cheltenham in november + a thought about the Festival.

​Harry Cobden for champion jockey is beginning to seem a better bet than it appeared back in the summer when he announced ‘he was going for it’. Inch by inch he is clawing back the huge advantage Sean Bowen won for himself during the summer and though 30 behind looks a large deficit, especially when all jockeys are just one ride away from injury, with the backing of Paul Nicholls and the network of support he has achieved through his hard work early in the season, Cobden could yet defeat my prophesy that he is the Adrian Maguire of the present band of jockeys – the best jockey never to be champion.
Stage Star was very impressive, I thought, in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, jumping for fun and running straight and true, the last fence blunder apart, to the line. Paul Nicholls’ problem this season, if the weather intervenes significantly, will be keeping his Grade 1 chasers apart. Keeping Stage Star to the intermediate distance is a sensible plan with the Ryanair as the target at the Festival, but what if something, God forbid, goes awry with Bravemansgame? Wouldn’t it be good policy to see if Stage Star might possibly be a good understudy for the Gold Cup? It is the only mistake Nicky Henderson makes, in my opinion, sticking blindly to Plan A, without giving himself immediate other options. Find out if a horse stays further earlier rather later, then you have data to go beside experience of the eye and natural equine instinct. But who am I to give advice to trainers who forever more will be regarded as legends of our sport!
The horse that really took my eye – Stage Star merely confirmed himself as the top-class horse we already knew he was – was Burdett Road, who found plenty up the Cheltenham hill and won going away from, if not proven graded juvenile hurdlers, a field of winners already this season. At last, I would suggest, Messrs Mullins & Elliott have a British-trained juvenile hurdler to fear.
The aspect of I.T.V.’s coverage yesterday that took my eye was the professionalism of Ruby Walsh. Seeing his friend and colleague, the so-called hard man A.P.McCoy, about to emotionally break-down during his reflection on his visit in the week to Graham Lee in his capacity as friend and President of the Jockeys Association, he stepped-in, took up the reins of the interview/conversation, allowing A.P. a moment to compose himself. Despite his attempts to appear cold and stoic in front of the cameras, A.P. is a wonderful human-being, a model for all of us on how to conduct ourselves in times of trouble and dire consequence. Ruby, too, is a brilliant man. We should be proud of them both.
As an aside from the present Cheltenham meeting and looking towards the Festival in March, I keep hearing jockeys and trainers say that a certain horse is better suited to the old course at Cheltenham rather than the new course and vice-versa. If the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle or any of the championship races were run at Newbury, Ascot or Sandown, for instance, my point would be invalid as they have only one National Hunt course. Cheltenham, though, has two, not including the cross-country course. Since the construction of the new course, how many top-class chasers and hurdlers have had their chances of winning the big races compromised because the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle are run on the same course every year? Why is their no debate on the idea of starting the meeting on the new course one year and the old course the following year. Alternating so as to spread the advantage and disadvantages.
The old course may be to Galopin Du Champs advantage, the new course to Bravemansgame’s advantage. Or vice-versa. Or, at least when it comes to last year’s one-two, the result would stay the same whichever of the two courses were used. I like fairness and believe, though I accept that a horse with a predilection for one or other of the courses might be injured the year his or her preference is used, we would achieve a better understanding of the merits of horses if the big races swapped courses every other year.
Just a thought to inspire debate.