We can keep on dreaming with the rest of them "Azertyuiop was no more impressive last year than this horse," he said "You couldn't split them on the way he's won He jumps, he travels and he quickens. Like Azertyuiop, we've minded him over hurdles and not overfaced him. He hasn't made a mistake yet."One of them, probably Le Duc, will run in the Henry VIII Chase at Sandown on Tingle Creek day. I have no plans for Thisthatandtother other than to say that he will be trained specifically for the Arkle."The elixir continued in the Greatwood Hurdle, which has recently been won by Rooster Booster and Westender, first and second in last spring's Champion Hurdle. In construction it is not a particularly devilish obstacle, but a combination of its downhill location and horses travelling at full throttle make it a most theatrical site.It was where Le Duc and Thisthatandtother had just joined the fray, the point where the former slipped on landing. It was virtually all posturing until they started coming down the hill and the gears were engaged. It was the second last, as it often does, which changed everything. The one for the eye was Thisthatandtother's stablemate, Le Duc, he of the patchworked rump and the dressage moves.Le Duc was not so balletic when games proper began, nodding towards the earth after the first fence. Atum Re led, but led slowly and Thisthatandtother was pulling hard in eagerness. Last year, the winners of the main races - Azertyuiop and Rooster Booster - went on to Festival glory. It was improbable that any horse could have made the sort of majestic impression which the former created in the Independent Newspaper Novices' Chase 12 months ago. It was Thisthatandtother's greatest achievement that he did not shrivel by comparison.The seven-year-old was no striking horse to observe in the paddock yesterday He saves the dramatic for the racecourse.
We can keep on dreaming with the rest of them."You are up one minute and down the next in this game and you have to enjoy the winners when they come. You have to keep looking forward but sometimes our horses pay a hefty price Poliantas had never had a problem. That's what happens, but then you get days like this which make it all worthwhile It drives you mad My emotions are up and down. But it's better now."The consequences of this third day of the Open meeting are immense. The owner didn't pay a lot for him and he'd come a long way in a short time But he's got nothing now. "You begin to think things are against you," Nicholls admitted yesterday.But yesterday was another day, one of sunshine both physically and metaphorically for Paul Nicholls. Thisthatandtother won the most informative of Cheltenham Festival trials, the Independent Newspaper Novices' Chase, vaulting cleanly both in the Grade Two race and to the head of the betting for the Arkle Chase in March. Proof that more benevolent forces had taken over was confirmed when Rigmarole captured the Greatwood Hurdle, itself a notable weather vane towards the Champion Hurdle."I was sick yesterday because Poliantas was a seriously nice young horse," Nicholls added "I was gutted. It occurred to Paul Nicholls that the fates had formed a conspiracy against him. The trainer had recently sent out Azertyuiop, Strong Flow and Valley Henry, three of the supreme talents in his Somerset yard, and none had come back with their riders. On Saturday, Manor Farm's Poliantas did at least manage to complete the course here but his reward for a redoubtable second place in the Paddy Power Gold Cup was a heart attack and instant death just after the line. Grobler will stick with pairs as the measure of ability, and therefore as the priority boat, until May. But that may change after different combinations of pairs have been tried out in February and crews have competed at their first world cup regatta in May.. Since they won gold in Sydney, their pair has been designated the number one boat in the Athens target of two gold medals for the British men's team.J?n Grobler, the chief men's coach, points out that the indoor championships are a yardstick for training, but not for selection. |
 |
 |
