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We learnt that it is unwise to dismiss horses trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh .
We learnt that even without the 7Ibs mare’s allowance , Annie Power would still have routed that field .
We learnt that over paid , under educated professional footballers , should not allowed to attend the festival – unless under the strictest supervision .
We learnt that Victoria Pendleton has some pair of balls ( figuratively speaking ) and deserves praise for her efforts .
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I don’t mind the slings and arrows of your standard ‘outrageous fortune’, but I draw the line at deliberate deception.
I think that’s over the top Joe.
This smacks of cock-up rather than conspiracy, the result of three strong-willed people pulling in different directions. There’s absolutely nothing in it for any of them to deliberately hatch a plan to put the public away. Indeed, it’s only downside for them.
Having said that, I don’t bet ante-post and I’ve never listened to a single word any of a horse’s connections have said in the last 35 years so I’m probably more phlegmatic about the incident.
Mike
Not sure what we learnt but these are a few random thoughts.
There continues to be a massive gulf between those within the sport and punters. For the most part the only punter a trainer appears to be interested in is one who has a horse in his yard. The lack of accurate information regarding Vautour was nothing short of a disgrace. Miscommunication was the issue, not the make-up of the races at the Festival. This from an owner who loves to tell everyone how he is some sort of open book. The incident also highlighted the massive difference between the written and spoken word. There were two critical pieces in the Racing Post by Kealy and Mottershead but next to nothing from the on-track RUK mob.
As regards the Mullins dominance, well thankfully they didn’t all win, did they? Yes, we can all marvel at horses winning on the bridle but from a spectacle point of view it is sometimes that much more exciting to actually watch horses digging deep up that hill. I thought the likes of Min and Un De Sceaux capitulated pretty tamely once they came off the bridle although I would put the latter’s defeat down to the jock taking away the natural exuberance he used to show. Personally, I was pretty bored with the likes of Vroum Vroum Mag and Limini. They had tons in hand and it was just a case of standing up. I have previously suggested the Cross Country would be better placed as part of the April meeting and I don’t think there is any evidence to suggest that these mare’s races are ever going to be competitive. Most of the decent mares are in one yard and they are not going to oppose each other. Both races could be staged elsewhere. That said I have no issues with a four-day Festival and we know it isn’t going to revert back to three days anytime soon.
The equine highlight of the week was Thistlecrack. What a shame he wasn’t around at the time Big Bucks was in his pomp. That would have been some race. At the moment the most over-hyped horse in training appears to be Douvan. He wasn’t that impressive in the Arkle and he has literally been beating up a handful of second division performers. Not his fault but he needs to achieve far more to justify the superlatives being liberally cast in his direction. It is a shame from a competition angle that there are so many relatively easy Graded races that Douvan and co. can mop up such that by the time the next Festival arrives we haven’t learnt that much more about their quality. Oh for the days of Arkle when the good ones were forced into handicaps.
The Gold Cup showed how much easier it is to criticise a horse than a jockey. For three races Cue Card and Brennan formed something of a ‘golden partnership’ but yesterday that association went badly wrong. Why did the horse jump so poorly? Nobody knows for sure but it is a fair bet that nerves can be transferred from jockey to horse. As for that fateful fence Brennan had pulled the horse out presumably with the intention of going forward and in keeping with that idea looked initially as if he was going to ask Cue Card for a big one but then decided against it and as a result of the loss of impetus the horse came down. If you look back at his previous runs the horse generally responds well when driven into a fence so not sure why the jock sent out the mixed message. Very disappointing for the horse who almost certainly will never get a better chance to win a Gold Cup.
I must admit I didn’t follow the Pendleton story until all and sundry seemed to jump on the critical bandwagon once Francome threw his hat in the ring. It is amazing how some people find it so difficult to admit they got it wrong. The very same people who said she had it easy at Wincanton are no doubt now trying to suggest that she actually threw away a winning opportunity. Just ludicrous stuff. She thoroughly warranted the accolade she got yesterday and she certainly didn’t deserve the carping from the buffoon Machin about being allowed to enter the winner’s enclosure. I hope she continues riding and he sticks to making up his stupid puns. I know which would add more to the sport.
When I saw the pictures of the footballers it made think it wasn’t a such a bad thing that I no longer attend. Money seems to get you anywhere these days. The Racecourse Officials need to have a serious think as to whether the Festival should draw a line in the sand. The Festival surely doesn’t need to embrace a celebrity culture. These idiots should just have been thrown out.
In fairness to Douvan , as the old saying goes , they can can only beat what’s put in front of them –
and he did post a quicker time , over the same course and distance , in similar conditions , to Sprinter Sacre , in the following day’s Champion Chase .I think we have still to see the best of this giant racehorse . To me , he is the real deal .
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What we have learnt is that Northern racing is in dire straits. I don’t think there is more than a handful of good horses trained further north that Haydock.
The racing up North is getting poorer and poorer and God only knows what will become of it.
The days of W.A the Dickinsons, Easterbys et al are just a memory now.– ive learnt not have time off work to watch whats becoming a very overrated race meeting.
– just because its cheltenham does’nt mean all horses are trying their hardest to win
– the increasing dominance of mullins / rich will see the festival become very ‘galway-dermot weld-y’ and a turn off for alot of punters.
– paddy brennan blew it big style
just because its cheltenham does’nt mean all horses are trying their hardest to win
Examples??
Mike
A lot of Jonjo’s horses who I have no doubt will bounce back to form at big prices in the coming weeks with the old quote “better ground” thats why they improved.
Pacah du Polder. If they were trying to win they would have put a proper jockey on and I have no doubt it would have won. The horse and jockey were clearly there as a publicity stunt and does nothing to my mind to help the integrity of racing.
I was there all week and I have to agree it is becoming diluted. Will they introduce another Mares race for Mullins and Ricci to win next year. Maybe Mares chases for them.I’ve thought it was too diluted since the fourth day was introduced but we’re not going back. Too much ££££ involved.
On the subject of the Ryanair, when it was introduced it was a G2 with the G1 winners penalised – and other good horses in receipt of 7-8lb. That would be enough of a disincentive for some to duck the Gold Cup or QMCC.
I don’t see why every race at Cheltenham has to be a Championship Race.
As for the mares novice, they may as well have framed a race to benefit Willie Mullins. Not sure what that added really – would rather have had a mares bumper if there had to be another mares race.
Oh, and I preferred the X-country as a handicap. It’s just set up to create more multiple winners that Cheltenham can fetishise now.
‘What have we learned from this years festival’?
We have learned that ‘Rich Ricci’ has learnt a lesson in public communication,his naiveity of the average punters capacity to read between the lines surprised him.’Vautourgate’ will have repurcussions and will inevitably create strain between the Media/Public and Mullins plans for his horses.Willie knows the impact changing his horses plans at the last minute have on the betting industry but didn’t realise the public/Media backlash would be so great.He will not change now as he’s quite happy to mis-lead and he’s done that on a grand scale,some of us have been well aware of it for several years,’Sir des Champs’ JLT run typifies this but its taken this week to expose him fully.Willie for whatever reason obviously gets pleasure from misleading the masses but I have learned over the years to play on that to my advantage as when Willie says something the Betfair machine responds accordingly.What is incredible is the machine knows before anyone else knows and it knew ‘Vautour’ wasn’t running in the Gold Cup well before Rich Ricci announced it on C4.The machine is the No1 weapon in the punters armoury to beat Mullins at his own game.
The Ryanair carries too much prize money,the Sun Alliance is now a sad occasion,the opening novice hurdles on day one and two are a shadow of their former selves and the world hurdle should still just be labelled the Stayers .The Ryanair is definitely the most over hyped piece of nonsense in the festival ,its my least favourite race just leaves me cold
I’ve seen a good idea for the Ryanair Chase, keep the prize money up or even increase it but make it a handicap. Horses could take the option but if chickening out of the Gold Cup or Champion Chase they would have to give weight to lesser rivals.
Take this years as an example, instead of meeting all his rivals on level terms Vautour would had to have given a minimum of 11bs to his rivals. Surely an encouragement to run in the Gold Cup instead of taking the lesser option. He could still run in the lesser option for good money but would have to give the weight.
Do the authorities really care though about horses missing the Gold Cup to run in the Ryanair? Maybe they prefer it.
That Nico De Boinville needs to brush up on his riding style. Don’t like the way he bangs his backside against the saddle when he gets animated on his horses. Makes for uncomfortable viewing.
Nicky Henderson will always be a whizz at bringing horses back from the brink of precariousness.
That Nico De Boinville needs to brush up on his riding style.
He needs to brush up on his hair style.
Mike
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