​In today’s Racing Post, Peter Scargill makes a good argument for those people fortunate to be able have a string of horses in training to spread their wings a little by sending a horse to someone of a smaller standing in the training ranks. Rich Richi has two horses, I believe, with Venetia Williams, even though ‘his’ trainer is Willie Mullins, so it is not such a crazy idea, is it? Not that Venetia can be considered as of ‘smaller standing’ when it comes to training racehorses. Personally, I am of the opinion she is up there with the best, her own brilliance augmented by having one of the best jockeys around as her stable number one.
A situation whereby there is Willie Mullins and then there is everyone else is unhealthy for the welfare of the sport. Compared to Willie’s mega-successful stable, the likes of Elliott, de Bromhead and Cromwell, all Gold Cup winning trainers, are thought-of as lesser lights.
It is nothing short of ridiculous that someone as phenomenally successful over such a long period time as Paul Nicholls loses owners to Willie Mullins. It begs the question what must someone achieve to be considered worthy of the support of the wealthiest owners?
Jeremy Scott, may, as he admits himself, ‘got lucky’ last week in the Champion Hurdle, yet he has trained winners for twenty-years or more, with notable victories in graded races along the way. He comes across as an amiable guy who any owner might have great fun associating himself or herself with. He also trains in a stunningly beautiful part of the world in Dulverton on Exmoor. And he is not alone, though he is the man in the limelight at the moment. What more must the likes of Jamie Snowden, Ben Pauling and Olly Murphy, to name but three, achieve to gain the support of leading British owners who presently have horses trained across the water? Last week, Rebecca Curtis, once the up-and-coming trainer in this country, showed again that given the quality of horse she can get the job done at the highest level.
And, of course, having all your eggs in one basket, if a stable should be hit with a virus, can lead to a very quiet season.

Some retailers cannot do a sale. Cutting 10% from the cost of a shirt is merely playing at the concept of what a sale should be. In fact, it is hoodwinking potential customers. Cheltenham are patting themselves on the back for cutting ticket prices at next year’s Festival, though not as anyone would notice. Cutting £3 from the price of a ticket, reducing it to £50, as for the Best Mate enclosure for next year’s Festival, is so small pickings that it is more embarrassing than it is generous.
As I suggested the other day, my best suggestion when it comes to admission prices is to link the Festival to other meetings during the season, with anyone who has attended 3 or more meetings rewarded with a 20 or 25% reduction on their ticket for the Festival, no matter which enclosure is paid for. I even suggested Cheltenham might raise their prices a smidge at every other meeting to off-set their generosity towards racegoers at the Festival. Permit me to suggest that a reduction should be glaringly obvious and worthy of a round of applause.

There are too many races this week with only two or three runners due to the words ‘firm’ as in good-to-firm and watering in the going description. No one has any control, of course, over the weather the weather-gods provide and excessive watering can lead to problems further down the line. To my mind, there are too many meetings at the moment. In fact, by common consent, it is unarguable that there are too many meetings per se and here is how I would like that to be remedied.
Less meetings, more races per meeting, with prize-money down to eighth-place, tenth-place when there are twenty-runners or more. Ecologically, and not just to cuddle-up to the woke nutjobs, having eight or nine-races on a racecard but less meetings, makes a lot of sense. Less miles on the road equals a decrease in fuel bills for trainers, owners and jockeys. If prize-money is awarded for the first eight, rather than just the first four or five, as is generally the case, this will lessens the cost of keeping a horse in training. Having fewer races equals more competitive fields, boosting betting revenue.
Just a thought worth consideration. You decide. Just do not write to the Racing Post, as James Reid of Haselmere did, quoting verbatim, mostly, my thoughts on what to do with the Mares Hurdle. He might have at least said he supported my proposal. Or ‘furthermore to Mr.Knight’s thoughts …

​What was so pleasing about the surprise victory of Golden Ace in the Champion Hurdle was both the reaction of the spectators around the winners’ enclosure to Jeremy Scott and that the trainer himself made no bones about how surprised he was to have trained both the Champion Hurdle winner and by how well his achievement was received by the public. It was a joyous occasion, even though the fan’s favourite had fallen for the first time in his life and that State Man had lost a race he deserved to have won.
Now, ever the sportsman he is, Jeremy Scott is prepared to take his wonderful mare to Punchestown to take on Constitution Hill, State Man, and we can presume Lossiemouth. And who is not to say Golden Ace will not rattle their cages again? What has been missed due to her unexpected rise to stardom is that Golden Ace, irrespective of whether she was a lucky winner or not, was running the best race of her life in the Champion Hurdle and was booked for a very honourable second-place, only for the sporting gods, perhaps concerned the Irish were going to inherit not only the sporting earth but the heavens also, to unite themselves to the British cause. 
Next season, Jeremy Scott has suggested, she might be seen over fences. I suspect how she gets on at Punchestown will decide where they go with her next season. His thinking, as I suggested was the cause of Constitution Hill falling last week, is that horses can get complacent jumping hurdles and fences will often get them to concentrate on their jumping again. Personally, as her owner intends to breed from her, I would roll the dice again and attempt to defend her Champion Hurdle crown as with the progression she is making she might, just might, surprise as all again.

The Racing Post (Chris Cook’s column today) provided data on the number of falls in hurdle races at Cheltenham last week compared to the number of runners. 4-falls from 224-runners, which rather put a spanner in my speculation as to whether the white padding was achieving its aim. Despite fact suggesting overwise, the swinging hurdle problem I still believe needs to be addressed.

In today’s ‘Another View’, Patrick Gilligan, U.S. domiciled author and ex-trainer, from his bed recovering from a stroke, wrote a wonderful piece about how owning shares in a racehorse can bring joy that easily spreads from the lucky part-owner to all around. Gilligan wrote with a fluidity and impact that I, with my only ailment increasing old-age and mediocrity, can only dream of achieving. Micro-shares in racehorses is the way forward, I believe. Perhaps micro-shares would make the perfect Christmas or Birthday gift for a friend or loved-one.

Never mind the decreasing attendance, which can be reversed, Cheltenham was a success last week and everyone responsible for delivering the spectacle should be warmly congratulated. An offering should also be given to the sporting gods who went beyond the call of duty to keep us all on both our toes and tenterhooks.

A small idea, impractical and perhaps not required. It came to me when I heard someone talking about schooling races for young horses and barrier trials for young horses on the flat. Why not allow a wire-less connection between a jockey with only limited race-riding experience, say between their first and fifth-rides, and the trainer they work for, or jockey-coach, in a race, allowing the trainer/coach to offer advice through an ear-bud. This proposal, if allowed, must surely be of great benefit to the young jockey and help build their confidence and skill-set. I am not suggesting this should be mandatory or allowed to continue beyond the early L-plate period of the conditional. I just thought if it is good idea to school young horses on the racecourse but not in public, why not something similar for young jockeys.

​If you were to ask my opinion on whether Inothewayurthinkin will take part in the Aintree National this season, I would answer no and I hope not. Firstly, J.P.’s other homebred Gold Cup winner, Synchronise, attempted the Gold Cup/National double and lost his life whilst running loose after falling quite early in the race. That experience will, I believe, sway J.P., given he has at least 4 other fancied contenders for the race, to taking a cautionary approach when making his decision. Also, Inothewayurthinkin, is only a seven-year-old; he has his whole life ahead of him and with few obvious contenders to challenge him for his Gold Cup crown next season, the Aintree National would be one race too early in what has the potential to become a glorious equine career.

The damned Mares Hurdle, will someone please rid me of this damnable and unnecessary race at the Festival? Those who take this sort of decision at Cheltenham should listen to the dissenters and learn how to take the right advice. But they should not take the knee-jerk decision to abandon the race altogether but reassign it to ‘Trials Day’ and boost it to championship status, thereby allowing the top mares to contest a Champion Mares Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle itself.
Those people championing the mares’ series of races, rightly claiming it has boosted the profile of mares and the breeding of mares, should be listened to. The only thing wrong with the Mares Hurdle is it being staged at the Cheltenham Festival where it is harmful to the competitiveness and reputation of the Champion Hurdle. The Cheltenham Festival should be all about the best taking on the best to ensure, as far as the sporting fates will allow, the true champions of any one year. To me, the Mares Novice Hurdle is a great success, though the Mares Chase is perhaps the worst race over the 4-days, and I would be in favour of the present Mares Hurdle becoming a limited handicap rather than a Grade 2.

Where Cheltenham must learn and listen, and I believe Guy Lavender does not require my advice on this matter, I will give it anyway, is that if the customer tells him that from an admission point of view Cheltenham is poor value for money, it must be accepted as fact and not a general moan. I would suggest raising admission prices a smidge for its lesser meetings, coupled with a bonus for Festival-goers of cheaper tickets for the Festival if they have attended 3 or more Cheltenham meetings during the season. Hotel prices are not in the remit of Cheltenham racecourse and the cost-of-living crisis is not of Cheltenham’s doing. Cheltenham can only manage their own manageables and it should not be blamed for the consequences of government decisions. It is unfair to compare Cheltenham 2025 with Cheltenham of the boom years for the country.

False starts are an embarrassment to the sport and between now and the Aintree National meeting there must be an emergency meeting with jockeys, trainers’ and starters to work out a more manageable procedure for starting a horse race. Firstly, decide whether the tape is necessary. Work-out a practical distance the horses must be from the starter and once the flag is raised, the jockey should be both responsible for where he or she lines-up and to be facing in the right direction. Some horses need to race mid-division or out the back. So, there is no need for all horses to be in a straight line. National Hunt is being confused with the flat where an equal break from the stalls is nearly always vital.

Without any data to prove me right or wrong, I believe the introduction of white padding to steeplechase fences is a wonderful gain for the sport as there are fewer fallers, even at the hurly-burly of the Cheltenham Festival. I am not so certain, though, about the white padded hurdles. I am confident they are safer than what went before as the white padding is more visible to the horse, as science suggested it would be, though it has not remedied the problem of the swinging hurdle, part of the reason Constitution Hill fell. For our sport to be safer for the horses who compete, it must be debated if we should move towards the sort of hurdle used in France which is more akin to a ‘baby’ steeplechase fence.
As horses should, in principle, as they age, proceed from hurdles to steeplechase fences, with all our most prestigious National Hunt races being steeplechases, it would be make for a better technique if young horses were taught to jump as if it is a matter-of-fact that they will one day progress to a life jumping steeplechase fences. I think it should at least be trialled for a couple of seasons, alongside the more familiar British and Irish-style hurdle, with a couple of racecourses using the French-style hurdle and dispensing with the more familiar potential-to-swing – name me another equine sport where a horse is required to jump a moving object - hurdle. Data, we need data, even if it turns out to be negative data.

​Although, after his sixth win, I said to myself, ‘not Willie again’, and after his tenth I was having to grit my teeth to recognise the merit in the achievement, J.P.’s dominance of the meeting I entertained with a warm glow in my heart. J.P.McManus is the beating heart of National Hunt racing, at least as far as I am concerned and my fervent wish for the sport is that he remains the beating heart for the next twenty-years.
Not that I approve of all things J.P. I do not care for some of the names he gives his home-breds, and by that, I mean possibly all of them. Inothewayurthinkin (I had to open up the Racing Post to be certain of spelling the name correctly. I had not.) for example, has always offended me due to the torturous manipulation of the English language in order to have I know the way your thinking fit the 18-character rule for naming racehorses. But it is J.P., so I forgive him, which will bring great relief to him, I am sure.
I thought the Gold Cup this year was the least compelling of the championship races, with none of the drama of the Champion Hurdle, emotion of the Champion Chase, the brilliance of Fact To File in the Ryanair or the sentiment of Bob Ollinger (Bob) winning the Stayers Hurdle. It was not, I promise you, due to yet another of my confident predictions going so far south icicles hung from my ignorance but because it was rather a poor renewal of the race, compounded by Galopin Des Champs failing to nail his name alongside side the other great horses to have won 3 Gold Cups.
Do not get me wrong, the winner is a quality horse who won impressively. I have my doubts, though, whether he will double-up next season and hope, and suspect, he does not turn out at Aintree in 3-weeks in pursuit of the double only Golden Miller has ever achieved. I dare say Gentlemansgame ran a blinder yesterday but he was too close at the finish to the first two for my liking to think the form trustworthy. Thanks to the good ground, it was not a gruelling Gold Cup this year and if they come out of the race in good shape I can see the 3rd and 4th running in the Aintree National, with both having a fair-to-middling chance of being there at the finish. Of the two, I would prefer the grey as I am unsure if Monty’s Star jumps well enough.
Galopin Des Champs will only be 9 come next March and given soft ground he could easily turn the form around with his conqueror yesterday. After all, apart from the absent The Jukebox Man, did any of the novices knock your eye out at Cheltenham? If Lecky Watson is the best 3-mile novice of the season then the first two yesterday have nothing to worry about. The state of top-class staying chases at the moment is poor in comparison to years gone by. Doubtless it will rise from the ashes of ordinariness, yet if the cream should ever be seen to rise again amongst British trainers something radical needs to be in the offing. The novice chase programme in Britain must be altered so that trainers can bring their best stayers along quietly, without being forced into handicaps too early in their careers. It is not a matter to be discussed tomorrow; it is an emergency and needs to be dealt with accordingly.

That said, there are green shoots in you look hard enough. For instance, although the first and second in the Spa Hurdle (the potato race) were trained in Ireland, the 3rd, Derryhassen Paddy, 4th, Yellow Car, 5th, Wendigo (very unlucky), 6th, Jig’s Forge and the 7th, Ma Shantou, are all British-trained. They all might be novice chasers of the future; might be, as Nicky Henderson found out with Lucky Place, as the current programme book makes life very difficult for trainers with the sort of horse that should be destined for the two championship novice chases at the Festival.

Finally, my favourite race this year was the Champion Hurdle. It was a victory for an owner with the balls and foresight to roll the dice; it was a victory for a trainer low on numbers but high on ability and character; it proved the decision to run Lossiemouth in the easier race wrong by a country mile and it was wonderful that someone who can be described as a ‘journeyman jockey’ had a glorious day in the limelight. And the name, too, Golden Ace was appropriate for the moment.

​Galopin Des Champs will win his third Gold Cup today. What else needs to be said, especially when every tipster in the Racing Post is of the same mindset?

I admire people who shoot from the hip. Sometimes Michael O’Leary is off target with his thoughts, this past week he has been hitting the bulls-eye. He was right to give it a go with Brighterdaysahead and we all learned new knowledge from his bold decision.
He is also spot-on with his thoughts on the performance of the B.H.A. starters at this year’s Festival. ‘Appalling’ hardly goes far enough to describe fiasco after fiasco. How hard can it be to start a horse race? It does not seem that difficult in Ireland or France. It tells you the official procedure is pants when the intervention of Mick Fitzgerald telling jockeys that it was another two-minutes before start-time openly displayed a flaw in the system. Jockeys do not wear watches; if the starter or his/her assistant do not convey this relevant information to the participants, how are they to know how much time there is to find the position they want? As far as they it might be thirty-seconds to start-time.
As Jamie Snowden said, as I said yesterday, what is the point of the tape when races are started from so far away the starter would need a loudhailer to convey his instructions to the jockeys?
The problem is compounded by Jockey Club Estates officials having the attitude of ‘they know best’ and for it taking far too long for it to sink in that they might be wrong. Ask the jockeys for advice on what needs to change in order to achieve fair starts for all. Starters are too protected, with no public sanctions applied to them when they are at fault.

Yes, I was thrilled to see Rachael Blackmore displaying her skills in the saddle once more, with it hard to determine which of her two winning rides yesterday was the best. Although my thought that it was about time Mystical (not mysterious as I mistyped yesterday, even if mysterious is becoming a possible description of his complete loss of form) Power found his mojo again, my heart pounded with joy as Bob Ollinger reminded us how good he might have become if it were not for whatever went wrong with him as a younger horse. And his owner’s emotion as he told everyone what Bob means to him is clear evidence for the doubters that the people who own these these beautiful horses are in the sport for the sheer love of the horse. When a man describes a horse as his ‘third child’ how can you not warm to him?
But the horse I was most taken with yesterday was Caldwell Potter. As I said after Windsor, he jumps like a bunny and is a galloper. I hope by the end of the season Paul Nicholls can find a 3-mile novice chase for Caldwell Potter, then he can go into next season with a plan that is all about staying chases, and you never know, he might even evolve into a Gold Cup horse.

The problem I have when I have cash on a horse, or even simply publicly nominate a horse I expect to win, is that I lose focus, with my eye always  drawn to ‘my horse’ even when it clearly has no chance, as for the most part this week, of winning. I do not possess the A.I. levels of concentration Ruby Walsh was surely born with, a man who is seemingly able to watch and analyse six horses galloping and jumping at a speed I rarely go above when driving and after one re-run point out the mistakes or brilliance of three or four jockeys. I am sure those who earn a salary from tipping horses would achieve better results if they did not back their own selections. Objectivity goes out the window when the fate of your selection is intertwined with the not-so-small matter of getting the bills paid this month.

Brilliant Cheltenham thus far; let us pray Galopin Des Champs brings it to a fitting climax this afternoon. But let me remind you; he will not make history today by winning a third Gold Cup. He will be equalling, I will not belittle him by saying ‘only’, the achievements of three other horses and will remain 2-short of the five Cheltenham Gold Cups won by Golden Miller. Do not sully the achievement by determining his victory ‘historic’. 

​In front of me, on the foolscap paper, so appropriate, in which I wrote my notes for yesterday’s masterpiece of illogical thought, are the horses I intended to make public as my hopes for the day. Of course, my good thing of the meeting obliged, The New Lion, as did Marine Nationale and Bambino Fever. Dancing City disappointed, as did Comfort Zone, Mister Coffey and Conyers Hill. 
Not so hopeless after all.

Strangely, contrary to Willie Mullins assertion that he will have ‘nice’ horses for next year, said after Lecky Watson had won the Broadway Novice Chase, I suspect, with exceptions, of course, he might just have a whole lot of handicap class novices. Kopek Des Bordes and Final Demand may well be high-class either over hurdles or fences, and it would be foolish to dismiss Ballyburn after his temperament made mincemeat of Paul Townend’s tactics. When he is allowed to bowl along in front we will see a different animal altogether. To my mind, not that Willie Mullins is minded too much about Kempton at Christmas, Ballyburn is more a King George horse than one for the Gold Cup and I would bet a pig to a whistle that we see Ballyburn in the Ryanair next season.
Although he won, as usual, the Bumper yesterday with Bambino Fever, ridden by Jody Townend, sister of the famous brother, Willie’s two main hopes Copacabana and Gameofinches were very disappointing, as the majority of his bumper horses have been this season. I dare say there is a diamond amongst them but at the moment Bambino Fever is the best of them and you cannot imagine her winning anything more than the Mares Novice Hurdle at the next Cheltenham Festival.

The starting procedure for jumps racing is quite appalling at times. For instance, the field for the bumper were 200-yards or more from the tape when the starter dropped his flag. What is the point of the tape if the horses do not go within shouting distance of the starter? 
The Champion Chase was ruined by the start. Why not just have the horses within a yard of the tape from the outset, instead of having them so far back it is inevitable that at least one of the flying machines gets into a swinging canter before the trainer can say ‘Ready’ or whatever the procedure may be? It is all very well jockeys exuding diplomacy in the aftermath of a balls-up at the start, yet sometimes no commonsense by the starter is given to the situation.
As I have advocated before, there needs to be an area, perhaps signified by chalk or sawdust, in which all horses must stand, which jockeys must move their horses into when instructed by the starter, whether in a line or otherwise, with it being the responsibility of the jockeys to have their horses facing the tape. The starter can then start the race and if any horse whips round or stands still, the responsibility lies with the jockey not the starter. At the moment, starts can be an embarrassment, which is a further embarrassment when you calculate the years since the debacle at the Grand National. Still we cannot start a horse race.

The Triumph Hurdle tomorrow has a line-up of 17-horses, a good number you will agree. Except that 11 of them are trained by Willie Mullins, 3 of which have never jumped a hurdle in public. Of the other six, the name of Palladium does not appear, for which I say ‘bugger’, as he was my fancy for the race. I will return to fancying East India Dock. By then, those of us Brits, will be desperate for a British-trained winner. And it looked so rosy on Tuesday evening.

After so very nearly achieving the magic 51% yesterday, here goes again.
Galileo Dame in the Dawn Run. Moon D’Orange in the Golden Miller. Bugise Seagull, each-way in the Pertemps. Protektorat in the Ryanair.
Mysterious Power in the Stayers, though I also really like Bob Ollinger and Nemean Lion, victory for either would do my heart good. Ginny’s Destiny in the Plate. Paul Nicholls must have a winner, doesn’t he? Sa Majeste in the Kim Muir.

​I honestly thought I would have seven-winners yesterday. Not confident enough to either put any cash on any of my fancies or commit to the I.T.V.7 but confident enough to believe I would have something to trumpet about this morning. Well, Burdett Road was 2nd in the Champion Hurdle, placed as I predicted. So, you know, small beginnings and oak-trees to come.
Yet, what a race; a Champion Hurdle that will be remembered from now till eternity. As Willie Mullins said, who could ever think two champions would fall in the same race. Make no bones about it, this was the best result for the Festival since Coneygree won the Gold for claimer Nico de Boinville and the endearing Bradstocks.
In my review of the race yesterday morning I did say that the owner of Golden Ace bold decision to skip the Mares Hurdle deserved reward, though I made an equally bold statement that the fates would turn their back on him. How wrong was I? The fates must have had his mare well-backed both each-way and to win. Now, this you will have to take on trust, but on all I hold dear, as the runners went to the start, I had a sense of Imperial Commander about the race. You know, when the Gold Cup was all about Denman and Kauto Star, with slogans on buses to that effect, only for Imperial Commander to crash the party. And then the sense of overthrow was accompanied by ‘I hope in that event Golden Ace wins’. If I had a smartphone and a betting account, I might easily have had a tenner on the mare. Would have, could have, might have. Did not have. Delighted by the result, all the same. David conquering Goliath always makes me happy.
To have the Champion Hurdle winner trained by a small-time owner and trained by someone as likeable as Jeremy Scott was exactly what the sport needed. And though Golden Ace may have been one of the more fortunate winners of a Blue Riband race, she was running a storming race when luck came her way with State Man, about to prove himself up with the best of Champion Hurdle winners, tipping over at the last. Hopefully, Golden Ace will be back next year to defend her crown, with no dilemma of which race to choose.
My negative thought on whether Brighterdaysahead could translate her form on a flat course to the inclines of Cheltenham proved to have legs. That is her second defeat at Cheltenham and her form suggests she just might be one of those good horses who cannot get up the Cheltenham hill.
As for Constitution Hill? He is showing no respect for hurdles and I would hope Nicky Henderson will now consider fences for him next season. My fear is that he will lose his confidence and we will lose him if they continue over hurdles, and from his first ever race Nicky was describing Constitution Hill as a chaser in the making. Now is the time to change direction.

Cheltenham always pulls at the heartstrings. First, yesterday, it was the owner of Kopek Des Bordes and his kidney cancer and then it was the owner of the Arkle winner Jango Baie who bought the horse the day his son died. It was either tears of joy yesterday or tears of joy mixed with tears of long sadness.

I argue with David Jennings assessment of Kopek Des Bordes victory in the Baring Bingham Hurdles as ‘brilliant’. He was not ‘Golden Sygnet’ brilliant, was he? He was, though, impressive, and the 2nd may also prove to be very good, also.

Let us get real, here. Lossiemouth should have run in the Champion Hurdle, and if she had run in the race it is odds-on, given what happened in the race, she would have won. Winning the Mares Hurdle does not justify her running in the race and though it is always nice to see Rich Richi win at the Festival, that does not defeat the argument that the best horses should run in the best races, not the easiest to win races. As I said yesterday, if Cheltenham do nothing to remedy the situation, they will be slighting the Champion Hurdle doing the sport a great disservice. And I do not imply the race should be scrapped but given a different position in the calendar where it brings credit to the sport, not detracting from it.

​It is true; there is not a lot to write about. Today is all about anticipation; what is to come. It is all about tomorrow; reflections on yesterday. Will Constitution Hill be anointed into the pantheon of great Champion Hurdlers? Will he win with an authority that suggests there is a possibility he can join Sir Ken, Hatton’s Grace, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq as a three-time winner of the Champion Hurdle? Or will the mare rain on his parade?
I have no doubt Constitution Hill is a better horse than Brighterdaysahead but is he 7Ib superior to her? Visually, at least, Gordon Elliott’s mare was a wonder horse at Leopardstown and on the basic form of the 2023 Champion Hurdle, when Constitution Hill was an impressive winner, though he did not beat State Man without having a real race, it is hard to imagine that even he would have got within ten-lengths of Brighterdaysahead, not conceding that infernal 7Ibs. But this is Cheltenham with its ups and downs, and, though nobody is suggesting it, the mare’s only defeat was at Cheltenham by the opposing Golden Ace in last season’s Mares Hurdle. Perhaps she, too, (Jonbon) cannot turn on the style on the gradients of Cheltenham?
State Man will have cheekpieces on for the first time and who can say if they will giddy-him-up enough to be on the heels of his main rivals as they ascend the final hill? I believe a fast pace will suit him, even if he is twenty-lengths adrift of the mare. As long as he has Constitution Hill only a length or so in front of him he will be dragged along, the heady pace sure to keep his mind on the job and not, perhaps, on looking forward to the freedom and summer grass of his holidays. At his current price, given he is the defending champion, 10/1, I believe, he is the value in the race as he is the most likely to finish second if either of the top two bomb out for any reason.
Unlike those who know better, I refuse to rule out Burdett Road as I expect to see him settled in rear, with the prospect of him finishing out the race with a flourish. He could easily have finished second at Kempton on Boxing Day if he had not sprawled on landing at the last and ignore the Wincanton race as the track was too sharp and the ground too tacky for a galloper like him. 
The bold approach taken by the owner of Golden Ace deserves some reward; I doubt though the fates will look kindly on her.
I believe the mares allowance will determine the result today, a diminishing one-length victory for Brighterdaysahead. That said, I would love it if Constitution Hill were to prove me wrong.

What is wrong about the day is that Lossiemouth, who Willie Mullins has repeatedly said was a two-year project for the Champion Hurdle, at the last minute has been re-routed to the Mares Hurdle. If Cheltenham do not do something to prevent connections of the top female hurdlers from by-passing the Champion Hurdle for easier pickings they will be doing the Festival, punters and the sport in general a huge disservice. As I have said before, I believe there should be a Champion Mares Hurdle in the racing calendar. Just not at the Festival.

For information purposes only, for those that care, my selections for the day are as follows: Irancy, each-way in the first. L’Eau Du Sud to topple the favourite in the Arkle. Katati Dori to continue his winning ways in the Ultima. Joyeuse to win the controversial Mares Hurdle. Given how well she won the big handicap at Newbury, with fingers crossed the longer distance will suit, she has the potential to be a very good mare indeed and I can easily imagine her putting it up to Lossiemouth from the last hurdle. As I have proposed, Brighterdaysahead to win the Champion Hurdle. Beyond Your Dreams to win the Fred Winter. Captain Cody to top and bottom the day for Willie Mullins.
As I said earlier, not a lot to talk about today.

​The punter’s best friend, Tom Segal, will wait until the final race of this year’s Festival for his best bet, Wodhooh in the Martin Pipe. He may be right as I have thought since last season that the mare has the potential to be better than the races she has thus far competed in.
What must it be like for Martin Pipe to witness his name attached to a race at the Cheltenham Festival? Kim Muir would never have known that he was honoured after his death by having a race run in his name year after year, the race now more famous and remembered the man it is named after.
It is fitting that a man who achieved so much in the sport and who changed the way horses are trained, should be alive to witness the race named in his honour, to know that he will be remembered long after he leaves us. A far-flung hope, I know, but if I could choose the day to pop my clogs, it would be the same day and the same moment as Martin Pipe as the journey to the after-life, if I could accompany him, would flip the shock of death into a journey of enlightenment.

In a poll carried out by the National Association of Racing Staff and voted on by racing staff, Newbury has come out as the five-star winners, while Newmarket came fourth bottom and are shamed for their poor performance. As it was thought that the way racecourses were formerly assessed made it too easy for courses to achieve five-star status, it was made harder this time around, so only 8 racecourses were ranked as five-star, down from 23 in 2023. York finished 2nd, and Lingfield 3rd. Ascot, Carlisle, Doncaster, Hamilton and Ayr were the other courses to be awarded five-star citations. At the bottom of the pile, to my surprise, were Kelso, Hexham and Cartmel. Along with separate changing and showering facilities for female jockeys, good food, a complimentary meal on arrival and single room hostels should be a priority for racecourse during the next 12-months. Indeed, a racecourse that stages Group 1 or Grade 1 races, should be liable to lose those races if they do not provide Grade 1 facilities for jockeys and racing staff.

So it begins, though in truth the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival began the day after last year’s Festival and already I am looking forward – at my age looking forward is what ambition is to a younger man – to The Jukebox Man taking Galopin Des Champs crown away from him in 2026.
In today’s Racing Post, the Cheltenham duel considered by whoever compiled the list of best duels down the ages, was the feast provided by the two immortals, Denman and Kauto Star, the day I thought I had seen the best steeplechaser since Arkle. In his pomp and at his age, perhaps there were grounds for my ambition for Denman, though, as with my other ‘best steeplechaser’ since Arkle, Sprinter Sacre, heart problems derailed what I believed to be his destiny, leaving him with a solitary Gold Cup on his c.v., plus three close calls. For information purposes only, I concede that second to Arkle is Kauto Star. 
Was it too much to ask the gods to have allowed these two great racehorses a long and happy retirement?
That is the thing with Cheltenham compared, say, to Royal Ascot. Once the Royal five days are over, it is over, with a brand new incarnation of the event in 12-months, with little in the way of last year crossing over to the next year, except perhaps in the Ascot Gold Cup. Whereas the Cheltenham Festival is interconnected to the previous Festival and the one before that, with Denman’s Gold Cup and Istabraq’s Champion Hurdles still as fresh as paint in our memories, with Constitution Hill on-course to regain his Champion Hurdle supremacy and Galopin Des Champs odds-on to defend his crown once again
And there will be a shock or two, with a similar number of odds-on favourites beaten. I believe Marine Nationale will take down Jonbon and L’Eau Du Sud will beat Majborough. Though I may be wrong. It does happen. Unlike J.P. McManus I doubt 51% of my decisions will prove correct this week. In fact, I will be happy with 25%. Or just coming up with a single winner.
Not that any of that matters. Cheltenham is to enjoyed for what it is – the best horse racing of the year. I hope every horse returns to its stable and every jockey departs Cheltenham as fit as he or she started the week. My only real hope for the week is that British trainers accumulate a score between them that is in double figures. 11.

​Davy Russell’s good thing for Cheltenham is Ballyburn. He can see no other result in the 3-mile novice than a Ballyburn demolition of the opposition. Now, as great a jockey as he undoubtedly was, this is the same man who said many times prior to Cheltenham last year that he had no worries about the way El Fabiolo jumped. Also, due to government restrictions on liberty, in the computer-generated Grand National, Russell gave Tiger Roll an atrocious spin round, hitting the front when in winning years he kept his powder dry until between the last two fences. If I were Davy, I would have sued for defamation of character and ability. Somebody should have sued on behalf of Tiger Roll’s reputation!
Until the ground began to dry up, I quietly fancied Dancing City. Now, I am not so sure.

I am both disappointed and yet pleased that L’Homme Presse misses the Gold Cup due to a setback on no great importance. To me, he always had a better chance of winning the Aintree National than the Gold Cup and in missing Cheltenham, he has enhanced his chance of winning at Aintree. 
There are only ten left in the Gold Cup, with three British trained. Although I cannot see how Galopin Des Champs can be beaten, after a wind-op and with firmer ground conditions, I am expecting a big run from Ahoy Senor. In fact, if good ground should prevail, I would not be surprised to see The Real Wacker finish in the frame. Royal Pagaille I give very little chance to.

Although as a rule I dislike restrictions on maximum field sizes, I hope, as least for an experimental period, the Cheltenham executive take the advice of J.P. McManus and reduce field sizes for next year’s Festival in order to improve competitiveness throughout the season by forcing trainers to run horses more often to ensure they get a run at the Festival. The only race where I would like to see the maximum number remain as it is, would be the Princess Royal National Hunt Handicap, the 3-mile 6-furlonger, as it will only be in its new guise for the second-time next year and should be given longer to bed-in.

On the subject of J.P., the more I know of him, the more I come to like and respect him. He is an eminently sensible and level-headed man who throughout his life has accumulated knowledge far beyond his education. He is the feature in today’s Racing Post and I advise anyone reading this nonsense to buy a copy of the paper as the article on J.P., written by the excellent Lee Mottershead, is worth the exorbitant cover price on its own. J.P.’s mother once advised him that money was made flat so that it could be built upon and he reckons that if he had started with £1-million in his bank account he would not have learnt anything. He is a man we all could learn from. Apart from Majborough, I hope he has a successful Cheltenham.

The joy of ownership can be plainly divined by the people who own Kopek Des Bordes and Idaho Sun. The former is owned by the Macarthy family and when the horse runs the whole family is there to cheer him on. Idaho Sun is owned by a man who when he sold his roofing business, his first thought was to buy a racehorse. Already twice a winner, the horse is one of Britain’s leading hopes for the Bumper and a coach has been hired to convey 16-members of his family to the races. What other sport has the potential to bring families together like that?
Two more sleeps and the dream-popping begins!