Monday, March 15, 2004
LATEST GOING AT CHELTENHAM
Simon Claisse, Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course, today gave the current going as: “Good with a GoingStick reading of 7.5.”
He continued: “The current forecast is for a bit of rain, about a millimetre, overnight.
“Tomorrow will be dry and warm with the possibility of rain later in the day and overnight. However, it should be no more than two millimetres.
“Wednesday and Thursday are forecast as dry, warm and sunny.”
THEREALBANDIT ATTEMPTS
TO EMULATE CAPTAIN CHRISTY
Tote Cheltenham Cup contender Therealbandit has to overcome the fact that no novice has won the chasing championship since Captain Christy, trained in Ireland, triumphed in 1974.
Below can be found the record of novices in the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup following on from Captain Christy’s victory.
As can be seen, 18 horses since 1975 have attempted to win the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup in their first season of chasing.
The best effort form from a novice in recent years came when Dorans Pride finished third to Mr Mulligan in 1997.
Year Horse Finishing Position SP
1974 CAPTAIN CHRISTY WON 7/1
1975 NO NOVICES RAN
1976 NO NOVICES RAN
1977 Zarib Fell 12/1
1977 Lanzarote Slipped Up 7/2
1978 NO NOVICES RAN
1979 Gaffer 6th 6/1
1979 Night Nurse 7th 6/1
1980 Kas Pulled Up 100/1
1980 Narribinni Pulled Up 100/1
1981 NO NOVICES RAN
1982 NO NOVICES RAN
1983 NO NOVICES RAN
1984 NO NOVICES RAN
1985 Drumadowney 4th 9/1
1985 Boreen Prince 6th 20/1
1986 Von Trappe Fell 25/1
1986 Castle Andrea Pulled Up 500/1
1987 NO NOVICES RAN
1988 NO NOVICES RAN
1989 Carvill’s Hill Fell 5/1
1989 Slalom Unseated Rider 33/1
1990 NO NOVICES RAN
1991 NO NOVICES RAN
1992 NO NOVICES RAN
1993 NO NOVICES RAN
1994 NO NOVICES RAN
1995 NO NOVICES RAN
1996 NO NOVICES RAN
1997 Dorans Pride 3rd 10/1
1997 Cyborgo 8th 12/1
1997 Danoli Fell 7/1
1998 NO NOVICES RAN
1999 Unsinkable Boxer Pulled Up 14/1
2000 Gloria Victis Fell 13/2
2001 No race - foot & mouth
2002 NO NOVICES RAN
2003 Beef Or Salmon Fell 5/1
SOLERINA ARRIVES AT PRESTBURY PARK
Michael Bowe describes ground as ‘perfect’
Solerina, 8-1 third favourite for Thursday’s bonusprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle with totesport and principal Irish hope for this event, arrived at Cheltenham at 6am this morning after crossing on a night sailing from Dublin.
Michael Bowe, son and assistant trainer to father James, and brother John accompanied the seven-year-old mare on to the middle of the racecourse at around 1pm.
“We’re just trying to get her to relax,” explained Michael Bowe. “It’s all a bit new to her. We’ll be doing very little with her before Thursday as she’s a slight little mare who doesn’t take a lot of training - she trains herself and it’s easier to overcook her than undertrain her. All the training’s done at this stage and we’re just waiting for the hours to pass and biting our nails - the dream is on!
“She did her last serious piece of work last Sunday on the all-weather gallop. She worked great and, while we didn’t pose any serious questions and didn’t receive any serious answers, she did enough to make me happy and justify travelling her over here.
“Cheltenham has provided perfect National Hunt jumping ground. It’s lovely and I hope that it will stay like this until Thursday. There’s plenty of cloud so maybe we’ll get a drop of rain. It’s safe ground which is the first priority.”
IRISH RACECOURSE CHIEF
ALSO IMPRESSED WITH GROUND
Pierce Molony, Chairman and Secretary of Thurles Racecourse in County Tipperary, Ireland, described the ground at Cheltenham as: “Perfect jumping ground which is just on the easy side of good.
“I’m here all week to see how well Simon Claisse [Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course] does things over here!”
MCGRATH PRAISES GROUND
Jim McGrath, Channel 4 racing broadcaster and Timeform managing director, today talked about the ground. He said: “It is as Simon Claisse [Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course] has described [good], a bit patchy but overall they’ve done extremely well.
“It’s easy to be critical but it’s been so dry and they’ve also had severe frosts so they’ve done well to get the growth of grass that they have considering that.
“In addition the Old Course, which is used for the first two days, has been used more this year as they weren’t able to use the New Course at the Tripleprint Meeting.
“I would say the ground is good with good to soft patches. It’s much better that way than good with good to firm patches.”
BRAVE INCA OWNER
HOPEFUL RATHER THAN CONFIDENT
Oran Crean, who owns Brave Inca, one of the market leaders for tomorrow’s Letheby & Christopher Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and principal Irish hope for this event, along with two other members of his family and four members of the O’Tierney family racing as the Novices’ Syndicate, is hoping for a big run from his charge but appreciates that many things can go wrong.
Brave Inca has won his last three starts over timber including a Grade One event at Leopardstown in February, when he proved three-quarters of a length too powerful for Newmill.
“Our fella is improving but you need luck in running at Cheltenham,” said Crean. “It’s like formula one racing - Michael Schumacher is the best driver but if someone else takes his wing off or a tyre falls off he won’t win. It’s all luck - Best Mate could get flattened or Venn Ottery could bring down Moscow Flyer.
“He’s in good form and we’re hoping for the best. Although we’re called the Novices’ Syndicate and Brave Inca is our first horse, we’re far from novice racegoers. I tell people back home not into racing that I’m very religious - I go to church four times a year - at Christmas and three times a year at Cheltenham!
“We bought Brave Inca to win a Clonmel handicap hurdle and it turned out that he wasn’t that and ended up at Cheltenham. It’s amazing because he won his first bumper last March and before that he was nothing exceptional.
“This will be a real test for him but he hasn’t come off the bridle yet. I think that he has a very good chance - if it was a race in Ireland I would be very confident but it’s not so fingers crossed. It’s great just to be here.”
The six-year-old is trained by Colm Murphy, who apparently walked the course this morning and was happy with the ground.
Giving his own opinion on the ground, Crean said: “It’s nice on the inside and outside but I probably wouldn’t want to be going down the middle.”
BEST MATE’S BIG TASK
Best Mate will be attempting to be the first horse since Arkle in 1964, 1965 and 1966 to win the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup three years in a row.
Last year he became the first horse since L’Escargot in 1970 and 1971 to win back-to-back renewals of the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Henrietta Knight’s stable star could not have been more impressive when taking the chasing championship a year ago and after finishing second to Jair Du Cochet in the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on his seasonal reappearance, looked as good as ever when landing the Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.
Below are the records of how totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup winners since Mill House have performed in the race the following year. As can be seen, in the 39 renewals since 1964, the winner from the previous year ran on 19 occasions, scoring four times (Arkle 1965 & !966), L’Escargot (1971) and Best Mate (2003). During the same period, five winners from the previous year have been placed. The best performances in defeat came from The Dikler (1974) and Jodami (1994), who both came second.
Year Previous Year’s Winner Finishing Position SP
1964 Mill House 2nd 8/13F
1965 ARKLE 1st 30/100F
1966 ARKLE 1st 1/10F
1967 Arkle DID NOT RUN -
1968 Woodland Venture DID NOT RUN -
1969 Fort Leney DID NOT RUN -
1970 What A Myth DID NOT RUN -
1971 L’ESCARGOT 1st 7/2JF
1972 L’Escargot 4th 4/1
1973 Glencaraig Lady DID NOT RUN -
1974 The Dikler 2nd 5/1
1975 Captain Christy Pulled Up 7/4F
1976 Ten Up DID NOT RUN -
1977 Royal Frolic DID NOT RUN -
1978 Davy Lad DID NOT RUN -
1979 Midnight Court DID NOT RUN -
1980 Alverton DID NOT RUN -
1981 Master Smudge DID NOT RUN -
1982 Little Owl DID NOT RUN -
1983 Silver Buck 4th 5/1
1984 Bregawn 6th 10/1
1985 Burrough Hill Lad DID NOT RUN -
1986 Forgive ’N Forget 3rd 7/2
1987 Dawn Run DID NOT RUN -
1988 The Thinker DID NOT RUN -
1989 Charter Party 3rd 14/1
1990 Desert Orchid 3rd 10/11F
1991 Norton’s Coin Fell 16/1
1992 Garrison Savannah DID NOT RUN -
1993 Cool Ground 9th 50/1
1994 Jodami 2nd 6/4F
1995 The Fellow DID NOT RUN -
1996 Master Oats DID NOT RUN -
1997 Imperial Call Pulled Up 4/1F
1998 Mr Mulligan DID NOT RUN -
1999 Cool Dawn DID NOT RUN -
2000 See More Business 4th 9/4F
2001 No race - foot & mouth - -
2002 Looks Like Trouble 13th 9/2F*
2003 BEST MATE 1st 13/8F
2004 BEST MATE ? ?
* Looks Like Trouble won the 2000 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. As there was no race in 2001, he was attempting the back-to-back double in 2002.
CAN THE FOUR DEFENDING CHAMPS MAKE HISTORY?
Rooster Booster, Moscow Flyer, Baracouda and Best Mate, the four defending champions in the Smurfit Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, bonsuprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle and totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup respectively, will make history if they can all win again in 2004.
This year is only the third occasion In the past 30 years (the bonusprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle was not established until 1972) that all four defending champions have come back to Prestbury Park.
Last year all four defending champions returned to Cheltenham, with both Best Mate and Baracouda recording their second victory in the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup and the bonusprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle respectively. Hors La Loi III, the 2002 Smurfit Champion Hurdle hero, blotted his copybook by refusing to race in the 2003 renewal of the hurdling showpiece while the 2002 Queen Mother Champion Chase scorer Flagship Uberalles was a well-beaten fifth behind Moscow Flyer.
The only other year when all four champions returned was in 1983, when none were able to successfully defend their crown. Defending Smurfit Champion Hurdle victor For Auction finished fourth behind Gaye Brief, defending Queen Mother Champion Chase hero Rathgorman came home in fifth place behind Badsworth Boy, bonusprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle champion Crimson Embers was fifth to A Kinsman and defending totesport Cheltenham Cup winner Silver Buck took fourth place behind stablemate Bregawn.
Looking at the races individually since 1973, the Smurfit Champion Hurdle and the Queen Mother Champion Chase have the best records for winners defending their titles, with seven horses achieving this feat. Over the same period of time, only two horses have successfully defended their title in the bonusprint.com Stayers’ Hurdle while only Best Mate last year successfully defended his totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup crown.
SMURFIT CHAMPION HURDLE WINNERS WHO WON AGAIN THE FOLLOWING YEAR (SINCE 1973): Night Nurse (1973), Monksfield (1979), Sea Pigeon (1981), See You Then (1986), See You Then (1987), Istabraq (1999), Istabraq (2000)
QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE WINNERS WHO WON AGAIN THE FOLLOWING YEAR (SINCE 1973): Skymas (1977), Hilly Way (1979), Badsworth Boy (1984), Badsworth Boy (1985), Pearlyman (1988), Barnbrook Again (1990), Viking Flagship (1995)
bonusprint.com HURDLE WINNERS WHO WON AGAIN THE FOLLOWING YEAR (SINCE 1973): Galmoy (1988), Baracouda (2003)
totesport CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP WINNERS WHO WON AGAIN THE FOLLOWING YEAR (SINCE 1973): Best Mate (2003)
WORLD’S FIRST MOBILE HYDROSPA
COMES TO CHELTENHAM
Connections of horses running at this year’s National Hunt Festival can benefit from the world’s first mobile hydrospa, provided by Equisea Ltd, which is located in the car park close to the racecourse stables.
The spa was requested by an Irish trainer and Simon Claisse, Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course, contacted the company, whose managing director Jonathan Tunnell rearranged his schedule so this unique service could be present this week.
The therapeutic spa treats and helps prevent tendon and ligament injuries, sore shins, jarr-up, fractures and splints, inflamed joints, healing of wounds, enhanced hoof growth and many other ailments, using ultra cool water with a high salt concentration.
The cost of the spa for horses is Ł30 although a reduced rate may be available for multiple bookings. During the racing itself, the spa can be utilised through special booking.
The mobile hydrospa was used in a case study conducted by Professor Evan Hunt MRCVS in Australia. He summarised that the influence of hypertonic cold water (5-9○c) spa bath hydrotherapy on the response of 27 horses with various lower leg injuries resulted in all but two of these horses being placed back into training and returning to compete successfully within six months without re-injury.
Tunnell got the idea of making a mobile spa from Ian and Sarah Branston’s spa in Bourton on the Water. He saw it two years ago and decided that he wanted to make it mobile. He then designed the whole unit and got the patent rights.
The mobile hydrospa is used in trainers’ yards with Hughie Morrison being one of his main clients.
The spa will also be in action in the world of three-day eventing at Badminton Horse Trials 2004 and Gatcombe.
Tunnell is keen to stress that the best way of utilising the spa is as a preventitive measure rather than for rehabilitation, although injured horses benefit from the treatment enormously.
“Being the world’s first mobile spa, we saw the Cheltenham Festival as an excellent opportunity for providing a unique service for horses,” said Tunnell.
“We think it odds on that one of the horses using our spa will be entering the winner’s enclosure this week.”
CORAL LAY £50,000 BET ON CHAMPION HURDLE HOPE INTERSKY
On the eve of the eagerly-awaited Cheltenham Festival, bookmakers Coral have taken their biggest bet yet on the three-day meeting, £25,000 each way on Smurfit Champion Hurdle hope Intersky Falcon at 8-1.
"The bet was placed by a telephone betting customer this morning and if it's successful, he will scoop a whopping £250,000 profit," confirmed Coral's David Stevens.
Coral are expecting a record-breaking £400 million pounds to be wagered this week, and are hoping for a change of luck following the carnage of last year when favourite after favourite obliged, costing the bookies millions.
“Despite facing this mega payout, we'll still be cheering on Intersky Falcon against hot favourite Rooster Booster on Tuesday afternoon as punters have steamed into the big four - Best Mate, Baracouda, Moscow Flyer and Rooster Booster - in recent months and we want at least one of them beaten,” added Stevens.
Other big bets Coral has taken this year include £40,000 pounds 4-6 about Gold Cup favourite Best Mate, and 10,000 at 5-2 on Champion two-miler Moscow Flyer.
**Smurfit Champion Hurdle
13-8 (from 11-8) Rooster Booster, 3-1 Rigmarole, 6-1 (from 8-1) Intersky Falcon, 9-1 Specular, 16-1 Limerick Boy, Foreman, 20-1 Hasty Prince, Westender, Davenport Millennium, Geos, 33-1 Golden Cross, Hardy Eustace, 40-1 Self Defense, 66-1 Fota Island.
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