DAY ONE.

​It was pleasing to discover that Cheltenham were prepared to transfer Wednesday’s card to Saturday if weather conditions caused a postponement. From what I understand it took a bit of quick thinking on their feet, organising catering for the Saturday and so on, but at least they had a go-to plan of action in event of losing a day of the Festival to the weather. Full marks to them.
I remain, though, firmly of the opinion that a ‘fifth day’ or ‘Heath Day’ safety net should be run on the Saturday to accommodate a postponement to one of the days of the Festival in the future. As things might have panned out, given that any one of days of the Festival is of paramount importance to the sport, Cheltenham and Uttoxeter would have clashed this weekend, causing a great deal of changing of plans for jockeys and trainers alike. This would not happen in my perfect world if the Midlands National was switched to the Saturday before Cheltenham, making a great double-header with Sandown’s Imperial Cup. The Midlands National, remember, is as important to Uttoxeter as the Festival is to the whole of the racing fraternity.
What I love about horse racing, what renews my fascination year after year, decade after decade, is the utter unpredictability of the sport. The Champion Hurdle was widely touted as the best renewal for many a long year, with the top three in the betting having an innumerable number of vociferous supporters, with every other horse in the race completely neglected. Yet the best any of the market leaders could achieve was the fourth place of Laurina, a mare who should surely be running over fences next season. Apple’s Jade, sadly my banker of the meeting, ran so poorly that if they find nothing wrong with her, I would suggest never bringing her to Cheltenham again. Buveur D’Air fell early on, so it is hard to base any judgement on fact as to whether he would have defended his crown. Second place is where I believe he would have finished as Espoir D’Allen was such a decisive winner. To win by fifteen lengths without having to exert himself suggests Espoir D’Allen will win more than one Champion Hurdle. Let’s hope the fates are kind to him.
If the B.H.A. are to make any change to next year’s Festival, I would suggest consideration in throwing tradition to the wind and turning the 4-miler from an amateur race to one restricted to professionals. The fatal injury to Ballyward was in no way due to any shortcomings in his jockey as Patrick Mullins is as good a horseman as any professional. But the National Hunt Chase is a race for novices and run over close to 4-miles, with the majority of the jockeys quite young and no doubt fuelled by a greater degree of over-exuberance for riding at Cheltenham than experience of the big occasion. Certainly, the three jockeys given suspensions for failing to pull up when their mounts were obviously too weary to finish, with one inquiry still pending, suggests my concern is not without merit. It’s not as if the 4-miler is the only race confined to amateurs at the Festival as they have both the Kim Muir and the Foxhunters to show their skill and panache. The sport is so much more professional than back in the day when the 4-miler was the second most prestigious race in the calendar, with only the Grand National more highly considered. Amazingly, until comparatively recently, it was a race for maidens. Of course, it begs the question how a 4-mile maiden chase could have so much prestige that when the weather caused the meeting to be abandoned in the 1930’s the National Hunt Chase was rearranged and the Gold Cup was not? And if it can be changed from a maiden chase, why has no one thought about changing it to a race for professionals?
And on a day when the Irish just had the better of it, the best the Irish could provide came when Racheal Blackmore won the novice handicap chase on A Plus Tard for Cheveley Park and Henry de Bromhead. After Espoir D’Allen it would be stretching credulity to say he was the most impressive winner on the day but as he is the same age as the Champion Hurdler one must remark that he has exactly the same amount of potential. He could be anything next season.
Although it is 4-3 to the Irish after day one, it is also 4-3 to horses sporting French names and 5-3 to horses bred in France. I promise I am neither xenophobic nor do I especially have a prejudice against the French. I just find the sheer number of horses named using the French language – I know they were bred in France and were bought from French owners – as overkill. Chef des Obeaux, Clan des Obeaux, Alpha des Obeaux. The similarity or complexity of their names is really annoying to those of us who must get by with far fewer functioning brain cells than this time last year. Is it not enough to have to carry binoculars, form book and the Racing Post when attending the races? Must we now have to carry a French dictionary? Oh for the days when the majority of racehorses were raised on the Emerald Isle.