national hunt chase, kevin o'ryan's best bet, as daniel hill wrote & GOLDEN MILLER.

​As we all know, even after the establishment of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the National Hunt Chase, for the longest time a race for amateur-ridden maidens, was the centrepiece of the Cheltenham Festival. It went from a maiden at starting race, to a race for horses who had not won before January 1st of the year of the race, to an ordinary, though amateur-ridden  novice chase over 4-miles (the Cheltenham 4-miler, as it was known) to the most uncompetitive race at the Festival when reduced in distance to 3-miles 6-furlongs.
I long campaigned for the race to be open to professional jockeys, though I did not advocate for the race to become a handicap, though I applaud the initiative. It is undoubtedly a better, more competitive race in its new form and will also benefit from its new title, the Princess Royal National Hunt Chase. All they now need to do now is to return the race to its traditional distance of 4-miles.
One further suggestion. It would make for a unique race in the calendar if a race of a similar nature to the original conditions of the National Hunt Chase were to be added to Cheltenham’s New Year fixture. Such a race would be a gift to amateur riders, compensation for losing one of the amateur races at the Festival, while providing a race of interest and novelty. If novice chasers are allowed to run in the Aintree National, no one should complain about a 4-mile maiden chase.

Jockeys’ agent, Kevin O’Ryan believes Gavin Cromwell’s Sixandahalf is a good thing in the Mares Hurdle. I doubt, though, she will be six and a half to one at the off.

In today’s Racing Post, Daniel Hill expresses his hope for at least one fairytale success at next week’s Cheltenham Festival. I agree. The dominance of Willie Mullins, in particular, is no longer a source of mirth and nor is the Irish domination. It has come down to a Paul Nicholls winner being something of a David conquering Goliath. Daniel Hill highlights Willie Wumpkins who won a novice hurdle at the meeting as a young horse and later in life won three Cheltenham handicaps culminating in winning what we now call the Pertemps at 13-years-of-age.
Last season, those of us who celebrate ‘fairytales’ had to wait until the Foxhunters and Sine Nomine to get the heart beating to a different rhythm.
Rachel Blackmore’s first Festival victory on A Plus Tard seems an age ago, as does Bryony Frost’s Ryanair win (the first Cheltenham Grade 1 success for a female jockey) on Frodon, followed quickly by Paisley Hark bringing the house down by winning the Stayers Hurdle, and they were trained respectively by Paul Nicholls and Emma Lavelle, two top of the tree trainers.
Not that I expect a fairytale winner this year and you would be hard-pressed even to nominate a possible tear-jerker moment for anyone outside of the elite.

Next week, possibly on the Friday, one of the I.T.V. presenting team, when assessing how many Gold Cups might end up with the name Galopin Des Champs inscribed on them, someone will disparage the quality of the Gold Cups which were won by Golden Miller. Nobody will analyse the quality of the three Gold Cups Best Mate won or that two of Arkle’s three Gold Cups were easier won than a penalty against a blind goalkeeper. Cottage Rake will not be mentioned as he is the forgotten three-times Gold Cup winner.
I defend Golden Miller as one of the greatest chasers of all-time as he achieved something far more historic than his five Gold Cups. He is the only horse in the history of the sport to have won a Grand National and a Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, and he achieved the feat as a 7-year-old.
On ground that was on the hard side, after the Inspector of Courses had criticised the stiffness of the fences, six inches was lopped off each fence, making the fences as unforgiving as a stone wall. It is said fifty-six horses suffered falls at the meeting, with two out of six runners in the Gold Cup being eliminated in a debacle at the fence before the water and one falling earlier in the race. The favourite Grakle departed in the debacle, which left Golden Miller to saunter home in his own time.
In 1933, Thomond gave him a right old battle, with the two of them going hammer and tongs, stride for stride, until Golden Miller finally exerted his dominance, winning by ten-lengths.
It is true that the horses he was defeating at Cheltenham were ‘Aintree’ horses, Kellsboro Jack, Thomond, Delaneige, Royal Mail, Southern Hero, Grakle, but back in those days the top horses were all thought-of as Aintree horses as the race was by far the richest and most prestigious in the calendar. The Grand National was worth £4,000 to the winner in 1934, as opposed to £680 to the winner of the Gold Cup.
What also should be remembered about Golden Miller is that if the 1937 Gold Cup was not abandoned due to the weather, it is almost certain Golden Miller would have won six Cheltenham Golds. In 1938, aged eleven, he went down by 2-lengths to the younger legs of Morse Code.
We cannot ever know if Golden Miller would have beaten Cottage Rake, Arkle, Best Mate, Kauto Star or Galopin Des Champs, though not one of those horses won either 5 Cheltenham Gold Cups or even attempted, let alone won, the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same year.