Not Too Many Can Do Anything Against Min

I was delighted with Edwulf’s run at Navan on Sunday. It was a very competitive race especially with Min in the mix.

Navan
Finishing second was probably as good as we could have hoped for. He missed the third last which probably did cost us second place but in general jumped well and he ran a good race. He remains a horse that we look forward to. I’m excited to see what he produces in the future.

In Beginners Chases at this time of year, you’re always going to run into big names and to be honest, you’re not going to do anything to a horse like Min in too many of them but it was still great to see him in the race and run so comfortably. Hopefully he’ll be out again in the next few weeks.

Min did what most people expected. You couldn’t really fault him. He jumped very well and never looked in doubt. He never once looked like he was going to be stretched or put under too much pressure. If he even settled a shade better than what he used to settle over hurdles, you’d imagine he’ll be among the best two mile novices here in Ireland.

Gordon’s On Fire
Gordon Elliott’s six-timer at Navan on Sunday was an incredible achievement. He’s put a great team of people and horses together and it was absolutely something else for him to have the day that he did! It’s well deserved and it doesn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone.

Logistically, it takes huge organising when you’ve a lot of runners at a meeting.

He had 27 runners at Navan yesterday; it’s a serious amount of work and his team are a credit to him.

He’s made big strides in such a short space of time and it certainly didn’t happen by accident.

Thistlecrack
Thistlecrack was very good at Newbury on Saturday and similar to Min, he did what you’d expect him to do so no major shock there. At the same time though, they have to go and do it and you really couldn’t be happier for his connections so far. He was brave at Cheltenham and took a few risks but he looked to have learned from that on Friday.

Colin Tizzard is in a great position; he has some good horses and they’ll probably end up taking each other on at some stage. Hopefully they all stay sound and can be in a position to take each other on.

It’s a good problem to have in some ways!

Native River was great in the Hennessy. He’s a good horse who jumps and stays. Richard Johnson gave him a great ride and he’s a horse who looks like he’s really improving. He suits Richard but at the end of the day, he can ride any horse. He’s the champion jockey and a great rider.