i agree that he is better under 2000m but he has come back this year a better horse, no doubt. last year he beat sunline over 2000m. struggled in the cox plate after missing the start and then won the McKinnon stakes over 2000m. i think the cox plate is a very realistic goal for Lonhro but is the race a goal for anyone if Northerly is in form?? we'll see i guess

just thought id post something to get it back on the first page so i dont have to search through to find it again

G'day ra sun,

Lohnro is a very,very good horse....but champion?......well, I don't know.
What is his Group 1 tally at the moment, 6 or 7? His sire was an absolute racehorse and proved it with 10 Group 1 victories. Until the big, black son of the "Big O" wins that many Group1's I'll reserve my judgment. I still have fond memories of "Occies" victory at Warwick Farm in 1997 when R S Dye set him alight and caught the other riders napping(particularly the rider of Juggler) and held on to gain a truly magnificent victory. That's what thoroughbred racing is all about, so we should use the "champion" tag very sparingly. The last "true" champion was Kingston Town , which could win at all distances on all racing surfaces.
I hope Lohnro keeps winning but he still has to clear a pretty high bar to be labelled a true "champion" and match the deeds of his dad.
This is a good subject and I enjoyed reliving those memories.

Cheers.

Booma said....."Lonhro is the best horse in australia, if he gets beat in the doncaster i'll give up betting"

So Booma, how does it feel now that you've given up the punt? :smile:

Murphy's law...The wider you open your mouth, the most space there is for your foot to fit inside it. I'm sure we've all done it.

The best example I know is of a bookie many years ago at Port Macquarie,, when asked his opinion of a horse having its first run spouted loud & clear that, "if this horse wins, I'll eat it". Of course you know the result...and another smartie got him after the race with, "so (insert bookies name), how do you like your horse?"

:grin:

thats the bast part about horse racing you cant really compare one horse to another. darren beadman has said that lonrho is better than octagonal, whether thats true or not none of us know so i guess he has the best idea as he has ridden them both. last champion was kingston town?? i would have thought northerly may be a chance of beinf touted a champion??
2 australian cups
2 cox plates
1 caulfield cup
to name a few. but its a big call saying any horse is a champion and thats why i put this one up because i knew everyone would try to compare lonhro and octagonal

G'day ra sun,

I hope that your "tag"- "ra"-meaning sun god in Egyptian history, and sun, doesn't mean you have been may have been in the sun too long.
Let's get something straight-I,for one never tried to compare horses in different eras.
All you can go on is history:
Tulloch-absolute champion, raced against the best at all times,particularly, Lord, considered an absolute "ultra" champion by our friends in Victoria.
Look at the horses that Phar Lap ran against-one in particular,Peter Pan, won two Melbourne Cups, although not consecutively.
Gunsynd was a very, very good horse but no champion, so we must be very careful not to label very good horses as "champions"-therefore, Northerly, a very, very, good horse but look at the way he has been handled, with lack-lustre performances in unsuitable handicap races-do you think this does the image of racing any good?
I respect your opinion but I think that I havr presented a pretty strong case for recognising the "ills" of racing today.

Cheers

everyone is entitled to their own opinion mate and yours is always welcome here. i dont claim to be an expert and i never will be. hell, you guys probably all know a lot more than i do i just tell it as "I" see it and no one, not even you with your fancy little "jokes??" can expect any more than that

funny.....i cant recall in all of my postings saying that i think lonhro is a champion. something to think about xanadu

ra sun,

I hope that we haven't misunderstood each others comments and I hope there are no hard feelings. As I said in my post I respect your opinion. All the best.

Cheers.