Just wondering rereading supercats post- has anyone ever lost a horse through a fatal injury in game?
And supercat, I don't quite understand what your saying, are you saying that flat horses are better in general than NH horses or just that its only the worst of the specifically flat breds that go jumping? Because you could argue the fact istabraq, a poor flat horse was able to dominate shows flat horses to be better.( this is not my view, just a potential one)

Im not sure you could say he was poor? He was about a 85 horse on the flat? And im sure if he'd stuck at it he might have won a decent handicap or listed race. He obviously was a much better hurdler than he was a flat horse but I wouldn't called him poor.

In SO5 I normally trial all my flat horses in both codes and some of my jumps team are awful on the flat, but most are pretty useful flat horses as well.

Maybe poor is not the right word- below expectation judging on breeding. But he was still nowhere near the top on te flat either way.

i lost a novice hurdler, think it was his debut as well, so never knew how good he was

Was it Moonax who won the St Leger or got placed anyway he was top class on the flat but was useless over the sticks I think the reasons that it seems that Flat horses do better over the jumps than jump horses do on the flat is Flat racing is really based around a two and three year old Career.

This is why when you get a Horse like Istrabaq or Our Conor who were Ok on the flat really come to themselves over sticks but if they remained unraced until 4yo under National Hunt they would of Achieved what they have done over jumps and if then transferred to the flat would still be ok Handicappers.

Moonax was a loon, tried to bite another horse once, who also ran over the wrong trip. He should have been aimed at the Stayers, not Champion, hurdle. He was beaten by some very smart 2m hurdlers. Same with Arctic Owl. A horse beaten a few lengths in the Ascot Gold Cup isn't going to win a champion hurdle. You need a 10-12f horse ideally. Now and then you might get 14f horse who excels over the sticks at 2m.

So many stayers from the flat have failed to win over the jumps because they need 2m4-3m not 2m. And if you look at it the other way there are a number of classy milers who have not been great over hurdles because they simply dont stay.

What about one of the best horses to come of the flat and that was Royal Gait who won the Gold Cup and yet a few years latter was a 2 miler over hurdles.

Alderbrook was the highest rated flat horse to go jumping- won the Prix dollar at longchamp and then the champion hurdle as a novice at a canter.

The good old days when good flat horses would go jumping, now they just get sold to race in other countries.

In game I mean that a good horse, with full potential will be good/great in both codes providing it can jump.

In life I'm saying really good horses won't go jumping because they are worth too much money. You usually only get average/poor flat horses that go jumping. I'm saying that a horse is a horse, it doesn't matter what kind of breeding it has. But it is more than likely true that the flat horses are a hell of a lot better than the NH horses. However, we'll never be able to test this because it is highly unlikely a top NH horse would contest a top flat race (barring handicaps) to try to prove the theory.

What someone else said about ex-flats racing over inadequate distances. I agree with that too, after Arctic Cosmos won the Leger his owner was talking about going to the champion hurdle! The horse subsequently won over 10f, but even so... What happened to the saying of a flat horse will stay its flat distance plus 1m over jumps because they go that much slower?? I wonder if it is because the horse is that much more valuable they don't want to run it in a slog over 3m.

Yes, the best hurdlers would generally be decent middle distance on the flat e.g sea pigeon, but then you get the likes of overturn who runs over 2m on the flat but is good enough to be 2nd in a champion hurdle and an arkle. Cirrus des aigles is a horse that if he could jump would be a super hurdler- goes 1m2-4 and handles heavy ground.

One horse I would love to see on the flat is sprinter sacre. I think over 1m6-2m he could give the best of them a race, maybe even 1m4.

Review of my runners this week:

NHC Race 2: John Smith’s West Hurdle, 3m1f: Sage Ii: 7/12 jumped well, forced wide second circuit. Stayed on well from 3.5f – 2.5f out then just kept galloping at one pace. He finished exactly where I didn't want him to! He didn't show enough to convince me he's a group horse, but he probably hasn't finished far enough down the field to get a competitive handicap mark.

NHC Race 3: Bet365 Mares Hurdle: Oak Dancing Crystal 2m: 6/19 jumped well and made good ground, stayed on well all the way to the finish. Promising.

Race 4: Stephenson Hcp Chase: Oak Dancing Rosie 2m: 4/17 really promising run. Jumped well, and ran on well but too far behind to trouble the leaders.

Race 6: Badger Ales Trophy: Forest Viking 3m1f: 14/20 bad mistake first time around put an end to his chance. He stayed on well like he needed further, considering his weight he ran well. Disappointed with his finishing result, I thought he ran better than 14th!

Race 8: Totetentofollow Rising Stars Novice Chase 2m5f: Chick: F/20 bad mistake 3rd fence, fell 4th. Would like to give him another go if there are no suitable hurdle races.

Race 9: Toteexacta Cross Country Chase 4m: Geraldine Ii: 4/15 3 mistakes including at the 2nd last didn’t help his chances. Though he was ridden a lot better than the previous times, looking forward to his next run.

Race 10: Wincanton Mare's Handicap 2m6f: Oak Diamond Currency: 1/21 jumped perfectly, loved the ground and trip. Will struggle to find another race like that, hopefully she won’t be hammered too hard by the handicapper. Maybe she’ll have another win in her somewhere.

Race 11: Paddy Power Gold Cup 2m4f: Oak San Rose: 1/18 jumped really well, lead most of the way. Ridden much better this time. Will be aimed at similar contest, hopefully the handicapper won’t be too harsh.

Race 12: Morson Group Handicap Chase: 3m3f Oak Blazing Rose: 14/17 two mistakes at the ditch at the top of the course saw her get too far back and outpaced. Ran on at the end all too late. A high weight compared to many of the others probably didn’t help her cause.

Race 13: Jardine Lloyd Thompson Hurdle 3m1f: Oak Ruby Orse: U/15 second place when unseating at 2nd last. Probably would have been in the mix, may have faded out of it.

Race 14: Prestbury Juvenile Hurdle 2m: Rival Ii: 15/19 outpaced and never in it. Will be tried over further then retired if he still shows nothing.

Race 17: Neptune Investment Hurdle 2m5f: Blazon Ii: 10/17 VERY disappointing. Possibly the ground, more likely a slow-ish pace and being forced wide around the final bend meant he couldn't make the usual slick progress through the pack. Despite the excuses he was still very disappointing and ran no race, will step up to 3m next week.

Race 18: Cleanevent Standard Bumper 2m: Dance of Life Ii: 13/13 just not good enough. Will go hurdling and see how he goes. Like Rival Ii will be retired in week 5 if he still shows nothing.

Race 21: Lismullen Hurdle 2m4f: Oak Diamond Rose: 4/12 slow-ish jump 3 from home meant she was shuffled back. It was here that the winner went on, she seemed a little outpaced around the final bend and ran on well. She may try further, or depending upon the races available she may try the same trip again on a course with more jumping efforts.

Race 23: Down Royal Handicap Hurdle 2m4f: Oak Dancing Crystal: 15/15 slow-ish jump 4 out and bad mistake 3 out meant he dropped out quickly. Maybe didn't stay 2m4f…

Race 25: Moores Millions Stayers 3m5f: Coco Palm Ii: 4/14, despite the horribly slow pace he still seemed outpaced. Made two mistakes as the pace quickened which put him out of it. Kept staying on, may be stepped up further in trip.

It was a bit of a strange up and down week, but I'm really pleased with my two winners and various close finishers. Hoping for more of the same in the following weeks!

Every time i run a bumper trial i shed a tear & Kick myself at what i have done to Luftanza
project Luftanza off to a slow start but Keenan i will get there

I cannot believe that I won two races this week. Oranjestad won the grade 2 John Smiths Hurdle and Isbon (got to love when you miss name a horse and it ends up being one of your best ones) landed a 3m6f grade 3 race. I guess I should be looking more seriously at where some of my horses are heading. I'm really enjoying being back in the league and I'm looking forward to Mondays like I have never done before.