Timeform analyst Phil Turner kicks off his new column with reflections of autumn scorers Haiti Couleurs, Pic d’Orhy and Kala Conti plus the state of the ground and omission of fences.
Welcome to autumn in the UK - the Labour government says we’ve run out of money, Israelis and Palestinians are at loggerheads, a controversial politician is regularly in the news venting about immigration, whilst a plethora of jumps fixtures are being cancelled due to a dry summer wreaking havoc with the ground.
The autumn in question is actually 1976, though its eerie similarities with 2026 lends some credence to the theory by German philosopher Karl Marx that “history repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce."
Fifty years ago this weekend saw Cheltenham’s flagship autumn race, the Mackeson Gold Cup (now Paddy Power Gold Cup), having to be staged at Haydock due to the Gloucestershire track still being deemed unfit for racing as a result of that summer’s drought – in fact, jumping fans had to wait until New Year’s Eve for the first racing to take place in Cheltenham in 1976/77 after its next planned fixture was lost to frost!
Half a century on and another Merseyside venue has stepped into the breach, with Aintree the new home for this week’s “West Country Weekend” after both Exeter and Wincanton were declared unraceable due to the prolonged dry spell.
Fortunately, last weekend’s Charlie Hall meeting at Wetherby survived the clement weather, though a paltry thirty-five runners across seven races (the smallest turnout since just thirty-three made up the card in 2018) was a further illustration that trainers are reticent about running their better winter horses until the ground eases.
As a result, it was a distinctly substandard renewal of the Charlie Hall Chase, with Pic d’Orhy (c163) landing the odds with ease despite running some 10 lb below the level he ran to when runner-up in the 2025 renewal, the proximity of his topically-named stable-companion Riskintheground (c147) in third clearly limiting the view that can be taken of the form.
That said, the manner in which Pic d’Orhy went through the race on the back of a much-publicised stable switch from Paul Nicholls to Dan Skelton suggests he retains all of the ability which saw him push Jonbon (c167) so close in last season’s Ascot Chase. In addition, it’s worth remembering that another ex-Nicholls veteran Al Ferof was able to maintain a very high level of form after being switched to Skelton for the final campaign of his career.
There were two ground-related non runners at Wetherby on Saturday, though that pales into significance compared to the rumpus at Down Royal that afternoon, which saw no less 20 horses withdrawn due to “unsuitable ground” – which followed on from 19 non runners there on Friday.
Gordon Elliott was a particularly vocal critic of the ground, complaining that a lack of watering by Down Royal during the build-up to the meeting had resulted in the course being caught out by rapidly-drying conditions. “We know this meeting is coming at the same time every year and we flagged it up weeks ago - They’ve the best watering system in the country here and, for me, it’s not good enough,” he said on Racing TV.
As it was, Elliott allowed his big-race hopeful Romeo Coolio (c160) to stand his ground in the Remembering Envoi Allen Champion Chase, but Henry de Bromhead and Noel Meade removed their leading fancies, Heart Wood (c166) and Affordale Fury (c165) respectively – both could now be rerouted for the Betfair Chase at Haydock later this month.
Meade was presumably keen to avoid a repeat of what happened with his dual Down Royal Champion Chase winner Road To Respect when encountering similarly controversial ground at Leopardstown – a narrow second in the 2019 Irish Gold Cup left its mark for the remainder of that season according to Meade (“destroyed his jumping – he wouldn’t let himself go in the shoulders”), whilst a leg injury sustained when finishing third in the Savills Chase later that year brought the gelding’s career to a premature end aged just eight.
“Horses get legs, but Road To Respect got it at Leopardstown on a track that wasn’t watered,” bemoaned the owner’s outspoken racing manager, Eddie O’Leary.
Injuries have, of course, long been an occupational hazard for jump racing’s participants, be they human or equine – Cancello, for example, was sidelined for over a year with a leg injury after winning the aforementioned 1976 Mackeson Gold Cup at Haydock.
However, such distrust in the accuracy of official going descriptions has been a long-standing bone of contention for racing professionals and punters alike, so it’s to be hoped there won’t be a repeat of what happened at Down Royal as the season progresses.
Ironically, Down Royal’s big race highlighted an even bigger weather-related issue for punters, namely the omission of fences due to low sun – both fences were omitted in the home straight, resulting in a much-reduced jumping test and an extended run-in of nearly five furlongs.
The reduced jumping test certainly favoured the winners either side of the big race. The clumsy Intense Approach (c125x) was finally able to exploit a lenient chase mark having been unplaced on his last seven starts over fences due to jumping frailties, whilst the diminutive Kala Conti (c143+) relished the lack of fences in the latter stages to claim a second win at Grade 2 level.
At first glance, the omission of fences would be a drawback for the notably-fluent Haiti Couleurs (c164) and he was sent off an easy-to-back 8/1 shot, punters presumably reasoning that a sharp three miles on lively ground would count against such an out-and-out stayer. However, the extended run-in suddenly brought stamina much more into play than is usually the case in this race and, with stand-in jockey Paul Townend alive to that fact, the ever-willing Haiti Couleurs gradually ground down Fleur In The Park (c161), Banbridge (c163) and Romeo Coolio despite coming off the bridle much earlier than that trio – significantly, all three of those rivals have largely shown their form over shorter trips than Haiti Couleurs has.
As that backdrop would suggest, the form has a muddling feel to it and there has to be a doubt whether the admirable Haiti Couleurs would have finished around five lengths clear of the placed pair (let alone beat them!) had the full quota of fences been in use.
Safety issues caused by low sun are clearly important, but surely it’s high time the BHA and Irish Turf Club looked into what policies can be introduced to improve the current situation – for example, postponing until late on the card – as Saturday’s races are just the latest in a long list of examples which have massively short-changed punters, who’ve arrived at their bets thinking the full quota of fences will be jumped and then been left with limited/no time to react after an eleventh-hour safety decision that fundamentally alters the test a race will provide.
It may even be time to consider abandoning a race should the number of omitted obstacles pass a certain threshold (eg: over 33% of quota due to be jumped), particularly if it involves sizeable fields having to slalom past dolled-off obstacles in limited space up the home straight.
James Bowen probably wouldn’t want to miss out on his riding fee as a result of that latter suggestion but he’s one jockey who feels a rethink on such issues is overdue, having broken his wrist in an eventful race at Bangor last week where he felt low sun played its part in over half the field failing to complete – as a result, a significant number of fences were omitted from the card’s two subsequent races.
At present jockeys rule on whether obstacles are omitted or not and Bowen is of the opinion that the decision should be taken out of their hands: “There are obvious conflicts of interest involved. If I’m riding a horse who isn’t a particularly good jumper, I’m probably going to favour taking fences out of the equation.
“Equally, if I’m on a horse who jumps brilliantly, removing obstacles might actually disadvantage me and affect its chances of winning. I think there needs to be somebody in a completely neutral position who can go down the track, assess the conditions and decide whether particular fences are safe to jump.”
Another rider in the wars is Brendan Powell, who broke a forearm in two places following a freakish spill at Plumpton on Monday and will miss the ride on stable star JPR One (c159) when he bids to repeat his 2024 win in the Haldon Gold Cup on Friday (Jonjo O’Neill Jr deputises). Fast ground holds no fears for the bold-jumping JPR One, who’ll arguably be suited by the switch of tracks given Aintree’s stiff fences could catch others out – provided all of those fences are jumped, of course.
Aintree’s Mildmay Course has had its share of low sun issues down the years, with several recent renewals of the Old Roan Chase blighted by omitted fences, whilst last season’s Boxing Day fixture saw some surprising results (notably an odds-on defeat for star novice hurdler Mydaddypaddy) after all of the obstacles in the home straight were dolled off in four races.
Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself there on Friday and Saturday, otherwise Marx’s prediction of a farce could well come true...
TIMEFORM ADJUSTED RATINGS FOR HALDON GOLD CUP
MIRABAD - 170
JPR ONE - 168
STENCIL - 167
RUBAUD – 164+
BROOKIE – 164+
DAYTIME DREAMING - 163
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results & free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS & Android app
- Football & other sports tips
- Podcasts & 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.
