hewick, law suit, hoiles best bet, booster bowen, wonderful tribute & not historic.

​The good news is that Shark Hanlon is going racing again; the bad news, if the ground comes up good at Cheltenham, is that Hewick misses the Gold Cup, with the Grand National his main target. I would like Shark to think again as Hewick could easily be the one to put it up to Galopin Des Champs on good ground, up that relentless hill, after a ferocious pace.

In the U.S., an owner is taking a jockey to court for negligence, having dropped his hands when winning looked certain and being caught on the line. The difference in prize-money between first and second was $47,500, which is the amount Gray V Train Racing wish to be reimbursed. The jockey, Luan Machedo was banned for 4-days by the Kentucky stewards and fined $1,000. If the verdict goes in favour of Gray V Train Racing it would set a dangerous precedent in all racing jurisdictions if the decisions of stewards is not the verdict some might wish it to be.

Richard Hoiles, a man to be respected where the reading and reviewing racing is concerned, has Iceo Madrik in the Glenfarclas as his best bet of the Cheltenham Festival. Just to give him cause for concern, I agree with him.

The ride Sean Bowen gave Booster Bob yesterday at Newbury was jaw-dropping. Coming from tailed-off to win cosily, without much recourse to the whip, was the ride of the season. If this ride is not on a par with A.P. McCoy’s ride in the National Hunt Handicap on -the name slips my memory – then I’ll eat a spoonful of curry, a food I hate.
Although one cannot find too much fault with Dan Skelton’s decision to miss Cheltenham with Grey Dawning in favour of Aintree, as long as the horse is okay after his long trip up to Kelso, I would encourage Dan to keep the horse in the Gold Cup at the five-day stage as good ground is possible, as is a depleted field. With his ambition to be champion trainer in mind, second-placed prize-money might become the difference from winning and being pipped at the post if Paul Nicholls were to win the Aintree National.

There is a wonderful letter in the Racing Post today from trainer George Baker on the life and, sadly, death of his horse Lucandor. And some people think trainers do not care about the horses in their care!

When, not if, Galopin Des Champs gallops to glory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in twelve-days-time, I hope commentators and journalists do not record the victory as ‘historic’ as ‘all’ he will have achieved is to have equalled the number of wins in the race by Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate. History in racing was achieved when Red Rum won a third Grand National, a fete no other horse in racing history has achieved. Hence, historic.
If Galopin Des Champs goes on to win a fourth Gold Cup, which is possible, though I pin all my faith in The Jukebox Man to bring the cup back to the homeland, it will remain two-wins short of an ‘historic’ achievement, as Golden Miller, despite the naysayers claiming the Gold Cup back in the thirties was only thought of as a prep for the Grand National, won five Cheltenham Gold Cups, a record that is truly historic and the likes of which none of us are likely to see bettered.
And, of course, in the pantheon of great steeplechasers, Galopin Des Champs should never be mentioned alongside Arkle, as what Arkle achieved in a time when handicaps were considered of greater importance than all other races outside of the King George and the Gold Cup, is no longer attempted, not even by a pioneer of the reputation of Willie Mullins.