'Trials Day'.

​Isn’t it life-affirming when someone who knows what they are talking about says publicly exactly what you have said yourself a few minutes previously? When this occurs twice within a single day’s racing the only word to describe the sensation is ‘cock-a-hoop’. Well my cock was very much hooped, or my hoop was very much cocked, when Mick Fitzgerald, a man I have never maligned, advised Millie Wonnacott that she should grasp the nettle and turn professional. I said the very same as she jumped the last upsides Derek O’Connor at Doncaster yesterday, repeating what I had said to myself when she won on Fingerontheswitch at Kempton a couple of weekends previously.
My sentiments after the Cotswold Chase were also echoed by Mick Fitzgerald, in that Santini looks more like a National winner, Scottish or Irish rather than Aintree, I suspect, than he does a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. Although I respect Nicky Henderson’s view that Santini will improve enormously for his spin around Prestbury Park, the fact is he beat five horses who have little or no chance of winning at Cheltenham in March. Bristol de Mai is a splendid racehorse but he just does not get up the Cheltenham hill, as is the case with so many good 3-mile chasers. And I must admit to being disappointed by the performance of de Rasher Counter as I thought he might improve into a Gold Cup contender, which on Saturday’s form he obviously is not.
Paisley Park, on the hand, was peerless, his cocked ears in the final furlong a flag to his superiority. He may get beat in the Stayers Hurdle but it will not be by a horse trained this side of the Irish Sea. In the sporting sense it is nothing short of scandalous that Willie Mullins is not seriously considering running Benie Des Dieux in the Stayers. What is the point of throwing six-figure prize-money at championship races if these races do not attract the very best horses? In the case of Benie Des Dieux, and all mares, it is not as if they do not have a clear advantage with Paisley Park who will have to give the Mullins mare the 5lbs mares allowance. To discourage connections taking the easy option with top-class mares, the conditions for the Mares Hurdle should dictate that Grade 1 winners should receive a 10Ib penalty or something along those lines. It is quite ridiculous that the best horse at Closutton is not going to run in one of the top races of the meeting. And it is not as if Willie Mullins does not have other top-notch contenders for the Mares Hurdle.
If Cheltenham goes ahead with its plan – I received an e-mail from the secretary of Simon Claisse that assures me that Cheltenham have no plans to increase the Festival to five days. Yes, I laughed, too. – it has to ensure that the top races attract the very best available horses and to achieve this they must come up with a cunning plan to dissuade owners and trainers from taking easier options with their top horses.
‘Trials Day’, in my opinion, needs the Haydock Champion Hurdle Trial to be re-routed to Cheltenham. What is the point of a designated trial for Champion Hurdle type horses at a track so different from where the actual Champion Hurdle is to be run, and on ground that any time of the year can be heavy to the point of unraceable?
If there was a future big-race winner on parade on Saturday I would suggest it is most likely to be the erstwhile disappointing O K Corral who I thought most impressive in winning in Sky Bet race at Doncaster, a race that in my heart will always be known as the Great Yorkshire, a race title that has gravitas and no little history.
Staying with O K Corral. Derek O’Connor dropped his whip after the last fence, which to my eyes only goes to prove that jockeys, and the betting public, rely far too much on the ‘old larrup’ to get the best out of a horse in a close finish. Also, on a similar subject, the stewards at Doncaster held an enquiry into Derek O’Connor’s use of his hand, using it to slap his mount behind the saddle, instinctively, I suppose. Quite what impact this would have had on his mount is hard to judge, virtually zero I guess in comparison to being struck with the whip. Once again it was an example of nonsense stewarding, in line with the notorious statement made last year by someone at the B.H.A. that horses should always run through their own free-will. Remember, when Henry Oliver committed the ‘outrage’ of waving his arms to persuade a horse with a reputation for not consenting to race to start when the tapes went up. A gesture that even Animal Aid could find no fault with.