Master not invincible
March 16th, 2010 by Donn McCleanI’d say Master Minded is not invincible, actually. If the Master Minded who won the Champion Chase in 2008 shows up tomorrow, then Badsworth Boy himself wouldn’t beat him. The performance that he put in that day earned him the highest-rated-chaser-in-trained accolade at the time, and it was difficult to believe that he was only five.
I’m not sure we’ve seen that Master Minded since, however. We certainly didn’t see him at Aintree three weeks later, when he was beaten by Voy Por Ustedes long before the issue of his stamina for two and a half miles came into play, and I’m not sure we saw him in the Champion Chase last year, when he ran out a really impressive winner from Well Chief and Petit Robin. I’m not sure that last year’s Champion Chase was that rich a renewal, Briareus was bang there until he fell at the last, we have no evidence that Well Chief was or is as good as he once was – he was 10 years old that day after all – and Petit Robin is not thought good enough to even contest the Champion Chase this year, the Ryanair now his aim.
We didn’t see that Master Minded at Punchestown last April either, when Big Zeb almost certainly had him cooked before he hit the last fence a belt that would have sent a weeble tumbling to the floor, and we didn’t see him on his debut this season when he could finish only third. He has been off to get his broken rib mended since, and he looked good in the Game Spirit Chase on his first run since, but you can pick holes in the solidity of that race with a straw, Voy Por Ustedes didn’t run his race, Fix The Rib (no kiddin) didn’t jump a jump, and it was left to Mahogany Blaze to chase him home. We may see the Master Minded of old tomorrow, the vibe from the Nicholls yard is a positive one, but we don’t know that we will, and the chopping of his odds for tomorrow’s contest from 7/4 to 4/5 after the Game Spirit – a race that told us not much more than the fact that he is alive and well and has four legs, all of which are in working order – doesn’t make much sense.
Tomorrow’s Champion Chase is a cracker, a much stronger contest than last year’s renewal. In Forpadydeplasterer and Kalahari King, you have the first and second in last year’s Arkle, and we know how good a Champion Chase trial the previous season’s Arkle is. We also have Big Zeb, unfashionable in the UK after a fall and a lack-lustre effort in two attempts, but top class in Ireland, who comes into the race on the back of a hugely impressive performance in landing the Tied Cottage Chase. You also have Twist Magic, Master Minded’s stable companion, who is apparently being trained differently this year, he is doing most of his work on his own, with the result that he may just be able to transfer his Sandown form to Cheltenham.
Are you backing Master Minded at even money? Do you think he is more likely to win that to lose?
* For more of Donn’s thoughts, visit www.donnmcclean.com.
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Categories: Horse racing Irish Racing
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