Action from Cheltenham© Photo Healy Racing
The Cheltenham Festival has finally arrived and despite all the annual huff and puff about whether it should be three days or five days it will once again be the very best week’s racing of the entire year.
From flagfall on Tuesday, beginning with a fascinating renewal of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, all the way through to the Gold Cup itself on Friday we will be entertained with the absolute best the sport can offer.
For most of us fans of National Hunt racing it will be foremost about trying to beat the bookies but regardless of whether we win or lose it is always about seeing the best horses produce their very best on the biggest stage.
Honeysuckle won’t carry any of my money but like all other fans of the sport there is nothing we’d like to see more than herself and Rachael power up that famous hill on Tuesday to win back-to-back Champion Hurdles and extend her remarkable sequence to fifteen unbeaten.
It will be the same with the likes of Shishkin, Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi in the Champion Chase, Bob Olinger and Galopin Des Champs in the Turners Chase, and Facile Vega, American Mike et al in the Bumper. What we crave is to see the absolute cream rise to the top and produce performances to take our breath away.
Unlike other sports such as golf, snooker or darts where there is a simple measure as to the level of performance on display, horse racing is far more subjective. There is no proven way of categorically saying that any performance at Cheltenham equates to a round of 59, a 147 or a 9 darter but when those rare moments of magic occur we all instinctively know we have witnessed something special. That Golden Cygnet level of brilliance.
I don’t know if we will get to witness something of that spine tingling nature this week but there is every possibility that we could and that is what makes Cheltenham so exciting.
An aspect of Cheltenham that is equally fascinating is how, given the exact same set of information, each of us will come up with different conclusions as to which horses will win each race or where the value lies in the betting markets.
In reality there is no way any of us can know with certainty whether Constitution Hill, Jonbon, Dysart Dynamo, Kilcruit or Mighty Potter is the best horse going into the Supreme yet we will all have our own fancy. And in many cases punters will have an almost religious conviction about one or other of the protagonists.
Obviously only one opinion will ultimately prevail and for those that get it wrong (the majority) they will simply dust themselves down and move on to the next challenge - to decipher the equally difficult Arkle Chase. And so it goes on for four straight days.
From a punting point of view Cheltenham can certainly tame lions. No matter how much study you put into the form, no matter how shrewd you think you are, you will most likely get it wrong more often than you get it right. Down the years there have been untold tales of woe about punters that lost the run of themselves in the intoxicating atmosphere of the Festival. I remember many years ago one industry professional who liked to have one or two quid on the odd race went to his first Cheltenham (when it was only three days) and started chasing his loses. By the end of Gold Cup day he had dug a hole two and a half grand deep.
To his credit he never made that mistake again but it goes to show how you can get caught up in the whole occasion and if results start to go against you it can be a very slippery slope.
Aside from the betting aspect of Cheltenham I always find it inspiring how certain jockeys can raise their game when it comes to these big events. Most of the riders that will compete in front of 70,000 spectators and millions more watching on TV this week normally ply their trade in front of a few hundred around the minor tracks of Ireland and the UK. In some instances it’s the sporting equivalent of a non-league soccer player togging out in the Champions League final. The pressure is intense, the competition is fierce and the risk of injury is high yet some thrive under these conditions. Rachael Blackmore being an obvious case in point. She rode some exceptional races at last year’s Festival and was a deserving winner of the Leading Rider Award.
I’m not sure she has the ammunition to repeat the feat this week but like all aspects of Cheltenham it will be great fun watching these stories unfold. And win, lose or draw I hope all participants come home safe and sound and that ultimately horse racing is the winner this week.
And finally a few of my thoughts for the week -
Run Wild Fred to win the National Hunt Chase
Avoid Sir Gerhard in the Ballymore
Chacun Pour Soi without Shishkin & Energumene in Champion Chase
James's Gate each/way in the Bumper
Jack Kennedy each/way in Leading jockeys betting
Mister Fogpathes each/way in Kim Muir
Gordon Elliott to train a bunch of winners on Friday
