fact to file, mottershead & FIGHTING FIFTH.

​I suppose the weather played its part, as did the flexibility of Punchestown in bringing the race forward in the calendar by a few weeks, yet it proved the point that if trainers are kettled into running their good horses in one race, the sport benefits.
The John Durkan, I would hazard to guess, was the best steeplechase run pre-Christmas in many a long year. Undoubtedly, we witnessed this season’s Gold Cup winner, though which of the four it was we will not know until the middle of next March.
Racehorses, you know, are like people, they all different. As are trainers and their training methods. I suspect of the first four Spillane’s Tower will benefit most for the run, and the third and fourth, Galopin Des Champs and Fastorslow will benefit most by 3-miles +. The winner, though, Fact or File, is a big horse and must surely come on for the run and at Cheltenham last year he gave the impression that the extra distance of the Gold Cup would hold no fears for him. At least, as long as Mark Walsh is fit and healthy come the Festival, Paul Townend will have no torturous decision to make, unlike on the Tuesday if Lossiemouth proves as good as the right people assume her to be.
At the moment, in my estimation, the best ante-post bet for the Gold Cup would be Galopin Des Champs at 4/1. As for who I think will actually win the Blue Riband this season, I have no firm fancy and am still using the prayer mat each weekend in hope the racing gods allow at least one British trainer to emerge with an obvious hope of being involved in the finish. 

Following on from J.P. McManus’s excellent proposals for improving both the competitiveness of the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival and the season’s narrative, Lee Mottershead added his own thoughts and, as you would expect from such a free-thinking and astute racing columnist, he came up with an equally excellent proposal. I will not steal from his column, so go to the Racing Post and read his proposal yourself.
John Pullin, head honcho at Cheltenham, disappointed me with his response to J.P.’s thoughts, dismissing them out-of-hand with comments that suggested he knew better than J.P.. This is an example of why the sport is on a nosedive towards extinction. It is true that sometimes good ideas are not practical due to financial restraints. That is true of many of my ‘good ideas’ at improving aspects of the sport. Yet finance does not impinge on implementing either J.P.’s proposals or Lee Mottershead’s and, if John Pullin were not so vain, a conversation between both men, or in J.P.’s case, perhaps one of his team, might have found a consensus to benefit the Festival.
J.P.’s proposal was given with the good of the sport in mind, a proposal that if adopted, might actually work against his own interests. Lee Mottershead’s proposal had, in one direction, the welfare of the horse in mind, while at the same time attempting to have the handicaps at Cheltenham more like proper handicaps rather than conditions races with only a 6Ib spread between the top and bottom weight.
It makes one shake one’s head until a headache takes all your attention when good, well-meaning ideas are dismissed as easily as an empty milk carton at breakfast. 

Without Constitution Hill, surprisingly, the Fighting Fifth does not disappear into inconsequence but might actually be a better race for his absence. Sir Gino comes in as substitute for his more famous stable-mate and Mystical Power comes from Ireland to represent Willie Mullins. Crossed fingers there might be half-a-dozen other runners to make it a more appealing race for bettors. With Constitution Hill on parade, the overriding thought throughout the race would have been ‘is he alright? And looking for signs that all is not alright’. I did think, given the late withdrawal of Lossiemouth at Punchestown coinciding with the news that the Henderson star was lame and unlikely to make the trip to Newcastle, that Closutton’s strategic command had saw an easier opportunity foray and persuaded the Grand Master to redirect the mare to the North-East of England. It seems I wrong as the Hattons Grace is now on the agenda for the mare. We will see tomorrow when the entries are published in the Racing Post. I just thought that if Willie was prepared to run the mare against State Man, he might be prepared to run her against Mystical Power.