the campbell 's mona monkey , also known as campbell 's guenon and campbell 's monkey , ( cercopithecus campbelli ) , is a species of primate in the family cercopithecidae found in the ivory coast , gambia , ghana , guinea , guinea-bissau , liberia , senegal , and sierra leone .

it was named for henry dundas campbell , in 1838 .

lowe 's mona monkey was previously considered a subspecies of campbell 's mona monkey .

the international union for conservation of nature has rated this species as being of " least concern " because it has a wide range and is able to adapt to degraded habitats .

campbell ' s mona monkey

lowe ' s mona monkey was previously considered a subspecies of campbell ' s mona monkey .
wolf ' s mona monkey was previously considered a subspecies of the crested mona monkey .
campbell ' s mona monkeys , boabeng - fiema monkey sanctuary . # 2 - youtube
campbell ' s mona monkeys , boabeng - fiema monkey sanctuary . vitts in ghana 2010
more campbell ' s mona monkeys , boabeng - fiema monkey sanctuary . vitt family , ghana 2010
wolf ' s mona monkey - cercopithecus wolfi a . meyer , 1891 - details - encyclopedia of life
and arnold et al . ( population differences in wild campbell’s monkeys alarm call use ,
keenan , s . , lemasson , a . , & zuberbu¨hler , k . ( 2013 ) . graded or discrete ? a quantitative analysis of campbell’s monkey alarm calls .
wolf ' s mona monkey is known to associate with several guenon and non - guenon species such as the black crested mangabey , the red - tailed monkey , the angola colobus , allen ' s swamp monkey , and the bonobo . no viable offspring or interspecific mating occurs during its associations with other primates .
when forming associations with other primates it is necessary that there is a difference in diet or feeding height between the species to reduce competition . when in a mixed group , wolf ' s mona monkey will move and forage at a mean height of 17 metres . wolf ' s mona monkey is mainly found in association with the red - tailed monkey ( which forages at 12 m ) and the black crested mangabey ( which forages at 21 . 5 m ) , two species with similar diets to wolf ' s mona monkey . these mixed groups most likely form for predator detection .
spectrographic illustrations of the different loud call types produced by male campbell ' s monkeys in different contexts .
lemasson a , gautier jp , hausberger m ( 2003 ) vocal similarities and social bonds in campbell ' s monkey ( cercopithecus campbelli ) . comptes rendus biologies 326 : 1185–1193 .
wolf ' s mona monkey is also sexually dimorphic in size . males weigh , on average , almost twice as much as females ( 4 . 5 kg and 2 . 5 kg respectively ) .
basic acoustic measurements of the stem of the six different loud calls produced by adult male campbell ' s monkeys .
the wolf ' s mona monkey ( cercopithecus wolfi ) , also called wolf ' s guenon , is a colorful old world monkey in the cercopithecidae family . it is found in central africa , primarily between the democratic republic of the congo and uganda . it lives in primary and secondary lowland rainforest and swamp forest .
zuberbühler k ( 2001 ) predator - specific alarm calls in campbell ' s guenons . behavioral ecology and sociobiology 50 : 414–422 .
campbell ' s monkeys appear to combine the same calls in different ways , using rules of grammar that turn sound into language .
kamara , t . 2001 . saddam ' s oil and taylor ' s timber . urltoken
is most commonly found in the democratic republic of congo and areas in uganda . there are three subspecies of wolf’s monkey :
lemasson , a . , ouattara , k . , bouchet , h . , & zuberbühler , k . ( 2010 ) . speed of call delivery is related to context and caller identity in campbell’s monkey males .
wolters s , zuberbühler k ( 2003 ) mixed - species associations of diana and campbell ' s monkeys : the costs and benefits of a forest phenomenon . behaviour 140 : 371–385 .
, are very colorful . their color is used in intraspecific communication for recognizing individuals , species , and potential mates . wolf ' s mona monkey is dark grey with a red
saddle
on its back . the pelage depends on the subspecies .
lemasson , a . , zuberbühler , k . , & hausberger , m . ( 2005 ) . socially meaningful vocal plasticity in campbell’s monkeys .
ouattara , k . , lemasson , a . & zuberbühler , k . ( 2009a ) . campbell’s monkeys use affixation to alter call meaning .
zuberbühler , k . ( 2002 ) . a syntactic rule in forest monkey communication .
ouattara k , lemasson a , zuberbühler k ( 2009 ) the alarm call system of female campbell ' s monkeys . anim behav 78 : 35–44 .
kuhn . j . ( 2013 ) . do campbell’s monkeys have linguistic morphology ? seminar paper , nyu . available online march 10 , 2014 , from
the diet of wolf ' s mona monkey differs depending on location . although predominantly a frugivore , it may also forage for seeds and insects for protein . since it has no adaptations for leaf eating , its leaf diet mainly consists of young and easily digestible leaves .
lemasson , who is further investigating campbell ' s monkey talk by measuring their reactions to recorded calls , suspects that a dense jungle environment drove the evolution of syntax . since the monkeys had trouble seeing each other , they compensated by talking .
ouattara , k . , lemasson , a . , & zuberbühler , k . ( 2009b ) . campbell’s monkeys concatenate vocalizations into context - specific call sequences .
arnold , k . , keenan , s . , lemasson , a . , & zuberbühler , k . ( 2013 ) . population differences in wild campbell’s monkeys alarm call use . manuscript , university of st andrews .
) . when a mixed group was involved in the association , it always lasted for over an hour . interactions occurred once every seven hours . associations mainly occurred while the bonobos were feeding or resting . wolf ' s mona monkey was found to feed in the trees while the bonobo fed or rested .
arnold k , pohlner y , zuberbühler k ( 2008 ) a forest monkey ' s alarm call series to predator models . behav ecol sociobiol 62 : 549–559 .
lemasson ' s analysis was based on a vast set of recordings , gathered from 10 monkey groups observed for two full years in their african rain forest homes .
zuberbühler k ( 2002 ) a syntactic rule in forest monkey communication . anim behav 63 : 293–299 .
lemasson a , hausberger m , zuberbühler k ( 2005 ) socially meaningful vocal plasticity in adult campbell ' s monkeys ( cercopithecus campbelli ) . j comp psychol 119 : 220–229 .
among cercopithecines , forest guenons such as wolf ' s mona monkey have very developed cheek pouches . these cheek pouches are second only to macaques . the evolution of these cheek pouches in both genera may be a response to the increased potential for interspecific competition in the mixed - species associations which these monkeys frequently form .
arnold , k . , pohlner , y . , & zuberbühler , k . ( 2008 ) . a forest monkey ' s alarm call series to predator models .
citation : ouattara k , lemasson a , zuberbühler k ( 2009 ) campbell ' s monkeys use affixation to alter call meaning . plos one 4 ( 11 ) : e7808 . urltoken
there is little hard data on threatened and declining species in the gambia . there has been a considerable decline in the diversity of large mammalian species , which commenced during the latter part of the nineteenth century . from the species in the gambia in the late 1960s , it was estimated that of the 67 species of mammals listed , 13 had become extinct and a similar number were threatened with extinction ( dpwm 1991 ) . a number of species of mammals still migrate into the gambia including roan antelope ( hippotragus equinus ) and campbell’s mona monkey ( cercopitheocus mona campbell ) , wild dogs ( lycoon pitus ) and lio ( panthera leo ) still infrequently enter the eastern end of the gambia , invariably as vagrants from niokolokoba national park in senegal .
according to lemasson and to jared taglialatela , a chimpanzee communication researcher at clayton state university , it ' s too soon to say whether the monkey talk is proto - human .
lemasson a , hausberger m ( 2004 ) patterns of vocal sharing and social dynamics in a captive group of campbell ' s monkeys ( cercopithecus campbelli campbelli ) . j comp psychol 118 : 347–359 .
lemasson a , blois - heulin c , jubin r , hausberger m ( 2006 ) female social relationships in a captive group of campbell ' s monkeys . american journal of primatology 68 : 1161–1170 .
ouattara , k . , zuberbühler , k . , n’goran , e . k . , gombert , j . - e . , & lemasson , a . ( 2009c ) . the alarm call system of female campbell’s monkeys .
citation :
generating meaning with finite means in campbell’s monkeys .
by karim ouattara , alban lemasson , and klaus zuberbuhler . proceedings of the national academy of sciences , vol . 106 no . 48 , december 7 , 2009 .
primates , this is not the case with the bonobo . no aggressive interactions occurred during the study period . the red - tailed monkey (
karim ouattara , alban lemasson , klaus zuberbühler ( 2009 ) ,
campbell ' s monkeys use affixation to alter call meaning
, plos one 4 ( 11 ) : e7808 , doi : 10 . 1371 / journal . pone . 0007808
here , we studied the alarm calling behavior of free - ranging campbell ' s monkey males in natural and experimental predator situations . we were particularly interested in how males concatenated their repertoire of six call types into call sequences . to this end , we sought to describe the principles governing the organization of sequences in terms of composition and call order and how the different sequences related to external events .
karim ouattaraa , alban lemassona , and klaus zuberbühler ( december 22 , 2009 ) ,
campbell ' s monkeys concatenate vocalizations into context - specific call sequences
, pnas 106 ( 51 ) : 22026–22031 , doi : 10 . 1073 / pnas . 0908118106
riede t , zuberbühler k ( 2003 ) pulse register phonation in diana monkey alarm calls . journal of the acoustical society of america 113 : 2919–2926 .
meyer , ab ( 1894 ) .
remarks on an african monkey , cercopithecus wolfi
. proceedings of the zoological society of london : 83–84 .
in one study , wolf ' s mona monkeys were found associating with bonobos within 20 metres for an average time of 20 minutes ( although sometimes for over an hour ) . these interactions were mainly initiated by , and departed by , the guenons ; this indicates that the guenons most benefited from these associations . although the
the birth season for wolf ' s mona monkey is from june through december due to rainfall and resource availability . it lives in a single male / multi - female group . it is female philopatric , with males dispersing from the group at sexual maturity . because one male controls several females there is extreme competition for the alpha male position . females , on the other hand , are generally amicable and participate in grooming and allomothering . unlike macaques there are no strong linear dominance hierarchies .
zuberbühler k , noë r , seyfarth rm ( 1997 ) diana monkey long - distance calls : messages for conspecifics and predators . anim behav 53 : 589–604 .
the degree to which the communication system found in campbell ' s monkey is unique or a general feature of primate communication is currently unknown . we suspect the latter , especially for forest primates whose vocal skills must have been under considerable pressure by natural selection due to high levels of predation and low levels of visibility in their dim habitats . the lack of articulatory control , which characterizes nonhuman primates , may have favored the evolution of combinatorial signaling .
thompson , h . s . s . 1993 . status of white - necked picathartes – another reason for the conservation of the peninsula forest , sierra leone . oryx 27 : 155 - 158 .
oates , j . f . , m . abedi - lartey , w . s . mcgraw , t . t . struhsaker and g . h . whitesides . 2000 . extinction of a west african red colobus monkey . conservation biology 14 : 1526 - 1532 .
“wak - oo” calls are given to the same events as “hok - oo” calls ( eagles , other flying animals , diana monkey eagle alarms ) , but not to neighbours .
riede t , zuberbühler k ( 2003 ) the relationship between acoustic structure and semantic information in diana monkey alarm vocalization . journal of the acoustical society of america 114 : 1132–1142 .
though some researchers have ascribed syntax to animals , it ' s never been formally demonstrated – until now .
worldcat is the world ' s largest library catalog , helping you find library materials online . learn more ››
anstey , s . 1991 . wildlife utilization in liberia . wwf and liberian forestry development authority , uk .
comments : c . mona species group . mcallan and bruce ( 1989 ) argued that the original publication of this species should be : the analyst , 24 : 298 - 299 [ publ . 2 july 1838 ] . does not include lowei : see kingdon ( 1997 )
zuberbühler , k . , noë , r . r . , & seyfarth , r . m . ( 1997 ) . diana monkey long - distance calls : messages for conspecifics and predators .
seyfarth , r . m . , cheney , d . l . , & marler , p . ( 1980b ) . vervet monkey alarm calls : semantic communication in a free - ranging primate .
université de rennes 1 , laboratoire d’éthologie animale et humaine , umr 6552 – c . n . r . s .
wolf ' s monkeys occasionally raid local agricultural crops and have a potential for carrying diseases that can be contagious to humans .
seyfarth , r . m . , cheney , d . l . , & marler , p . ( 1980a ) . monkey responses to three different alarm calls : evidence of predator classification and semantic communication .
the study was conducted in the taï national park ( 5°50′n , 7°21w ) , ivory cost , the largest remaining block of intact rainforest in west africa . data were collected between january 2006 and september 2007 on two groups of campbell ' s monkeys ( cercopithecus c . campbelli ) that were fully habituated to the presence of human observers . campbell ' s monkeys routinely form polyspecific groups with other primates , particularly diana monkeys , which whom they spend 77–89 % of their time during feeding , travelling and resting [ 29 ] . campbell ' s monkeys live in small one - male groups with 3–7 adult females with their offspring [ 23 ] . the two study groups have been followed on a regular basis since the early 1990s and all individuals can be recognised individually . we had additional access to four other groups that were partly habituated to human observers . during the study period , we observed one replacement of the single adult male in one habituated group . the new male became quickly habituated to human observers , which effectively increased the sample size of habituated individuals to n = 3 .
wolf ' s monkeys are probably important in seed dispersal of food trees and they may contribute to pollination when they drink nectar .
nowak , r . 1999 . walker ' s primates of the world . baltimore , maryland : the johns hopkins university press .
the third sequence also consisted of a pair of boom calls followed by a k + sequence ( overall median = 12 calls ; range : 9–16 calls ; n = 76 ) , but here the sequence was interspersed with 1–7 h + calls ( fig . 2 ) . this combined sequence was recorded from all four habituated males and two semihabituated groups and always in response to neighboring campbell ' s monkey groups or single stranger males , suggesting that it functioned in territorial defense . to further test this hypothesis , we investigated whether the location of call production varied in systematic ways . we predicted that sequences given in the periphery of a group ' s home range contained significantly more h + calls than sequences given in the center , which turned out to be the case ( fig . 3 ; fisher ' s exact test , p < 0 . 001 ) .
savill , p . s . and j . e . d . fox . 1967 . trees of sierra leone . government printers .
in earlier work , we have shown that campbell ' s monkey males use an affixation rule to increase the size of their call repertoire . adding the suffix “oo” to krak ( k → k + ) or hok ( h → h + ) calls altered these calls ' meanings in predictable ways ( 50 ) . here , we describe regularities at another level , i . e . , in how monkeys combined this repertoire of six call types into nine distinct call sequences ( fig . 2 ) . these call combinations were not random , but the product of a number of principles , which governed how semantic content was obtained .
we develop a formal semantic analysis of the alarm calls used by campbell’s monkeys in the tai forest ( ivory coast ) and on tiwai island ( sierra leone ) —two sites that differ in the main predators that the monkeys are exposed to ( eagles on tiwai vs . eagles and leopards in tai ) . building on data discussed in ouattara et al . ( plos one 4 ( 11 ) : e7808 ,
mulavwa , m . 1991 . notes on the call of mona monkeys ( cercopithecus wolfi ) in the mabali forest : frequency of emission and daily activities . pp . 1 in a ehara , t kimura , o takenaka , m iwamoto , eds . primatology today proceedings of the xiii congress of the international primatological society . amsterdam : elsevier science publishers .
a uniquely valuable compendium of taxonomic and distributional data on the world ' s living and historically extinct mammalian species . contributors and editors alike deserve the thanks of all
davies , g . and b . birkenhager . 1990 . jentink’s duiker in sierra leone : evidence from the freetown peninsula . oryx 24 : 143 - 146 .
mayers , j . , s . anstey and a . peal . 1992 . liberia . pages 214 - 220 in j . a . sayer , c . s . harcourt , and n . m . collins , editors . the conservation atlas of tropical forests : africa . iucn and macmillan publishers , united kingdom .
schel am , tranquilli s , zuberbühler k ( 2009 ) the alarm call system of black - and - white colobus monkeys . j comp psychol 123 : 136–150 .
* brandon keim ' s twitter stream and reportorial outtakes ; wired science on twitter . brandon is currently working on a book about ecosystem and planetary tipping points . *
papworth s , böse as , barker j , zuberbühler k ( 2008 ) male blue monkeys alarm call in response to danger experienced by others . biology letters 4 : 472–475 .
like other primates , wolf ' s monkeys also extensively use grooming for tactile social communication . the use of chemical cues , such as pheromones , is likely , but undocumented .
are these results relevant for understanding the evolution of syntax ? as outlined before , this system pales in contrast to the communicative power of grammar ; using calls in different sequences , even highly predictable sequences , is not the same as grammar . nevertheless , the call sequences observed in this primate were not the results of individuals responding to serial or compound stimuli ( such as “water” and “bird” combined to “waterbird” ) . in campbell ' s monkeys , the different sequences were given to highly discrete external events with very little conceptual similarities .
we carried out long - term observations and predator model experiments to investigate how free - ranging male campbell ' s monkeys of taï national park , ivory coast , communicated about external events . in previous research , we found that males and females produced different alarm calls that , in some cases , were combined into meaningful sequences [ 23 ] , [ 31 ] - [ 34 ] . here , we were interested in how acoustically flexible males were with some of their alarm call types , and how they applied this variation to external events . our study showed that male campbell ' s monkeys produced six different loud alarm calls in response to disturbing or dangerous events . “boom” calls were acoustically and contextually unique , whereas the other five calls shared a number of acoustic features . the most relevant finding was that these five calls consisted of a call stem that differed in terms of the basic frequency contours and could be followed by an optional suffix - like small and inconspicuous vocal unit , which altered the semantic content of the full call in significant and predictable ways .
hohmann and surbeck published in 2008 that bonobos sometimes do hunt monkey species . having observed a group of bonobos in salonga national park for five years they witnessed five incidents where bonobos preyed on groups of monkeys . their research indicates it was deliberate hunting , where a group of bonobos would coordinate their actions—contrary to their normal hunting behaviour , which is quite solitary and less purposeful . in three occasions the hunt was successful and infant monkeys were captured , once a redtail monkey and twice a cercopithecus wolfi . the spoils , however , were distributed quite peacefully among the members of the group . [ 17 ] [ 18 ]
laboratoire ethos “ethologie animale et humaine” , u . m . r . 6552 - c . n . r . s . , université de rennes 1 , station biologique , paimpont , france
wolf ' s monkeys are frugivorous , but they supplement their diet heavily with leaves , seeds , and flowers . at salonga national park in the democratic republic of congo , wolf ' s monkeys have been recorded consuming 32 % fruit ( 4 % fleshy and 27 % arils ) , 27 % seeds , 29 % leaves , and 11 % flowers . though not a primary means of sustenance , wolf’s monkeys will occasionally feed on nectars and insects if they are readily available . the principal feeding time for this species is during the early morning and early afternoon .
call sequences to leopards were always composed of krak ( k ) calls , sometimes combined with krak - oo ( k + ) calls ( median = 21 calls ; range : 12–35 ; n = 26 ; fig . 2 ) . in the sequences recorded from the three most habituated males , we found that the level of urgency was associated with a high proportion of k calls in the sequence . sequences with just k calls were given in response to real leopards and leopard models . k + calls were far more common when callers responded to leopard vocalizations or diana monkey leopard alarm calls . compared to real leopards and leopard models , k calls were given significantly less often to leopard vocalizations and diana monkey leopard alarm calls ( fisher ' s exact tests , p < 0 . 001 ; fig . 4 b ) .
when comparing human language to primate communication systems , such as this one , a number of interesting similarities and fundamental differences emerge . first , male campbell ' s monkeys are limited to a relatively small range of messages that they can convey to their audience . this is partly because callers do not take full advantage of the potential of their communicative system . for example , they do not inverse the order of calls ( e . g . , ab to ba ) to generate differences in meaning , and a large number of other possible call combinations are not realized . second , human language is symbolic in the sense that signalers can inform listeners about referents that are not physically present ( 55 ) . in campbell ' s monkeys , we only observed calling in response to real life experiences , and some observations suggested that callers did not attempt to inform others . further research will have to test whether some of the observed contingencies between acoustic morphology and external events were intentionally produced or biproducts of other processes . whatever the outcome , our results demonstrate that the evolution of complex morphology has begun early in primate evolution , long before the emergence of hominids , and hence preceded the evolution of intentional communication .
sayer , j . a . , c . s . harcourt , and n . m . collins . 1992 . the conservation atlas of tropical forests : africa . iucn and simon & schuster , cambridge .
whether their rudimentary syntax echoes the speech of humanity ' s evolutionary ancestors , or represents an emergence of language unrelated to our own , is unclear . either way , they ' re far more sophisticated than we thought .
oates , j . f . , gippoliti , s . & groves , c . p . ( 2008 ) . cercopithecus campbelli . in : iucn 2008 . iucn red list of threatened species . retrieved 4 january 2009 .
guschanski , k . , krause , j . , sawyer , s . , valente , l . m . , bailey , s . , finstermeier , k . , sabin , r . , gilissen , e . , sonet , g . , nagy , z . t . , lenglet , g . , mayer , f . , & savolainen , v . ( 2013 ) . next - generation museomics disentangles one of the largest primate radiations .
species and related genera . wolf ' s monkeys have ischial callosities ( callus - like areas of skin on the buttocks ) . this provides a degree of comfort while sitting on branches and night resting . these callosities are typical of the family
information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level . this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
- - publisher ' s website .
occupies primary and secondary lowland rainforest habitats . wolf ' s monkeys are commonly found in swamp forests and secondary forests along riverbanks . they spend a majority of their time between 15 and 25 meters high in the canopy where they forage and sleep .
grubb , p . , t . s . jones , e . edberg , e . d . starin , j . e . hill . 1998 . mammals of ghana , sierra leone , and the gambia . tenderine press , london , uk .
the gambian forest contributes immensely to the gambia’s economy and the social well being of gambia’s population and provide several environmental services . in additional to maintaining the micro - climatic balance , the stabilisation of the river banks and providing life support systems to many other plants , animals and aquatic life , forests are important to the local communities who depend on them for food , medicines , wood products for construction and energy ( particularly to women who rely on the forests for their subsistence ) . particularly important forest products are for women .
wolf ' s monkeys are one of the species hunted in the bushmeat market . their meat provides food to local inhabitants and a product to trade for other goods . they are also likely to play a role in the regeneration of healthy forests through seed dispersal .
bakarr , m . i . , b . bailey , d . byler , r . ham , s . oliverieri , m . omland . 2001 . from the forest to the sea : biodiversity connections from guinea to togo . conservation international , washington d . c .
kingdon ( 1997 ) included this taxon within his cercopithecus mona superspecies group , groves ( 2001 ) followed the same arrangement whereas grubb et al . ( 2003 ) considered it the nominate subspecies of c . campbelli . the latter treatment was followed for the 2008 red list assessment . groves ( 2005 ) classified c . lowei as a distinct species and that approach is now followed here ( mittermeier et al . 2013 ) , hence the former nominate subspecies is now the species - concept for c . campbelli . this is an updated assessment to reflect the promotion of the nominate subspecies to species - level and the inclusion of information previously contained within the former species - level assessment .
the four habituated males were directly observed in dense forest vegetation for a total focal duration of 43 h ( male 1 , 11 months ; male 2 , 6 months ; male 3 , 15 months ; male 4 , 2 months ) . scan animal samples ( n = 4 , 425 ) were collected every 30 min , during which we recorded ( i ) the presence of other monkey species and ( ii ) the location within the group ' s home range . we also collected ad libitum samples from all habituated and semihabituated groups during ≈2 , 000 h total contact time . this enabled us notably to report on the response of males to their main predators , leopards ( n = 3 ) and crowned eagles ( n = 11 ) .
the baobolon wetland reserve was designated as a ramsar site upon the gambia’s ratification of the ramsar convention in 1996 . a comprehensive study of baobolon along with two additional sites , nuimi national park and the tanji wetland complex , was conducted in 1997 with a view to designating them as ramsar sites .
stuart , s . n . , r . j . adams and m . d . jenkins . 1990 . biodiversity in sub - saharan africa and its islands : conservation , management and sustainable use . occasional papers of the iucn species survival commission no . 6 . iucn , gland , switzerland .
a first sequence , recorded from all four habituated males and one semihabituated male , consisted of k + calls only ( median = 15 calls ; range : 3–25 ; n = 18 ; fig . 2 ) . this sequence was rare and given to any auditory sign of a predator , typically after hearing diana monkey alarm calls ( n = 15 / 18 ) or , more rarely ( n = 3 / 18 ) , after hearing predator vocalizations , but never to any visual signs of a predator .
jenkins , m . and a . hamilton . 1992 . biological diversity . pages 26 - 32 in j . a . sayer , c . s . harcourt , and n . m . collins , editors . the conservation atlas of tropical forests : africa . iucn and macmillan publishers , united kingdom .
vooren , f . and j . sayer . 1992 . côte d’ivoire . pages 133 - 142 in j . a . sayer , c . s . harcourt , and n . m . collins , editors . the conservation atlas of tropical forests : africa . iucn and macmillan publishers , united kingdom .
relative distribution of different call types within predator sequences with varying levels of predator threat . ( a ) eagle , ( b ) leopard . fisher exact test ( * * * , p < 0 . 001 ) were used to compare the relative contribution of obligatory ( black ) vs . optional ( white ) call types in low threat situations ( 1 , mainly diana monkey alarms ; 2 , playback of predator vocalizations ) or high threat circumstances ( 3 , visual predator models ; 4 , real predator encounters ) .
before each experiment , the following conditions had to be met : ( i ) the study group was aware of the presence of human observers for at least 30 min ; ( ii ) no alarm calls were produced for at least 30 min ; ( iii ) the predator model ( or playback speaker ) was positioned ahead of the group ' s estimated travel direction ensuring that no associated monkey species could detect it first . one observer ( k . o . ) and one field assistant were necessary for these experiments . the observer walked with the group and recorded the male ' s behavior , while the assistant operated the predator model . for eagle trials , the model or loudspeaker was positioned at an elevation of 2–3 m off the ground . for leopard trials , the model or loudspeaker was positioned on the ground . eagle shrieks were recorded in the study area ; leopard growls were purchased from the national sound archives , london . all acoustic stimuli were broadcast with a sony wmd6c professional walkman connected to nagra dsm speaker - amplifier with the amplitude level adjusted so that the calls sounded natural and could be clearly heard by the group .
not much information is known about the parental investment of wolf ' s monkeys , though it has been observed that infants will ride on the backs of their mothers for the first few months after birth . female young stay in their natal group , male young disperse from their natal group when they become independent .
wilson and reeder ' s mammal species of the world is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today . the third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and , for the first time , common names . each concise entry covers type locality , distribution , synonyms , and major reference sources . the systematic arrangement of information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level . this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
- - publisher ' s website .
observations were conducted in 15 - min blocks under a focal animal sampling regime ( 56 ) between 08 : 00 and 17 : 00 gmt . during each observation period , the observer ( k . o . ) recorded all loud calls produced by the focal male . the single adult male is the only one to produce loud calls in the group , so there was no risk of confusion in terms of caller identification . if the male produced a loud call , the observer determined its likely cause among the following : ( i ) predator , presence of a leopard ( panthera pardus ) or crowned eagle ( stephanoaetus coronatus ) ; ( ii ) intergroup , presence of neighboring group ( usually inferred by loud calls of their adult male ) ; ( iii ) tree / branch , crashing sound of falling tree or large branch ; ( iv ) monkey alarm , diana monkey eagle or leopard alarm calls ( 54 ) ; and ( v ) cohesion and travel , male spatially separated far from the group ( < 30–50 m ) or beginning of group travel after spatial separation .
one way of studying language evolution is to compare the communicative abilities of humans and animals . parallels with human language can be found at various levels , both in terms of production and comprehension . particularly relevant are cases of social influences on vocal development ( 1 ) , cases of infant babbling ( 2 ) , and other types of vocal learning ( 3 – 5 ) . in some species , there is evidence for population - wide convergence effects in the form of culturally transmitted dialects [ e . g . , starlings ( 6 ) , whales ( 7 ) , and japanese macaques ( 8 ) ] . in terms of pragmatic use , there is good evidence that call production can be influenced by specific audiences ( 9 , 10 ) . in terms of comprehension , primates and possibly many other species are able to assign meaning to different calls if there is a strong relation between a call ' s acoustic morphology and its eliciting context ( 11 – 14 ) . in some species , there is some evidence for hemispheric specialization when processing conspecific calls [ e . g . , horses ( 15 ) , campbell ' s monkeys ( 16 ) , rhesus macaques ( 17 ) , starlings ( 18 ) , and sea lions ( 19 ) ] .
the second sequence type consisted of a pair of boom calls followed by a k + sequence ( median overall = 10 calls ; range : 4–15 calls : n = 53 ; fig . 2 ) . this combined sequence , recorded from all four habituated males , was mainly given to falling trees or branches with no other noticeable disturbance ( 85 % ) . in the remaining cases ( 15 % ) , the sequence was given in response to fights between other monkey species in the canopy , although this usually led to branches falling as well .
the majority of call sequences to crowned eagles were composed of wak - oo ( w + ) and krak - oo ( k + ) calls , sometimes with the addition of hok ( h ) and hok - oo ( h + ) calls ( median = 25 calls ; range : 15 to 40 ; n = 38 ; fig . 2 ) . by analyzing in more details the sequences produced by the three most habituated males , we found that high levels of urgency were associated with a high proportion of h and h + calls in the sequence . there was a significant difference in the proportion of h and h + calls if the caller spotted a real eagle or encountered the eagle model compared to when he only heard eagle vocalizations or diana monkey eagle alarm calls ( fisher ' s exact test , p < 0 . 001 ; fig . 4 a ) .
this ecoregion also has a diverse fauna ( martin 1991 , happold 1996 , bakkar et al . 1999 ) . there are nearly 1 , 000 vertebrates recorded in taï national park , and the park holds viable populations of the near - endemic pygmy hippopotamus ( hexaprotodon liberiensis , vu ) . in the order artiodactyla , two duikers , jentink’s duiker ( cephalophus jentinki , vu ) and zebra duiker ( cephalophus zebra , vu ) are strictly endemic to this ecoregion . the liberian mongoose ( liberiictis kuhni , en ) is also strictly endemic , and another small carnivore , johnston’s genet ( genetta johnstoni , dd ) , is known from small populations in liberia and côte d’ivoire ( hayman 1958 , schlitter 1974 , taylor 1989 , 1992 ) . miller’s striped mouse ( hybomys planifrons ) is the only other strictly endemic mammal , although more than 15 species of mammal are regarded as near - endemic , with all of these species shared only with the adjacent eastern guinea lowland forest and / or the guinea montane forest ecoregions .
mammals : a list of mammals complied in the late 1960’s indicated that there are 67 species of mammals but may have omitted many of the smaller rodents ( rodentia ) and bats ( chiroptera ) . the most recent assessment ( murphy , 1998 ) , puts the total number of mammals at 99 including marine mammals recorded form gambian waters .
some calls were given to a broad , others to a narrow range of events . crucially , “krak” calls were exclusively given after detecting a leopard , suggesting that it functioned as a leopard alarm call , whereas the “krak - oo” was given to almost any disturbance , suggesting it functioned as a general alert call . similarly , “hok” calls were almost exclusively associated with the presence of a crowned eagle ( either a real eagle attack or in response to another monkey ' s eagle alarm calls ) , while “hok - oo” calls were given to a range of disturbances within the canopy , including the presence of an eagle or a neighbouring group ( whose presence could sometimes be inferred by the vocal behaviour of the females ) . on a few occasions , “hok” and “hok - oo” calls were produced in response to a flying squirrel , whose silhouette somewhat resembles a flying eagle , but never to any other large bird .
disclaimer : itis taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available , and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties . however , it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes . while every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up - to - date information available , ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the united states is a party , wildlife statutes , regulations , and any applicable notices that have been published in the federal register . for further information on u . s . legal requirements with respect to protected taxa , please contact the u . s . fish and wildlife service .
in forest guenons , the single adult male of the group mainly vocalizes in response to predators and other significant external disturbances ( 5 , 48 , 53 ) . females are vocally active in social situations ( 44 – 46 ) and to predators to which they produce a diverse alarm call repertoire that encodes information about predator type and level of threat ( 47 ) . whether campbell ' s monkeys produced these calls to intentionally inform others about the event they have experienced cannot be decided with our data . some observations suggest not . for example , it is puzzling that males produce loud calls in response to the thundering sound of falling trees , as all other group members will have perceived the event as well . the collapse of a large tree provides a significant danger to arboreal animals and fatalities are not unusual . thus , calling males may have the urge to advertise their uninjured state and provide an acoustic focal point for scattered or disoriented group members , rather than attempting to inform others about the danger .
wolf ' s monkeys give birth to one offspring at a time , though twins occur rarely . most births occur from june to december when there is the greatest abundance of food . gestation length is from 160 to 170 days and the young are nursed for 3 months after birth . females produce their first young at 4 to 5 years old .
laboratoire ethos “ethologie animale et humaine” , u . m . r . 6552 - c . n . r . s . , université de rennes 1 , station biologique , paimpont , france , centre suisse de recherches scientifiques , abidjan , côte d ' ivoire , laboratoire de zoologie et de biologie animale , université de cocody , abidjan , côte d ' ivoire
the total staff demand was estimated based on the assumptions that the gfmc is implemented country - wide and that fd’s administrative structure is further streamlined by putting afforestation under divisional management , abolishing the beekeeping section , up - grading training and adaptive research , merging the extension unit with the cf unit , and by transferring management responsibilities to local communities represented by forest committees .
we are grateful to “office ivoirien des parcs et réserves” ( oipr ) for permission to conduct research in the taï national park . our special gratitude goes to the field assistants of the taï monkey project for all their invaluable help during data collection and for their stamina and support during the political turmoil of the previous years . we are equally grateful to n ' goran kouakou elizer , gombert jean emile , tecumseh fitch , catherine blois - heulin , laurence henry , isabelle charrier , julia fischer and martine hausberger for various contributions , including hélène bouchet , pascaline legouar , véronique biquand and muriel guernion for their help with the statistics .
impressive as that was , however , it was still relatively one - dimensional , not much different from verbalizations heard in many animal species , from other non - human primates to songbirds . the team ' s latest findings , published monday in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences , describe something far more complicated : syntax , or principles of word sequence and sentence structure .
wilson and reeder ' s mammal species of the world is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today . the third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and , for the first time , common names . each concise entry covers type locality , distribution , synonyms , and major reference sources . the systematic arrangement of
) . when these birds are spotted by wolf ' s monkeys , they will sound an alarm call and retreat to the ground . though less common , leopards also pose a threat to this species . more recently , humans have become a major predator of this species for the bush meat market . in addition , their primary habitat is being destroyed at an extremely rapid pace for lumber .
forest resources are a source of biological diversity in themselves . the forest resources are also important for the conservation of biological diversity and for overall environmental protection . a good amount of vegetative cover for the land provides a good measure against soil erosion and other forms of land degradation . the gambia’s biodiversity resources are under increasing pressures and there is an alarming decline in both faunal and floral specie numbers .
although private forest both natural and plantations are foreseen in the forest policy and legislation , to date only one private gmelina plantation of about 100 ha exits which was even established before the new policy was formulated . at the moment the fd’s highest priority is to bring as much as possible of forest reserves under community management . considering the increasing wood demand , however the fd should pay equal attention to promotion and supporting private woodlots .
harcourt , c . , g . davies , j . waugh , j . oates , n . coulthard , n . burgess , p . wood and p . palmer . 1992 . sierra leone . pages 244 - 250 in j . a . sayer , c . s . harcourt , and n . m . collins , editors . the conservation atlas of tropical forests : africa . iucn and macmillan publishers , united kingdom .
bakarr , m . i . , b . bailey , m . omland , n . myers , l . hannah , c . g . mittermeier and r . a . mittermeier . 1999 . guinean forests . pages 239 – 253 in r . a . mittermeier , n . myers , p . r . gil and c . g . mittermeier . hotspots : earth’s biologically richest and most endangered terrestrial ecoregions . toppan printing company , japan .
being an arboreal quadruped , wolf ' s monkeys have forelimbs and hindlimbs that are fairly equal in length giving it an intermembral index number close to 100 . the head and body length of males varies from 445 to 511 mm with an average of 485 mm . the length of the tail in males ranges from 695 to 822 mm with an average of 779 mm . there has not been enough data collected from females to adaquetely determine these measurements .
we thank the office ivoirien des parcs et réserves for permission to conduct research in the taï national park , the field assistants of the taï monkey project for all their invaluable help during data collection , and n . elizer , g . emile , c . blois - heulin , v . biquand , h . bouchet , j . fischer , m . hausberger , and the gis ( groupement d ' intérêt scientifique ) “cerveau , comportement , société” for support and discussions . this work was supported by the european commission ( sixth framework programme , what it means to be human ) , european science foundation eurocore programmes ( origin of man language and languages ) , the wissenschaftskolleg zu berlin , the french ministry of foreign affairs ( egide ) , and the centre suisse de recherches scientifiques in abidjan .
the wildlife conservation et , 1977 , has defined protected areas as any area of land set aside by the government for purposes of preserving and managing the habitat and ecology , including any forest park or local sanctuary . the current protected area system in the gambia comprises six national parks and nature reserves under the mandate of the department of parks and wildlife management , dpwm covering a total land area of 39 , 772 ha i . e . about 3 . 7 % of the gambia’s land area .
plantation establishment , using gmelina aborea was the main preoccupation of the department of forestry in the years between 1953 and 1985 . a total of about 13000 hectares of monoculture of gmelina aborea and very small amount of tectona grandis were planted mainly in the western division . the high cost of plantation establishment and fire protection as well as to conserve biodiversity caused the department to reconsider it’s forest management priorities and potentials and since 1985 , a policy decision was reached to re - orient forestry department to focus more on natural forest management .
perelman , p . , johnson , w . e . , roos , c . , seuánez , h . n . , horvath , j . e . , moreira , m . a . m . , kessing , b . , ponitus , j . , roelke , m . , rumpler , y . , schneider , m . p . c . , silva , a . , o brien , s . j . , & pecon - slattery , j . ( 2011 ) . a molecular phylogeny of living primates .
the gambia has designated 6 protected areas for the conservation of wildlife resources . in addition to fulfilling that function , the protected areas also contain significant amounts of plant species , particularly the rare plant species . the total area under this form of land use currently stands at around 3 . 4 % of the gambia’s total land area . following the ratification of the international convention on biological diversity in 1994 , the government of the gambia under the auspices of its department of parks and wildlife management elaborated the biodiversity strategy and action plan ( bsap ) . the bsap provides a coherent framework for the management of the gambia’s biological resources on a sustainable basis as well as to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising . one of the policy objectives of the bsap is to increase the area under wildlife to about 5 % of the total land area of the gambia . furthermore , the policy also aims to involve local communities in the management of biological resources . the implementation of such a policy is likely to promote to the better management and enhancement of forest - based biodiversity .
the herpetofauna is also diverse ( welch 1982 ) , and contains a large number of endemic species . in the amphibians there are 13 strictly endemic species and a number of others shared with the eastern guinea lowland forest ecoregion . the strict endemics include the rare frog merlin’s clawed frog ( pseudhymenochirus merlini ) known only from guinea and sierra leone ( chabanaud 1920 , menzies 1967 ) , and the freetown long - fingered frog ( cardioglossa aureoli ) , which is only known from the mountains close to freetown in sierra leone . other notable endemics include the tai river frog ( phrynobatrachus taiensis ) , liberian long - fingered frog ( cardioglossa liberiensis ) and ivory coast toad ( bufo danielae ) ( schiøtz 1964 , 1967 , wcmc 1994 , harcourt et al . 1992 , vooren and sayer 1992 ) . the reptile fauna is less rich in endemics , with three strictly endemic species and thirteen shared only with other ecoregions in the upper guinea forest block . the strict endemics are los archipelago worm lizard ( cynisca leonine ) , benson’s mabuya ( mabuya bensonii ) and liberia worm snake ( typhlops leucostictus ) .
lemasson ' s team previously described the monkeys ' use of calls with specific meanings in a paper published in november . it detailed the monkeys ' basic sound structures and their uses :
hok
for eagle ,
krak
for leopard ,
krak - oo
for general disturbance ,
hok - oo
and
wak - oo
for general disturbance in forest canopies . a sixth call ,
boom ,
was used in non - predatory contexts , such as when calling a group together for travel or arguing with neighboring groups .
to leopards , males sometimes produced pure k sequences ( n = 9 / 26 ) , but if k + calls were added , then typically toward the end of the sequence . we compared the number of k and k + calls in the first and second half of the sequences and found a significant difference ( fisher ' s exact test , p < 0 . 001 ) . to crowned eagles , most sequences began with a series of h ( 16 of 38 sequences ) and typically ended with a series of k + ( 36 of 38 sequences ) . this specific order probably reflected the decrease in urgency or threat perceived by the caller . if w + or h + were produced , then they appeared more or less randomly throughout the sequence without any detectable patterns , while h and k + followed the ordering outlined before . there was a significant difference between the number of h and k + at the beginning and at the end of sequences ( fisher ' s exact test , p < 0 . 001 ; n = 38 ) , which had the effect that the distribution patterns differed significantly between the four call types ( χ 2 test x 2 = 311 . 3 ; dl = 21 ; p < 0 . 001 ) .


un de sceaux ( foaled 5 may 2008 ; [ ɛ̃ də so ] ) is a french-bred aqps racehorse who competes in national hunt racing .

after winning both his races in france he was transferred to ireland where he won two novice hurdles .

in the 2013/14 national hunt season he was undefeated in five races including the red mills trial hurdle in ireland and both the prix hypothese and the prix leon rambaud in france .

when switched to steeplechases he recovered from a fall on his debut to win the arkle novice chase , arkle challenge trophy and ryanair novice chase in the 2014-15 season .

in 2015-16 he won the clarence house chase but was beaten by sprinter sacre when favourite for the queen mother champion chase in what his defeat when completing a steeplechase .

he began the 2016-17 with a win in the tingle creek chase and followed up with his second victory in the clarence house chase before taking the ryanair chase in march .

un de sceaux

1 : un de sceaux . 2 : felix yonger . 3 : god’s own
hot favourite un de sceaux will face nine rivals in the betway queen mother champion chase at cheltenham .
un de sceaux ' s trainer willie mullins has also left in in douvan and vroum vroum mag .
un de sceaux has managed to win 22 races in its career so far . on 16th mar 2017 at cheltenham , un de sceaux scored its most significant win to date , getting the money in the
henry de bromhead is happy to let special tiara take on the formidable un de sceaux in the queen mother champion chase at cheltenham .
all the latest horse racing form , betting odds , news , breeding , jockey and trainer information for un de sceaux . un de sceaux is a gelding born in 2012 october 5 by hinchinbrook out of cross dresser
for o’connell , un de sceaux is just the most obvious example of willie mullins’s genius for talent spotting .
cheltenham and the betway queen mother champion chase can barely come quick enough for willie mullins with un de sceaux .
un de sceaux justified prohibitive odds at punchestown when taking the ryanair novice chase in the hands of ruby walsh .
un de sceaux recorded another facile victory as he claimed the conditions hurdle at navan by a stunning 53 lengths .
ante - post favourite un de sceaux is one of 18 confirmations for the ryanair chase at cheltenham on thursday .
from then on un de sceaux proceeded to put the opposition to the sword with a series of spectacular leaps .
un de sceaux blew away his two rivals with an electric display in the frank ward solicitors arkle novice chase at leopardstown .
impressive punchestown winner open eagle is set to follow in the hoofprints of willie mullins’ un de sceaux with raids on france .
champion chase favourite un de sceaux and 2014 champion chase hero sire de grugy will meet for the first time in saturday’s grade one sodexo clarence house chase at ascot .
un de sceaux ' s connections are looking forward to a clash with cue card in thursday ' s ryanair chase at cheltenham .
un de sceaux headlines 23 entries for the £350 , 000 betway queen mother champion chase at cheltenham on wednesday , march 16 .
the current race record for un de sceaux is 3 wins from 22 starts with prizemoney of $ 111 , 050 . 00 .
un de sceaux lived up to his billing as he duly landed the odds in the racing post arkle trophy at the cheltenham festival .
un de sceaux will face a maximum of 11 rivals in the betway queen mother champion chase at next week ' s cheltenham festival .
for one thing o’connell is 37 today : what are the odds , he asks - a lot longer than un de sceaux’s certainly .
second in that contest was tom george’s gods own , a horse that previously finished second to un de sceaux in the 2015 arkle .
connections of un de sceaux feel saturday ' s display at ascot sets him up perfectly for the
final
at cheltenham in march .
un de sceaux , like so many times before , galloped his rivals into the ground to land the boylesports champion chase at punchestown this afternoon .
ruby walsh and un de sceaux lead all the way to win the sodexo clarence house steeple chase at ascot in january . photograph : alan crowhurst
he put up a benchmark performance when landing the championship in 2013 and the idea of him in his pomp keeping tabs on un de sceaux is one to savour . even nicky henderson concedes that pomp is in the past but today’s sprinter sacre chasing un de sceaux is still an enticing prospect .
un de sceaux and fox norton lock horns in what promises to be a fascinating renewal of the boylesports champion chase at the punchestown festival on tuesday .
un de sceaux pulled walsh to the front at the fifth fence and proceeded to put the opposition to the sword with a series of spectacular leaps .
un de sceaux completed a 28 / 1 plus grade 2 treble on the day at fairyhouse for willie mullins and paul townend when landing the devenish chase .
un de sceaux ' s victory at ascot will have worked wonders for the confidence of both the horse and ruby walsh , according to trainer willie mullins .
un de sceaux got his chasing career off to an unfortunate start when falling three out while holding a clear advantage in the killinan beginners chase at thurles .
you wait two days for a winner then two come at once . . . un de sceaux wins the ryanair chase for mullins & walsh # thefestival urltoken
there was also triumph for the o’connell family of glanmire , co cork , with un de sceaux’s win . some 25 supporters travelled over for the day .
willie mullins ' exciting french recruit un de sceaux has his next test when he lines up for the follow navan on facebook hurdle at the county meath course .
walsh made a brave call to take un de sceaux to the front as early as the fifth fence as the horse was keen to get on with things .
the french connection has continued for un de sceaux , who is ridden every day by ex - pat virginie bascop , the resident vet at the mullins stable .
any mishap for un de sceaux and mullins’s chances of a first champion chase won’t disappear : however it looks a cheltenham championship event that revolves around the favourite .
there can be no denying it , the second of the cheltenham festival championship races is at the mercy of another willie mullins - trained runner , un de sceaux .
nicky henderson was impressed with un de sceaux ' s performance in the clarence house chase and is looking forward to taking on the irish ace with sprinter sacre at cheltenham .
the new champion will have plenty on his plate next march with the emergence of the exhilarating un de sceaux , in a class of his own among the 2m novices .
un de sceaux attempts to live up to his billing as the most exciting novice chaser around when he lines up for the racing post arkle challenge trophy at cheltenham on tuesday .
owner edward o’connell’s son colm dedicated the win to his parents . four horses bought for festival running by the o’connells failed the veterinary test . un de sceaux was the fifth .
who could possibly have guessed after that scintillating performance that by the end of the week two novices would be rated even higher than un de sceaux , albeit over longer distances .
sean - un de sceaux is an unoriginal selection , but it is hard to argue with the ability of the arkle winner . has pace and stamina on his side and should be the best of a relatively shallow division . dodging bullets will be rock solid as always , but un de sceaux is the class of the division , as the betting suggests .
born in sceaux d’anjou in the west of france at rene choveau’s farm , un de sceaux is out of a mare , hotesse de sceaux ( april night ) , who was never placed in her races and hadn’t produced much at stud . but pierre de la guillonniere of haras de la rousselière , the owner of denham red , had noticed that his stallion’s offspring had a certain affinity with april night mares , so he made a foal - share deal with choveau .
un de sceaux put an unfortunate exit on his chasing debut at thurles last month well behind him when readily landing prohibitive odds in the irish stallion farms ebf beginners chase at fairyhouse .
un de sceaux is now the odds - on favourite at 10 - 11 for the champion chase , the feature race of cheltenham festival ladies day – wednesday 16 th march 2016 .
victory for un de sceaux on saturday will see his price of 13 - 8 for the 2016 champion chase tumble dramatically , as mullins continues to dominate the ante - post markets .
like him those horses are usually and eventually taught to settle and save their energy but , my goodness , until un de sceaux learns to do that , he will be incredibly exciting .
un de sceaux made all in the grade 2 kerry group hilly way chase , coming home in splendid isolation under david mullins for his uncle willie ( third winner of the day ) .
in a week of some mesmerising performances at punchestown , un de sceaux put in another one , as he defied logic with his display in the star best for racing coverage novice hurdle .
it has proven a profitable horse for the punters over the journey . if you had backed un de sceaux throughout its career you ' d have achieved a 9 % return on investment .
, who is based at carlow . it is sired by the stallion denham red out of the dam hotesse de sceaux .
un de sceaux put up a tremendous performance to win the ryanair chase and give trainer willie mullins and jockey ruby walsh a big - race double on the third day of the cheltenham festival .
ruby walsh has revealed that his most important role when riding red - hot favourite un de sceaux in the arkle chase will be to prevent the prodigious chaser from boiling over in the preliminaries .
racing enthusiasts not already in the un de sceaux fan club are surely members now after the ' sixteens on ' chance bolted up in the three runner horse & jockey hotel hurdle at thurles .
the mullins bandwagon rolled onto the big race of the day as un de sceaux cemented his place as queen mother champion chase favourite with a decisive victory in the grade one clarence house chase .
un de sceaux won the prix la barka last year , picking up €110 , 000 ( £93 , 000 ) before finishing unplaced behind paul nicholls ptit zig in the grande course de haies d ' auteuil ( french champion hurdle ) at the paris track .
un de sceaux may have lost his unbeaten record elsewhere on the card but clondaw court maintained his perfect cv by making all for a very comfortable success in the rock of cashel hurdle at thurles .
the going remains soft for this afternoon ' s meeting at thurles where the chasing debut of un de sceaux in the opening killinan beginners chase kick starts a seven - race card full of talent .
friday’s gold cup is the cheltenham festival prize willie mullins cherishes most but his illustrious cv also has a notable betway queen mother champion chase blank , one which un de sceaux looks set to fill .
colm o’connell believes it isn’t just impeccable form and a very short price that make un de sceaux a sure thing for this afternoon’s queen mother champion chase . there’s destiny involved too , he reckons .
since then , with the breeders’ premiums un de sceaux has earned for her , monique choveau , rene’s widow , has completely rebuilt her house , which would have been impossible on her meagre farmer’s pension .
in un de sceaux’s career to date , he has only been beaten when falling , an instinct to throw his heart over a fence , hoping the rest of him follows , occasionally catching him out .
though sub lieutenant made inroads into the deficit on the run to the line , un de sceaux ( 7 - 4 favourite ) was not for stopping and passed the post a length and a half clear .
virginie bascop is the team - member responsible for un de sceaux day - to - day , entrusted with the mixed blessing of riding a potential champion every morning while trying not to get run away with .
maybe it is punters , many jumping fans , that had doubts and looking at him from an analytical point of view you can see why , un de sceaux has often had that crazy horse look about him .
the main selection therefore is traffic fluide . he’s a horse that caught our eye last season as a novice , but his recent return behind un de sceaux in the clarence house chase really , really impressed us .
un de sceaux ( first victory at graded level ) gained his fifth win in ireland and remained unbeaten after seven outings all told with another demolition of the opposition in the grade 2 red mills trial hurdle at gowran .
this is especially the case when running first - time out after an extended break . well in himself after a rest , un de sceaux can race far too aggressively and it can hinder his ability to jump accurately .
his fourth dam may have been gorda , who was fourth in the g1 prix saint - alary back in 1967 , but that made little difference to potential buyers , so pierre de la guillonniere leased un de sceaux to trainer fabrice foucher , based by the ocean in saint - michel - chef - chef . it didn’t work well initially as un de sceaux was already quite a character , and only by galloping him on a 20km beach did they finally manage to teach him to somehow settle and get ready to race .
the champion jockey - elect fractured an arm and dislocated a shoulder on the final day of cheltenham . but just six weeks later he will be on board the unbeaten un de sceaux in a grade two contest at auteuil this afternoon .
as discussed in our champion hurdle preview , faugheen was the horse in question over hurdles . over fences in the two - mile division , un de sceaux was the horse bookmakers , early doors , felt was the one to beat .
the second race we’ve covered where a willie mullins horse holds strong claims . un de sceaux is the obvious horse to beat , but at a price of 4 / 5 we’ll be taking him on with an each - way play .
un de sceaux put up a tremendous performance to win the ryanair chase and give trainer willie mullins and jockey ruby walsh a big - race double on the third day of the cheltenham festival after taking the jlt novices ' chase with yorkhill .
and that there lies the potential problem , his form ties him closely with sire de grugy who has since been put in his place by un de sceaux . it must also be said sprinter sacre was a slightly fortunate winner at kempton , a last fence mistake from the runner - up certainly helped his cause .
o’connell’s father , eddie , in whose colours un de sceaux runs , has been ill and again chosen to stay home in cork while his horse attempts to pick up a prize widely presumed all season to be his for the taking all season .
though sub lieutenant made inroads into the deficit on the run to the line , un de sceaux ( 7 - 4 favourite ) was not for stopping and passed the post a length and a half clear . aso was six lengths away in third .
un de sceaux wins the 2017 clarence house chase . urltoken racing uk is the uk ' s leading horse racing tv channel , broadcasting over 4 , 000 live races every year . relive all the best action here : urltoken racing uk - pure racing entertainment
un de sceaux may have only won a beginners chase at fairyhouse as you would expect at 1 - 5 shot to , by 12 lengths barely coming off the bridle , but his style was reminiscent of a young , carefree , tearaway desert orchid . apart from steering , at this stage of the five - year - old’s career ruby walsh seems to have a minimal input into un de sceaux’s tactics , which are as breathtaking as they are simple – go as fast as you can for as long as you can .
however un de sceaux is the first outstanding candidate mullins has had for the race . and just the press the point home fully , in felix yonger the champion trainer looks to have another good chance , perhaps even a shot at saddling a 1 - 2 .
should un de sceaux become the 18th individual irish trained champion chase winner his addition to the two - mile roll of honour will be apt . in a discipline devoted to speed , dash and inch - accurate jumping , the mullins star is almost a caricature .
we’ve always felt soft ground and tracks like ascot and kempton are ideal for him despite the son of my risk winning many good races on quicker terrain . back at cheltenham on potential spring ground means others are better equipped to get closer to un de sceaux .
this most dynamic of racing duos won the three biggest races of the day , the sky bet supreme novices’ hurdle with douvan , the arkle won by un de sceaux and the brilliant faugheen destroyed the opposition in the biggest race of the day , the champion hurdle .
walsh again sent the eight - year - old to the front from the start and allowing him to find a superb rhythm with his jumping . turning for home he was travelling by the far the best , sire de grugy tried desperately to mount a challenge , but un de sceaux had far too many gears and eased to a five length win .
josses hill surprised many by finishing third in last season’s arkle behind un de sceaux , but he’s a horse that has never convinced over fences and is easily left . the old warrior somersby is too old to go close in these events now and is another to duck .
for many this will be a classic case of ‘bar a fall . ’ the only two occasions un de sceaux has been beaten have come when he has hit the floor . it’s somewhat simplistic to boil it down to his greatest danger being himself but hardly completely ridiculous either .
for most people lucky enough to have a birthday coinciding with the cheltenham festival , a pair of tickets to the meeting is a valued present - but colm o ' connell might just enjoy the best celebration of all , a betway queen mother champion chase win for un de sceaux .
un de sceaux himself isn’t a natural candidate for the comfortable role of cool , clean hero . as befits the king of the speed division , he’s more high - strung than cuddly , fiercely resentful of being stuck behind anyone or anything , and certainly not one for the niceties .
twice this has been seen in recent seasons : un de sceaux in each of his last two campaign openers has fallen . while worrying , it’s encouraging to note on his second start back after a break he has been far more tractable , intelligent in jumping and won in style .
with un de sceaux so readily turning over sire de grugy ( 12 / 1 ) , it’s hard to envisage the tables being turned at cheltenham come march . gary moore’s charge is a top - class racehorse , a winner of five grade 1s , including the 2014 queen mother champion chase , but at the age of ten , it’s hard to see him improving .
henry de bromhead is busy preparing his strongest ever raiding party on the cheltenham festival .
what makes it even more difficult for his opposition now however is that he looked to have learned the lessons from that with a subsequently faultless victory at ascot where the flamboyance of old was somewhat contained . a repeat of such controlled aggression will make un de sceaux an even tougher opponent .
special tiara and his former stable companion sizing granite are two other irish hopefuls and it will be fascinating to see if special tiara takes on un de sceaux for the lead in the early stages . such a tactic might have been productive in the past although the ascot evidence suggests maybe not now .
the current season started slowly , we saw him for the first time in the clarence house chase at ascot . on his seasonal debut , he ran an absolute cracker finishing third behind un de sceaux , registering a career best in the process , beaten just five lengths with near guaranteed progress to come .
un des sceaux’s support team : colm o’connell , eamon o’connell , carol o’connell , tony twomey , kay o’connell , paul o’connell , colm o’keeffe with children , luke and katelyn o’connell . photograph : inpho / morgan treacy
even so , un de sceaux had all his rivals at full stretch coming down the hill . god ' s own ( 33 - 1 ) tried to make a race of it but he could not compete on the run to the line and had to settle for being beaten six lengths in second place .
on 16 march 2016 , sprinter sacre contested his third queen mother champion chase at the cheltenham festival . he started the 5 / 1 second favourite behind the irish - trained un de sceaux , whilst the other eight runners included dodging bullets , sire de grugy , felix yonger ( punchestown champion chase ) , special tiara , and somersby . special tiara and un de sceaux set a very fast pace with nico de boinville settling sprinter sacre behind the leaders . despite a mistake three fences from home , sprinter sacre made rapid progress to take the lead approaching the second last and quickly went several lengths clear . he stayed on up the run - in to win the race by three and a half lengths and a nose from un de sceaux and special tiara . commenting on the ten - year - old ' s return to form , henderson said ,
he’s just been so feisty and aggressive all season . . . i’ve been looking at him every night for the last three weeks and i just knew that it was still there , and his whole body said that it was . it’s just talent , isn’t it ?
however all eyes will be firmly fixed on the two headline attractions . un de sceaux enjoyed a fantastic campaign last season culminating with a victory in the racing post arkle at the cheltenham festival . the eight - year - olds seasonal return didn’t go to plan as he fell when going well at leopardstown over christmas .
tour de france : team sky finish second in 35 . 5km team time trial 19 : 07
there is no hiding place when you employ those tactics and until un de sceaux , who remains unbeaten in all races except for his novices fall first time out over fences , gets his jumping totally together there is an added harum - scarum element to his racing . he must be white - knuckle exhilarating to ride .
with his trainer enda bolger always considering him a chasing type , gilgamboa had shown plenty over the smaller obstacles to suggest he could compete to a high level over fences . he went unbeaten in his opening two chase starts before finding the brilliant un de sceaux too hot to handle over two miles in the irish arkle .
on last season’s arkle second behind the current race - favourite un de sceaux , god’s own looks a pretty big price at 33 / 1 . he’s only run once this campaign due to unsuitable going , but that third in the haldon gold cup at exeter on terrain too slow was a good effort all things considered .
un de sceaux misses out on next week’s punchestown festival and runs instead in the grade two prix leon rambaud where he will again clash with the french champion gemix . just a short neck separated them at the course a month ago when barry geraghty stepped in for the injured walsh . today’s race is at 1 . 35 .
djakadam , owned by susannah and rich ricci , made an impressive return to action winning the grade one john durkan memorial chase at punchestown by 12 - lengths . and after seeing faugheen , douvan and un de sceaux lay down massive festival markers , mullins will be hoping for a similar performance from the cheltenham gold cup favourite .
the 2015 supreme novice hurdle winner was sent off as 1 - 14 favourite for the irish arkle and produced a flawless round of jumping to win by 15 - lengths . the six - year - old is now 4 - 7 to emulate un de sceaux and win the racing post arkle on day one of the cheltenham festival .
steve - emphatic arkle winner un de sceaux will step up to the big time this season , but if his jumping stays together then there ' s nothing in training that live with his cruising speed and at 5 / 4 for the queen mother champion chase it ' s going to be most punter ' s banker of the festival , and it will certainly be mine .
wearing his heart on his sleeve , the un sceaux battle - plan classically involves going as fast as possible for two miles , daring anyone else to try and keep up . it’s a high - risk strategy and it helped catch him out at leopardstown over christmas .
with the likes of vautour and un de sceaux going chasing , and hurricane fly stepping up in trip it seems that faugheen is the only one to fly the flag in the two mile division for the dominant willie mullins . he is generally a 5 / 1 chance for the champion hurdle but in my mind as long as he gets there he will be winning , famous last words eh !
caroline tisdall and bryan drew leading in un temps pour tout after back - to - back festival wins in the g3 ultima chase . urltoken
while de boinville added : “altior is quite a star . just to ride a smashing horse like this is quite something .
the heir apparent to sire de grugy at the sussex yard , this young french import has made remarkable progress in his five runs since arriving in this country , particularly after he was dropped to the minimum trip . he won off 129 and then 135 before producing a highly respectable performance when stepped up to grade one company at aintree . he is bound to be stronger and more mature this season and could progress into one of the chief rivals of un de sceaux in the queen mother champion chase that stablemate grugy won last year .
henry de bromhead flies the irish flag in the grade one celebration chase although special tiara has considerable ground to make up on sire de grugy from cheltenham’s champion chase while co . dublin based patrick griffin runs maggio against menorah in the listed oaksey chase .
even though most hardcore jumps fans know him very well by now , there is something about the aqps un de sceaux that keeps them on their toes every time he’s out on the course , mostly as favourite . few horses sprint down the hill leading to the final steep straight line of prestbury park after showing the way a few lengths ahead of the field , jumping fences with a boldness not many jockeys would find comfortable .
not straightforward trainer willie mullins reported yesterday : “un de sceaux is not the easiest of horses to ride but ruby looks fit and well riding out at home . if he didn’t run [ in france ] he’d have to take on hurricane fly and jezki and we’ve time enough for all that . and the way he jumped the french hurdles , who knows whether he’ll go jumping fences next year or come back over hurdles . ”
having first dipped her toes into graded water in november 2013 when being caught out slightly one - paced up auteuil’s long straight in the grande course de haies de 3 ans , one of france’s top juvenile hurdle races , she proved a consistent performer , adding a first and two seconds at grade 3 to add to her grade 1 3rd place , a grade 2 second , and finally a grade 3 and a grade 1 victory in the final juvenile race of the season at auteuil in june , the prix alain du breil – course de haies d’ete de quatre ans .
val de ferbet put in a fine round of jumping on his chasing debut to take the three - mile beginners ' event in decisive fashion at fairyhouse .
gary moore says sire de grugy is in great shape ahead of the betway champion chase and may turn to headgear in order to eke out a little more improvement .
a horse whose collateral form links him strongly with both sprinter sacre and sire de grugy is special tiara ( 12 / 1 ) , the 2015 champion chase third . a two - time grade one - winning chaser for henry de bromhead , he beat sprinter sacre in april 2015 by five lengths in the celebration chase at sandown .
both sire de grugy and special tiara are more than twice the price of the aforementioned nicky henderson horse , but others look to offer better value at this stage .
special tiara showed a great attitude to stick out his neck and keep up the pace , beating fox norton . giving trainer henry de bromhead another champion chase victory .
the son of kayf tara hasn’t been seen since , but is due to run at punchestown in the tied cottage chase . there is a chance he will shorten in the betting in the run - up to the champion chase – he already offers better value than sprinter sacre – and while a positive where this blog is concerned , we are not quite sure he offers enough each - way value at this stage especially when you consider he’ll not get an easy lead with un de sceaux in the field . with that said , he holds strong claims of hitting the frame .
for the third season in a row the top 2m chaser scooped the grade 1 treble of tingle creek , clarence house and queen mother champion chase , writes john de moraville .
the pair dominated the market for the queen mother chase but sire de grugy finished a laboured fourth , running over a stone below his best , while sprinter sacre pulled up .
if nichols canyon is now a more settled creature according to his trainer , the same cannot be said for his stablemate , the tearaway un de sceaux . but what he lacks in restraint he more than makes up for in ability and he soon had some strongly fancied rivals toiling in his wake as he set a relentless gallop in the g1 ryanair chase . walsh made vain attempts to anchor the exuberance of his partner in the early stages of the race but eventually allowed him to tug his way to the front and hurtle from fence to fence , eliciting gasps from the crowd with his almost recklessly bold jumping .
“i have ridden as an amateur and i also have an eventing background , ” she explains . “that led me to take care of some ‘problem’ horses at willie’s and that’s how i had un de sceaux allotted to me . he was pulling hard all the time and , eventually , that hurt him . i started to do some flat work with him in a manege . the idea was to make him understand that i was in charge , but that i also was his friend . it has been a long process and it’s not an exact science , but i somehow have some control on his speed now . ”
to some extent , mullins had been enduring a festival to forget , with a number of his high - profile horses having suffered injuries in the build - up , while odds - on favourite douvan ( fr ) ( walk in the park { ire } ) disappointed in the g1 queen mother champion chase and was subsequently found to be lame . but thursday quickly became a day to remember as first yorkhill ( ire ) ( presenting { gb } ) then un de sceaux ( fr ) ( denham red { fr } ) and nichols canyon ( gb ) ( authorized { ire } ) restored natural order in the mullins camp .
last year ' s champion chase winner sire de grugy has come out of his cheltenham warm - up at chepstow with his confidence boosted and is
good as gold
according to jockey , jamie moore .
the firm celebrates its twentieth anniversary , with two commissions in a row for the city of paris : an elementary school near the arc de triomphe , and 85
green
apartments in the boucicaut district .
after falling at christmas there were question marks hanging over the head of last season’s racing post arkle winner , but he put any doubts to bed by galloping his main rival sire de grugy into the ground .
vautour , along with un de sceaux , was the great disappointment of the season for mullins and he remains without a win in one of the championship chases at the festival - you may rate the ryanair one of those but i don’t . wins in the stella artois 1965 , clarence house and ryanair chases were scant return for a pair so talented and their jumping was found out in other races . strong travelling rather than good jumping tends to be a feature of the mullins horses and while his fall / unseat rate over fences in ireland and the uk was actually lower than previous seasons in ireland ( 10 . 8 % as against 11 . 4 % ) his runners seemed to make errors at the most crucial times .
dodging bullets at cheltenham was left to account by just over a length for the admirable veteran somersby , who 12 months previously had bravely succumbed to an on - song sire de grugy by almost six times that margin .
his 2013 / 14 campaign was a disaster , however . health issues with a defibrillating heart ( has also struggled with his wind ) saw him race just once where he was pulled up at kempton behind sire de grugy .
we have much more positive feelings about traffic fluide , however , another horse trained by gary moore . moore , famous for his exploits with sire de grugy , has a potential heir apparent in this young and improving chaser .
sent - off as the 30 / 100 favourite , nicky henderson’s leading light made all under nico de boinville , producing a sequence of spectacular leaps . from four out the race was put to bed within a few strides .
there is every chance he can turn that form around with sire de grugy on better ground especially considering , despite winning many good races going right - handed , he gave the impression reverting to a left - handed track would suit .
but , although dodging bullets proved a revelation and comprehensively upstaged his two predecessors sprinter sacre and sire de grugy at cheltenham in march , his end - of - term rating of 171 is the lowest in this category since 2002 - 03 .
court minstrel was a very decent hurdler and landed a valuable handicap hurdle at this meeting last year . the evan williams trained 8 year old made the perfect start to his chasing career when winning his first two races , including a 2 ¾ lengths defeat of chris pea green at cheltenham in october . in december he headed to sandown park for the grade 1 henry viii novices’ chase but jumped far less fluently than normal and eventually finished last of the 4 runner behind vibrato valtat , beaten 32 lengths . he was off the track then until last month’s arkle at cheltenham , where he stayed on late to finish 19 lengths fifth to un de sceaux . court minstrel then contested the grade 1 maghull novices’ chase at aintree two weeks ago and was not disgraced when finishing 6 ½ lengths fourth to sizing granite .
taken to fences really well was rather unlucky sort over hurdles . he can win either way round and from back or front on all ground types and with doubts about sprinter sacre he must be value to give sire de grugy a race this season .
henry de bromhead has a nice bunch of two mile chasers this season and special tiara could easily have made this list instead of sizing granite , but it’s the latter’s versatility in terms of handling softer ground and being a year younger that secured his inclusion .
the formbook tells us there is very little between sprinter sacre ( 4 / 1 ) , sire de grugy ( 12 / 1 ) and special tiara ( 12 / 1 ) . former great sprinter sacre is easily discarded here of the trio on value grounds .
under a confident ride from aidan coleman , the colin tizzard chaser jumped enthusiastically from the front immediately putting his rivals under pressure . in contrast bristol de mai didn’t show the same level of form as he did at haydock , struggling to jump with any fluency .
sire de grugy was one of the most popular cheltenham festival winners when he flew up the hill to claim the 2014 queen mother champion chase and he has slowly returned to form this season . he was way below his best at exeter in the haldon gold cup .
this season , he returned to winning ways with a heart - warming and visually brilliant 15 lengths victory in the grade 2 shloer chase at cheltenham in november before he just got the better of sire de grugy at kempton in the grade 2 desert orchid chase over christmas .
jamie moore on behalf of betracingnation listed ubak as his horse to follow and gave a glowing report of the novice chaser . “i think he is going to be a very very good horse , apart from sire de grugy he is definitely the best horse in the yard” .
it was also a historic opening day for eventmasters horse racing hospitality ambassador tom scudamore , who partnered un temps pour tout to victory in the ultima handicap chase . david pipe’s eight - year - old won the same race in 2016 and became the first horse since scot lane in 1983 to win back - to - back renewals .
that is down to the calibre of opposition as both the two previous champions explicitly failed to reignite their former brilliance winning just one race between them all season . and that was sire de grugy’s victory – albeit stylishly under top - weight – in a muddling four - runner chepstow handicap .
heading into saturday’s denman chase at newbury , many were expecting an epic battle between native river and bristol de mai – who have both claimed major handicap victories this season . but at the winning post there was little doubt who will pose the biggest threat to thistlecrack in the gold cup .
2015 / 16 was largely in line with previous seasons for henry de bromhead , sending out 48 winners after 49 and 48 in the campaigns beforehand , and that levelling off is not something that pleased his principal patron alan potts who recently announced that he will have runners with a handful of other trainers next term . it is hard to avoid the notion that potts is difficult to deal with – he constantly moves horses around – but apart from going back into the willie mullins fold , a bridge he has already burned it would seem , there are few better around than de bromhead .
this season he was a hugely unlucky runner - up behind sire de grugy in the tingle creek , again at sandown , where a last fence mid - air clash with the winner may well have cost him the race . in the end , he was beaten by three parts of a length .
with front - runner charbel setting a very strong pace , nico de boinville and altior were taken outside of their comfort zone . but the fall of kim bailey’s runner left altior clear in front and he stormed up the famous cheltenham hill , to give henderson a record breaking sixth win in the race .
following education , culture , commerce and offices , the agency now addresses the design of facilities for public safety : police stations in sceaux and villepinte . ttwo years later , ameller & dubois wins the montmartre fire station competition ( completed in 2008 ) . mary warburton , a young stage design oriented architect , joins the firm . she remains its most steady project manager .
god’s own really blossomed around this time last year but didn’t record a first victory over fences until winning a grade 1 contest at punchestown last spring , which meant he retained his novice status for the current season . the tom george trained 7 year old beat the ill - fated moscow mannon by ½ a length in the ryanair novice chase , in a field that also contained balder succes , felix yonger and champagne fever . he returned to action in november at exeter and landed the haldon gold cup by 5 lengths from balder succes but a month later his jumping let him down as he disappointed badly in the tingle creek chase . god’s own then headed to kempton park over christmas to contest the grade 2 wayward lad novices’ chase but went down to a 10 ½ lengths defeat when third to vibrato valtat . he was then off the track until last month’s arkle at cheltenham , when he came back to his very best to chase home un de sceaux , eventually finishing 6 lengths second . god’s own then headed to aintree and finished a length second to sizing granite in the grade 1 maghull novices’ chase .
the amateur four - mile contest takes place on the opening day of the 2016 cheltenham festival – tuesday 15 th march ; with irish champion trainer mullins holding the first three in the betting . black hercules is the 4 - 1 favourite , followed by roi de francs ( 6 - 1 ) and pont alexandre ( 8 - 1 ) .
as is his way , might bite set a blistering pace at the front and was 20 - lengths clear of his rivals coming to the final fence . after a crashing fall at kempton at the final fence in a similar position , nico de boinville got his mount to the other side – but that’s where it all went a bit wrong .
if that sounds presumptive in a field containing one of the most outstanding two - mile champions of all , sprinter scare , other previous title - holders in dodging bullets and sire de gruggy , not to mention a handful of other proven grade 1 winners , it does allow for the suspicion that sprinter & co appear to be lights of other days .
while defi de seuil proved to be the finest juvenile hurdler in training as he swept aside the competition in the jcb triumph hurdle . phillip hobbs horse has been imperious all season , winning on each of his six starts . it was another victory in the race for jp mcmanus who now has owned 50 winners at the festival – the most in history .
de bromhead has become more of a summer trainer in recent years and won a galway plate in 2015 with shanahan’s turn which might be his aiming to avoid some of the better mullins horses in softer races ; he has started this new season well already with three winners . the national hunt season ‘proper’ will tell the tale however with his number of potts runners cut .
vibrato valtat was a useful novice hurdler last term and has improved with each run this season over fences . after a good run back over hurdles at cheltenham’s october meeting , vibrato valtat beat the useful thomas crapper by a length on his chasing debut at warwick in early november . the paul nicholls trained 6 year old was then second best by 1 ¾ lengths to dunraven storm at cheltenham’s open meeting later that month , but reversed those placings when staying up the sandown park hill to beat his old rival by 2 lengths in the grade 1 henry viii novices’ chase in early december . vibrato valtat was out again three weeks later and ran on well to beat three kingdoms by ½ a length in the wayward lad novices’ chase at kempton park . he then headed to the kingmaker novices’ chase at warwick in february and jumped well and looked really impressive when defeating the useful top gamble by 4 ½ lengths . he then headed to the arkle at cheltenham and tried to lay - up behind un de sceaux but paid the price in the home straight , eventually finishing 13 lengths fourth . once again vibrato valtat put up a game performance at aintree two weeks ago when 4 lengths second to clarcam in the grade 1 manifesto novices’ chase .
scudamore has won nine times at the cheltenham festival – thistlecrack , ryanair world hurdle 2016 ; un temps pour tout , ultima handicap chase 2016 ; next sensation , grand annual chase 2015 ; moon racer , wetherby’s champion bumper 2015 ; ballynagour , byrne group plate 2014 ; dynaste , ryanair chase 2014 ; western warhorse , racing post arkle 2014 ; salut flo , byrne group plate 2012 ; and an accordion , william hill trophy handicap chase 2008 .
if that poor performance can be forgiven , and it should , there was enough in his previous start at kempton to be enthused by his prospects over hurdles this season ; having travelled smoothly throughout the contest on the all - weather circuit , bringithomeminty displayed an impressive gear - change as he stretched 8 lengths clear of a well - regarded paul nicholls inmate , alibi de sivola , who himself was clear of the rest .
runner - up on his sole start in an irish point - to - point , stellar notion made a winning debut under rules in a bumper at bangor - on - dee in december before making a successful start to his hurdles career , in a heavy ground novice at newcastle the following month . a strapping son of presenting , there was no disgrace in failing to concede 6lbs to un ace on his only subsequent outing and he is certainly worth following off his opening handicap mark of 121 .
the pair have since bounced back in fantastic style , winning the grade 1 sodexo clarence house chase at ascot . in beating an inform sire de grugy by five lengths under the gary moore’s horse ideal conditions , it was a big statement pre - cheltenham . quite simply , he’s the one they all have to beat , but at a price of 4 / 5 is no good to us from an ante - post betting perspective .