There are only a few trainers who you can rely on when they say before a race that their horse is fit enough for their forthcoming race ……and that is what Barbe told us before the KG only for her to be told by Soumillon after the race that CDA lacked condition and was never going to win……
Seems to happen to the best of them and the blame for this particular brand of excuse surely lies with the work riders who I imagine are wrongly feeding back that horses are ready ( and I might add these are well known horses whose peak condition their work riders and trainers should be very familiar with) when they are not.
Didn’t back CDA btw but I am a keen follower of what connections have to say before and after races.
Good post and I have to agree.
In her defence I don’t suppose Madame Barbe has horses decent enough to push CDA at home and one can therefore only really tell how fit the horse is in race conditions. She DID also say before the race that the horse thrives on competition so it is possible that he will show improved form again next time out especially if the ground is slower.
Saying that, it is hard to say he really improved from his first race to this one and it may just be that a long career has finally caught up with him. The Juddmonte should tell us all we need to know.
Or it might be that the trainer is out of form. I backed Ektihaam in the race and Giofra yesterday. The latter in particular after running a decent race behind Elusive Kate two weeks ago, ran really poorly. I wouldnt rule out a return to form for CDA just yet.
Also the comment about the horses condition, Its my experience that when a horse doesn’t run well, all connections look on things that didn’t seem such a big deal before hand. Its human nature.
SHL