easter hero, the wilders good thing, justice, jack's back & is jennings correct again?

​There is a book on sale at the moment titled ‘The Immortals’. It is a book I intend to buy, though since before Christmas I have encountered an unfair amount of expenditure, some of it coming from out of the blue. I would imagine the opening chapter of the book would centre around Easter Hero, the first equine jumping star.
Easter Hero was handsome, to the point whereby people could not stop themselves from buying him, the last two times for amounts of money unheard-of at the time for a ‘mere’ jumper. He found fame, though, running in the colours of the American John Hay Whitney, a relation of Dorothy Paget, and considered the inspiration for the eccentric millionairess dropping her sponsorship of motor racing cars and transitioning to owning racehorses. Whitney paid £7,000 for Easter Hero, with an add-on of a further £3,000 should the horse win that year’s Grand National.
He did not win the Grand National, that year or any other. He made a bold, front-running show that first year, until coming to grief at the Canal Turn, taking off a stride too soon, landing on top of the fence, remaining there, straddled, before slipping into the ditch – yes, back then, the sharp left turn after jumping the Canal Turn was nowhere near difficult enough to negotiate for the watching public and the ditch was there to add a little spice – where upon he ran about, attempting to find the exit, only to turn the race into a pre-Foinavon fiasco.
Easter Hero was a bold jumping tearaway who went on to win two Cheltenham Gold Cups, which might have been three if the 1931 Cheltenham Festival was not abandoned due to the weather. Amazingly, from our perspective, the National Hunt Chase was re-opened and run at the April meeting, whereas no one thought the Gold Cup worthy of similar consideration.
After his first Gold Cup victory, aged 7, Easter Hero ran next in the Grand National, carrying no less than 12st 7Ibs and after leading from flag fall, was only headed at the second-last fence, yet still battled on to finish a six-length second to Gregalach, receiving 16Ibs, with the third, Richmond, a bad third.
It must be asked. Were thoroughbreds tougher than the thoroughbred of today? Cannot see Galopin Des Champs ever being asked to run in a handicap, can you? Horses were, according to your perspective, either tested back then or sorely tried. Whichever, the public certainly found out the limits of their ability.

Robbie Wilder, one of the Racing Post’s top tipsters, rates the Dan Skelton trained Be Aware as his banker of the week at the Cheltenham Festival. In Dan Robbie trusts, it seems. As we all should do.

My defence of Eric Mcnamara and his son, Conor, over the riding of Mount Ferns at Thurles (?) has proved justified as justice has prevailed and their bans and punishments have been thrown out on appeal. Always appeal if you think yourself wrongly accused. The horse too, even though he was entirely the problem at Thurles, is also released from his 70-day suspension/holiday.

Good news. Jack Kennedy is back and if he can stop himself from breaking another leg, or any bone, until the fourth race on day one of the Festival, he might rubber-stamp his return to duty by getting his hands on the Champion Hurdle trophy as the word on the street is that Brighterdaysahead will run in the right race and not the mares race. I am not saying that Constitution Hill is not the better horse, only that he may not be 7Ibs better than the mare.

David Jennings is astute. I would not necessarily back his judgment when it comes to his tipping wisdom but more often than not his ideas for change are right on the money. He highlights in his column in the Racing Post today that allowing trainers to enter a horse in more than two races at the Festival causes confusion amongst racing fans and is a major source of loss of sleep for tipsters and serious gamblers. To prove his point, while feeling waves of sympathy for Matt Chapman (I hope David’s wife took his temperature and put him to bed with a hot water bottle as a precaution against him coming down with some sort of exotic illness) he listed the six-races Springwell Bay is entered in at Cheltenham.
Personally, I would allow a horse three entries at the Festival, with supplementary entries allowed for all the Graded races. The point is, David Jennings makes a very valid point and it should be debated in the halls of power. The Cheltenham Executive, though, will doubtless say they know best and will make changes when they see fit.