Lydia Hislop: Road to Cheltenham including reaction to Waiting Patiently and Brain Power's schooling prowess
Among many other angles in the latest Road to Cheltenham, Lydia Hislop has the inside line on Brain Power's schooling sessions and ponders what was and wasn't said at Willie Mullins' press day ahead of the Dublin Racing Festival.
Latest Road To Cheltenham division-by-division
Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup
Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
Ryanair Chase
Unibet Champion Hurdle
Novice hurdlers
Novice chasers
Juvenile hurdlers
There’s been enough action and yet more speculation to entertain us this week, with the standout performance coming from among the novice-hurdling ranks and yet more column inches devoted to The Ubiquity In Equine Form.
Timico Gold Cup
The most interesting development in this division was the absence of Disko from the entries for the Unibet Irish Gold Cup. Although he was entered in both the Gold Cup and Ryanair last week, his name did not appear among the 22 horses engaged this week in that Leopardstown Grade One.
However, stablemate Road To Respect was listed among them – at first glance, seemingly a precaution for a horse said to be heading straight to the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Yet this is no longer so. "Or at least, that’s what I’m thinking anyway," trainer Noel Meade signed off, knowingly.
That was after he had told me: "Disko has had a little bit of a problem with his hock, so we had to stand him for a couple of weeks and were unable to train him for the Irish Gold Cup."
Asked whether it was the same problem that caused Disko to miss the King George, Meade said: "It was and it wasn’t. He went lame on me for a couple of days before the John Durkan and we thought it was his foot but nothing was identified.
"He then went back into work up on the run up to Christmas but Theresa Maguire [sister of ex-jockey Jason], who rides him all the time, said he wasn’t 100% right when going left-handed but he was fine when going right-handed. So we investigated and we found a problem with his hock."
Meade said he’s "hopeful" that he'll be able to train Disko for the Cheltenham Gold Cup but would know more after a week's progress. Failing that, the horse will head to Liverpool or Punchestown.
Although Gigginstown racing manager Eddie O'Leary had announced that Road To Respect would miss the Irish Gold Cup – "at a time when we thought Disko would go there" according to Meade – taking in that Leopardstown event is the new plan. The Christmas Chase winner worked at the track on Tuesday and is reported to be in "good order".
So rather than it being down to Disko to prove his Gold Cup credentials with the risk of being re-routed to the Ryanair as a result of any performance less than convincing next month, it is Road To Respect's Festival target that could be revisited. Meade says Gold Cup, if possible, for both his horses but he and we know that the O'Leary brothers have the final word – and the evidence on the track could well justify next month.
Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup - Sky Bet prices (non-runner/no bet)
3 Might Bite
5 Sizing John
8 Coney Island, Native River, Our Duke
10 Bar
Other Gigginstown Gold Cup possibles include the pair that chased home Road To Respect over Christmas, Balko Des Flos and Outlander, as well as Valseur Lido, Sub Lieutenant and Empire Of Dirt. All of these except the last named also hold Irish Gold Cup entries and the Henry de Bromhead-trained Balko Des Flos could yet be a significant player here or in the Ryanair.
Empire Of Dirt, you will recall, "is just a glorified handicapper" whose 2017 Grand National weight allotted by British Horseracing Authority Head Of Handicapping Phil Smith caused Michael O'Leary to remove him from the race, along with Don Poli and Outlander.
Having finished second in last term's Irish Gold Cup, Empire Of Dirt then never really travelled when fourth in last year's Ryanair and fared worse when pulled up in Aintree's Betway Bowl.
He hasn't been sighted since and holds only a Gold Cup entry – staged after the National weights are set for 2018 – so has there been a problem or this an O'Leary riposte? When alleging last year that his trio had not been "treated fairly", he did add: "It’s not like they have been minded and protected." What a shame for the sport of racing if indeed that was the conclusion.
Returning to the subject of u-turns on stated plans, the chances of favourite Might Bite running again before the Gold Cup are reportedly increasing rapidly – from 90/10 against Newbury's Denman Chase when newly hitched trainer Nicky Henderson spoke to Nick Luck on Racing UK on New Year's Day, through to 60/40 when it was next discussed and now standing at 51/49 against.
Running a top-class horse in February? Throwing a novice into an open Grade One chase? They say marriage can change a man but this is ridiculous... Sadly for fans of actual sport, Henderson annexed his latest ratio to: "I’m sort of thinking the same [as for Altior, that is a racecourse gallop] for Might Bite." No need to check the groom's passport for distinguishing whorls then.
The only other worthwhile activity in this division last week was to reflect on the remaining Gold Cup entries from a total of 38. There were, as flagged, no major surprises with neither Thistlecrack nor Yorkhill declared.
Willie Mullins did nonetheless provide the most interesting food for thought when engaging both Killultagh Vic and Bachasson – alongside the more predictable stablemates, dual runner-up Djakadam and Ladbrokes Trophy winner Total Recall, as well as Acapella Bourgeois.
At his press morning, Mullins admitted to being "very disappointed" with Djakadam at Leopardstown last time where he pulled up after jumping poorly in the Grade One Christmas Chase.
"It was the worst run of his career," Mullins recognised. "We didn’t find anything wrong afterwards which has us questioning whether we just ran him back too quickly after the John Durkan.
"Plenty of horses have run in those two races and been just fine but both him and Sizing John disappointed when attempting it this season, so maybe it was a more gruelling race than we thought it was at the time."
That's one, perfectly valid way of looking at both those horses' seasonal debuts; another is to question whether either ran very well in the John Durkan also. A positive reading of it requires you to buy Sub Lieutenant suddenly bouncing back to form in third.
Whereas Djakadam heads to the Irish Gold Cup – "the thought at the moment" – before attempting to exactly replicate The Fellow’s Gold Cup sequence of 2-2-4-1, Sizing John will go straight to Cheltenham according to his trainer, Jessica Harrington. Unlike the defending champion, Djakadam is theoretically over-priced at 33/1 on the basis of one bad run – but he’s surely playing for a place (again) at best.
Mullins still clearly isn’t gagging to run Total Recall at Cheltenham. “He’s in the Irish Gold Cup and we’ll have a look at it, but I’m not sure whether he’ll run,” he said.
“I imagine the way to look at Total Recall is that he should go for the Aintree Grand National. I have to have a chat with the owners and get them to decide whether they want to aim for graded races with him or aim towards the National.”
Killultagh Vic, who returned with the scruffiest winning round of hurdling I've seen for a while at Punchestown on his first start for almost two years last month, has also been entered in the Ryanair. He was returning from a jolting injury sustained when still managing to win a Grade Two novice chase event in January 2016.
Good enough to have beaten a season-before-the-boil Thistlecrack in a Grade One novices' hurdle over three miles at the 2015 Punchestown Festival, this likeable horse is set to be chucked in deep for the Unibet Irish Gold Cup next time out. At least that’s “the plan at the minute”, replacing initial thoughts of the Kinloch Brae.
"He came out of his comeback very well," reported Mullins. "He just really doesn’t like jumping hurdles – he has no respect for them. We are looking forward to getting him back over fences and I think he’ll jump them much better."
The upping of the next-race ante with this horse suggests three things: he’s come on for his return (as Mullins says), the stable lacks a credible Gold Cup contender this year and the vibes are poor for Djakadam. I'd prefer Killultagh Vic at a shorter trip, however.
Bachasson was perhaps the most surprising of Mullins' inclusions, even though he's due a bump up in grade after two progressive performances this term. The only time he’s tried as far as three miles was when unseating at the last in the 2016 Albert Bartlett, while politely keeping on in a dispute for fifth about six lengths adrift of Unowhatimeanharry.
He's not the biggest and so may not be suited by either Cheltenham or Aintree's Melling Chase. With Elliott further ahead in the Irish trainers' championship this year than 12 months ago when it turned out such a close-run thing, Mullins wouldn’t need an excuse to hold Bachasson back for Punchestown. I suspect that would be the right thing to do, as it happens.
In other news, trainer Mark Bradstock says 2015 winner Coneygree – last seen pulling up in the Ladbrokes Trophy – has recovered quickly enough from his wind operation for Cheltenham’s Cotswold Chase or Newbury's Denman Chase to be realistic targets.
It was good to see Saphir Du Rheu entered, given last year's fifth was a career-best, but he hasn't been sighted since falling before halfway in last season's National. He was also briefly said to be the Gold Cup mount of Bryony Frost by owner Andy Stewart until Nicholls corrected the "misunderstanding" and stated Sam Twiston-Davies would keep the ride.
Other notable entries include National favourite Blaklion, whose early-season progress may have convinced connections to consider the Gold Cup en route to Aintree – after all, there are four weeks between the two events in 2018 – and Mala Beach, who won a Navan handicap off an Irish mark of 148 last November but hasn’t run since, suggesting Liverpool is also on his horizon (or else there’s been a problem).
The latter horse has about stone to find on an at-his-best Sizing John or Might Bite and trainer Elliott has made reference to his need for testing ground throughout his career. That raises doubts for either Cheltenham or Aintree.
Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
"Yorkhill isn’t the droid you are looking for," said Willie Mullins, fixing his eyes on those assembled at his yard for the Dublin Racing Festival's press morning and subtly waving three fingers of his raised left hand towards them.
"I never thought he was a Gold Cup horse and from day one I said that. You can go about your business. Move along."
The force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded but unfortunately it doesn’t appear to work so well on search engines.
To be hyper-fair to Mullins, if you inject scepticism into such statements as "he looks like either a Champion Hurdle horse or a Gold Cup horse" – an oddly binary assertion, as discussed previously – then an internet trawl reveals Ruby Walsh to be the more adamant advocate for Yorkhill pursuing a Gold Cup agenda.
Walsh, it must always be remembered in such scenarios, will acknowledge (if pushed) that even he can't ride two horses at once and way back when he was saying Gold Cup, he had Faugheen for the Champion Hurdle and Douvan for the Champion Chase...
Yet even in his latest Racing UK column, Walsh still didn't appear to be jumping up and down with delight at Mullins' new plan – even if the doctors say his tibia could now withstand it. "The Champion Chase will be a huge drop back in trip for [Yorkhill] and a very different experience," he said.
"He has won a two-mile beginners' chase but that does not shed any light on whether he will be able to compete at Grade One level at two miles. It will be a different ball game for him. Tolworth Hurdle winners tend to be stayers rather than speed horses but to win a Champion Chase you have to have stamina as well.
"He was brilliant when winning the JLT Novices' Chase in March, he was brilliant in the Ballymore Hurdle the previous year and we know he handles Cheltenham. Ultimately if he arrives in the Champion Chase, he will be a brilliant ride – he is a very good horse."
To return to Mullins' Jedi mind trick, even this week he still wasn't asserting that Yorkhill was always definitely a Champion Chase horse.
"I thought he was a Champion Hurdle horse," he implanted. "He's a hard horse to ride over two miles, so how can you ride him over 3m2f at Cheltenham? If we think he's near Champion Hurdle class and with the way he jumps fences, it is very possible he is a Champion Chase horse."
Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase - Sky Bet prices (non-runner/no bet)
Evs Altior
7/2 Douvan, Politologue, Yorkhill
4 Min
6 Fox Norton, Un De Sceaux
7 Waiting Patiently
8 Bar
It has already been odd to analyse from afar this horse's nebulous campaign for the past three seasons, especially if his trainer now asserts that he's ideally suited to a race he could have contested last season or this. (Of course, a 2018 Champion Hurdle entry this week means he could yet – he's entered in the Irish Champion Hurdle as well as the Dublin Chase already.)
The question has to be: at eight years of age now, why hasn't Yorkhill yet run in the Champion Hurdle? Differing views on his ergon within the Closutton camp or juggling the demands of training a clutch of very good horses for high-profile owners? A confusing mash-up of both?
Whatever, the latest position is Yorkhill taking the non-binary option of the Queen Mother Champion Chase so therefore – and typically for this yard – that could well have a domino effect on where his stablemates are pointed. The difference is this time it seems Yorkhill is calling the shots.
To me this suggests several things in plain sight: Mullins deems Douvan very unlikely to make Cheltenham, Min has not wowed him and he would prefer not to switch a horse with such a singular approach to jumping as Yorkhill from fences to hurdles with less than eight weeks to go.
On Douvan, the press morning only served to confirm that view. "He’s back cantering and we’re just going to do that for a few week and see how he progresses. There is little chance of getting him back for Cheltenham, but I’m not going to say any more than that for now," said Mullins.
On Min, Mullins was merely ticking the most immediate advertorial boxes. "He is in great shape and came out of his run at Christmas well. I'm looking forward to getting him to the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown," he stated.
That means Yorkhill and Min could clash next month in Leopardstown’s 2m1f Grade Two, probably enabling Mullins to decide whether to shunt one of them – at this stage, sadly for this column's Champion Chase bet, the prime candidate is obviously the latter – to the Ryanair. Or the Champion Hurdle, in which Min, too, is now engaged...
(The wildcard scenario is whether "kicking on" with Faugheen for the Irish Champion Hurdle implodes any Cheltenham plans for that horse, leaving Mullins again playing short-suited in the division he once dominated and yet for which he says he holds at least one alternative trump card. More on that later.)
If Yorkhill does pitch up here, as most recently advertised, it makes for a much deeper-looking Champion Chase than once appeared the case when Altior was first sidelined and Douvan initially ruled out. That makes the 5/4 (and shorter) NRNB about the favourite – or 7/4 on ante-post terms – even less appetising than it did last week.
Incidentally, Paul Jones had a good thought in his weekly updates for Cheltenham this week: namely that Paul Nicholls is expecting Henderson to blink first for the Game Spirit and opt instead – gasp – for a racecourse gallop for Altior rather than risk a hard comeback race against Politologue. "I think this is a nice little game of chess that Nicholls is playing," he wrote.
They could both be right and the evidence can be found in Henderson's latest indication that this weekend's planned exercise is a crucial stage in determining whether Altior will be ready to race at Newbury following his "minor" breathing operation – or merely turn up and gallop instead.
"He’ll be stepping up this weekend to the point where I suspect I’ll nearly know whether I’ll hear a noise," he said. "He never made a noise before and wouldn’t be making a noise where he is now [in his work] but we're nearly getting to the point where he was making one [in November].
"Newbury could still be on the agenda. No promises but one thing I would think he'd be doing is coming here for a gallop because he's probably going to need two racecourse gallops and the timing would be perfect for the first one."
Incidentally, apparently the Game Spirit has been renamed the Betfair Exchange Chase. Good luck with that evocative name catching on widely and replacing that of the Queen Mother's prolific chaser. I thought racing was growing out of devaluing its own coin by happily giving up its touchstones of tradition at the drop of a pound, but seemingly not.
In terms of action, news from this front was scant in the past week aside from ten-year-old Doctor Phoenix producing a career-best performance on his fourth start for Gordon Elliott when winning a Fairyhouse 2m1f handicap by nine lengths from an Irish mark of 146.
That makes him a fringe player here and his trainer didn't appear enthused by the prospect of running him in this Grade One. Indeed, with only A Toi Phil and Ball D'Arc to otherwise speak of, none of his five entries look up to snuff.
“The owners wanted [Doctor Phoenix] entered for the Champion Chase, so we put him in it but we’ll wait and see. Maybe a conditions races in Ireland might suit him better,” Elliott said.
This was an odd little race, with another Champion Chase entry Acapella Bourgeois (also in the Ryanair and Gold Cup) going off favourite on his third outing for Mullins since leaving Sandra Hughes and his first-ever start at so short a trip – and despite always looking a one-dimensional galloper in the past. He pulled up and was reported to have broken blood vessels.
There were further footnotes for other optimistic Queen Mum entrants in this event. Polidam – previously a nine-length conqueror of stablemate Acapella Bourgeois in receipt of 12lbs – also missed the race due to lameness. The Elliott-trained The Game Changer was tailed off and stable companion Tell Us More cried off on veterinary advice.
(For those interested in Elliott's Cause Of Causes to win for a fourth consecutive year at the Festival by defending his Cross Country crown, he was also withdrawn on the day after running a temperature – meaning he has missed his last two intended starts.)
Rounding up the other unlikely candidates for this event, Valdez was a blast from the past. He won the Grade Two Lightning Novices' Chase back in 2014 before finishing fifth behind Western Warhorse in the Arkle – a race that must be mentioned in public at least once a year to check it wasn’t a mass hallucination. This entry suggests that, now 11 years of age, Valdez may soon make a welcome return to action after more than three year on the sidelines.
Last year's Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase winner Tully East – who shaped well in the BevtVictor Gold Cup last November – also merited an entry here but is surely more likely to head for the Plate or, preferably, the Grand Annual.
The very lightly raced Rich Ricci-owned American Tom is also engaged here and could run for the first time since November at Thurles this weekend, whereas stablemate Great Field was the subject of a holding report at Mullins' press morning – "coming long nicely… could make it back to Cheltenham… we'll have to wait and see."
Interestingly, Charbel – who was trying to put up a fight to Altior when falling at the penultimate flight in last term's Arkle – has not been handed a Ryanair option and trainer Kim Bailey has reportedly indicated his next start will be here. Cheekpieces sparked a form revival behind Politologue last time, even if more is required.
By contrast, the potential addition of Yorkhill to this line-up could conclusively send last year's runner-up Fox Norton packing to the Ryanair, where I’ll also discuss recent Kempton winner Waiting Patiently and third-placed God’s Own – both also engaged here. At the time of writing, the last-named is still entered in Saturday’s Clarence House Chase.
Ryanair Chase
I've positioned Waiting Patiently in this section even though he didn't look short of pace when winning Kempton's feature Listed Chase last Saturday and trainer Malcolm Jefferson has suggested in the past that he favours a two-mile trip for this unbeaten chaser.
However, in the wake of best performance yet, his daughter and assistant Ruth stated that "you wouldn't be afraid to run him at two miles if the ground came up heavy – he's not slow." That suggests – freak March weather aside – that the Ryanair is the more likely engagement than the Champion Chase.
If it is the longer race, next month's Grade One Ascot Chase could be the likeliest stepping stone but the Jeffersons will also consider taking on Politologue in the Game Spirit. Waiting Patiently already holds one count over the Nicholls-trained grey from Haydock last January – albeit admittedly over 2m4f, a trip that stretches the vanquished horse.
"If you were thinking of dropping back for the Champion Chase, you'd like to run him at two miles before that to make sure he has the speed for that but he looks as though he does," explained Ruth.
"But the weather will dictate what we do more than anything. He wants good-to-soft or soft ground and we wouldn’t run him if we didn’t get it."
So it would appear Ruth takes after her father in finding the charms of Cheltenham entirely resistible but it was no worse than good-to-soft ground at Kempton and Cheltenham's watering policy these days should mean that the threat of fast-ish ground is a thing of the past.
Waiting Patiently was surely advantaged by eventual runner-up Art Mauresque taking on Josses Hill for the lead from an early stage, frequently out-jumping him, and that God's Own also joined in the siege from the fourth last.
After a brief shake to check what he had under the saddle, that allowed Brian Hughes to stalk these battlers into the straight and cruise into the lead after the second last. The winner did look pretty good in these ideal circumstances and has an alluringly efficient jump in him. The time was good.
I can understand those who point to Art Mauresque and doubt the form – and to the extent that the runner-up clearly prefers racing left-handed and helped force a strong pace, the margin of success is exaggerated. But that horse is also capable of decent form on a going day and, given he was fresh, I think that happened here.
I've read reports that third-placed God’s Own very much needed the run on his first start since October and that would explain his tame finishing effort in the straight after looking dangerous when perhaps pressing on a shade early.
Runner-up to Un De Sceaux in the 2015 Arkle, he's since twice been comfortably held in the Champion Chase – albeit a sizeable mistake two out exaggerated matters last year. He won the 2016 Grade One Melling Chase over 2m4f at flat Aintree, so perhaps connections might try the Ryanair for size this year.
Ryanair Chase - Sky Bet prices (non-runner/no bet)
3 Un De Sceaux
4 Yorkhill
5 Dovan, Fox Norton, Top Notch
6 Min, Waiting Patiently
8 Bar
At the time of writing, he could also be set for a quick reappearance in the 2m1f Clarence House Chase this Saturday. Connections have long considered him at his best racing right-handed.
Back in fourth, the gallant Smad Place looks to be on the downgrade but he still kept on past Josses Hill, for whom this was a retrograde step after his encouraging Peterborough Chase second to stablemate Top Notch.
Turning to the entries, titleholder Un De Sceaux heads Willie Mullins' offering of 14 horses, is reported "in great shape" and this Saturday faces what I think will be a serious test against the novice Brain Power at Ascot.
Chief among his 13 stable companions for this event are Min – for whom this is one of two potential switches – and, predictably, Douvan, who's now been instated in this market more widely. Were it not for the serious injury he incurred two seasons ago, I'd like the 20/1 about Killultagh Vic, whom I believe is an intrinsically better horse than Bachasson.
Of the remaining Closutton massive engaged, Bellshill catches the eye given he's been off games since being comprehensively outclassed and outpaced by Might Bite when third in last season's RSA Chase. I've read nothing in the Cistercian dispatches about him, however, and he holds no sooner entries.
Gigginstown have a flock of eight entrants for ‘their’ race, none of whom hold this entry solely. Those who have backed Road To Respect for the Ryanair get an unexpected chance for him to prove a thorough stamina test is not what he wants via running in the Irish Gold Cup.
Tully East is also in this race, along with the horse who chased him home at the Festival last year – the progressive Henderson-trained Gold Present, earmarked as a potential National type by Nico de Boinville after his latest Ascot win and also in Doncaster's Sky Bet Chase later this month.
Unibet Champion Hurdle
Faugheen remains on course for next month's Irish Champion Hurdle despite – perhaps rather than 'because' in his singular case – even his most recently supplied test results coming back "fine". Given the lack of veterinary answers, Mullins has vaguely speculated "something must have choked him on the day – or something like that."
“We've been minding him since the Ryanair Hurdle and give him a little rest," he said. "Last week we started him back slow cantering and then gave him a couple of longer slow canters. The next step for him is to go up a gear and do a bit of fast work with him this week. If that goes well, I can't see why we can't kick on."
Even if Faugheen gets there, he's unlikely to face Buveur D’Air. Henderson describes his entry in the Leopardstown Grade One as "just a precaution" and intends to again target Sandown's Contenders' Hurdle next month.
But he could potentially take on stable companion Melon, a promising third behind My Tent Or Yours on his first start outside of novice company back in December and only his fifth spin over hurdles overall. However, Mullins has confessed to what appears to be a minor hiccup.
"The hope is to get Melon to the Irish Champion Hurdle," he said on Monday. "He didn’t ride out this morning as he had a small foot issue but he should be back riding out tomorrow."
He's doing better than Cilaos Emery, who wasn't among the 23 horses signed up this week for the Unibet Champion Hurdle after suffering a stress fracture when second to Mick Jazz in the Ryanair Hurdle. Mullins suspects he'll miss Leopardstown as well but hopes to get him back for the Punchestown Festival – a long-shot, surely.
If Faugheen blows out, Mullins has given himself permutations with the two horses I described as potential "brake-screeching code-switchers" three Roads ago. Of course, Yorkhill is contractually obliged to be entered here but Min has indeed also been chucked in the mix – and was yesterday's big market contractor as a result.
He did beat Buveur D'Air when second to Altior in the 2016 Supreme albeit admittedly better positioned but clumsier of hurdle than the now Champion Hurdle titleholder and said to have "got hurt" by owner Rich Ricci.
I can't quite work out whether Min's presence here is more of an adverse sign for him or Faugheen – or whether the Closutton team merely prefer his chances re-opposing Buveur D'Air than they do Altior, as previously discussed, and want to have the option of a Ricci-for-Ricci substitute.
Unibet Champion Hurdle - Sky Bet prices (non-runner/no bet)
That said, this might just prove hot air as Mullins entered a fistful of live options for this event last year yet still only ran Footpad and Wicklow Brave, the latter having been signed up again.
Henderson has got five potential darts himself including recent impressive Sandown winner Call Me Lord, who – as flagged last week and also trimmed in the betting yesterday – is going to be given the chance to prove his trainer wrong about needing right-handed tracks by first taking in the Betfair Hurdle.
"We changed a few gadgets tack-wise [at Sandown] and Nico said he was as straight as a die, so if we have solved his tendency to hang, we’ve definitely opened our options up a bit. We will obviously learn more after Newbury," Henderson observed in his Unibet blog.
Also entered in both races are the lurker Charli Parcs and the mare Verdana Blue. The old bones of triple Champion Hurdle runner-up My Tent Or Yours are reported to have "fully recovered" after his fine International success and, given he has such a strong record fresh, he heads straight to Cheltenham.
In further entry news, Apple’s Jade received the first of no doubt a full set of three Festival Grade One hurdles entries. Henry de Bromhead perhaps provided the most intrigue by engaging both Identity Thief – who unraveled as a novice chaser last season, suffered a setback and then failed to recover his old hurdling form – and French recruit Arcenfete.
Whereas the former surely revealed himself to be a notch below Champion Hurdle class when sixth to Annie Power two seasons ago, the latter is utterly unexposed after winning his sole start at Auteuil two Junes ago. He may make his Irish debut against his stablemate at Naas towards the end of the month.
“Arcenfete is just coming back and seems nice,” said de Bromhead. “It is only a very tentative entry in the Unibet Champion Hurdle. We felt it was better to have him in it than not.
Further interest is provided by the presence of Cliffs Of Dover, a six-time winner over hurdles as a juvenile last season and who missed the Triumph Hurdle after a training setback. It’s been more than 13 months since he was last seen on a racecourse, so it’s good to know he’s on the way back.
He’s got a Betfair Hurdle entry, as has Triumph Hurdle winner Defi Du Seuil, who would be suited by a strongly run race and therefore faces the perfect test of his Champion Hurdle credentials, and fellow second-season hurdler Moon Racer, pulled up in this event last year.
Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle
Entries for this race are revealed today and there is little more to say about this division – except to note that Penhill's prospects of making the date have gone from "back in training and in great form" last week to “fine and will hopefully make the Cheltenham Festival” this week.
OLBG Mares' Hurdle
Entries for this race are also revealed today. Otherwise, there is further news from the Closutton Trappists: Benie Des Dieux, widely trimmed for this race to joint-second or third favourite by the NRNB firms following negative dispatches about more lauded stablemates, has also suffered a setback.
"She pulled a muscle before Christmas and missed her intended engagement but will hopefully be back soon,” Mullins said. “She might make the Dublin Racing Festival but we’ll wait and see."
Vroum Vroum Mag also merited mention at the press morning but although Mullins' lips moved, nothing tangible was said. "She's in training but we haven't decided whether to cover her or race on for the rest of the season. It’s 50/50 at the minute," he reported.
Novice chasers
Having impressed with his jumping when winning a beginners' chase at Navan last month, Invitation Only simply impressed when winning a Punchestown Grade Three last Saturday. It seems strange to recall that he fell on his debut at this track.
Joined at the fore by Mossbank at the outset, he soon grasped the outright under an increasingly attacking ride from David Mullins and had all five rivals in trouble turning for home before being allowed to take his time at the last and then galloping on strongly to the line.
Well-regarded last season – Ruby Walsh reported in his Racing UK column that the Mullins camp were disappointed when he was beaten by Death Duty – his campaign ended tamely but he's now steadily improving as a novice chaser.
Walsh judges that Mullins will pick this horse's Cheltenham battle nearer the time – the RSA or JLT, "which race looks weakest" – but I'd prefer him in the former contest on this evidence. Bookmakers were surprisingly unimpressed and you can still get a very reasonable 12/1 under ante-post terms.
He makes more appeal at this stage – for different reasons – than at least three of the four horses shorter than him in the RSA market: favourite Monalee because he fell last time and has only recently returned to easy exercise after being sore, recent Kempton winner Fountains Windfall because of his guessy jumping and Yanworth on various much-discussed levels.
You can even argue Presenting Percy – this column's selection for the race – is not a certain runner but I guess the same applies to Invitation Only. The latter must also prove himself at Cheltenham and on a sounder surface at that level; that said, I expect him to do so and regard him to be a proper threat.
Back in second, lightly raced Koshari warmed to his jumping task as the race developed and stuck to his guns nicely without landing a blow on the winner. The Storyteller – a consistent and likeable horse – might well have beaten him, without troubling Invitation Only, had he not blundered at the second last when still travelling relatively well.
Back in fifth, Mall Dini again caught the eye for something like the Kim Muir, in which he was fifth last term – or, once the Grand National weights are out, even the NH Chase. Trainer Patrick Kelly has options, as with Presenting Percy.
It was a relief to see Fountain Windfall complete at Kempton that same day after falling on his last two starts, the latest when three lengths up at the fourth last in the Grade One Kauto Star – albeit that was an appreciable way out in a race staged at helter-skelter pace.
This time, he clearly appreciated the drop to handicap company and also racing against more experienced but exposed rivals at that. In that context, he was able to lead at his own pace and measure his fences more easily. He got in close and brushed through one or two obstacles but this was a sound round of jumping.
He won on the bridle on a mark of 146 and while that speaks of his ability, matching his ability to date with that of Presenting Percy, it does not prove his ability to jump safely at Grade One pace – something he'd need to achieve in the RSA Chase. It may well be that his technique has improved but until I see further proof that his guessing is a thing of the past, he's not for me at 7/1.
By contrast, jockey Sean Bowen was full of praise for Ms Parfois's jumping after she readily accounted for Duel At Dawn in Warwick's three-mile novices' Listed chase in the style of a thorough stayer.
The runner-up had taken on and dispensed with long-time leader Flintham – who was ultimately disappointingly tailed off – from the sixth last, but the winner could be seen merrily stalking him as they turned for home. She led at the second last and then stayed on strongly.
From the sound of things, however, she’s unlikely to throw her hat into the NH Chase ring. “She’s a serious jumper – you don’t see many mares with an asset like that,” said trainer Anthony Honeyball.
“If it was soft ground, I’d be all over the four-miler but if it was watered good-to-soft ground at Cheltenham, I would not go near it. She’s a big, heavy-topped horse and next season will be exciting. We’ll have to have a go at some serious handicap chases.”
At Fairyhouse the next day, Saturnas got the better of De Plotting Shed in a 2m1f beginners’ chase that developed into a race-long duel after they had dispensed with the similarly positively ridden Light That at the third last.
There, that horse made a mistake, became unbalanced and caused Robbie Power to lose his iron briefly. The runner-up then got the better jump at the second last but, switched right, Saturnas joined him at the last and was driven out for a length-and-a-quarter success.
Saturnas was a Grade One winner as a novice hurdler two Christmases ago but only once made the racecourse after that – a tame effort at Leopardstown last February. This demonstrated a good amount of improvement on just his second start over fences, as well as a good head carriage, and Mullins concluded a step up in trip is in order.
Earlier in the week at Huntingdon, French recruit Terrefort made a ten-length winning UK debut for new trainer Henderson in a novices' chase – a good enough performance on the eye and the clock to raise his rating beyond the 145 ceiling for the Close Brothers’ Novices’ Chase.
He could therefore be JLT-bound, although his next appearance is likely to be in Grade Two company at Haydock – according to Anthony Bromley, racing manager to owners Munir and Souede.
Finally in terms of action, Mount Mews made an excellent start to his chasing career when seeing off two rivals in ready fashion at Doncaster last week. There’s “nothing special” in mind for this horse according to Mick Meagher, racing manager to owner Trevor Hemmings, even though this horse was good enough to finish second to Pingshou in the Grade One Top Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree last April. That rings true – trainer Malcolm Jefferson doesn’t consider the Festival un-missable with a novice.
In other news, Footpad was predictably not entered in the Champion Chase – Mullins like to keep novices to novice company – and owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede have since confirmed that he will take on Sceau Royal in the Arkle.
Thanks to various Twitter correspondents for eventually resolving that Walsh, if fit, would ride Footpad with Daryl Jacob partnering Sceau Royal – as has been the arrangement for the past two Festivals. In the meantime, Footpad faces stablemate Demi Sang in the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown next month.
Henderson usually likes to keep novices with their own, too, but has been known to break his own rule with a good one – both Sprinter Sacre and Altior took in the Game Spirit en route to the Arkle. Seeking a strong pace, his trainer has confirmed plans to pitch Brain Power against Un De Sceaux in open Grade One company at Ascot this Saturday – a move he himself described as most “un-Henderson-like” reasoning.
This horse has been battered in to a best-priced 11/4 so I hope you took the 12/1 (or widely available 10/1) as advised here last week. Looking at that market now, at 25/1 Cyrname looks over-priced given he jumps so well and performed strongly on the clock (nuances notwithstanding) compared with Politologue at Kempton over Christmas.
Nico de Boinville replaces David Mullins on Brain Power, the latter clearly carrying the can for forcing the pace too hard in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown last time which ended with him being unshipped at the second last – a performance far better than the horse was literally able to show.
“Nicky [Henderson] would like to give Nico a whirl on the horse and I’m happy to go along with that,” said Brain Power’s owner, Michael Buckley. “Things didn’t seem to go very well last time at Sandown, so we thought we’d have a change for this race. Nico has schooled the horse and they seem to have got on very well.”
Buckley went on to report that Henderson had been bursting to tell him how well the horse had been schooling when he attended the trainer's wedding last Saturday. "Almost the first words out of his mouth were, 'Boy you should have seen Brain Power schooling yesterday...'"
Cheers to the word "almost" and understanding spouses.
Novice hurdlers
Getabird gets the five-star badge this week after winning the Grade Two Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novices’ Hurdle in impressive fashion. This is the race Mullins has claimed for owner Rich Ricci in the past with Mikael D’Haguenet, Vautour and Douvan before they all went on to triumph at the Festival.
It no doubt helped that jockey Patrick Mullins nicked a four-length lead from the outset, enabling him to control the pace from the front, but he also jumped well – better than on his debut at Punchestown previously – and showed a striking turn of foot to surge away from the last.
Mengli Khan, who'd disgraced himself by running out last time, was attempting to concede 6lbs to the winner and tried to lay down a challenge from the second last but he was already held when getting the final hurdle wrong.
There were nine lengths between them at the line, even though Mullins steadied the winner into the last to ensure he got it right. No doubt trainer Elliott will take the winner on again in the Supreme – perhaps with some headgear – but surely with little confidence of reversing the form. Mengli Khan’s revised price of 20/1 underestimates his chances of hitting a place, however, as horses beaten in key trials often are.
Beforehand, Mullins senior and Ruby Walsh had both deemed Getabird to be a Ballymore type but the gears he showed here catapults him to the top of the Supreme tree – as reflected by his position as the new 3/1 favourite – and it sounds as though he'll head straight there without a further prep.
At his press morning, Mullins did not hide his delight with this latest success: "He did way more than I expected him to," he admitted. "I was worried I was running him in the wrong race but we said we'd take a chance and it worked out. He came right back to and probably beyond what we'd thought of him as a bumper horse. We were all amazed at the speed he showed away from the final hurdle. It was a really good performance."
That leaves Sharjah – who fell alongside but independently of his stable companion Real Steel at the last when looking likely to win the Grade One Paddy Power Future Champion Novice Hurdle last month – playing second fiddle to Getabird in the Supreme because he, too, shapes like a two-miler.
Mullins reported both fallers are "fine" and was inclined to blame the low sun in retrospect for their ill luck. He said they could re-oppose in next month’s Deloitte Novices' Hurdle at Leopardstown because "they could both do with more experience."
The yard also has Next Destination, who now looks like their leading contender for the Ballymore. Mullins says he's trying to decide whether to send him straight there or else take in Leopardstown, probably favouring the former option.
His trainer was also rightly impressed with third-placed Duc Des Genievres, observing: "He travelled well through the race and I’;m not sure which way I’m going with him in terms of trip. It might be too tough an ask for him to drop to two miles and take on sharper horses.
“He looked like he should be able to do it based on the last day but that was over a longer trip off a steady enough pace. Moving up a gear at championship pace will be a different story, so he might be as well off sticking to longer trips.”
A top price of 20/1 for the Ballymore looks on the generous side for him. In other news for that target, Samcro – who’s missed his last two intended starts – got an entry in the Irish Champion Hurdle (as befits a horse attended by such towering yak) and Henderson reports On The Blind Side goes straight there due to knocking himself prior to his intended start in the Challow.
"He’s on the move now although won’t be quite ready in time for Festival Trials day,” he reported via his Unibet blog.
Henderson also has a decent horse in the form of Mr Whipped, who won Warwick’s Grade Two Ballymore Leamington Hurdle last Saturday. There was much to like about this performance: jumping soundly behind the leaders and travelling strongly, he was confidently ridden by de Boinville to surge into the lead after being mildly inconvenienced at the second last. He then proceeded to idle but found more when asked to repel the rallying Paisley Park.
The runner-up shaped like a straightforward Albert Bartlett horse, having got outpaced and therefore under pressure at his obstacles, but the winner appeared a shade swifter than that.
Finally, Harry Fry has announced that If The Cap Fits heads straight for the Supreme while Debuchet remains in the hands of Mag Mullins and has not transferred to Willie, as a typo in a press release caused many to wonder.
Juvenile hurdlers
Redicean ran away with what was surely a relatively ordinary juvenile hurdle at Kempton last Saturday. The time was nothing special and his hurdling was poor yet he is now best priced at 10/1 for the Triumph Hurdle.
There is no doubting he was a different gear to his opponents – including Kapdad, who’d previously run the winner’s stable companion Nayati much closer off level weights at Newbury. Here, Redicean was conceding him 6lbs and scooted clear from approaching the final hurdle to win by more than ten lengths. Yet there wasn’t really one hurdle that Redicean negotiated cleanly.
That said, I could see trainer Alan King arguing with some validity that this horse would jump better in a strongly run race like the Triumph. The other horses frequently got in his way while he was held up in the pack, although it would be too kind to explain away all of his errors that way. He seems short enough.
Esprit De Somaza took a huge step forward on just his second-ever start when winning the Chatteris fen at Huntingdon last Friday, even if Style De Garde and Gumball softened each other up for attack by a more patiently ridden rival by going at it a long way out in sapping ground.
The winner had merited a mention in the fourth Road of this series despite being beaten 24 lengths by subsequent Grade One runner-up Sussex Ranger: "For a horse making his racecourse debut – and looking like it in his paddock demeanour – there was plenty to like about the tall Esprit De Somoza.”
Winning rider Lizzie Kelly commented: “He was a little outpaced down the back but he just keeps galloping. He can travel at that good two-mile pace and quicken off it as well – not many of our juveniles would be that precocious.
"They did go hard in front but it’s probably because they thought it was a two-horse race, which it looked like on paper. I was very pleased with how he kept finding and he came away from them well. [The Triumph] is definitely in the notebook and look at him – he’s bloody gorgeous.”
Heading to the Triumph with such a raw horse is no longer the debar to success it once was in the pre-Fred Winter days. Esprit De Somaza will need to sharpen up his jumping but there his trajectory should not be doubted – even if this victory flatters him.
Last seen in November when brushed aside by Apple’s Shakira, Gumball emerges with great credit for his attitude, battling back for a narrow second after dropping back to fourth after the final flight.
Previously a comfortable Newbury winner, Style De Garde was too free when unchallenged on the lead and de Boinville also enjoined in battle with Richard Johnson exiting the back straight. They were both already tiring as they approached the second-last hurdle.
That enabled the keen mare Aiguilee Rouge to be the first to threaten in the straight, having sat closer to the battling pair, but all three were ultimately left behind by upwards of five lengths by the strong-finishing winner.
While it would be foolish to take this form literally, the first four home remain of interest. Even Style De Garde still stuck to his guns rather better than you might have thought given the way the race panned out.
Over in Ireland, Mitchouka was back in the winner’s enclosure after twice chasing home Espoir D’Allen in better company. At Fairyhouse, This Elliott-trained juvenile accounted for the far less experienced Veneer Of Charm by eight lengths and could try to emulate the stable’s Flaxen Flare in 2013 by winning the Fred Winter.
Henderson has issued a positive bulletin about We Have A Dream after his “very impressive” victory in the Grade One Finale Hurdle and suggested his next start is likely to be in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton next month. A “speculative” entry for the Supreme is likely but the Triumph remains the plan, according to his Unibet blog.
Meanwhile, ante-post favourite Apple’s Shakira heads to Cheltenham for Trials’ Day and also remains Triumph-bound, with her trainer citing the mares Countister and Dame De Compagnie as more likely Dawn Run candidates in his mind.
Speaking of fillies, Mullins was notably complimentary about runaway Fairyhouse winer Stormy Ireland during his press morning. “She was very, very impressive,” he said. “I don’t know what the race was like in terms of depth but she couldn’t have done any more. She has set a fairly high bar, I think.
“She has been very good since. She’s an incredible filly really. I tried to give her a little break after Fairyhouse but after two or three days she bucked off her rider! She’s not the biggest filly but she’s very high energy. She looks my top juvenile at the minute.”
Stormy Ireland is set to represent her yard, alongside stablemate and decisive Leopardstown victor, Mr Adjudicator, in Leopardstown’s Grade One Spring Juvenile Hurdle next month where they would both encounter the unbeaten Espoir D’Allen.
Selections
Advised 30/11/17: Min 8/1 Champion Chase with Paddy Power/Betfair
Advised 06/12/17: Supasundae 20/1 Stayers’ Hurdle with Bet365 and Paddy Power/Betfair
Advised 06/12/17: Mengli Khan 15/2 for the Supreme with Betfair
Advised 13/12/17: On The Blind Side 10/1 each-way for the Ballymore with various firms
Advised 31/12/17: Let’s Dance 12/1 each-way for the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle with William Hill
Advised 31/12/17: Presenting Percy 8/1 for the RSA Chase with BetVictor, BetFred, Boylesports or Stan James
Advised 05/01/18: Apple’s Jade 100/30 NRNB for the Stayers’ Hurdle with Betfair Sportsbook
Advised 05/01/18: Poetic Rhythm 25/1 each-way for the Albert Bartlett with William Hill, Paddy Power of Betfair Sportsbook
Advised 09/01/18: Minella Rocco 20/1 each-way for the Gold Cup with various firms
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