Cheltenham Review

slimshady007

Jockey Analysis
Ruby will be bitterly disappointed to only end up with one winner after winning the very first race of the festival. Geraghty re-emerged as a top jockey after many were starting to doubt him.
Delighted Rachel Blackmore showed everyone what a top jockey she is. Some may question her ride on Monalee but she was brilliant in the Albert Bartlett today with her tactics.
Noel Fehily was an extremely underrated jockey for me. One of the best in the business and one of a very few you could always trust to not balls things up. Will definitely be missed.

Trainer Analysis
Elliott will obviously be delighted to see Tiger Roll win again but overall he has to be bitterly disappointed with how things went. He probably over achieved last year but that's the bar that has been set and this week is what the O'Learys pay all that money for. Not at the "going for a cup of tea" stage yet but bound to be some tough questions asked.
Mullins had a decent festival capped by the Gold Cup.
In general it was nice to not see complete domination by a few trainers and the likes of Brassil and De Bromhead got some limelight. Also good to see Nicholls back in the top races winning the RSA.

Race Analysis
Highlights
Tiger Roll was a joy.
RSA was a cracking race.
Espoir D'Allen was super impressive.
Paisley Park was also very good.

Lowlights
Sir Erec was desperately sad.
Champion Hurdle didn't live up to the pre-race hype despite Espoir D'Allen performance.
Altior was underwhelming - I was looking for a Master Minded type performance considering the opposition (appreciate most will disagree).
Presenting Percy was a bitter disappointment.
BDD last flight fall.
A lot of nonsense between races on ITV.

Fortyjocks

slimshady007 wrote: »

Jockey Analysis
Ruby will be bitterly disappointed to only end up with one winner after winning the very first race of the festival. Geraghty re-emerged as a top jockey after many were starting to doubt him.
Delighted Rachel Blackmore showed everyone what a top jockey she is. Some may question her ride on Monalee but she was brilliant in the Albert Bartlett today with her tactics.
Noel Fehily was an extremely underrated jockey for me. One of the best in the business and one of a very few you could always trust to not balls things up. Will definitely be missed.

Trainer Analysis
Elliott will obviously be delighted to see Tiger Roll win again but overall he has to be bitterly disappointed with how things went. He probably over achieved last year but that's the bar that has been set and this week is what the O'Learys pay all that money for. Not at the "going for a cup of tea" stage yet but bound to be some tough questions asked.
Mullins had a decent festival capped by the Gold Cup.
In general it was nice to not see complete domination by a few trainers and the likes of Brassil and De Bromhead got some limelight. Also good to see Nicholls back in the top races winning the RSA.

Race Analysis
Highlights
Tiger Roll was a joy.
RSA was a cracking race.
Envoi Allen was super impressive.
Paisley Park was also very good.

Lowlights
Sir Erec was desperately sad.
Champion Hurdle didn't live up to the pre-race hype despite Envoi Allen performance.
Altior was underwhelming - I was looking for a Master Minded type performance considering the opposition (appreciate most will disagree).
Presenting Percy was a bitter disappointment.
BDD last flight fall.
A lot of nonsense between races on ITV.

Couple of great rides by Jamie Codd, Presenting Percy lacked match practice as anticipated - was jumping too low and hurdling some of the fences!, poor week for the Gigginstown horses who had high hopes, tragic re Sir Erec & must say thought the Racng TV coverage was v good especially compared to ITVs coverage...and ride of the week for me was Sire Du Berlais, Geraghty at his v best!

Angliru

Ruby, Jack and Davy had festivals to forget about...especially the last two after the festivals they had last year. Gordon will be happy to get 3 winners but he must be devastated with the performance of the top tier of his yard. Willie and Nicky tipped along handily. Great to see Rachael thriving. Also fair play to Nico, very fond of him and feels he often goes under the radar even though he is a high profile jockey.

Highlights:
The antepost threads

Return of Aftertime Ansell

Altior - goosebumps. I dunno how anyone could be disappointed by that run, no better sight than Altior eating the hill, horse doesn't know when to quit or how to lose.

Tiger Roll - words not needed, class.

RSA was a great race. As was the Mares novice.

Might Bite and Native River going at it gave me chills, considering the horrible day that it was that has to be a highlight for me.

Barry G rolling back the years at times.


Lowlights:
Festival in general failed to purr imo. Maybe due to so many elite horses failing to fire as has been a bit of a trend this year but felt that the buzz was flat a lot. Been a hard aul NH season with the weather and that...hopefully not a recurring trend in the future.

Benie Des Dieux and Buveur D'Air - writing was on the wall for my week after those two fell.

Sir Erec/Invitation Only/Ballyward

Bryony Frost - Just f*ck off.

Francesca Cumani - Can also go f*ck off. The absolute nerve of her to chat back to McCoy the other day was comical.

Matt Chapman - Yeehaa the f*ck back to the tanning salon and stay there ya ape .

The big races in general failed to fire - Ryanair was a decent race but so many of the big guns failed to fire. Same with the Gold Cup. Champion Hurdle obviously was horrific.

WicklowBrave

Highlights :
Ruby on Klassical Dream was pure poetry
The RSA was a great race
Barry on Defi du Seuil was pure poetry
Barry on Sire du Berlais was pure theatre
Al Boum Photo winning and the owner giving a shout out to Barney Curley in the interview

Lowlights:
The Champion Hurdle
Benie falling
Sir Erec
Presenting Percy
ITV in particular Ed Chamberlin

Johner

Highlights -

Minella Indo - pulled the arms off Rachel and still won going away. Serious prospect.
Duc Des Genievres - Cantered through the race.
Paisley Park - Proper staying performance in the mould of a Big Bucks.
Al Boum Photo - Visually very impressive.

Klassical Dream, City Island, Espoir D'allen also very good.

Lowlights -

Sir Erec by a mile, watching him being reshod at the start I was thinking what a gorgeous horse he is, so well behaved with a remarkable temperament especially for a colt. Less than 5 minutes later he was gone.

WicklowBrave

Yeah spot on Angliru, it never really purred is right.

ITV did their best to shove Bryony and the blind owner down our throats. It felt so contrived.

Andrew00

Highlights:

Ruby on Klassical Dream.... have watched it back a dozen times. Class.

Geraghtys ride on Sire Du Berlais was class.

Tiger Rolls romp.

Lows:

Sir Erec without a doubt. He would’ve been a future superstar.

ITV coverage and the Byrony **** fest

Andrew00

THE FIELD IN THE SUPREME TURN FOR HOME AND KLASSICAL DREAM IS IN FRONT BY 2 LENGHTS AND HES GOT THEM ALL RIDING IN BEHIND

kksaints

Strange festival. The champion hurdle and gold cup were odd races with slightly underwhelming winners even if that's not the case by winning margins. Champion chase was exciting and the Stayers hurdle was thrilling with a fascinating story for the winner and his connections.

With regards to Byrony Frost I think people here are approaching it from an Irish angle in which we're more used to top quality female jockeys such as Nina, Katie and Rachel. For the UK this is their first real quality female jump jockey and with the particular focus on Women in sport and encouraging participation they are going to hype it up. Also don't forget it's the first G1 victory for a female jockey at Cheltenham which is a major event. She also gave Frodon a fantastic ride in the race.

Punting wise was very ordinary for me. One winner and a few placings but nothing major.

Still think there is a few too many dross races at the festival. The mares novice, Fred Winter and Martin Pipe are poor races and while I like the national hunt chase. This years race was very unsatisfactory with too many fallers.

Also to go along with what others were saying Sir Erec tragedy was very unpleasant and put a bit of a damper on today's racing.

Bangor Billy

The 'big guns' failed to fire? Maybe they were just over hyped.

Clique

Brough Scott hit the nail on the head while quoting this week of Cheltenham, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Very apt analogy of the week I thought.

I don't back horses anymore, haven't followed it much in recent times but one thing NH Racing over the flat is the horses that come back year on year but here is my take on the week.

Altior was rather underwhelming in a way at first but then I watched it again and thought so much could have went wrong and he still got the job done as he always seems to do, he is an absolute monster though and going up in distance it will be fascinating to see his progress even moreso.

Tiger Roll put in the performance of the week, a joy to watch him hack up in a canter.

Espoir D'allen in the Champion was stunning but it always takes away from a race with so much hype when some underperform and losing a horse so early like Buveir D'air. Take nothing away from the winner, he was super.

Paisley Park put in a really top staying performance, I was reminded a bit of Inglis Drever in him, under pressure but finding and then eating up the hill, a great win for the smaller stables and owners.

Rachael Blackmore getting a couple of winners was a delight to see, an absolutely brilliant jockey and just gets on with it.

Frodon brought the house down, Bryony Frost really is full of class. All about the horse, all about the love of the game and she is so down to earth. The fawning by ITV was a bit OTT regarding her but more about them in a min!

Jamie Codd showing his class above both Le Breuil and Envoi Allen. The finish in the NH Cup especially on Tuesday was a tough watch but Codd was superb getting Le Breuil home.

The RSA was probably the race of the week for me, a great battle between the trio with Topofthegame coming out on top.

Nico de Boinville is one who deserves a lot of praise too, never going to be classed as a great or one with a superb style, just gets on with it and comes across as a classy person also in his interviews. Nice to see him take top jock.

AP losing it on live Tv about the ban of Declan Lavery was brilliant, he called the BHA out, basically told Francesca to feck off and actually spoke his mind for once with passion and not under ITV censorship.

Barry Geraghty in the first two races on Thursday was a treat, certainly put most of the haters back in their seats, at his brilliant best.

Willie Mullins taking the Gold Cup at last, a genius at work. An Arkle and Gold Cup for someone who can't train chasers.

Now for the downsides to the week.

First off, 3 horses were lost at the meeting, two for the Wylies/Mullins camps in Ballyward & Invitation Only. Of course one stands above the others as Sir Erec was expected to put on a show. Such a shame what happened and the sceptics will be out in force blaming farriers, vets and other things why they lost a few euro.

That brings us to the enigma that is Ruby Walsh and the mares hurdle. Benie des Dieux brought similarities to the Annie Power fall, the lads that were cheering the win of Klassical Dreams no less than 2hrs earlier, the same lad they were chanting and praising was now at work for the bookies again. I was just disappointed as she was gonna win handsomely.

ITV's coverage is progressively getting worse. That social stable was an absolute joke, the fawning over the lady jockeys was way over the top and then they have presenters saying they are all equals in the weighing room etc. then glorifying every win they have to death. Ridiculous. I don't mind Chapman for the most part but he is getting worse on ITV, as for Gleeson, I pray for the day someone slaps a pie in his face before staring down the camera. Francesca is their for the looks rather the know how regarding NH racing, give her all the time to talk about flat racing through the Summer but she is lost at times when they are talking NH. Harvey is a puppet who was grand on the Friday night with Weaver as it was a chilled show, he comes across as too childish for my liking. Chamberlain is so pc if you carved open his head you will see a Mac inside. Everythings a story, everything is magical, feck off with the bullsh!t, your not talking to two year olds. Loved Mick Fitzgerald as a jockey, as a presenter not so much. Will someone tell him what race a jockey really wants to win is. Every race, this is the one they all want to win. This lad is flying at home. This lad is laid out for this race. Can someone tell him they are all laid out for the race hence the reason they are there. Pure drivel 90% of the time along with 10% of actual interesting input. ITV basically have made a balls of their coverage by being too pc and for beginners. Give us back Francome, Down, McGrath and even Nick Luck for that matter!

Not many downs but today just felt like a downer on the whole week with that first race and I just hate ITV

Anyway roll on Aintree when I will be watching in my mansion after my treble of Minella Indo, Eglantine du Seuil, Croco Bay came in. Absolute certainty Ansell, game by the balls

HarshOstrich

That’s The last champion chase we will see altior in, he’s getting a little slower and looks beatable now at that distance, I love the horse so expect him to do well up in trip, but would they settle for the Ryanair if he doesn’t stay 3 miles in king George.

vapor trails

A subset of Elliots bad week and a Champion Hurdle that has left us all confused was Apple's Jade. Gigginstown must be 0/99 or so for Grade 1 races at the Cheltenham festival over 2m's. O'Leary will say Gold Cup is king but he must be envious of JP's Champion Hurdle ladened mantlepiece.

Elliot might come back now at the end of the season and pick up a National or two, but for me, he's disappointed on the week when it mattered most.

yaboya1

What did Francesca Cumani say to McCoy?

The Tetrarch

The bookies won and would like another Festival next week.

The strange lionising of Bryony by the meeja.

French-bred winners at Cheltenham (Racing Post)
2008 5
2009 10
2010 9
2011 8
2012 6
2013 4
2014 8
2015 8
2016 7
2017 7
2018 11
2019 14

madmoose

vapor trails wrote: »

A subset of Elliots bad week and a Champion Hurdle that has left us all confused was Apple's Jade. Gigginstown must be 0/99 or so for Grade 1 races at the Cheltenham festival over 2m's. O'Leary will say Gold Cup is king but he must be envious of JP's Champion Hurdle ladened mantlepiece.

Elliot might come back now at the end of the season and pick up a National or two, but for me, he's disappointed on the week when it mattered most.

They could have CH winners if they focused on that division instead of mainly focusing on p2p winners that are future staying chasers (i understand buying future Gold Cup winners is their main aim), they easily have the money to look into the markets for more speedy bred horses. Maybe start looking at Voix Du Nords or another breed?

Joe_ Public

The Tetrarch wrote: »

The bookies won and would like another Festival next week.

The strange lionising of Bryony by the meeja.

French-bred winners at Cheltenham (Racing Post)
2008 5
2009 10
2010 9
2011 8
2012 6
2013 4
2014 8
2015 8
2016 7
2017 7
2018 11
2019 14

Very interesting figures. The french breds very gradually asserting dominance. 1,2,3 in the gold cup (first time ever I’d say), only for the freak that is Altior would have been 1,2 in champion chase, first in champion hurdle, 1,3,4,5 in supreme, 1,3,4 in bumper. And so on. Irish breds still doing ok, but some challenges definitely ahead if this trend continues.

RivetingRoger

Had a good week. Had my few winners etc and enjoyed it all but honestly lads Sir Erec just killed it. Look I follow racing a long time and we all know the game. These things happen and we deal with it but this, this was different.
The magnificent full beast only 2 mins earlier a picture of serenity being shoed......for his demise to be that brutal and that blatant. Felt sick. Still do. Welling up writing this.
Big bubble of positivity and tension just burst and flooded any racing fan's heart with grief

Terrible
Fu*king terrible

Joe_ Public

madmoose wrote: »

They could have CH winners if they focused on that division instead of mainly focusing on p2p winners that are future staying chasers (i understand buying future Gold Cup winners is their main aim), they easily have the money to look into the markets for more speedy bred horses. Maybe start looking at Voix Du Nords or another breed?

Alternatively he could look at patching up his differences with Mullins who knows better than anyone where to find these kind of horses. Particularly now if it is the case that Ricci might be pulling back a little.

tinpib

Highlights: The bookies special offers and money back specials. I do small stakes but maximise my bets for whatever offers are going, therefore no matter what happens you should have your 4 days racing for free at the very least if not a profit.

Lowlight: ITV Racing coverage. We are all saying the same thing but as I posted in one of the threads it isn't entirely the presenters fault. They are clearly being instructed to behave in this way from the powers that be above them, I likened it to trying to replicate the banter on Top Gear with Clarkson/Hammond/May.

It is absolutely horrific, I finally saw sense and watched Fridays on Racing TV in its entirety.

Harry Palmr

ITV basically have made a balls of their coverage by being too pc and for beginners

ITV don't cover it for you they cover it for the type of person who backs a Grand National horse in the works draw. A female jockey is a news story for them.

Speaking of which ITV 4 is showing Jump Girls right now.

Clique

Harry Palmr wrote: »

ITV don't cover it for you they cover it for the type of person who backs a Grand National horse in the works draw. A female jockey is a news story for them.

Speaking of which ITV 4 is showing Jump Girls right now.

Absolutely. They are not there for the racing fan, they are their to create stories and news for the wider public. In hindsight, their coverage of Sir Erec before the race started, getting his shoe replaced actually went against them I would imagine and actually gave the 'the ban racing club' a stick to beat them with. Hindsights a wonderful thing though as it was fascinating seeing a farrier at eork once again

IAMAMORON

For me the big winners of the festival were the bookies. The dramatic ground change did not help as the entire winters' formbook was thrown out the window.

I was lucky enough to attend the meeting yesterday. Whilst the official going was good/soft, I can only say it appeared to ride like hard sticking glue. Horses just couldn't get out of it and you can see the evidence in the way most horses finished out their races. The winning SP's were massive. This indicates to me a head scratching day for punters.

Many trainers also stated in early week that they had to travel early with some of their horses due to the storm forecasts. This could not have helped preparation with some of their more tenacious animals, they can get distressed with new surroundings etc.

I still loved the racing though, it is always a brilliant week. Roll on Aintree, Fairyhouse, Tramore and Punchestown. Killarney, Leopardstown and Roscommon evening meetings, the new Curragh …… etc etc.

The White Wolf

My week was quiet and was working for most of it. Most of the horses I backed pulled up or still running.

Bitterly disappointed by the champion Hurdle from a sporting perspective. On paper it looked like a race to remember for a very long time but it fell apart.

Geraghty takes a lot of stick on here so I was happy to see him get praise for his performance this week.

Sir Erec was heartbreaking. I've been backing horses for 15 years and I usually laugh at the animal welfare crowd moaning about horse racing but I was left very uncomfortable by what happened. He didn't look right from early on. No fault of the farrier but he was obviously under pressure to get him ready. I've seen plenty of reshoes and they can cause significant delays, something they obviously weren't going to allow yesterday.

Andrew00

ITV have spent most of the day talking about Bryony Frost on their twitter and Facebook again

famagusta

The amount of Colombian marching powder on course and around town was insane, never seen the likes, there must be plenty of money about?!

WicklowBrave

famagusta wrote: »

The amount of Colombian marching powder on course and around town was insane, never seen the likes, there must be plenty of money about?!

Did you not see Sean Mulryan won the Ballymore with Brian Cowan with him in the Winners enclosure? The boom is back.

howareyakid

Strange enough Cheltenham. I didn’t see much of the TV coverage as was working for the week but caught the second half of the card most days. Think I was up €60 by the end of the week. A Plus Tard, Topofthegame, Klassical Dream, Defi Du Seuil, Altior/Politologue forecast were my best bets.

Any time you see the words “fatally injured” after a horses name is a sad day. As a horse racing fan that’s the last thing you want to see. So Ballyward, Sir Erec and Invitation Only were the definite low points. The Sir Erec one was particularly sad with the severity of the injury and the whole reshoeing incident before the race. I just hope it was a freak accident and that what happened before the race had nothing to do with it.

NaiveMelodies

Hard to believe it's a week since it all started!!

After much mulling over I think my favourite performance/moment of the week was Wicklow Braves. The way in which he basically recreated his County Hurdle scythe through the field coming to the last was spine tingling!
Obviously devastating to get nabbed but lost nothing in defeat.
A remarkable horse.

Espoir D'Allen's first of 3 Champion Hurdles was actually hard to believe. Initially it felt a bit fortuitous but when you realise he's smashed a long standing record at 5 and that Beuver would have had to put in his best ever performance I don't think there can be any arguments.
Cromwell is a gent and I'm delighted for him. He would happily have left the horse at home- they don't always know exactly what they have nor when they are going to perform.
Laurina will improve a barrel load for the run. Had she been pitched in deeper prior I think she would have been a clear second.

RSA looks like it was the race of the week, quality wise. If those 3 stay sound I'm sure there'll be a couple of Gold Cups won.

Klassical Dream looks like he could be a wonder horse and do anything.

I can't give up on Percy. Despite his poor jumping he was still bang there 2 out and just seemed to blow up. Obviously reported lame afterwards.
Interesting and disappointing that they look to be giving him the rest of the season off.

From a punters perspective, I can't stress enough that people really shouldn't follow the big gambles of the day/week after the value has gone. Banging my head off a wall with people lumping on the worst example, Measureofmydreams, at single digit prices. Pure madness.
No matter how confident a stable is in a horses ability, they have no way of recreating conditions of a race at the Cheltenham festival.
Every horse is out to win, don't let a big price put you off a horse if you think he/she has a squeak!

Also, get Cartwright in the tracker. An excellent run despite planting at the start.

yaboya1

Surely Presenting Percy would have won or gone very close with a more adequate preparation. He absolutely murdered Al Boum Photo in the RSA last year, who'd have been a bad third if he stayed on his feet.
Maybe PP has regressed, although it's hard to make a call based on one meaningful run all season.

yaboya1

yaboya1 wrote: »

Surely Presenting Percy would have won or gone very close with a more adequate preparation. He absolutely murdered Al Boum Photo in the RSA last year, who'd have been a bad third if he stayed on his feet.
Maybe PP has regressed, although it's hard to make a call based on one meaningful run all season.

Yeah, or maybe not.

Our version of the Bryony hype is the whole "Pat Kelly is a genius" nonsense that's been going on all year.

I don't know the man but on paper he's a very ordinary trainer who was lucky enough to get an outstanding horse and has managed to screw it up.

Plenty of opportunities to run him in a chase on good to soft throughout the year. Tramore where ABP went was one of them. Could even have travelled. King George was run on good to soft.

Joe_ Public

Just out of curiosity, do people not accept that the horse finishing lame as a mitigating factor for PP’s poor performance or do they even blame Pat Kelly for the injury?

charolais0153

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, do people not accept that the horse finishing lame as a mitigating factor for PP’s poor performance or do they even blame Pat Kelly for the injury?

The horse wasnt prepared correctly fpr the race. QED.

RivetingRoger

Real Curiosity for me was/is footpad
what they hell has happened the most exciting novice chaser of 2018
Very disappointing, altho the form line of the arkle 2018 has fallen apart

On a personal level I was delighted with how Faugheen ran
At his age he ran a great race and we could ask no more of him

I'd say Tizz is spitting re Elixr. When you look who came 2nd and 3rd in the supreme, the form lines all pointed towards Da Nutz running well

Best buzz on a personal level was watching 2 horses i backed at big prices earlier in the year come in at fav prices ie Defi and Hazel Hill
Had both at 10/1 in singles
That's not aftertiming as i have said this on here many times re both

Another personal fav moment was watching my auld lad, a fella who would split a fiver between 5 horses, go mad and throw a score on Dallas in the last!!
Shame how that worked out !!

carq

Punting review
Tough week all round but losses were not as much as could have been.
my 3 biggest backed horses of the week were Delta work / bevair dair and sir eric! fairly disastrous ans sad considering what happened sir eric.

will definitely lay off the antepost next year until NRNB. Have lovely looking dockets leading up to 2 weeks before the festival but just a mugs game really as it hands too much advantage to the bookies. think only 2 out of 20 bets came in, in total.

Agree with all the bryony stick being given out here, ITV are nauseating. Geraghty didnt get a look in after 2 great rides once bryony came in.
Thought paisly park was the performance of the meeting, nothing went right and still switched into top gear and the turn of foot was unbelievable.

RivetingRoger

Just playing devils dick advocatte here for a second if I may,
I am no fan of the Bryony love in, but....

Cheltenham for years has been "owned" by Irish stories and stables
The RR team, the Fly, Elliotts brigade, even Irish "tragedies" like Annie

The Brits dont get too many big stories to sell to their public. Sprinter was one and they went to town on it, understandably. Cue Card was almost another

Of late even the big British success stories have Irish influence, ie - Denman being an Irish horse, Kauto having an Irish jockey, BVD being Irish owned etc

Bryony is a British story, a british trainer, a british jockey, a british owner. It's their moment.
Bryony being female also helps, and why shouldn't it.....

In time, Blackmore will be the greatest female NH jockey we have seen, she is diff class, but the Brits are owning the moment with Bryony, and maybe we should let them......

(I may, or may not actually agree with what I just said!!)

Joe_ Public

RivetingRoger wrote: »

Just playing devils dick advocatte here for a second if I may,
I am no fan of the Bryony love in, but....

Cheltenham for years has been "owned" by Irish stories and stables
The RR team, the Fly, Elliotts brigade, even Irish "tragedies" like Annie

The Brits dont get too many big stories to sell to their public. Sprinter was one and they went to town on it, understandably. Cue Card was almost another

Of late even the big British success stories have Irish influence, ie - Denman being an Irish horse, Kauto having an Irish jockey, BVD being Irish owned etc

Bryony is a British story, a british trainer, a british jockey, a british owner. It's their moment.
Bryony being female also helps, and why shouldn't it.....

In time, Blackmore will be the greatest female NH jockey we have seen, she is diff class, but the Brits are owning the moment with Bryony, and maybe we should let them......

(I may, or may not actually agree with what I just said!!)

Well said, in fairness. I agree with it anyway. I’m already inclined to think Blackmore is the greatest female jump jockey we’ve seen (what’s the competition anyway?) She’s pretty much made the gender distinction redundant, there never ever was any reason females couldn’t be as accomplished riders as males, given the opportunities, and the next few years will prove it beyond doubt.

NaiveMelodies

The Byrmoany crew are now neck and neck with Byrony in the annoying people race!

WicklowBrave

It's obvious why ITV are bigging her up. She has a huge personality and her post race winning interviews have the ability to transcend the sport. I'm a huge fan of Blackmore as a jockey but let's be honest, her interviews don't really verge past 'sure I'm delighted, can't believe it'. I find Frost's interview a bit cringe personally but if I didn't follow racing and heard her after she won the Ryanair, I'd be like 'wow, what's this all about? This is not something you ever hear from a sportsperson let alone a jockey'. People who don't follow racing probably see all jockeys like Ruby, just grumpy and only interested in winning but a bubbly female who shows such appreciation for her horse certainly breaks the stereotype.

fwiw I agree.

Her interview following the win on Frodon was charming, summed up the joy of racing and probably did more for the image of horse racing amongst the general public than any amount of whip bans and other arcane arguments we could have.

"Just look at what he's just done there. Tell me, deny me that he doesn't love racing. He's unbelievable. I love you, mate."

People see someone who obviously loves their horse and obviously believes the horse loves to run. Far better that than another monosyllabic man saying "yeah he's a good horse, we're delighted etc".

Wrt the ITV love-in I just tune out so I don't care.

RivetingRoger

WicklowBrave wrote: »

It's obvious why ITV are bigging her up. She has a huge personality and her post race winning interviews have the ability to transcend the sport. I'm a huge fan of Blackmore as a jockey but let's be honest, her interviews don't really verge past 'sure I'm delighted, can't believe it'. I find Frost's interview a bit cringe personally but if I didn't follow racing and heard her after she won the Ryanair, I'd be like 'wow, what's this all about? This is not something you ever hear from a sportsperson let alone a jockey'. People who don't follow racing probably see all jockeys like Ruby, just grumpy and only interested in winning but a bubbly female who shows such appreciation for her horse certainly breaks the stereotype.

Yep agree with that

Still tho, for all I said above, when she started on about "Frody telling her to keep up" for the 10th time i wanted to throw my shoe at the telly

Joe_ Public

WicklowBrave wrote: »

It's obvious why ITV are bigging her up. She has a huge personality and her post race winning interviews have the ability to transcend the sport. I'm a huge fan of Blackmore as a jockey but let's be honest, her interviews don't really verge past 'sure I'm delighted, can't believe it'. I find Frost's interview a bit cringe personally but if I didn't follow racing and heard her after she won the Ryanair, I'd be like 'wow, what's this all about? This is not something you ever hear from a sportsperson let alone a jockey'. People who don't follow racing probably see all jockeys like Ruby, just grumpy and only interested in winning but a bubbly female who shows such appreciation for her horse certainly breaks the stereotype.

Blackmore comes across to me as very much an old school type of jock, hard, taciturn and chronically superstitious. Remember her literally running away from Matt Chapman in the ring at Thurles last year after she’d won the first two races and Matt started banging on about the title and the two favs that were yet to come that day. Just took off, I’m outta here she said. Didn’t blame here. Think the next ride fell and didn’t win the one after either!

WicklowBrave

RivetingRoger wrote: »

Yep agree with that

Still tho, for all I said above, when she started on about "Frody telling her to keep up" for the 10th time i wanted to throw my shoe at the telly

Yeah, I have to admit to cringing at her interviews a bit but that’s on me. I can appreciate her brilliant personality and her interviews for breaking the mould but ITV are directing it at the uninitiated, not the likes of you and I, the hardcore fans.

WicklowBrave

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Blackmore comes across to me as very much an old school type of jock, hard, taciturn and chronically superstitious. Remember her literally running away from Matt Chapman in the ring at Thurles last year after she’d won the first two races and Matt started banging on about the title and the two favs that were yet to come that day. Just took off, I’m outta here she said. Didn’t blame here. Think the next ride fell and didn’t win the one after either!

I don’t think Blackmore wants the attention. She doesn’t need to say anything, what she is actually doing on the track is genuinely remarkable. Blackmore is the real trailblazer for all the attention Frost gets.

jkbkhhho7t

frost winning the ryanair is nothing to shout about , monalee was poor , un de sceaux is 11 and footpad bled, all her competition left was aso who is useless

RivetingRoger

Footpad is becoming the new R2R
Excuses for all his races
Over reaches, losing a shoe, bled etc
all genuine 100% but eventually the horse will become unbackable, which for a fan like i am, is desperate

I really hope does a Defi on it and returns to form after a bad year and doesn't do a yorkhill on it..........

RivetingRoger

WicklowBrave wrote: »

I don’t think Blackmore wants the attention. She doesn’t need to say anything, what she is actually doing on the track is genuinely remarkable. Blackmore is the real trailblazer for all the attention Frost gets.

Bryony is a female jockey
Blackmore is a jockey

If ya get me

PhuckHugh2

Any jockey male or female has right to be praised for winning their first grade 1 at Cheltenham in open company. A great achievement regardless of the circumstances.
Monalee ran to form by all accounts. Probably just not good enough. Aso was also placed the year UDS won the thing. And footpad has done sweet f*ck all in open company. So really the best horse on all known form(was the joint highest rated pre-race) probably won the race. Probably a perfect storm for them. But hardly Frodon's fault others faltered.

Joe_ Public

WicklowBrave wrote: »

I don’t think Blackmore wants the attention. She doesn’t need to say anything, what she is actually doing on the track is genuinely remarkable. Blackmore is the real trailblazer for all the attention Frost gets.

Yes, spot on. She is a top class rider, simple as that, but i would say she had a bit of luck in that if shark hadn’t pushed it and given her the opportunity, she probably would be nowhere near where she is now. That’s not a slight on her, because she deserves every success she’s getting. The likes of Bryony and Lizzie Kelly are finding it a bit more difficult to get opportunities outside their own patrons. I’m full of admiration for them because that is a tough route for a young girl to go down so, yes, while the coverage is ott, i think there are worse things to focus my ire on.

paddy no 11

Cant be down on bryony, slightly OTT after Ryanair but she's been great all year

Get a good visual image of the trendy glasses media producer types who have meetings on how to increase ratings and there's the problem...oh a woman....with personality....and talent......lets give this a billion hours of coverage and everything will think its great and add in some social media cack as well while yer at it just mention social media ad nauseum everyone loves that.......and champ....say champ repeatedly, I bet yer there's minutes from a meeting with those things listed

paddy no 11

RSA was class, which of 3 will improve to win GC next year? which of them would be suited to better ground?