Cheltenham International Meeting

This weekend we had the final meeting of the year at Cheltenham, this being the International meeting, for me it was not up to the usual quality that you have on a Cheltenham card, but there were still some nice performances over the 2 days. Firstly, Happygolucky won the Novices chase taking him to 2/3 this season over fences, he jumped well before making a mistake 3 out but this did not stop him as he took up the lead before 2 from home going clear. There is no doubt we will probably see him back at her for the festival in March but just depends what race they aim him for, I myself do not think he would have the class for a RSA, so he could quite possibly end up in the National Hunt chase for which he is the current 3^rd fav. The standout race on the Friday was the rescheduled Peterborough chase, the race saw Kalashnikov just sent off the favourite after a nice reappearance run over hurdles at Haydock, he ran a nice race and travelled well for most of it, but it was his jumping that let him down, making too many mistakes along the way. The race went the way of the Nicky Henderson trained Mister Fisher, he jumped well and was always up with the pace, it was at the last fence where he was joined by Kalashnikov, with Kalashnikov jumping the better of the two and coming out with a narrow lead, but on the run in in was Mister Fisher that kept on the stronger of them to win by just under 2 lengths. It was a nice performance from both of the front two, but for me personally its good to see they seem to of got Kalashnikov back to full health and got to the bottom of his bleeding. There was also a good run from Clondaw Castle who finished 3^rd, was always towards the back and stayed on strongly in the end just never troubled the front two, he’s definitely one to keep onside in the future.

The Saturday started with the Triumph Hurdle Trial which went the way of Adagio the odds-on favourite making it 2/3 for him over hurdles. He jumped and travelled well before skipping over the last and going clear towards the end. This was a nice performance, but for me I would still say that Ireland so far have the key to the Triumph come March. Chantry House was the next odds-on favourite to feature, this was in the novices’ chase, unfortunately he was hugely disappointing never really jumping well and in the end could only finish 3^rd of 4. The race was won by his stable mate in Fusil Raffles, who himself did not jump that well, but when he was asked by Daryl Jacob, he found that little extra to take him past the long time leader Lieutenant Rocco. This was a nice run from him, and it was nice to see him get his head back in front after being pulled up here last time and he could be a nice e/w outsider for the Marsh come March. The Caspian Caviar which was the feature race of the two days went the way of the Irish raider in Chatham Street Lad, he did not just win it, he absolutely bolted up to win by 15 lengths, he probably could of actually gone around again and still won in the same fashion. He always travelled strongly and jumped well, and made some decent horses look average. The disappointments of the race where Master Tommytucker, who Harry Cobden never really looked comfortable on him especially when it came to jumping his fences, he is obviously more at home in small field chases than he is in a big field handicap. The other one was Al Dancer, who was sent off the 5/1 favourite, but he could only finish 9^th, admittedly he was hampered at the 5^th fence by a faller, but he never looked on a going day. The final race I want to touch on is the International hurdle. The race was effectively ruined before it had started due to the low sun and a few hurdles being omitted, the race saw Goshen make his seasonal debut back over hurdles where he was sent off the short priced favourite, from the start he raced keenly and raced in snatches, never really looking on a going day and in the end finishing last of the 10, although he had his excuses as the day after it was reported that he had a fibrillating heart, so hopefully they can get him back fit and sound. The race was in the end won by the rapid improving Song For Someone who just got the better of Silver Streak by a nose, who for me would of won had he got a clear run. Take nothing away from the winner he did it well and wouldn’t have been happy with the hurdles being omitted, he will probably line up in the Champion Hurdle come March but I don’t think Epatante would be losing any sleep over him.

I’d just like to say a well done to The Owners Group on getting their 100^th winner with Wild Max on the Saturday, and also commiserations to them in the loss of Clarendon Street on the Friday. They are a racing group that not many are keen on but that I’m involved in with the likes of Getaway Trump and Stage Star who is hopefully running on Friday at Ascot. Here’s to another 100

thanks for taking the time to read this weeks blog and here's to another cracking weeks of racing where the stand out is the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, where we could see the rematch of Paisley Park and Thyme Hill.