Long Run to wear cheek pieces in Gold Cup
Long Run will feature in the Gold Cup, wearing cheek pieces, as that seems to give him a performance boost. He seems to be in very good shape for the mega event at Cheltenham in England on Friday, March 15, 2013.
According to his trainer, Nicky Henderson, “We did try him in cheek pieces ... and he was very, very good. I think we all concluded they will just be a little bit of assistance to him, especially in the latter part of the race. Sometimes he gets to the front
and he doesn't do a lot. It's no discredit to the horse [wearing cheek pieces].”
He added, “He won't see them again before the race, they are shock tactics. He used to be too exuberant early on but nowadays he's much more relaxed. They might have him a bit more alert early in the race but that's no bad thing.”
The French challenger has always been impressive for his team and never settles for the second best. He always fights for top positions, which makes it difficult for his rivals to handle.
Although age is not on his side, the eight-year-old gelding knows how to deliver top class performances under pressure. He has maintained a pretty decent winning percentage, which is a proof that he works extremely hard and always comes out with the best
ever show.
Overall, Long Run has participated in a total of 24 races, winning 14 of them. Moreover, he has finished as a runner up on six occasions and secured the third spot on four times. This means that he has never dropped out of the top three even once in his
career, which is an amazing feat.
His team will be really proud of his performances and the fans will be hoping that he manages to deliver some quality results with the same level of consistency in the coming days.
In his most recent outing, the seasoned performer was rated as the favourite to succeed and narrowly claimed the top spot by a neck. He found the conditions to be difficult, but still delivered an outstanding performance in the end.
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