Although I'm an infrequent visitor and poster on here these days I have to say that my personal opinion is Pilgrim is definitely not underrated. Very good tipster, very knowledgeable about racing and a genuine decent bloke
Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. I know you like flat races much more so I hope you will come back more often after Cheltenham and Punchestown.
Jebus. My post wasn't to court controversy lads. I have been on very infrequent over the last few months myself. I just don't see the plaudits for the tips he gives as much as I think he should get. That is my opinion based upon what I have seen. A like isn't much. It's not hard to pass a nice word on as a response to the winners I think.
Sheer wizardry Oddy...or a bottle of wine and 6 bottles of Birra Morretti might have had some input. I'll stick with wizardry for now though. I was going to ask you a question about the pertempts and the rise in popularity for the race but I got sidetracked. Basically was thinking along the lines is it due to the big graded races at Cheltenham starting to see too many penalty kicks going off odds on? Something unprecedented through the years, if you had one odds on shot for the festival it was even unique. With the watering down of the whole festival now, it's easy for trainers to pick and choose the softer race as we all know. So has this led to the "man in the street" seeking the better value in the races elsewhere, a la the handicaps, therfore increasing its popularity...
I'd agree mate - I think the Gold Cup is the only one of the 4 Championship races which is truly competitive - with maybe the Stayers hurdle starting to get there after years of being dominated by one great champ after another. The Champion Chase and Champion Hurdles have been small field affairs for years now, with usually just one truly classy individual rising to the top - or flopping and some unconsidered beast romps home. Quite unattractive for punters. I also think the Pertemps final is the best handicap of the meeting because of the qualification system. It really does give you a great opportunity to assess the field and look at who might have sneaked in with a favourable mark. The Irish, of course, have been very adept at this in the last few years and the closest I've got to the winner recently was Glenloe, just touched off by Delta Work in 2018. In fact, looking back, I think Cape Tribulation is the only winner I backed.