Another good thing, horse pwr, jack kennedy, pedantry, weekender & the worst of Chapman.

​In today’s Racing Post it is Paul Nicholl’s turn to inform readers of his hopes and ‘good things’ for Cheltenham. Constitution Hill is ‘unbeatable’, apparently, as is Galopin Des Champs. No novelty there. He seems sweet on Jubilee Alpha in the Mares Hurdle and Kabral Du Mathan in the County. 

Horse PWR is being campaigned again, with glossy posters on the sides of buses in Bristol, London, Liverpool and Birmingham, as the sport once more tries to convince an apathetic public that we treat our horses like kings and queens, which is all perfectly true, though it is depressing such campaigns are needed. The problem is we are always playing catch-up, with a governing body that reacts to situations, rather than being pro-active in regions of the sport where criticism inevitably stems from. Aftercare is now being funded from within the industry but we have been so slow in finding the finance and constructing the I.T. infrastructure to identify where horses go after they leave licenced stables. Oh, and the financing of racing’s aftercare was not an idea that came from the B.H.A.. Mind you, if it were a B.H.A. initiative, the posters would be designed to address the public on why the whip is so integral to the success of racing.

Jack Kennedy is riding again and might well be passed fit to ride at Cheltenham. This is good news, of course. I do hope, though, that he moderates the number of rides he takes at Cheltenham and that Gordon Elliott gives plenty of chances to the jockeys who have so successfully deputised for Kennedy since the latest of his broken legs. Jack Kennedy is such a talented jockey that, as with Townend and Cobden, he takes the advice that he does not need to ride in every race and should be selective in his choice of rides. He has no need to prove himself. How many more bones can he break before the mind and body combine to insist that he stop for good?

Pedantry is a failing of mine. But. David Simcock has a horse running today called Sibling Rivelry. Unless the name carries some kind of significance for the owner, this sort of spelling error should be stamped out by the B.H.A. It can give the impression to outsiders that racing people are bordering on illiterate and that is not the impression that will win us new supporters. Riven means to split wood or stone. Rive is to wrench. Rivalry is thus so spelt correctly.

Writing in the Weekender, which I have quickly spun through – a good piece on Alan Brown and his association with Night Nurse, I can recommend, of which more is to come. In the opening article, Alistar Jones proposes that for Cheltenham five-day declarations should be considered. Though this would cause as much confusion as it would clarify, his overall point is valid. It does nothing for ante-post markets when, for instance, we are left in the dark as to whether Brighterdaysahead and Lossiemouth will run in the Champion Hurdle. Jockey bookings are also a factor that is left in the air until the last minutes before declaration in many instances.
In my opinion, though five-day declarations would not work, it should be a condition of a trainers’ licence that they are expected to act in accordance with the general policy of ‘always working for the benefit of the sport’, with a fine imposed if a trainer should knowingly confuse the public or the betting markets.

I witnessed the worst of Matt Chapman yesterday in his podcast with Paddy Brennan. ‘Unbridled’ cannot hold a candle to ‘The Road To Cheltenham’, with Lydia and Ruby, though at times it can be quite entertaining, while also being interlaced with juvenile banter and boorish behaviour. I must admit winding past Chapman’s opening abuse of Brennan for holding a different opinion to himself and his ‘look at me, look at the top connections I have’ regularly phoning on the hop both Michael Buckley and Nicky Henderson to get the latest news on Constitution Hill. This section of the programme must have gone for a quarter of an hour – as I said, I moved the programme on till I was sure Chapman had buried the bone and moved on to a different topic.
Constitution Hill may well end his career as the top-rated hurdler of all-time but he is not there yet. Night Nurse was rated182 at his height as a hurdler, a mark Constitution Hill is yet to achieve. On ratings Constitution Hill is not the greatest hurdler of all-time, Matt. And you worship at the altar of ratings. And thus far Constitution Hill has yet to achieve a performance to better his Supreme Hurdle victory. He has only won a single Champion Hurdle, whereas many horses won 3, several of them in the golden age of hurdlers, and all of his other graded victories have been walks in the park. And no amount of shouting and confrontational abuse of those with alternative opinions will ever win you the argument, Matt.