard? He employs 70+ people at Cullentra and it would be a shame if they lost their jobs because of his stupidity.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

That's far more than I expected. It won't go far enough for some of course but it's a pretty hefty ban.

I assume it's him personally that has been banned rather than his yard? He employs 70+ people at Cullentra and it would be a shame if they lost their jobs because of his stupidity.

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But how would that work? Wouldn't it be impossible to prevent his having input, if the yard stays open, even if he isn't there in person? It will be interesting to learn what the ban means in practice.

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Originally Posted by Hibernia&Alba

But how would that work? Wouldn't it be impossible to prevent his having input, if the yard stays open, even if he isn't there in person? It will be interesting to learn what the ban means in practice.

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I'd assume one of his assistants would just send horses to the races under their name. As you say it's unlikely Elliot wouldn't still have an input and I'm not sure how much desire there would be to scrutinise that too much from the IHRB.

Tbh the vast majority of his ban will be served during the quiet summer months anyway. Missing Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown and Galway will hurt him but he'll be back and ready to go for the start of the new season proper. It wouldn't shock me to see a few owners, particularly the likes of Cheveley Park, move horses back to him once they have had their runs at those festivals.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

I'd assume one of his assistants would just send horses to the races under their name. As you say it's unlikely Elliot wouldn't still have an input and I'm not sure how much desire there would be to scrutinise that too much from the IHRB.

Tbh the vast majority of his ban will be served during the quiet summer months anyway. Missing Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown and Galway will hurt him but he'll be back and ready to go for the start of the new season proper. It wouldn't shock me to see a few owners, particularly the likes of Cheveley Park, move horses back to him once they have had their runs at those festivals.

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Will his horses still be allowed to run at those meetings?