Chase form v Hurdle form

[Sheerluck Holmes]

Hello chaps, Looking to pick your brains on a subject that I've thought about for a few years (no, not my hair loss and increasing belly line) ..... At the moment I am pondering how you guys relate chase form to hurdle form. Do you pay any attention to the 'other' form in a particular race? Is the distance more important, regardless of the obstacles? I have always considered it to be, rightly or wrongly, roughly the equivalent of turf v AW form for horses on the flat, but I am wondering if I am missing something these days? Thoughts are very much appreciated. :) Lee

[BillyHills]

Re: Chase form v Hurdle form Hi Lee, Not really sure in what context you are struggling with, is it when hurdlers start novice chasing or is it when chasers switch back to handicap hurdles and vice versa? Personally i dont think its an exact science, a horse has two ratings, one for hurdles and one for chases obviously, we have to remember its only ONE horse though, it has a certain amount of ability and thats that. Now it may well fare better over one code more than another due to loads of things, slow horses will be better chasers for example. It could well have a better rating over fences because it has found a couple of easy opportunities, doesnt mean its a better chaser at all. Look at that thing of Tim Vaughan's, cant remember its name now, begins with R, Ratton Lake or something. It was rated 75 and won a couple of chases, ran back over hurdles off its old mark and was beaten at odds on, it won a couple of very poor chases up north buts it still the same old average horse, its just that hurdles are much more competitive, always one or two that are improving where as chases are more exposed. I think basically you were right when you said its the distance and ground which is more important than the obstacles, it never puts me off when an seemingly exposed chaser goes back over hurdles, i can think of a few old chasers that have gone and won novice hurdles when they are 8 or 9 years old. Obviously you will get a few that are only racing over hurdles after a bad fall or coming back from a lay off to get some confidence but you have to take these on an individual basis i reckon. Dont do you head in too much is my advise, every horse is different, the trainer will try to find an opportunity and its up to us to try and work out if the horse has improved or just found easier pickings over the other discipline? Not sure about Turf v AW either, they are very different animals in my eyes to NH stuff?