You have to love the way unexposed horses are hyped up to be the greatest things since Pegasus – and then dismissed as soon as any sign of fallibility is seen…
Sprinter Sacre is an example of such a horse. He is currently viewed as the second coming – potentially the greatest 2 mile chaser ever to grace our land.
If he does win the Arkle, comparisons with Flying Bolt will doubtless follow (you non old timers need to get out google at this point ;) )
If he gets beaten however, he will be dismissed as a flat track bridle ponce !
Life can be harsh for the potential equine hero…
Minsk will be finding that out this evening (or he would be, if he were able to read).
This morning, he was favourite for the Triumph hurdle; the best horse ever to have been under the care of Dessie Hughes (and that would include dual Champion hurdler, Hardy Eustace) and the logical pretender to Hurricane Fly’s crown – and this evening, he’s just another juvenile hurdler that failed to make the grade…
The truth of the matter, is that Minsk is exactly the same horse this evening, that he was this morning – and in my opinion, his chances of wining the Triumph hurdle are actually enhanced, as he has now got some competitive hurdling experience (and demonstrated a reasonably proficient hurdling technique).
Sure he was beaten, but what did today matter any way ? He’d not run for 5 months and had been turned out to grass for 2 of those. He was always likely to need the run – and it’s not as if he was beaten out of sight or that his opponents were completely useless…
He travelled through the race with purpose and turning in looked the most likely winner. He still looked the most likely winner on the run to the last – but lack of sharpness caught him out on the run to the line.
Let’s not forget, Minsk is a progressive 106 rated horse on the flat, who absolutely hacked up in his last outing on the level. That was in the 2 mile Irish Cesarewitch, so he clearly has the required class and he will have no problem with the trip at Cheltenham. We now also know he is fit – and that he can hurdle. He seems to tick a lot of boxes to me…
The other nice thing, is that non of his opponents look outstanding. On form, Pearl Swan is probably just about the best, as he narrowly beat Grumeti at Cheltenham on trials day, with Baby Mix a long way back. However, that didn’t appear the most reliable piece of form – even before the race was taken away from him in the stewards room.
Of course, one of the above could improve massively on the day that counts – but so too could Minsk and he is more likely to do so, having only had one previous run over hurdles…
In summary, I was keen to tip Minsk a few weeks back – but I didn’t feel I could. He was priced up around 10/1 at that time – but hadn’t jumped a hurdle in public.
He has now run a highly promising second and – barring injury – is almost guaranteed to make the Triumph field, yet is available at 16/1 !
Hype – don’t you just love it ;)
