Papini Race Reports 2004 ~ 2005

13 April 2005, Cheltenham. It was a competitive field of nine with our old rival At Your Request looking to be our biggest threat as the 5/4 favourite but carrying 4lbs more than us, however as it turned out it came in the form of Openide ridden by A P McCoy. Papini jumped out in front as soon as the tape came up and with all the open countryside in front of him, he pricked his ears and bowled along, clearing loving his day out. It was very quick ground, probably quicker than Papini would have liked but it didn't stop his jumping as he pinged from flight to flight. Mick not wanting Papini to idle drove him into each hurdle and all bar the flight five out, where Papini lost his concentration marginally going downhill and blundered slightly, he jumped like a stag. Turning for home Papini was still in a commanding position and the rest of the field had their work cut out; two out the fight was on and our boy put his best hoof forward and did what he does best and battled. Two out, Openide looked a well beaten horse but A P, not one for giving up lightly, dug deep and carried the Brendan Duke trained horse to the line. Papini stayed on well in the run-in and much like his last race at Newbury, stuck his neck out courageously as he rallied for the line. In the end we were beaten by one and half lengths but as Openide, who was carrying 4lbs less, had previously won his debut race in a Listed bumper at Cheltenham in January (the second horse in this race, Senorita Rumbalita, subsequently won the Listed Mares Only bumper at Aintree this month) the form more than stands up and in defeat we had nothing to be ashamed of. Mick dismounted and reported that Papini had jumped well enjoying being able to dominate the pace and was unlucky not to have picked up the race. The ground was riding on the fast side of good and this would not have been in our favour but all bar the one flight down the back, it was a faultless race from Papini. Mick's final thoughts were that he thinks that Papini is the type of horse that likes to save a little for himself and that when he moves over to the bigger obstacles he may well get further.

RACING POST ANALYSIS: Papini had run a terrible race in the Fred Winter, a run that was all the more perplexing as his yard did so well at the Festival. However, that was hopefully a one-off, as he ran a cracker here, adopting his favoured front-running tactics and only surrendering late in the day to the winner's irresistible charge. He's always going to be vulnerable and prone to handicapping exposure because of the way he races, but his heart is in the right place. At Your Request found only Dabiroun too good last month, but he had been comprehensively out pointed by Papini at Newbury in January and it was the same story here.

15 March 2005, The Cheltenham Festival. A dream come true to have a runner at the Festival, but in an unbelievably competitive race Papini had his work cut out carrying nearly top weight. As instructed Mick, dropped Papini in behind the leading pack but in such a large field he was immediately swapped from all sides. On the fast ground Papini chased the leaders, jumping fluently, but half way round four out, just as things were starting to hot up, he made a small error and was immediately made to pay for it as the rest of the field swallowed him up. Not used to being surrounded by so many other horses his head went up and Mick knew from then on that we were not going to be in the fight for the line. Not wanting to destroy Papini for the sake of one or two places at the back of the field, Mick wisely decided to look after Papini and let him finish the race at his own pace; only beating one in the end. Back in the un-saddling enclosure Nicky, as the rest of us, was sorely disappointed yet slightly perplexed at the result. Yes, we were carrying a lot of weight and 5lbs more than at Newbury and on much quicker ground but this would not have been enough to explain it. Especially bearing in mind that the horse that came second - At Your Request - we beat last time out and carrying the same weight difference. Mick dismounted and reported that Papini had not enjoyed being held up in a big field, and that Papini was thrown by being surrounded by so many horses coming at him from every angle. But it had been a no win situation as Papini would not have been able to "make all" the whole way round because of carrying such a lot of weight. In short Mick concluded that Papini is a much better horse when allowed to dominate, and it was the race and the tactics which didn't suit him, rather than his ability, which let him down in the end.

12 January 2005, Newbury. In a field of 14, Papini was unsurprisingly the 7/4 Favourite but carrying a 7lb penalty from his debut win, it was in no way a done-deal before the off. After days of dreadful weather it was more than a welcome relief to see clear skies and sunshine but with a drying wind on top of pretty sodden ground, it was no surprise that the course was pretty sticky and it was testing conditions for all. Mick's instructions were to pop Papini out in front and let him bowl along in the hope of being in the shake up for the line. And this is exactly what Mick did - Papini made all and jumped neatly and accurately. Turning for home things started to hot up and the always prominent, At Your Request started to quicken, trying to challenge for the lead. But unfazed Papini stuck his head down and got on with the task in hand, never allowing his lead to be taken for a second. Being driven hard two out, Papini stayed on gamely despite the tiring ground, and when put under pressure on the run-in, he battled on and bravely stuck at it to the line, beating At Your Request by half a length. What a race and what a racehorse! Back in the Winners' Enclosure Mick dismounted Papini, who was pleasingly not blowing hard at all, and reported that all bar the one mistake in the home straight Papini had jumped like a stag. He had been genuine and brave for the battle for the post and Mick couldn't fault his performance.

There is now talk of entering Papini in The Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle Race on the Tuesday of the Festival in March but the aim will be to get another run out of Papini over the next month before we decided this for definite. I have probed Mick too for his thoughts on Cheltenham and he said that Papini is definitely good enough to run there in the Fred Winter. Mick thinks you need a horse with three qualities to cope with the Cheltenham hill - one that can travel, one that can jump and one that can battle. Papini has all three qualities in Mick's mind.

3 December 2004, Sandown. The official Going has been declared as Good To Soft but it was soon apparent that the ground was riding slow and sticky as the field of nine worked their way through it (in fact the time was slow by 16.30 seconds). However Papini did not seem unduly hampered by the ground and took up the lead from the Off. Up against much stiffer opposition than on his first run, Papini was not given any space for errors by the other horses, who closely tracked him, challenging at every opportunity. Despite this added pressure Papini coped well, jumping efficiently and making very few errors, staying out in front until three from home. With the post in sight a challenge was made by Hunorisk and Calomeria, two from home, but Papini fought back bravely and kept upsides with the challengers and in the closing stages it was only between us and the Tony Dobbin ridden mare, Calomeria. Not prepared to give up without a fight, Papini stuck his head down and was just held off by half a length, encouragingly though he kept on to the post and battled hard. Nicky seemed very encouraged by Papini's race and in no way was disappointed with his performance; Mick (Fitzgerald) was also very pleased with how Papini had coped with the step up in class plus on more testing ground, saying that Papini had jumped well under pressure and that he had been unlucky not to get up on the line as there was more petrol left in the tank. All in all, Mick was really impressed with how Papini had battled on to the line and that he tried his heart-out, confirming that Papini is a genuine horse with a lot of ability.

10 November 2004, Newbury. On perfect, autumnal virgin ground Papini made his National Hunt debut in 2 mile 1/2 furlong Juvenile Hurdle Race along with eight other 3-year-olds. From the off, Papini took control of the race, setting a nice pace and sailing over the hurdles effortlessly. There was some classy opposition in the form of Pipe's debut winning Tizi Ouzou and Alan King's Incursion, but both were only able to put up a slight fight against Papini's onslaught. Pulling away easily after the last flight, Papini made light work of it all and was eased up nine impressive lengths clear of Tizi Ouzou. All in all there was a total of 80 lengths between first and last horse! Post race comments included: Racing UK - "The most impressive juvenile seen out this season so far"; Racing Post - "..he looks to be the part and should go on to better things." Two bookmakers are already giving him a price for the Triumph Hurdle in March - we can but dream....