[grey dolphin]

Great horse. Have a long and happy retirement KK….. Well done to connections for drawing stumps as soon as it’s become apparent he’s not going to scale the old heights.

[grey dolphin]

Was quite excited about having a few lines this week but probably won’t bother now 4 of the races are on the AW. Have no interest in it whatsoever and haven’t a clue about the form.

Cannot see why the 16 runner handicap hurdle at Haydock wasn’t included; lets face it; won by a 20-1 shot last year. The 2m Hcap Chase also looks competitive enough.

Poor decision by the Tote in my view.

[grey dolphin]

As soon as I saw that header the words John Webber went through my mind. Funny how I can remember who trained a horse I haven’t thought of for 20 years but can’t remember what I did yesterday……

[grey dolphin]

A few of my favourites…

Ludlow – local course, all the quirks and very friendly. Great view from stand roof
Cheltenham – not original choice but brilliant amphitheatre for sport
Wincanton – cracking country course; great buzz
Leicester – unexpected gem, good viewing & best beef rolls in Britain
Sandown – great views and facilities

Punchestown – Festival has much of the appeal of Cheltenham but a tenth of the hassle

[grey dolphin]

Haven’t missed a Charlie Hall for a few years and providing the fields are half decent will be there on Sat. I’ve never booked in advance so should be no problems getting in.

Bear in mind it’s Ollie’s Cheltenham

[grey dolphin]

Grey Dolphin (natch!), See More Business, Desert Orchid, Durham Edition, Wayward Lad, The Mighty Mac, Ei Ei, Material World, Florida Pearl would be a few of my favourites.

[grey dolphin]

I did Razer Royale too, and Frankie Figg.

But if they do any more to ‘modify’ the course they might as well just turn it into a flat course. No more changes….

[grey dolphin]

I can’t see that it doesn’t devalue what a Cheltenham Winner means – a consolation race for half decent handicappers rated in the 120s and low 130s has little place at a Championship Meeting.

I do think a race for conditional jocks is not a bad idea – but it could have been achieved by changing the conditions of the Kim Muir (2 amateur races would be enough) or perhaps the Fred Winter.

Now I like nothing better than seeing horses come up the Prestbury Hill – the more the better – but I fail to see how anyone can argue that the Changes to the festival haven’t weakened what was almost a perfect meeting.

The Gold Cup field has clearly been thinned out by the Ryanair Chase and The Mildmay of Flete by both the Ryanair and the Jewson. The Sun Alliance Hurdle has been absolutely filleted by the 3m novice and the mares hurdle took away a couple of genuine stayers hurdle contenders. Ante-post betting on hurdles in particular has become a lottery.

[grey dolphin]

As a Uttoxeter member can’t help but observe that they have been dumbing the whole programme down for about 5 years. Why they only have one Hunter Chase now all season I do not know.

Also can’t help but wonder that the scarcity of fallers at Cheltenham is in part because the fences are now so soft. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing but….

[grey dolphin]

I’m not much of a fan of Upper Sapey (Herefordshire), the likes of Peper Harrow (Surrey) and the – thankfully – now defunct Mounsey Hill Gate (Devon) are regularly taken to the cleaners in Mackenzie and Harris, and I’m sure Adrian and Happy Jack could quite happily name their own pointing courses well worth avoiding!

Sapey’s fine as long as there’s some cut. The meeting two years ago was graced by some nice horses including the excellent Southwestern.

My particular favourites are Bitterley, Dingley and Bredwardine.

[grey dolphin]

I’ll be there Tues to Fri – can’t wait. The most relaxed festival of all.

Just gutted that Sarah Floods has been knocked down – was great for that first post racing Guinness…..

I’ll be looking to see if De Valira can run a big race as a fresh horse.

[grey dolphin]

Like Chelsea Harbour in some ways but his jumping has looked sticky on occasion – Troytown Chase if I remember correctly.

Will definitely be backing Philson Run.

[grey dolphin]

Can’t agree more about the weird insularity of some British trainers when it comes to going to Ireland. I can’t ever recall an Alan King runner in Ireland for instance. And not many from PFN given the strenth in depth in his stable. Or the Pipes.

Punchestown is a great festival and occasion and would be significantly enhanced by a really strong British challenge. Having been over the last two years, two years ago the British challenge was absolutely pitiful. Last year not as bad but still mainly second division horses.

Come on UK trainers……

[grey dolphin]

Despite having been there about a hundred times I’d never noticed the tyres!

Ludlow is a course that seems to divide opinion into those that love it and those that hate it.

I have never seen a problem involving the golf bunkers and it is far from being the only course that crosses public roads. Melling anyone? I find it to be a proper country course and would not swap the ambience for what you get at most bigger tracks.

[grey dolphin]

Disraelite – you should go to Leopardstown. It is not flat; downhill from the winning post to the motorway bend then a steady climb all the way to three out.

TV is very deceptive; I never understood the concept of the Sandown hill till I went there.

[grey dolphin]

I doubt it – if they fancied Climate Control they were probably Irish!

[grey dolphin]

How so? The ground for the Pierse was Heavy whilst at the Christmas festival it was a good second on Good to Yielding. For me, the ground on Friday was no better than Yielding. Hogan stated in the Post in the morning that he thought it had a good chance.

I had a bad day on Thursday backing horses that wanted decent ground ie usual Cheltenham mode. I switched to looking for horses that could handle soft ground well on Friday and got it back.

[Author]

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