THE ARRIVAL OF THE SECOND-COMING, PERHAPS.

​Only someone as foolish as a paid-up member of the Flat Earth Society could not be anything but impressed by Samcro. I suspect, though, he is not the second coming in equine form as Matt Chapman has labelled him for marketing purposes. It is doubtful if he is Arkle come back to the living. He is though the horse with the greatest potential so far seen at this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
As impressive as he was, I thought him more of a Danoli type of Cheltenham winner than a Golden Sygnet. He won and won well but what are the merits of those he beat. Time might inform us that he beat out and out stayers or horses only good enough for handicaps. We will discover how good his opposition was over the course of the next twelve months. Too many times Irish bankers have come to the Festival with lofty reputations to win tidily only to disappoint when push came to shove later in their careers. Dunguib, for instance.
Samcro did not win with his head in his chest or with his ears pricked. Win, though, he did, and the way he glided through the race suggests to me that he will be a whole lot more impressive on good ground. As might some of the vanquished. The world, though, is his oyster; I just hope lucks doesn’t desert him and he gets the opportunities to prove how good he really is.
I was pleased to see Presenting Percy win as he was my banker of the meeting. He has potential Gold Cup winner written all over him. What a horse! What a trainer? What a jockey! The owner is in good hands there.
If I had a wish for the rest of the season it is that Nicky Henderson could be persuaded to try Altior over 3-miles at Aintree. I understand the sense of sticking with the same old, some old, of picking up easy money in 2-mile races. But what does that tell us about Altior. He is the champion 2-mile chaser but if Sprinter Sacre were around one or the other might be upped in trip to keep the two apart and as exhilarating as it would be to have Douvan take on Altior again I would imagine that is more likely to happen at Punchestown than Aintree. So why not experiment on flat course with Altior over 3-miles? I am fairly certain he would stay, though I am not suggesting for a moment that he is a Gold-Cup horse. But if he proved 3-miles was easily in his compass it would open up a good few more races next year for the horse.
You only discover the true merit of a horse when he, and the trainer, are taken out of their comfort zone which is what you do when you expose them to the limits of their ability. 3-miles might not be the limit of his ability and the possibility  exists that  Altior may not be as good over 3-miles as he is over 2 but we should only know if he is given the opportunity. What is there to lose but a race?
I have no doubt that Ruby Walsh is the best steeplechase jockey of my lifetime. It is the greatest sadness of the week that the Cheltenham Festival has had its star act removed from the action and we are poorer for the loss. Ruby is as stubborn as he is mighty; he’ll decide his own future. I for one, though, half hopes he decides to retire. He has a young family and a devoted wife. As A.P. came to decide, eventually they have to be given first priority. If he does retire by God we’ll miss him!