it is that time of year again, banbridge, falls, patrick mullins selects ..., who was capatin x & while we must congratulate the winner ....

​It is that time of year again when virtually everyone in horse racing is focused on what will happen come March 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th. There is some superb racing at Kelso and Newbury this Saturday, yet as it will have very little bearing on the Cheltenham Festival there is a small element of ‘who cares’ about both meetings, and what is to follow during the next two-weeks.
Although I look forward with growing anticipation to Cheltenham and the wonders it beholds, and also, though less than in days gone by, to Aintree and its National, I am also keenly aware that the top flat jockeys are arriving back from their well-paid jaunts to the Far East and Australia with their tans and expectations of a fruitful summer. There is a myriad of big jumps races to come during the next two-months, starting with Cheltenham and finishing with Punchestown, yet increasingly the Racing Post will be turning its attention to Doncaster, the Lincoln and Guineas trials. And that fills me with dread. The flat only truly grabs my attention in May and June, from the Derby trials to Royal Ascot, after that it takes on, for me, a case of same old, same old.

Of course, now, as trainers and jockeys enter this period known as ‘squeaky-bum time’, firm commitments as to which races horses run in at Cheltenham becomes subject to what the weather and going will be come March 11th. Banbridge will almost certainly run in the Gold Cup, with Joseph O’Brien quite certain he will stay the distance, as long as the ground is not heavy or perhaps soft. So, he, Joseph, not the horse, will be going to church the next two Sundays asking his God to provide the Cheltenham area with climate-change type weather. If it is genuinely good ground come March 15th, Banbridge, and possibly Hewick, forget Hewick at your peril, are the only dangers to Galopin Des Champs completing his hat trick. The derivation of the word hat-trick comes from a conjuring trick which often involved three hats. So, the phrase perfectly fits the magic that Galopin has been performing this season and last season and the season before that.

In today’s Racing Post, in a feature on bookmaker’s great escape at the 2015 Cheltenham Festival, when Annie Power’s last flight fall saved bookmakers from a £10-million pay-out after the first three Mullins hotpots had all won, there is a photograph of Annie Power hitting the deck, Ruby still with his feet in the irons, no doubt praying to Jesus and suggesting he was in need of divine help, with the mare’s head buried between the ground and her neck. How she did not break her neck was miracle enough and it clearly demonstrates how much fate (or divine intervention) is so often the deciding factor in whether tragedy or thankfulness is the story of the day. Annie Power survived and went on to win the Champion Hurdle the following season, seemingly suffering less than the poor humans who held their breath, genuflected, even the atheists, relieved and feeling, if only momentarily, shamed for not believing in a deity as often scorned as praised in these days of Mammon.

I will try to remember to pass on ‘the Racing Post’s experts’ big tip for the Festival. Mark Holder gave his opinion yesterday but I cannot remember if he came down hard on any one horse. Patrick Mullins, though, has given us Ethical Diamond in the County Hurdle. He also describes Final Demand as their most straight-forward horse and cannot see him being beaten in the Supreme or is it the longer novice but not the Albert Bartlett. One of the most prestigious race meetings in the world and even as a life-long racing fan I still cannot remember the bloody titles of many of the races.

I have in my small yet too large for the bookshelves at my disposal racing library, ‘Tales of the Turf’ by Captain X., which I am currently re-reading. The book was published in 1940 and is based on memories of the sport between 1900 or thereabouts and the outbreak of Hitler’s madness. Why the author hid behind the alias ‘Captain X’, I cannot say, though towards the end of the book he – it must be a he as at that time women did not exist as far as jockeys, trainers and Jockey Club officials were concerned – tells a tale of when he was a jockey. If anyone is able to answer this small mystery, I would be grateful for the knowledge.

Finally, the Nicky Henderson employed Simone Meloni has won the Employee of the Year award, which makes for a great start to the ‘Cheltenham is everything period of the racing year.’ While we must congratulate Simone, and all the category winners, I do feel pity for those who turned up in all their finery and went away with only a full stomach and memories that will live with them for the rest of their lives. Given everyone who reached the final are as valued and dedicated as each other, would it not be fairer if everyone was awarded a prize, with a draw made for who should take home the trophy, the cash and the adulation of his or her peers?