The Cheltenham Countdown Has Begun
Arguments about the biggest week of the racing year are practically as old as time – lovers of the flat will probably go with Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood or York in August (especially those with Group Two trophies tucked into their back pocket), while jumping enthusiasts will generally divide between Aintree and the four days of the Cheltenham Festival coming up from Tuesday to Friday next week.
Of course, the fabled variety offered by British racing means that no one is definitely right and no one is definitely wrong, but what can’t be disputed is that the most bets – about £200m (more on the black market these days) – are turned over across the twenty-eight races at Cheltenham.
With four popular Festival ante-post choices – Constitution Hill, Sir Gino, Marine Nationale and Narciso Has – all non-runners, and with a limited number of ‘stand-out’ hopefuls from the Irish powerhouses, this year’s Festival looks wide-open.
Below are – hopefully – one or two clues. (*NB: some targets subject to change.)
Tuesday 10th
Question marks remain over the main contenders for the Champion Hurdle (4-00): the Dan Skelton-trained The New Lion has fallen once this season and was perhaps lucky last time; Brighterdaysahead has never shown a liking for the course; Willie Mullins’ brilliant Lossiemouth may go for the Mares Hurdle; and Golden Ace needs to demonstrate she’s as talented as she has been the fortunate beneficiary of opponents falling around her. Last month’s runaway Newbury winner Tutti Quanti, a late entry following what was a pretty staggering performance (albeit on barely raceable going), has to be very interesting.
It’s Mullins versus Nicky Henderson in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (1-20) with both master-trainers exuding confidence in their respective runners, Mighty Park and Old Park Star – marginal preference is for the highly-regarded Irish hope; in the Arkle (2-00), the Henderson operation may get revenge with Lulumba, which has a major experience-advantage over Mullins’ Kopek Des Bordes, a Festival hurdles winner last year and back with just the one (successful) chase-run to his name; at 3-20, Konfusion looks a value shout.
Wednesday 11th
Majborough always looked to me a banker for Willie Mullins in the Queen Mother Champion Chase (4-00) after he mullered all-comers at Leopardstown in February, but after the defection because of injury of last year’s winner Marine Nationale he’s not a great price. One to potentially give a run for money at nice odds is Quilixios which was still in with a shout when falling at the last in 2025.
No Drama This End puts his big reputation on the line (1-20) but the word from Ireland is that Mullins’ 2025 Royal Ascot winner Sober won’t be far away; Oscars Brother (2-00) – one of just two horses under the care of his trainer Connor King – is a relentless galloper which may be over-priced; and although the Willie Mullins team often takes the Bumper (5-20), his arch-rival Gordon Elliott has a good ‘un in Broadway Ted.
Thursday 12th
Running arrangements for the Ryanair Chase (4-00) are particularly unclear as last year’s wide-margin winner Fact To File might be supplemented for the Gold Cup after victory at Leopardstown in February, but it seems now he will go for a repeat, in which case he’s a banker. But things might change. Banbridge, trained by Joseph O’Brien and runner-up in the King George, is an each-way alternative at more attractive odds, especially on the drying conditions.
The Stayers Hurdle (3-20) has a couple of former champions in the field, but there’s a changing-of-the-guard feel to this division, and Ma Shantou has progressed nicely over this three-mile course already; after winning two minor enough races for the handicapper to take limited notice, Meetmebythesea (2-00) is potentially extremely well-weighted.
Friday 13th
At a highly-competitive Festival, no puzzle is harder to solve than the Cheltenham Gold Cup (4-00) in which the strongest form-lines from either side of the Irish Sea – the King George at Kempton won by Harry Redknapp’s The Jukebox Man and the Irish Gold Cup in which Fact To File was successful – are tested. Almost all of the principals are expected to line-up, plus a whole lot more serious players, and although the challenge at flat, right-handed Kempton is completely different to this one, there’s no reason to believe that The Jukebox Man isn’t up to it as he (plus fellow leading contenders Jango Baie, Haiti Couleurs and Grey Dawning) try to break the Irish stranglehold to become the first British-trained winner since Native River in 2018.
No horse has put in a more striking warm-up performance than Maestro Conti, for Team Dan Skelton, which tries to bolster a growing reputation in the Triumph Hurdle (1-20); big-priced winners are not unusual in the Albert Bartlett (3-20) and long-ish shot Kripticjim hasn’t done much wrong in his short career to date; we should go as much for the jockey as anything else in the fiercely-competitive Martin Pipe conditional riders’ hurdle (5-20) so look out for whatever rising-star Rian Corcoran (from Devon despite his Irish-sounding name) is on board.
Very best of luck – if they all win, I’m Cornelius Lysaght; if they all get stuffed, then I’m Cornelius Fudge and I’ll be hiding somewhere not even Harry Potter will find me.