Hobbs plays down Fingal Bay claims
January 04, 2012 09:34:03 UK
Philip Hobbs has admitted he half regrets claiming Fingal Bay may be the best horse to have passed through his hands.
Yes, I do sometimes regret saying he could be the best I've ever trained.
Philip Hobbs
Unbeaten in five races, there is now a huge weight of expectancy being carried by the six-year-old novice is a Cheltenham certainty with Hobbs revealing: "He will go for the Neptune Novice Hurdle, with the Albert Bartlett a possibility."
According to the man they call 'The Master Trainer', there's no big secret about the horse's success with Hobbs adding: "Yes, I do sometimes regret saying he could be the best I've ever trained.
"The truth is just very uncomplicated, he does everything you ask of him. Eventually he will become a good three mile chaser. At the moment his best distance is around two miles five or six furlongs."
The Minehead-based trainer hasn't yet decided whether there's anything on the agenda for his star novice before the Festival.
He said: "We'll keep an eye on him and see how it goes. Whatever we decide i think he's had enough preparation before Cheltenham anyway."
His other big hope, Captain Chris, still has a lot to prove to show he has a realistic Gold Cup chance after running third behind Kauto Star and Long Run at Kempton on Boxing Day.
He said: "He was disappointing because he normally travels and jumps well but he didn't do either in the King George.
"The one thing that may be in his favour is that he's a better horse on better ground which we may well get at Cheltenham in March."
Captain Chris is 23.00 to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2012, with Long Run 2.75 and Kauto Star 4.50.
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