Cheltenham Review

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.