Here is the one golden rule I'm aiming to follow in the big chases this jumps season
Tom Segal with a key factor to consider in races over fences - plus why this Cheltenham race should be a 'win and you're in'
Fundamentally I'm not the type of person that likes to follow hard and fast rules about horse racing. By that I mean I'm open to all ideas and I don't believe any one method of analysing horses running round a field is better than any other.
But my simple aim in this jumps season is to try to avoid backing hold-up horses in competitive races over fences.
The biggest advantage any chaser can have is getting a clear look at their fences up front. Chasers are inherently pretty slow and very few can change gear, which means the key to nearly all the best races is to conserve energy by fluent jumping.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inTom Segal
Last updated
Copy- These novice chasers had me purring last week and look big players against the Willie Mullins Cheltenham hotpots
- Why we shouldn't always fall for horses who appear to be natural jumpers
- Badger Beers proves how front-runners are favoured in the big chases - remember where you read it first!
- As the Champion Stakes demonstrated, the cream rises to the top when pacemakers are involved
- I think I saw a Classic winner at Newmarket - but it wasn't Precise or Gewan
- These novice chasers had me purring last week and look big players against the Willie Mullins Cheltenham hotpots
- Why we shouldn't always fall for horses who appear to be natural jumpers
- Badger Beers proves how front-runners are favoured in the big chases - remember where you read it first!
- As the Champion Stakes demonstrated, the cream rises to the top when pacemakers are involved
- I think I saw a Classic winner at Newmarket - but it wasn't Precise or Gewan