Irish Flame

Damn it, shouldve went big on E/W!!

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Shezi...if this was a prep for the HK race..I say GAME OVER!!!
Irish Flame will set the HK racecourse on fire

Just want to say a BIG thanks Bob -D

Well done to those that were on...-D

It is very encouraging that he showed the necessary enthusiasm, but let's not lose sight of the fact that he was a Gr 1 horse running in a Gr 7 race. It hardly makes him a good thing to win a major race back on turf in Hong Kong, although of course I'd love to see him do it.

So happy to see some return of form to Irish Flame.

The run over the Newmarket mile the other day found him and 1 other alone on the outside and floundering. I really thought it might be the end for him. But when he accepted to run the 2200 I reckoned the one bloke I take on blind faith to be right more often than the rest is De Kock. MdK and 5/1, these are two things that really do go together. You could see as the gates opened a different horse had pitched up. it might be a surface he needed badly.

I'm not sure too many Saf horses have won in the UK, especially flat races, it's such a process just to get there and get going. Hope springs eternal as they say, go The Flame!

Well done, Jack. At least he has come back to winning ways, because when they lose the will to compete then they won't shape no matter how much better than the opposition they are. He did the job willingly and maybe he can now build up on this, but I agree with those posters who reckon conditions in Dubai are against him. He loves softer ground, and in Europe next year he should find plenty of it.

On closer inspection, I see that the second horse was rated 100 and is trained by John Gosden, while the third horse was rated 95 and is trained by Sir Henry Cecil, so they were not exactly soup meat even if they (like Irish Flame) earned their ratings on grass. He carried top weight and won in course record time, so while this wasn't exactly a world class event it was hardly a "three legged" race either.

course record time Magic? Tell me more ...

Mavourneen Wrote:

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> course record time Magic? Tell me more ...

That's what it says on Racing Post's website. What it doesn't say is how often they race over that distance. However, it was a decent race for an all weather venue.

magiclips Wrote:

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> Mavourneen Wrote:
>

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>

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> > course record time Magic? Tell me more ...
>
> That's what it says on Racing Post's website.
> What it doesn't say is how often they race over
> that distance. However, it was a decent race for
> an all weather venue.

de Kock also said that Irish Flame won in record time on one of his winning interviews last night and then something about Hong Kong

OK, I looked it up! It's on de Kock's own website, without any details, but I also got from another website that Irish Flame broke the record by 1.52 secs, which is considerable. Can't find anywhere a list of course record times for the Kempton all-weather track.

Also read that he is off to Hong Kong, Sha Tin, for the HK Vase, 2400 m, in just under one month's time, 11 December (Sunday).

What's interesting is that 1st and 2nd in the Melborne Cup, Dunadin and Red Cadeaux, will likely also be there and everyone is relishing the thought of a re-match. But the Melborne Cup was 3200 m and I wonder if Irish Flame (or some other horse) won't outmatch them at the shorter distance ... just a thought, I'm no tipster!