ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlin reflects on Saturday's action at Sandown while coming to the conclusion that a five-day Cheltenham Festival is inevitable.
Saturday's Reports
Fiddler class but don’t forget Edwardstone
With a lot of the Cheltenham Festival markets up in the air we wanted to see a Grade One performance in the Tolworth Hurdle and we got it in the shape of Fiddlerontheroof, who is now 10/1 third favourite for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle with the sponsors.
He looked a real nice chasing type for the future in the paddock at Sandown and he was really impressive in the race itself, powering clear for a six-length success.
My concern is the winner of the Tolworth is usually a gritty horse ready for such a test at this particular stage of the season, but it can be a very different situation at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Two other sets of connections will be delighted on the back of this result; the team behind Thyme Hill who beat him at Chepstow in the Persian War in October, but also the owners of Edwardstone who was too strong for him at Wincanton on Badger Beers day.
That was Edwardstone's hurdling debut and Fiddlerontheroof had already had a run, while Alan King's horse backed it up with another taking success at Aintree last month.
It’s no surprise Edwardstone has been cut to 16/1 for the Supreme on the back of this form boost and his next appearance is eagerly anticipated.
'That was ideal. We went a good gallop on very testing ground'
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) January 4, 2020
Robbie Power reflects on Fiddlerontheroof's race following a dominant performance at @Sandownpark pic.twitter.com/uQGTVXeHSr
Honeyball’s grand plan executed by Jepek
While we saw another good winner of the Tolworth the best race of the day was the Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase Final as Jepek nosed ahead in a thrilling finish.
With the Cheltenham Festival being such a monster these days, January and February need a boost in terms of narrative and that’s why this veterans’ final is such a good concept.
This horse has had an unusual career after switching from point-to-points to bumpers and back again, but he’s taken his form to a new level under the care of Honeyball, who has transformed him into a winning machine at a higher level.
It was a fine training performance as he qualified last March and has been kept away from fences since and he won £62,000 this afternoon – twice as much as the rest of his collective career earnings.
There’s something in the Dorset air at the moment as Harry Fry, who won with Sir Ivan at Wincaton, and Honeyball are bang in form with seriously good strike-rates over the last few weeks.
If the Cheltenham Festival are looking to add new races, please keep your hands off the veterans’ final as it gives January racing a much-needed and popular highlight.
It was a good move from the sponsors and racecourse to name it in honour of the ill-fated Houbon Des Obeaux and to have his owner and groom presenting the prize was another nice touch.
Jepeck wins a thrilling Unibet Veterans' Handicap Chase at @Sandownpark! pic.twitter.com/JYg2nEUm2D
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) January 4, 2020
Five-day Festival inevitable
Talking of the Cheltenham Festival, my interview with Martin St. Quinton, the new chairman at HQ, seems to have caused quite a stir this week.
First and foremost, Martin made it very clear that they were happy with the four days - he merely didn’t want to rule anything in or anything out for the future.
Since then people seem to have got a bit carried away discussing a potential five-day Festival.
The reaction has been the predictable horror from those within racing who fear a dilution of quality, while some casual racing fans - and general sports fans - seem to love the idea of a potential Saturday at Cheltenham.
Just like at Royal Ascot, those who are unable to get out of their Monday-to-Friday work schedules will suddenly be able to attend one of racing’s greatest shows.
I can see both sides of the argument, but I do see a move to a five-day Festival at Cheltenham as inevitable.
It would only take the addition of two more races to create 30 over the five days with six per day, so the programme wouldn’t need much of a tweak at all.
And the resulting extra income could well prove irresistible.
Is a five-day Cheltenham Festival on the agenda? 🤔🐎
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) January 2, 2020
The Chairman of @CheltenhamRaces, Martin St Quinton, spoke to us about the future for racing at Cheltenham including some interesting plans on the horizon 👀#ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/FXXVPDKwAg
Family incentives a real winner
One thing Cheltenham should be applauded for is the number of children and families they got through the turnstiles on New Year’s Day.
It’s a day that’s getting bigger and bigger and this year’s was huge with a crowd of 28,500, of which a large number was families, and the number of children was massively up on 2019.
This, as I’ve stated many times, is my big drive to get more families to come racing as they are the future of our sport.
In recent weeks we’ve seen great examples of how to attract them to racecourses. For example, Ascot do a wonderful job on the Saturday before Christmas with Santa Claus, carol singing and fun for all the family complementing the excellent racing.
Newbury on Challow Hurdle day had characters from Frozen, a treasure hunt and all sorts of other activities to help out parents in the school holidays – and let’s not forget all these under-18s get in for free.
Next we need to get more racecourses incentivising families to come racing and within that more of these children actually watching the racing and seeing the horses.
We can’t underestimate the importance of attracting the next generation to our great sport.
