Speaking at Ascot on Friday (20 December), trainer Nicky Henderson has stated that his 2013 Arkle Trophy winner Simonsig has suffered a setback and is out for the rest of the 2013/2014 season.
The trainer told At The Races:
"We had to make a decision and [Simonsig] will miss the rest of the season in his own interests to make sure he is 100% for next season."
"The fracture line on the splint line has itself gone.. he's sound ...but there is too much of a risk involved [in running him]. The fracture line healed up well and we'll keep him in light exercise until the Spring, ready for next season."
"We said he was going to miss the first half of season and we would review at Christmas, and we have just reviewed."
It was back in October that Henderson first revealed Simonsig had suffered an injury on his near fore leg and would likely miss the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Today's reports have confirmed that and worse for the Festival winner.
Showing posts with label Cheltenham Festival 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cheltenham Festival 2013. Show all posts
20 December 2013
06 June 2013
Bookmakers Aren’t Bookmakers Any More
The major bookmakers, particularly their internet betting divisions, are simply marketing operations with betting tacked on. Sports betting is now used as a way to attract customers and then the idea is the get them to play other online games like poker, bingo, and roulette where profit margins are more stable. The notion of making a book, taking an opinion, and laying a bet is very much a secondary concern.
Ahead of last weekend’s Investec Derby the racing press headlines read along the lines of ‘Bookies out to get Dawn Approach’.
Much was made of the fact that Ladbrokes would be offering the top price of 7/4 for Dawn Approach, having been offering just 10/11 earlier in the week.
Brave move by Ladbrokes you might have thought, taking an opinion about a short-priced favourite in the big race. But read on …
The article went on to say that Ladbrokes would be offering this standout price “for an initial 15 minutes from 8.15am to a maximum stake of £50.”
I’m sure Ladbrokes can take a lot of bets in 15 minutes but if they think I’m going to crawl out of bed at 8.15 on a Saturday morning in the hope of getting 7/4 for 15 minutes about a horse that was happily available at 11/8 or 6/4 elsewhere they are a sadly mistaken. I enjoy my sleep more than getting an extra point (not that I wanted to back Dawn Approach in the first place).
Not that the bookmakers care much. The price is more for show and enabling them to shout they are ‘best priced’ or ‘best odds guaranteed’ in their adverts.
Sometimes, however, the marketing exercise backfires.
Ahead of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March, Coral were offering even money about Sprinter Sacre, who was generally heavily odds-on and eventually returned 1/4.
The decision to offer even money was not a bookmaking one, it was a marketing decision. Coral took the view that a £1,000,000 liability on Sprinter Sacre was worth it in marketing terms for the coverage they would get and the new customers who would open an account with them. The maximum bet on this offer was £20.
Sprinter Sacre duly won by 19 lengths. Unfortunately for Coral all of its customers then logged in to collect their ‘free money’ after the race and the new website crashed. Any hope that these customers might then recycle some of their winnings in the subsequent races on the card was lost as the site remained down. This must have been particularly frustrating for Coral when the winning prices for the rest of the afternoon were: 33/1, 25/1, and 25/1.
Ahead of last weekend’s Investec Derby the racing press headlines read along the lines of ‘Bookies out to get Dawn Approach’.
Much was made of the fact that Ladbrokes would be offering the top price of 7/4 for Dawn Approach, having been offering just 10/11 earlier in the week.
Brave move by Ladbrokes you might have thought, taking an opinion about a short-priced favourite in the big race. But read on …
The article went on to say that Ladbrokes would be offering this standout price “for an initial 15 minutes from 8.15am to a maximum stake of £50.”
I’m sure Ladbrokes can take a lot of bets in 15 minutes but if they think I’m going to crawl out of bed at 8.15 on a Saturday morning in the hope of getting 7/4 for 15 minutes about a horse that was happily available at 11/8 or 6/4 elsewhere they are a sadly mistaken. I enjoy my sleep more than getting an extra point (not that I wanted to back Dawn Approach in the first place).
Not that the bookmakers care much. The price is more for show and enabling them to shout they are ‘best priced’ or ‘best odds guaranteed’ in their adverts.
Sometimes, however, the marketing exercise backfires.
Ahead of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March, Coral were offering even money about Sprinter Sacre, who was generally heavily odds-on and eventually returned 1/4.
The decision to offer even money was not a bookmaking one, it was a marketing decision. Coral took the view that a £1,000,000 liability on Sprinter Sacre was worth it in marketing terms for the coverage they would get and the new customers who would open an account with them. The maximum bet on this offer was £20.
Sprinter Sacre duly won by 19 lengths. Unfortunately for Coral all of its customers then logged in to collect their ‘free money’ after the race and the new website crashed. Any hope that these customers might then recycle some of their winnings in the subsequent races on the card was lost as the site remained down. This must have been particularly frustrating for Coral when the winning prices for the rest of the afternoon were: 33/1, 25/1, and 25/1.
07 April 2013
Aintree Grand National Meeting Review
The Aintree Grand National meeting provided an excellent three days’ racing culminating in a Grand National that seemed to mark a new era in the race’s existence.
Several big name horses were on a ‘reputation recovery’ mission after disappointing at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
On the first day First Lieutenant won the Betfred Bowl Chase, having finished second in the Ryanair Chase at the Festival. Silviniaco Conti had fallen when travelling well in the Betfred Gold Cup and went off favourite for the Betfred Bowl but finished a couple of lengths behind First Lieutenant in third.
Zarkandar, fourth in the Champion Hurdle, won the Aintree Hurdle and beat the Novices’ Hurdle winner The New One in the process.
Special mention must go to Battle Group who won the Silver Cross Handicap Chase on Thursday and then came out again on Saturday to win the John Smith’s Handicap Chase with an equally impressive performance. Two wins round Aintree in the space of just three days is some feat.
Sprinter Sacre showed he is just as good at 2 mile 4 furlongs as at 2 miles when winning the Melling Chase. The Irish contender Flemenstar did not run to his best and was well beaten in third place.
My Tent Or Yours showed the same classy cruising style that he had displayed in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. On this occasion, however, there was no Cheltenham hill to contend with and no Champagne Fever to out battle him.
Similarly, Dynaste had disappointed as favourite in the Jewson Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham but made amends at Aintree in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase.
Saturday’s main event, the Grand National, does look to be a different race now with the changes made to the course and jumps. Jumping mistakes of previous years that might have resulted in a fall or unseating might not be punished as severely judging by the 2013 running of the Grand National.
When searching for a winner in future years it could be less easy to discount the sketchy jumpers because now when they make their customary mistake they could get away with it. A low weight rather than jumping ability or experience of the Aintree fences might take more emphasis in the assessment of the likely winner.
The 2013 Grand National winner, Auroras Encore, trained by Sue Smith and ridden by Ryan Mania, carried 10 stone 3 lbs, which is the lowest winning weight for many years. A trend had been developing for winners carrying 11 stone or more.
Several big name horses were on a ‘reputation recovery’ mission after disappointing at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
On the first day First Lieutenant won the Betfred Bowl Chase, having finished second in the Ryanair Chase at the Festival. Silviniaco Conti had fallen when travelling well in the Betfred Gold Cup and went off favourite for the Betfred Bowl but finished a couple of lengths behind First Lieutenant in third.
Zarkandar, fourth in the Champion Hurdle, won the Aintree Hurdle and beat the Novices’ Hurdle winner The New One in the process.
Special mention must go to Battle Group who won the Silver Cross Handicap Chase on Thursday and then came out again on Saturday to win the John Smith’s Handicap Chase with an equally impressive performance. Two wins round Aintree in the space of just three days is some feat.
Sprinter Sacre showed he is just as good at 2 mile 4 furlongs as at 2 miles when winning the Melling Chase. The Irish contender Flemenstar did not run to his best and was well beaten in third place.
My Tent Or Yours showed the same classy cruising style that he had displayed in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. On this occasion, however, there was no Cheltenham hill to contend with and no Champagne Fever to out battle him.
Similarly, Dynaste had disappointed as favourite in the Jewson Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham but made amends at Aintree in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase.
Saturday’s main event, the Grand National, does look to be a different race now with the changes made to the course and jumps. Jumping mistakes of previous years that might have resulted in a fall or unseating might not be punished as severely judging by the 2013 running of the Grand National.
When searching for a winner in future years it could be less easy to discount the sketchy jumpers because now when they make their customary mistake they could get away with it. A low weight rather than jumping ability or experience of the Aintree fences might take more emphasis in the assessment of the likely winner.
The 2013 Grand National winner, Auroras Encore, trained by Sue Smith and ridden by Ryan Mania, carried 10 stone 3 lbs, which is the lowest winning weight for many years. A trend had been developing for winners carrying 11 stone or more.
17 March 2013
Under Starter's Orders
This blog begins its life just as the mud continues to settle after the four days of the Cheltenham Festival 2013 and just ahead of the start of the new Flat racing season which begins at Doncaster on Friday 22 March. With the weather the UK has been experiencing this Spring, some of the two-year-olds running in the William Hill ‘Download The App’ Brocklesby Conditions Stakes on Friday afternoon could get a snowy shock for their first appearance on the racecourse.
The Cheltenham Festival 2013 was, as always, an absorbing week’s racing but not a ‘classic’. There were undoubtedly some good performances by some talented horses – Sprinter Sacre (Sportingbet Queen Mother Champion Chase), Our Conor (JCB Triumph Hurdle), Bobs Worth (Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase) – but it lacked some of the rivalry of previous years that make for great Cheltenham Festivals. Perhaps this year’s Festival can been viewed as a year of transition as a new crop of horses come to the fore.
The aim of this blog is to discuss the current events in UK horseracing, to preview the big meetings on both the Flat and Jumps (the Guineas meeting, Royal Ascot, QIPCO Champions Day, the Grand National meeting, Cheltenham Festival etc.), to explain some of the terminology surrounding betting and horseracing, and generally to peer inside the esoteric and fascinating world of the ‘Turf’.
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