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Fallout from the Triumph Hurdle - Andy Gibson reflects on Zenta and other Aintree contenders

Lossiemouth ridden by Paul Townend on their way to winning the Triumph Hurdle

With Zenta entered at Aintree this week, horse racing expert Andy Gibson looks back on the performances of him and the other top juveniles in the Triumph Hurdle and evaluates their future prospects.

Lossiemouth

The time comparisons with the County Hurdle make for interesting reading and help to understand how each of the races were run.
Lossiemouth was more than two seconds quicker than Faivoir from their first hurdle to the fifth, but from there to the second last Lossiemouth was about four seconds slower and was unsurprisingly racing very keenly at this stage of the race.
This juvenile was then a couple of lengths quicker from two out to the last and about a second faster from the last to the line before finishing just under a second behind Faivoir on the overall time from their respective first hurdles to the winning line.
The ease in the pace from the fifth until three out resulted in the prominent runners holding an advantage. The winner held an advantage from soon after the second last hurdle and then showed enough speed to make it very difficult for anything to peg her back.
Simon Rowlands had Gala Marceau (41.18) as the quickest horse at the Festival for the final three furlongs, closely followed by Lossiemouth (41.32) and Zenta who recorded the final three furlong split in the same time as the winner.
These figures do not have as much of a bearing on the quality of the Triumph Hurdle horses as much as they confirm how slowly the race was run in the middle section before the sprint for home.
Where Lossiemouth will figure in the pecking order for hurdlers and indeed for Willie Mullins-trained hurdlers next season is anyone's guess, but I think it is fair to suggest that, at worst, she is a bit better than the runner-up and the third to finish.
Personally, I do not think she made as much of a splash as Vauban managed in the 2022 Triumph Hurdle and he came up well short in the 2023 Champion Hurdle.

Gala Marceau

Gala Marceau found herself trapped behind the weakening Blood Destiny from the second last hurdle, which resulted in her giving the winner four or five lengths start from immediately after the hurdle.
She was then marginally quicker than the winner over the final three furlongs but her starting position resulted in her being unable to make up the ground.
On the balance of her three races against Lossiemouth she is probably a little behind her but maybe not by enough to make it impossible for her to close the gap after a summer off.

Zenta

The starting position of Zenta from after two out was better than that of the runner-up so I would have her a little more behind Gal Marceau than the neck separating them would suggest.
With three furlongs to go she was two and a half lengths behind the winner and maintained that losing margin to the line, although I doubt many juveniles would be able to match the pace of Lossiemouth in the latter stages of any two-mile contest.

Gust Of Wind

This looked a good performance on what was only his second run for the yard. I suspect that the slow middle part of the race kept Gust Of Wind closer to his three stablemates after the second last hurdle.
He was left well behind from thereon in and recorded a final three-furlong time almost two seconds slower than each of the first three fillies' home, all of which suggests he may well be flattered by his proximity and possibly by some way.
Furthermore, his fourth-placed finish had plenty to do with him holding a prominent position at the point the pace quickened. I would not wish to be confident either way as to how he would compete with one or two that finished behind him on another day.

A few also-rans

Ascending

Ascending ran a very similar final three-furlong time as the fourth horse to finish, but unfortunately, the way the race was run meant that he had too much ground to make up to pinch that fourth-place finish.
It was close enough between him and Gust of Wind for me to hold no strong view as to which of the pair might come out on top on another day.

Blood Destiny

The trainers' rep said Blood Destiny raced too freely which is interesting as the winner appeared to be over-racing much more than him.
Either way he dropped away from before the second-last hurdle and was eased before finishing tailed off, with the jockey later stating that the horse was never travelling from half-way.
Hypotenus and Jupiter Du Gite
Both of these appear to be ones to avoid until they show something different to suggest otherwise.

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