THE RACE US OLD UN'S KNOW AS THE SCHWEPPES.

​It may be a case of ‘Blue Remembered Hills’, the past recorded to memory with the aid of rose-tinted glasses, but the Betfair Hurdle, formerly the Tote Gold Trophy and formerly and more famously known as the Schweppes, is not the race it used to be. Saturday’s renewal at Ascot is not representative, of course, of the brand as fourteen runners and not competed for at Newbury rather turned it into just another high prize-money handicap hurdle. Nobody’s fault, it’s just that fate rolled the dice unfavourably on this occasion.
Back in the ‘good old days’ the Schweppes was a big deal, a hurdlers’ version of the Hennessey Gold Cup, and was heralded by fanfare and anticipation, it’s conclusion a pointer to what might win the Champion Hurdle. Yes, the Champion Hurdle, not the Supreme or Ballymore. It’s Roll of Honour includes Persian War, one of the best hurdlers of the era, of any era. It was a race that sorted the men from the boys, the truly great from the handicap good-things.
For the level of prize-money it now carries, the winner, to my eyes, should be thought about as a Champion Hurdle contender, even if in the present-day it would be fanciful to expect actual Champion Hurdlers to contest the race.
It is my opinion that the Betfair is diminished rather than augmented through the prominence of unexposed novice hurdlers that the handicapper cannot truly assess and get into the race many pounds, and like Al Dancer last Saturday, or even a stone less than the winner would receive if the race were re-handicapped today. I would prefer to see a condition linked to the race that would prevent unexposed novices from being entered. A hurdle race of the prestige of the Betfair should be for the better handicappers or horses just below Champion Hurdle standard.
Why not introduce a valuable handicap hurdle for the sort of novice that ran in the race this Saturday? Trainers seem to have a penchant for running a novice in the big handicaps so why not introduce such a race into the racing calendar? If nothing else this novice handicap would be unique and would give a clearer insight into the merits of the season’s novices.
 
The will we/ won’t we saga of Presenting Percy disappointingly continues. Given the weather forecast for the week, mainly dry for our neck of the woods, it sort of rings alarm bells that the mysterious Kelly, trainer of the Gold Cup favourite, should choose to forego the Red Mills at Gowran in favour, possibly, of Fairyhouse this coming weekend. I’m beginning to doubt if we shall see Presenting Percy line-up for the Gold Cup if his need for proper soft ground remains the main criteria for the horse running in any race. Of course, they mustn’t be tempted or persuaded to run the horse if the underfoot conditions leave him liable to injury. But is the horse so fragile, so ground dependent, that he cannot be risked on genuinely good ground? Because if that is the truth of it, there is no way they will risk him on good ground on the up and downs of Prestbury Park.
Presenting Percy has been my tip for this season’s Gold Cup since his narrow defeat to Our Duke in last season’s Red Mills but I now not only doubt his participation in this season’s race but cannot understand why he remains favourite when Clan Des Obeaux has better form by far. Clan Des Obeaux is a young, progressive horse trained by a master of his craft. I’m not saying he is a good thing for the Gold Cup, and anyone who thinks he will lack for stamina should book a room in The Priory for the week of the Festival, but he deserves to be favourite as he has the best form this season of any of the contenders. I would go as far as to say that if Presenting Percy does not turn up, the Gold Cup will go to either Paul Nicholls or Colin Tizzard. In fact, when I see the Morning Show experts reviewing the Haydock race and the King George they seem to have a blind spot when it comes to Thistlecrack. As with his stable-mate Native River, he is a winner at a previous Festival and in both his races this season he was the one doing the best work at the finish, outstaying his stamina-laden stable-mate on both occasions. Dismiss Thistlecrack from your calculations at your peril!