Stuart Riley, writing in the Racing Post today, believes there is a case to be made about Cheltenham following Aintree and Epsom (Aintree National & Derby) and having 72-hour declarations for all races at the Festival. I think he makes a good argument for his point of view. For the sport to grow, marketing and publicity requires a precise narrative. While the many hundreds of articles were written on whether Fact To File should run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup or the Ryanair were not generated by the trainer or owner but by racing journalists themselves, it would have been helpful to those whose job it is to create interest in the Festival outside of those already invested in attending the meeting to be able to use Fact To File as a headline act to create attention. Prevarication is very unhelpful to those charged with the responsibility to get more bums...

Firstly I want to correct something that was said by several of the I.T.V. presenters yesterday. Rich Ricci, great bloke that he is, is not the first man to own both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup winners in the same year. Dorothy Paget, a woman even richer than Rich Ricci, owned both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup winner in 1933, with Insurance and Golden Miller, though back then it was not an achievement worth heralding as the Champion Hurdle was as much a novelty to racing people as the Cross-Country race was in its formative years.  Gallic Warrior was the easiest winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup since A Plus Tard. He was a magnificent sight, turning the most competitive Gold Cup in twenty-years into a procession of his brilliance, the brilliance of Paul Townend, now being talked about as being the best stable jockey Willie Mullins has ever...

When asked if Fact To File would run in the Ryanair, J.P. McManus said it was 70/30 that he would not. We can take from that 70/30 quote that not all members of the McManus and Mullins teams were in full agreement, otherwise J.P. could have answered 'unlikely' to the question. J.P. also said that his opinion overpowered whatever Willie Mullins was thinking and the hard line taken by Mullins in a subsequent press release might have been fuelled by the trainer having to concede to the owner's request for Fact To File to be withdrawn.  To all of us outside of Closutton, Willie Mullins comes across as mild-mannered, even if subject to over-riding the thoughts of his 'boardroom' if his intuition demands it. Yet to offer the threat of not bringing his best horses to the greatest race-meeting in the world if the ground conditions do not meet the requirements...

I never used to think about the Cheltenham Festival as a British v Irish clash and it did not really bother me the year British trainers only won 5 or was it 7-races. It was always the exciting yet simple pleasure of watching great horse, ridden by great jockeys and trained by great trainers at the greatest racecourse in the world. This year, though, I have become fully invested in the swings and roundabouts of the Prestbury Cup and became overly excited, after accepting that the Irish were about to win another race, when Martator sprouted wings after the last to spoil the Irish celebrations. I am no longer bound to the horses I have tipped for any race as all I want to see is British-trained winners. I think it is 8-6 to the visitors after the second day. All to play for. The stewards need to take into account...

If I were the owner of the horses I tipped yesterday I would be content. Sober Glory would have won bar the mistake at the last, Golden Ace probably ran as well yesterday as she did in winning last year; Downmexicoway ran a solid race behind a runaway winner and if I tipped anything in the last race I have forgotten all about it. Yes, Steel Ally was put in his box by far classier horses and in such company he wants a longer trip. I was right about Kargese, though, and if Romeo Coolio had run in the Arkle, I would have tipped her as my instinct after the D.R.F. was that she would get her revenge on him at Cheltenham, not so much that she would win an Arkle in which he did not appear. Given the opportunity, Lossiemouth at last proved herself at 2-miles. She won an ordinary...

The thing is this - I am disappointed by the ground at Cheltenham. Last week, given the weather symbols, I could not see the ground being anything other than softish not goodish. Well, you can throw the form-book out the window as it is not about horses that can handle soft ground but those who will improve for goodish ground. What I can predict with great confidence is this: the Supreme wil be won by one of the following; El Cairos, Leader D'Allier, Mighty Park, Mydaddypaddy, Old Park Star, Sober Glory or Talk The Talk. After long consideration I  have decided to remain loyal to Sober Glory, though I suspect the ground has gone against him. In one of many YouTube videos I have watched over the past two weeks the horse that knocked my eye out was Mydaddypaddy, he looked nothing short of magnificent. What of Mighty Park, the next...

As quoted in the Racing Post this morning, Richard Hoiles has criticised the Training Fees Credit Scheme as 'Money to Money' and he is correct in his thoughts. When I originally read the headline to this news-story, my reaction was that at last the B.H.A. were endorsing a scheme to help owners both pay their bills and to buy new stock. Bad on me for not being more thorough. This scheme only applies to Grade 1 races and is for only an unspecified 2-month period. As someone with expectations of his owners being in the running to take advantage of the £20,000 to winners or £10,000 to runners-up, it is no surprise to read that Paul Nicholls speaks highly of the scheme, whilst at the same time lambasting those who are critical of what they also see as 'money going to money.' I believe the B.H.A. have a long-term strategy in...

Today is International Women's Day. In general, I believe days dedicated to a single aspect of life - days in celebration of the sausage, for instance or historical novels - are a waste of everyone's time as though they may focus attention on a subject for a short time, life moves on a pace these days, while tomorrow is always a celebration of something else, something, doubtless, trivial or commercially orientated. That said, given the topic is given space in today's Racing Post, it does allow me another opportunity to chew on one of favoured bones of contention. There are two certainties in racing - the old adage of 'to win a small fortune at horse racing you need to start with a large fortune' and one that has just flashed across my mind. 'To be successful in horse racing you have to work your arse off.' On occasions, normally when...

Horses like Ballyburn fascinate me. To the punter, they are an enigma, even to those who side with 'going off a cliff' with them rather than abandon them as a lost cause just in case they bolt-up one day at 33/1. Remember, Willie Mullins, not one to call his geese swans, once said that Ballyburn could be the best horse ever trained at Closutton. If Ballyburn runs in the Stayers Hurdle on Thursday he could easily go off a 33/1 outsider, that is some fall from grace. Perhaps those at Closutton are aware of whatever ails Ballyburn, be it physical or mental. To my knowledge he never suffered a bad fall over fences and though he blundered at the last at Kempton behind Sir Gino, he jumped adequately up till then. So, something has gone amiss and I am intrigued to know what. Since returning Ballyburn to hurdles he remains a...

The concept of the Cheltenham Festival preview night, when it was first dreamed-up, was innovative and exciting, an entertaining way for hoteliers and publicans to sell more beer and achieve free publicity for their business. Given the time of year it is held, it is surprising to me the concept has not been revamped to take in Royal Ascot preview nights, where the wives of punters can join in the fun by trying out possible Royal Ascot frocks and hats. Summer, frills, fascinators and Pims should, one would think, make for a good night out at a pub with a beer garden. Anyway, the preview season has got out of hand, if you count-up those I see advertised and those uploaded to YouTube. The adorable Vanessa Ryles even hosted a Cheltenham Preview night in Portugal, with A.P. McCoy and Charlie Swan the expert panellists. It is evidence the appeal of Cheltenham...

Who in racing, be it trainer, owner or jockey, will be brave enough to put their head above the parapet and say it as it is - the B.H.A. in its present form is unfit for purpose? It should be obvious to everyone who either earns their living from the sport or who is a hobbiest or enthusiast that the sport is being failed by a format that gives stakeholders more power than the organisation empowered to govern the sport. In today's Racing Post, Mr. Frewen suggests that a board of independent members, as desired by the late chair, Lord Allen, would never have worked in the sport's favour; if so, why did so many people support the proposal? To suggest, as Mr. Frewen believes, the present system better used is the way forward, seems to smack against sense when the present system has led to the mess we are now...

I have no doubt that if were not for both sickness at Seven Barrows and his trials and tribulations with his jumping Constitution Hill would have won three Champion Hurdles. The record books show, though, that he only won a single Champion Hurdle and being the best horse only to have one Champion Hurdle hardly does him justice. In the modern racing world of 'super-fresh campaigns', where the Cheltenham Festival is all that matters, in an era when trainers run scared of running their class horses in handicaps, it is almost impossible to compare the champions of the 1950's, 60's, 70's and 80's, with the champions of today. Persian War won three Champion Hurdls, 1968, 1969 and 1970, beating fields of 16, 17 and 14, opposition that featured previous champions, a future Gold Cup winner and a whole host of multiple big-race winners. Monksfield won Champion Hurdles in1978 and 1979, in...

As someone born and partially raised in Bristol, I should have known the following fact long before I acquired a copy of Michael Tanner's book 'The Champion Hurdle'. The first officially recorded hurdle race took place at Durdham Down, Bristol. The auspicious day, or inauspicious, if you are of my mindset on the issue, was April 2nd, 1821. The person who is to blame for putting the idea of jumping hurdles into the minds of the equestrian-minded was the Prince Regent who, along with his royal party of hangers-on amused themselves by jumping sheep hurdles on the Downs at Brighton. Yesterday, after my labours, which at my age take their toll, I watched racing from Southwell on Youtube. The racing provided several close finishes which, if I were a bettor, would have had me on the edge of the sofa. But what truly took my interest was the 'French-style' hurdles used...

Between the years 1973 and 2016 I could not imagine that any other race than the 1973 Grand National would be top of my all-time favourite races.  I had no money riding on either Red Rum or Crisp in 1973. I would have backed Spanish Steps as he was my favourite horse in training at the time, and perhaps remains my favourite racehorse of all time, though Denman and Frodon have on occasions usurped him. 38 horses faced the starter in 1973, of which 17 completed the course. 4 of those 17 broke the course record. For one it was the beginning of legendary status. It was, in my opinion, the greatest horse race of my lifetime and Crisp put up the greatest individual performance I ever witnessed. Does anyone believe that any horse could give Red Rum 23Ibs at Aintree and beat him? I would not have backed Arkle to...

The aspect of tipping horses for Cheltenham 10-days before the off is that the ground on the Tuesday might be heavy, soft, good-to-soft or even, given Cheltenham's top-of-the-range drainage system, good, with irrigation on Wednesday evening. I have given thought to the races on Tuesday's card and have decided to jinx the following. Some of my tips are fancies, while others are expectations. I fear both Mighty Park and Old Park Star in the Supreme and will be embarrassed if either of them win with their head in their chast. But I was very taken by Sober Glory at Newbury last time out. In atrocious ground, he made all, fending off  a likely rival with the nonchalance of an aristocrat plucking a blonde hair off the sleeve of his dinner jacket and sauntered to victory with the resemblance of a high-class hero. The race doubtless will prove extremely poor for a...

I suspect the official/unofficial start of the long wait for the National Hunt Festival to come around is sometime in October, though the longing begins the moment the last horse in the Martin Pipe crosses the finishing line. To me, though, the wait in earnest begins today, Greatwood Day at Newbury and the day I.T.V. visits f Kelso. Today is the week before the Imperial Cup, the last race of importance - it was once upon a time a more important and prestigious race than even the Champion Hurdle - before the great roar that is the cutting of the riband that launches the best race-meeting in the world. Perhaps it is right that today's racing is low key for a Saturday, with no race having any bearing on what will happen between the most important four-days on the calendar. Protektorat has a school round at Kelso (hopefully) where he will...

Is 'National Hunt Festival' still the official title? Or is it now simply the 'Cheltenham Festival? As with many people my age, I tend to find solace in the past. I also have poor observational skills, a memory that is increasingly becoming unfit for prpose and I am too easily dismissive of anything new. So I shall continue to title the magical 4-days as the National Hunt Festival, as I continue to refer to the Hunters Chase as the Foxhunters, even though I do not support the hunting of foxes. Contrarily, one of my best pieces, if I should be so bold, though no longer archived on the new site, was a defence of foxhunting, not for its hunting aspect but because it gives a new career to ex-racehorses and for the work it provides for countryside businesses, farriers, saddlers, etc. It is too easy for people to cry 'I don't...

Whether it is the right decision we will only come to know in the months ahead. I, for one, will not question the decision made on behalf of Constitution Hill by Nicky Henderson and Michael Buckley. No matter how well the schooling has progressed at home, as Nicky said at the weekend 'he could undo all the good vibes achieved at Southwell in the matter of seconds if Constitution Hill had suffered another fall.' Whether any of us agree or disagree with the decision taken, I for one believe it is brave decision, especially with the Champion Hurdle there for the taking (as long as he did not fall, of course) and it is a decision we must respect. The positive aspect of retiring the horse from the jumping world is that his presence this turf season gives flat racing an added attraction as Constitution Hill is box office wherever he...

In today's Racing Post, William Frewen (owner) in the letters column sums-up with clarity all that is wrong with British horse racing's governance. Those who work for the B.H.A., the board members and those who sit in the loftiest chairs should read Mr. Frewen's comments and weep. What our sport deserves is someone at the top who cares as deeply about the sport as all of those who work at its cliff-face; the people who rise at dawn knowing their day will be spent under grey clouds, yet who will work with love of the horse in their hearts.   Lord Allen, the businessman with a reputation for winning battles in the boardroom, has conceded to those who objected to the B.H.A.'s commercialisation of Race Day Data (or whatever the hoo-ha is about).  How can he remain in his position now he knows that he cannot trust the stakeholders who he...

And yes, back in 1966 when 'The History of Steeplechasing was published to commemorate the centenary of the formation of the National Hunt Committee, Lord Oaksey, as he was better known, was still John Lawrence, amateur rider and the supreme writer of the day on the subject of horse racing. It is his concluding part of 'The History of Steeplechasing' that I purloin the following facts. It would seem that my concern about hurdles was prevalent back in the 1950's, and perhaps even before then as it takes time for a groundswell of concern to elicit debate and action. It is a topic I must research. (Yes, should have conducted research before writing this piece. Though you can be sure you have not read the last of me on this subject) From 1953 through to 1955 experiements were conducted at several (un-named) racecourses with what was described as a new 'French-style'...