David Ord gets the Festival thoughts of Gavin Cromwell, a trainer running hot in England this season.
On Saturday Gavin Cromwell saddled a 70/1 double at Haydock Park and no-one batted an eyelid, even though Yeah Man and Now Is The Hour snared two of the biggest prizes on the card.
It’s because we’re accustomed to it now, precision British raids carried out by a handler right at the top of his game.
And Cheltenham has been targeted more than most tracks.
Railway Hurricane and Antrim Coast will barely be able to look their neighbours in the eye at evening stables. For their no-shows on Trials Day were the only time this season that Cromwell has left a Prestbury Park fixture without a winner when he’s saddled a runner.
It’s not a bad spot at which to become something of a specialist.
“We started off in October and saw a couple of races there, novice chases, and thought they looked good opportunities, that worked out then we built on it since,” he said.
“I’m concentrating more on trying to find the opportunity now. Look at Stumptown on New Year’s Day. He was running in a five-runner handicap. If you ran a 50 grand handicap in Ireland there would probably be a full field. That’s the sort of opportunity we found.
“Five runners in a 50 grand handicap, over 30,000 people in Cheltenham that day, live on TV. The same horse in a handicap in Ireland probably wouldn’t be good enough and would face a full field. It makes sense for me to travel, it's a great shop window to get a winner there too," he adds.
“It’s a very special place, there's nothing like the Festival but every meeting at Cheltenham is a fantastic experience for an owner to have a runner there. It doesn’t matter if they win or lose. That said, it’s fantastic to have a winner and the atmosphere at every meeting is very good. It’s a unique place.”
Flooring Porter has twice scaled the March heights, landing back-to-back Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdles in 2021 and 2022. And despite the fact he’s spent this season over fences, he could still bid to win a third next month.
“He's in the Stayers' and I wouldn’t rule it out but I’m not going to make a decision until I have to. We’ll see what way both races are unfolding and how they are shaping up."
So does this year’s renewal look similar in terms of quality to the two Flooring Porter won?
“If you take Gordon's two out it probably looks open enough and that’s why he’s still in there,” Cromwell answers.
It’s not that the chasing career has gone badly. He made a winning start in the sphere at Cheltenham in October and then finished third, upped in class, at Punchestown and behind Grangeclare West and Corbetts Cross at Leopardstown.
"He got off to a very good start and you have to put a line through the Punchestown run where he was going the wrong way (right-handed course). I think we might have got away with that but for the loose horse and he probably ran a good race all things considered to even finish third," Cromwell said.
“Then at Christmas I suppose we were a little disappointed he could only finish third again but it was still a good run. He jumps well and the one thing he does know is how to win around Cheltenham. A little bit of spring ground would be no harm either."
Was chasing always a consideration throughout his career?
“I won’t say it was always the plan. He hadn’t won a race since he won his second Stayers' and we thought we’d give it a go and could always go back if we had to but he took to it very well.”
If he does stay over fences next month the National Hunt Chase is the plan. My Mate Mozzie is another with a choice of options, his between a Grade One or a handicap.
Again, he’s the winner of one of his three starts over fences – and again the sole success came at Cheltenham. So where is he heading?
“He was a good flat horse and a good hurdler without being at the top level. He has a mark and the Grand Annual would probably make more sense but the way the Arkle is shaping up you wouldn’t rule that out either," the trainer admits.
"He’d have to run well above his mark to win an Arkle and using that theory you should probably run in the handicap, but that doesn’t mean he will. There’s only one Arkle."
There are two big players in the Mrs Paddy Power Chase for the team in Limerick Lace and Brides Hill.
The former was impressive at Doncaster in January while Brides Hill is three-from-three this season, following up a Fairyhouse handicap success with a facile win in a Listed contest at Huntingdon.
"They have both had great seasons and I think they both warrant their place in the line-up. They're nice mares and they're improving all the time," Cromwell said.
"The drier the ground, the more it would suit Brides Hill. The softer the ground, the more it would suit Limerick Lace. Hopefully they will both get to the race in good form."
It’s five years ago this March that Cromwell landed the Unibet Champion Hurdle with Espoir d'Allen. He was only the second five-year-old to win the race in 33 years and did so by 15 lengths. He looked to have the division at his hooves only for tragedy to strike, JP McManus’ charge being put down shortly after returning to training in the summer having sustained a shoulder injury.
The trainer still has his memories of the great day but won’t be caught reflecting on what might have been.
“It was a fantastic race to win and a fantastic day. It was so unfortunate that was his last race. I’m not going to dwell on the past. I have a massive picture of him at home, it’s the first thing I see every morning and will always be there. But I’m not going to dwell on it."
From the outside you always feel a win like that will lead to plenty of new horses arriving at a trainer’s yard. But time and time again, you find out that isn’t the case.
“New owners don’t queue up after you’ve won a Grade One but it does give a vote of confidence to your existing owners and helps along the way. I suppose it helps people feel confident their horses are in good hands,” Cromwell says.
"The phone didn’t start ringing and if it does that person making the phone call probably isn’t the fella you want, they’re just jumping on the bandwagon and will probably be down the road the next week when someone else has a big winner."
The phone might not be running hot in the third week of March but Gavin Cromwell could be. He’s had 11 winners in the UK at a strike-rate of 25% so far this season and has plenty more ammunition to fire next month. That wall of shame could well go untouched.
Be in with a chance of winning our Cheltenham Festival package by answering the question below!
Enter now or click here for more information.
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org
