That's all for today, folks
We can only dream of the drunken raucousness with which Rachael Blackmore would have been roared up the home straight and into the winning enclosure as she became the first woman in history to ride a winner of the Cheltenham Festival’s Big Four feature races, booting the unbeaten odds-on favourite Honeysuckle home to win very comfortably.
Blackmore’s victory was the undisputed highlight of a strange day at an eeriily quiet Cheltenham, when Jack Kennedy’s win on Black Tears over Concertista and Paul Townend in the Mares’ Hurdle had bookies fearing a financial bloodbath. concertista was a cornerstone of many punters’ accumulator bets, alongside the day’s three short-priced favourites.
Before Honeysuckle won the Champion Hurdle, Appreciate It and Shicshkin had bookmakers on the back foot following their wins in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Arkle Trophy respectively, while Ryan Mania bucked the trend of odds-on winners with his win on board 28-1 shot Vintage Clouds in the Ultima Handicap Chase.
Jeff Kidder was the shock 80-1 winner of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, under a flabbergasted Sean Flanagan, while Jack Kennedy gave himself an early lead in the jockeys’ table when he rode his second winner of the afternoon in the final race of the day on board Galvin.
Updated
National Hunt Novices' Chase (4.50) result
1 Galvin (J W Kennedy) 7-2
2 Next Destination (H Cobden) 3-1
3 Escaria Ten (Adrian Heskin) 11-4 Fav
12 ran
Also: 16-1 Snow Leopardess 4th
Non Runner: 11
CSF: 14.11
Tricast: 31.89
4.50: National Hunt Novices’ Chase (3m 6f)
Galvin wins the Novices’ Chase, making it two wins fon the day for Jack Kennedy. He’s won pulling a cart from Next Destination, with Escaria Ten back in third.
4.50: National Hunt Novices’ Chase (3m 6f)
It’s between Remastered, Next Destination and Galvin as they jump the penultimate fence. Galvin takes it up!
4.50: National Hunt Novices’ Chase (3m 6f)
Remastered has led the way so far, with Next Destination, Escaria Ten and Snow Leopardess not too far behind ...
Updated
4.50: National Hunt Novices’ Chase (3m 6f)
Racing is well under way in the marathon National Hunt Novices’ Chase, with the professional jockeys riding in what would normally be an amateur race. Sadly, covid regulations preclude the unpaid Mrs and Misses and Missuses from participating in today’s race ...
National Hunt Novices' Chase (4.50) betting
- Next Destination - 11/4
- Galvin – 7/2
- Escaria Ten – 7/2
- Remastered – 11/2
- Lord Royal – 12/1
- Snow Leopardess – 14/1
- Nestor Park –50/1
- Ofalltheginjoints – 45/1
- The Mighty Don – 50/1
- Macgiloney – 150/1
- Lithic – 200/1
- Eden Du Houx – 250/1
- View on Oddschecker
National Hunt Novices’ Chase (4.50) preview
Until a couple of days ago, this looked like a possible head-to-head between Galvin, who was trained by Gordon Elliott until he switched to Ian Ferguson in the “photo-gate” fall-out, and Escaria Ten, who is still at Cullentra House in the care of Denise Foster.
Paul Nicholls upset a lot of calculations, though, when he declared Next Destination for this rather than the three-mile Grade One on Wednesday and the punters certainly see it as a positive sign, having backed him down to around 7-2.
Remastered, the Reynoldstown winner last time, will also have plenty of supporters, while Willie Mullins’s Lord Royal has shown steady improvement in three starts to date and has a fair each-way chance. The winning jockey, incidentally, will be the first professional rider to lift what is one of the oldest races at the Festival and in non-Covid times would be restricted to amateur riders, who are not allowed to take part in this year’s event.
Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (4.15) result
1 Jeff Kidder (S W Flanagan) 80-1
2 Saint Sam (P Townend) 9-2 Fav
3 Elham Valley (P J Brennan) 66-1
4 Houx Gris (H Cobden) 11-2
22 ran
Non Runner: 18
CSF: 409.10
Tricast: 22098.00
Updated
Jeff Kidder wins: Ridden by Sean Flanagan, the rank outside Jeff Kidder gallops up the home straight, slicing through the field like a hot knife through butter to win the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.
4.15: Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race (2m 4f)
Jeff Kidder gallops up the centre to win by a length from Saint Sam with Elham Valley in third. That’s an 80-1 winner from Sean Flanagan for trainer Noel Meade.
4.15: Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race (2m 4f)
Four to jump and Cabot Cliffs leads from Curious Bride while Busselton makes a mistake. Saint Sam is making progress from the rear. Homme Public is also making ground. Cabot Cliffs leads from Houx Gris with Saint Sam throwing down a challenge ...
Updated
4.15: Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race (2m 4f)
Nope, Gavin Sheehan is quickly unshipped by Burgundy Man, who was not interested today. If you backed him, throw your ticket in the bin. Cabot Cliffs is in the lead as they go over the third hurdle. Cabot Cliffs from Curious Bride ...
4.15: Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race (2m 4f)
Saint Sam and Houx Gris go off the 9-2 joint-favourites in the penultimate race of the afternoon, being contested by fairly inexperienced four-year-olds. BUrgundy Man was reluctant to go, but Gavin Sheehan got him going ...
A huge upset!
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 16, 2021
Black Tears wins the @CloseBrothers Mares’ Hurdle.#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/HnR44tWgEt
Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (4.15) preview
Lucky pin time, basically, as a maximum field of lightly-raced juveniles whose preparations may well have been planned with one eye on their handicap mark go hell-for-leather over two miles.
The last 10 runnings have seen a 40-1 winner, three more at 33-1 and two at 25-1. Saint Sam (Willie Mullins), Houx Gris (Paul Nicholls) and Riviere D’Etel (Denise Foster), probably as much because of the stables they represent as anything else, and there are plenty more at bigger prices with as much of a chance on paper.
My own pin finally stopped at Homme Public, who improved to win in a decent time at Market Rasen in February, but there were at least a dozen more on the shortlist.
Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle (3.40) result
1 Black Tears (J W Kennedy) 11-1
2 Concertista (P Townend) 10-11 Fav
3 Roksana (Harry Skelton) 3-1
10 ran
Also: 33-1 Indefatigable 4th
Non Runner: 4
CSF: 21.34
Tricast: 39.99
3.40: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)
Black Tears wins on the nod under the urgings of Jack Kennedy, riding for trainer Denise Foster ... who is “minding” Gordon Elliot’s yard for him. Concertista was second and I’ll have the third place for you momentarily.
3.40: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)
The favourite, Concertista looms in the wing mirrors of Roksana. concertista leads over the last, but Black Tears is challenging. It’s a photo between Black Tears and Concertista. I think Black Tears won it on the nod. BLACK TEARS wins by a head!
3.40: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)
Great White Shark clatters the fifth from home but suffers no adverse effects. She leads from Roksana with the field fairly closely bunched. Whitehotchillifilly is losing touch.
3.40: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)
Floressa and Great White Shark continue to make the running, two or threre lengths clear from Roksana. Indefatigable is next, followed by Minella Melody and Dolcita ...
3.40: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)
Away they go in the fifth race of the day, with Floressa leading on the inside of Great White Shark. Roksana is in third position. My Sister Sarah is last and they havce seven hurdles to jump ...
Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (3.40) betting
- Concertista – 10/11
- Roksana – 10/3
- Dame De Compagnie – 11/1
- Black Tears – 12/1
- Minella Melody – 14/1
- Great White Shark – 20/1
- Indefatigable – 28/1
- Floressa – 40/1
- My Sister Sarah – 50/1
- Dolcita – 80/1
- Whitehotchillifilli – 200/1
-
View on Oddschecker
Ultima Handicap Chase (2.30) report
Vintage Clouds provided the first and only shock of the Festival so far, with a 28-1 victory in the Ultima Handicap Chase. Sue Smith’s grey, ridden by the Yorkshire yard’s Grand National-winning jockey Ryan Mania, was running in the opening handicap of the meeting for the fifth year in succession.
The 11-year-old’s best previous effort was second in 2019 - but this time, he took over on the final circuit and was never headed again.
Runner-up Happygolucky, the 100-30 favourite, and third-placed Aye Right both ran with great credit but never looked like pegging back the winner, beaten five and a half and a further two and a quarter lengths respectively.
Updated
Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (3.40) preview
Just two winners of this have gone in at a double-figure price since it launched in 2008, and one of those – Roksana in 2019 – picked up the pieces after hot favourite Benie Des Dieux came down at the last with the race at her mercy.
Dan Skelton’s mare is back for another crack and has been having an excellent season at the age of nine, but faces another Willie Mullins hotpot in Concertista, the short-head runner-up in the novice event for mares here on her hurdling debut in 2019 before winning the same race 12 months later.
Dame De Compagnie, who took the Coral Cup here in 2020, is the only other runner at a single-figure price, although Black Tears, the two-and-a-quarter length runner-up behind Dame De Compagnie when giving her 4lb, could also run well for Denise Foster.
Updated
Rachael Blackmore: “Absolutely incredible,” says the winning jockey in an interview with ITV. “I’m speechless to be honest. I can’t believe we just won the Champion Hurdle. It’s unbelievable for everyone in the yard.” She goes on to thank any number of people in Henry De Bromhead’s yard.
“She’s so straightforward to ride,” she adds. “It’s very easy to do things when you know you’ve a big engine underneath you. I don’t know what to say, I can’t believe we’ve won the Champion Hurdle.”
Champion Hurdle (3.05) result
1 Honeysuckle (Rachael Blackmore) 11-10 Fav
2 Sharjah (P Townend) 11-1
3 Epatante (Aidan Coleman) 4-1
10 ran
Also: 33-1 Aspire Tower 4th
CSF: 14.56
Tricast: 38.67
Rachael Blackmore becomes the first female jockey to win a championship race at The Festival ™
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 16, 2021
Honeysuckle remains unbeaten with a spectacular victory in The @UnibetRacing Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/KjfnX2g7Ds
Updated
Honeysuckle wins the Champion Hurdle: In a massive moment for the sport of horse-racing, Rachael Blackmore wins the Champion Hurdle on board Honeysuckle. It’s such a shame there are no crowds there today, as the roof would have been blown off the grandstand by the volume of the roars of approval from almost everyone present.
3.05: The Champion Hurdle (2m ½f)
Rachael Blackmore commits Honeysuckle just before the last and charges clear. Honeysuckle pulls clear. Rachael Blackmore wins the Champions Hurdle on board Honeysuckle!!! Rachael Blackmore and Honeysuckle make it 11 wins out of 11 in the biggest hurdle race of them all.
3.05: The Champion Hurdle (2m ½f)
Goshen is pulling badly right, giving away lots of ground. Jamie Moore tries to drag him back into the bunch and keeps him in the race and on the track. THey’re three out and SIlver Streak leads. Honeysuckle make his move under Rachael Blackmore.
3.05: The Champion Hurdle (2m ½f)
Silver Streak streaks in to an early lead as they set off at a right old gallop. There’s no dilly-dallying here. Goshen is upsides Silver Streak in second and Saldier brings up the rear. As they approach the third, Goshen moves to the front, while Abracadabras is a faller ...
3.05: The Champion Hurdle (2m ½f)
They’re off and running in the day’s feature race, with plenty of potential big stories. AMong the best: can Jamie Moore, who was unseated by Goshen while well clear at the last a year ago, win it this time around? He’s had a tough year, in which Lucie, his wife, was diagnosed with cancer and he broke his back in a bad fall. Can Rachael Blackmore on Honeysuckle become the firsty woman in history to ride the winner of one of Cheltenham’s Big Four races? Both would be more than worthy winners ...
Champion Hurdle (3.05) betting
- Honeysuckle - 11-10
- Epatante – 9-2
- Goshen – 11-2
- Sharjah – 10-1
- Abracadabras – 11-1
- Silver Streak – 25-1
- Aspire Tower – 28-1
- James Du Berlais – 33-1
- Saldier – 80-1
- Not So Sleepy – 80-1
- View on Oddschecker
Arkle Challenge Tophy (1.55) report
Shishkin was the easy winner of the Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase. Nicky Henderson’s brilliant novice stayed within touch of a strong pace set by both Allmankind and Captain Guinness, before pouncing to jump into the lead three out on the way to victory by 12 lengths under Nico de Boinville.
Posting a second successive impressive success for an odds-on shot at the start of the Festival, after Appreciate It’s romp in the opener, Shishkin (4-9) was also following up his victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 12 months ago.
Colin Tizzard’s Eldorado Allen stayed on past Allmankind and Captain Guinness to grab third, at 33-1 and a very respectful distance. [PA Sport]
Updated
3.05: Champion Hurdle (2m ½f) preview
A three-way go for the feature event on day one, according to the betting at least, and the distinct possibility that Rachael Blackmore will become the first female jockey to win one of the meeting’s “Big Four” aboard Honeysuckle.
Like Epatante, last year’s winner, she gets a handy 7lb from Goshen, who roared back to form in the Kingwell Hurdle last time out and bids to atone for *that* unfortunate mishap in the Triumph Hurdle 12 months ago. All three will have plenty of supporters, though Goshen is slightly on the drift this morning having been backed in to challenge Epatante for second-favouritism in recent days. He was out to around 11-2 at midday, with Epatante top-priced at 4-1 and Honeysuckle attracting most support of the main contenders at 5-4, having been 13-8 overnight.
Among live each-way shots, Sharjah was only three lengths behind Epatante last year and has it in him to run a big race, and Abacadabras has bits of form that put him in the mix, most obviously a close second behind Shishkin over track and trip in last year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle. Silver Streak, a Grade One winner last time out but friendless in the betting at around 25-1 here, could make his presence felt too.
Ultima Handicap Chase (2.30) result
1 Vintage Clouds (Ryan Mania) 28-1
2 Happygolucky (David Bass) 10-3 Fav
3 Aye Right (R Johnson) 11-2
4 Cepage (Charlie Deutsch) 14-1
16 ran
Tote: win 39.30 places 4.80 1.50 1.80 3.10
Tote Exacta: 176.10
CSF: 118.23
Tricast: 619.30
Tote Trifecta: 790.80
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again!
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 16, 2021
11-year-old Vintage Clouds FINALLY wins the Ultima Handicap Chase…#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/8fkdY5QWIH
Updated
Ryan Mania speaks: “He was loving it, the whole way around” says the winning jockey in an interview with ITV, who is best known for winning the 2013 Grand National on Auroras Encore. “knew I was going to be on the premises but no way did I think that I’d be storming up the hill.” That’s Mania’s first Festival winner, the 31-year-old having walked away from his sport for five years due to mental health problems, before being tempted back.
2.30: The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase (3m 1f)
Del,ire D’Estruval is pulled up with four to go ... Vintage Clouds is on the inside of Alnadal as they go over the third last. They swing left-handed into the final turn with Vintage Clouds leading from Alnadal, with Happoygolucky throwing down his challenge. Vintage Clouds pulls clear after jumping the last and the 11-year-old grey horse wins the race at the fifth time of asking under Ryan Mania. Vintage CLouds wins for Ryan Mania and trainer Sue Smith.
Updated
2.30: The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase (3m 1f)
Nietzsche is having a potentially philosophical argument with his rider JJ Burke, the horse taking a strong pull as he attempts to unmask the motives that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and philosophy. Up front, Pym continues to lead from Vintage Clouds, but not by much. They have seven to jump and OK Corral makes a mistake but is still upright ...
2.30: The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase (3m 1f)
Milan Native is held up near the back after making a couple of minor jumping errors. Pym continues to lead from Vintage Clouds and Alnadam with 13 fences left to leap. No fallers so far ...
2.30: The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase (3m 1f)
They’re running in the third race of the day and there’sc been a significant gamble on the Dan Skelton-trained Alnadam, who goes off third favourite at 11-2. Pym leads over the first three fences ...
Ultima Handicap Chase (2.30) betting
- Happygolucky – 10/3
- Aye Right – 11/2
- Milan Native – 13/2
- Alnadam - 15/2
- One For the Team – 10/1
- Pym – 12/1
- Discordantly – 15/1
- Cepege – 20/1
- Admirals Secret – 20/1
- The Wolf – 20/1
- OK Corral -25/1
- Vintage Clouds – 28/1
- Nietzsche – 33/1
- Delire Destruval – 66/1
- Fingerontheswitch – 80/1
- Soupy Soups – 150/1
- View the betting on Oddschecker
Two races in: Following two processions won by a combined total of 30 lengths or more, the bookies are already licking their wounds. They’ll get no sympathy here.
Ultima Handicap Chase (2.30) preview
The first handicap of the meeting and a significant gamble on Kim Bailey’s Happygolucky, a novice who beat only four opponents last time out but coped well enough with a big field when he finished fourth in the Martin Pipe Conditionals’ Handicap Hurdle here last year.
Only two favourites have obliged in this so far this century, however, although a dozen winners were at a single-figure-price, so fancied horses just behind the market leader might be the ones to focus on.
Aye Right never seems to run a bad race and has Richard Johnson booked, while Milan Native was a winner at last year’s Festival and bids to give Denise Foster her first winner at the meeting since taking over the licence at Cullentra House from Gordon Elliott. Alnadam, One For The Team and Discordantly – in the famous harlequin silks which Oh So Risky carried to victory in the Triumph Hurdle back in the day – are all on the shortlist too.
Updated
Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeplechase (1.50) result
1 Shishkin (Nico de Boinville) 4-9 Fav
2 Eldorado Allen (H Cobden) 33-1
3 Captain Guinness (Rachael Blackmore) 10-1
5 ran
Also: 5-1 Allmankind 4th
Non Runner: 5
Tote: win 1.20 places 1.10 7.10
Tote Exacta: 13.80
CSF: 11.88
Tote Trifecta: 55.60
Nico De Boinville speaks: “After that performance you could say that he will be anything,” says the winning jockey in an interview with ITV Sport. “Shishkin was in terrific form today and would have taken a lot of eating today. The team at home have done a wonderful job. That was a hard-fought race and no prisoners were taken.”
1.55: The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase (2m)
Shishkin jumps into the lead at the third last and pulls clear with two to jump. He clears the second last ... then jumps the last and romps clear of his rivals. He wins by 15 lengths from Eldorado Allen and Allmankind. Shishkin wins under Nico De Boinville for Nicky Henderson.
1.55: The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase (2m)
Four from home and Allmankind and Captain Guinness are side by side in the lead, with Shishkin about three lengths behind them. They have two to jump ...
1.55: The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase (2m)
Captain Guinness settles down under Blackmore, with Allmankind beside him. Shishkin is about four lengths back ...
1.55: The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase (2m)
Away they go in the Arkle, with Allmankind making the running, with Captain Guinness upsides him. Captain G|uinness is taking a very strong pull, while his jockey Rachael Blackmore looks to be trying to put the brakes on ...
1.55: The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase (2m)
They’re at the start for the Arkle, albeit with a disappointing ly small field of five runners. Shishkin is the hot favourite ...
Appreciate It is led back through a near-deserted parade ring after winning the first race at #Cheltenham2021 pic.twitter.com/FYoIHZvXx6
— Greg Wood (@Greg_Wood_) March 16, 2021
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (1.20) report
Appreciate It lived up to his pre-race billing as he romped to victory in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. The 8-11 favourite, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend, outclassed his seven rivals with a dominant display in the Festival curtain-raiser to give his trainer a seventh success in the race.
As expected, For Pleasure set the pace, but Appreciate It was always nicely in his slipstream. Townend made his move at the third-last, with the seven-year-old taking over from the penultimate obstacle.
From then on, Appreciate It pulled easily clear. His stablemate Blue Lord was his nearest pursuer when he came down at the last. That left Henry de Bromhead’s Ballyadam to claim second place, having made a mistake when hitting the second-last flight. [PA Sport]
Arkle Trophy (1.55) betting
- Shiskin – 1-2
- Allmankind – 6-1
- Captain Guinness – 17-2
- Franco De Port – 12-1
- Eldorado Allen – 40-1
- View the betting on Oddschecker
Updated
Arkle Trophy (1.55) preview
The field is down to five after Numitor’s withdrawal, and Shishkin will be a roaring-hot favourite to extend his unbeaten record over fences to four races. He could not have been any more impressive in the Lightning Novice Chase at Doncaster at the end of January, winning on the bit in a strong time, which is a very difficult trick to pull off. He is, however, priced up accordingly and it is easy to overlook the fact that Allmankind has an identical three-from-three record and also put up a career-best last time in the Kingmaker at Warwick.
He is a very dangerous opponent if he gets loose on the lead, and 11-2 or so is a decent price in a race where a single mistake by the favourite could put a massive dent in his chance. In the unfortunate late absence of Willie Mullins’s Energumene, meanwhile, Ireland’s best two-mile novice form is represented by his stable companion Franco De Port and Henry de Bromhead’s Captain Guinness, with the market preferring the latter despite his fall behind easy winner Energumene last time.
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (1.20) result
1 Appreciate It (P Townend) 8-11 Fav
2 Ballyadam (J W Kennedy) 6-1
3 For Pleasure (Harry Bannister) 40-1
8 ran
Also: 10-1 Soaring Glory 4th
Tote: win 1.50 places 1.02 1.90 8.90
Tote Exacta: 5.60
CSF: 5.58
Tricast: 91.04
Tote Trifecta: 89.00
Paul Townend speaks: “That was more like it from this lad,” says the winning jockey to ITV Racing. “It was well documented that he was more workmanlike the last day but this was more like it. It was a proper performance, wasn’t it?”
1.20: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2m ½f)
Apppreciate It wins by about 25 lengths, while Ballyadam is second and For Pleasure holds on for third. Blue Lord came down at the last while looking the only contender likely to lay a glove on our winner.
Updated
1.20: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2m ½f)
For Pleasure continies to lead with three hurdles to jump. Appreciate It is just behind while Blue Lord is nicely poised. Ballyadam makes a mistake at the second last ...
1.20: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2m ½f)
For Pleasure continues to make the running, followed by Appreciate It, two lengths behind. Irasciable is already being given gentle encouragement by Rachael Blackmore, while Grumpy Charley is the backmarker ...
1.20: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2m ½f)
To the sound of uncharacteristic silence from the stands, they’re off and running in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the first of the races in this Festival. Appreciate it goes off the 5-6 favourite. For Pleasure makes the early running and leads by five or six lengths, from Appreciate It ...
Not long now: It’s the Cheltenham Festival, but not as we know it. Led around a largely empty parade ring with no punters examining the talent on show from outside, the entrants for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle go through the last of the pre-race formalities. Having been led by grooms wearing face-masks, before being mounted by jockeys who are also wearing face masks ... they are now down at the start.
Updated
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle betting
- Appreciate It 10-11
- Ballyadam 6-1
- Metier 6-1
- Blue Lord 11-1
- Soaring Glory 11-1
- Grumpy Charley 33-1
- Irascible 50-1
- For Pleasure 50-1
- View the betting on Oddschecker
Supreme Novices' Hurdle (1.20) preview
The smallest ever field for the traditional curtain-raiser here at the Festival, and a favourite in Appreciate It that has had punters who like to charge into the meeting head-down pawing the ground in anticipation for many weeks.
There’s a lot to like about him, for sure: two Grade Ones in the bank already, including a defeat of today’s opponents Ballyadam, Blue Lord and Irascible at Leopardstown in February when there was so much confidence behind him that he went off at 1-3. They are coming for him again today, from odds-against overnight to 5-6 now. And yet … there’s something about him which doesn’t quite convince me that he’s a genuine odds-on chance.
This is a race that tends to be won by five- and six-year-olds: horses that are improving at a rate of knots. The seven-year-old Appreciate It sets a fairly high bar, but one or more of the lightly-raced types that are up against him could definitely clear it.
Metier definitely has it in him (and doesn’t have much to find on his latest form), and I’ll also have a small stab at Grumpy Charley at around 33-1. He arrives from a handicap where he brushed off an opening mark of 132, beating a horse that had won its previous start by 20 lengths and posting a really good timefigure too.
Half-an hour to go: The first race is due off in 30 minutes. Normally, around now, we’d be killing time by posting photos of assorted VIPs and luminaries rocking up to the Festival, but unfortunately this year you’ll just have to imagine what Lady Zara Phillips and her husband Mike Tindall, assorted Hollyoaks actors and Jeremy Clarkson are doing instead.
Football Index: The Guardian’s racing correspondent Greg Wood will be typing his fingers to the bone from the Cheltenham Festival this week, but before packing his laptop, binoculars, greed tweed jacket and mustard corduroy trousers, and heading out the door yesterday, he joined Max Rushden and yours truly on the Football Weekly podcast to discuss the extraordinary story of the demise of Football Index. You can hear what he had to say at the beginning of part three.
National Hunt Novices' Chase (4.50) preview
Until a couple of days ago, this looked like a possible head-to-head between Galvin, who was trained by Gordon Elliott until he switched to Ian Ferguson in the “photo-gate” fall-out, and Escaria Ten, who is still at Cullentra House in the care of Denise Foster.
Paul Nicholls upset a lot of calculations, though, when he declared Next Destination for this rather than the three-mile Grade One on Wednesday and the punters certainly see it as a positive sign, having backed him down to around 7-2.
Remastered, the Reynoldstown winner last time, will also have plenty of supporters, while Willie Mullins’s Lord Royal has shown steady improvement in three starts to date and has a fair each-way chance. The winning jockey, incidentally, will be the first professional rider to lift what is one of the oldest races at the Festival and in non-Covid times would be restricted to amateur riders, who are not allowed to take part in this year’s event.
Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (4.15) preview
Lucky pin time, basically, as a maximum field of lightly-raced juveniles whose preparations may well have been planned with one eye on their handicap mark go hell-for-leather over two miles.
The last 10 runnings have seen a 40-1 winner, three more at 33-1 and two at 25-1. Saint Sam (Willie Mullins), Houx Gris (Paul Nicholls) and Riviere D’Etel (Denise Foster), probably as much because of the stables they represent as anything else, and there are plenty more at bigger prices with as much of a chance on paper.
My own pin finally stopped at Homme Public, who improved to win in a decent time at Market Rasen in February, but there were at least a dozen more on the shortlist.
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Mares' Hurdle (3.40) preview
Just two winners of this have gone in at a double-figure price since it launched in 2008, and one of those – Roksana in 2019 – picked up the pieces after hot favourite Benie Des Dieux came down at the last with the race at her mercy.
Dan Skelton’s mare is back for another crack and has been having an excellent season at the age of nine, but faces another Willie Mullins hotpot in Concertista, the short-head runner-up in the novice event for mares here on her hurdling debut in 2019 before winning the same race 12 months later.
Dame De Compagnie, who took the Coral Cup here in 2020, is the only other runner at a single-figure price, although Black Tears, the two-and-a-quarter length runner-up behind Dame De Compagnie when giving her 4lb, could also run well for Denise Foster.
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Champion Hurdle (3.05) preview
A three-way go for the feature event on day one, according to the betting at least, and the distinct possibility that Rachael Blackmore will become the first female jockey to win one of the meeting’s “Big Four” aboard Honeysuckle.
Like Epatante, last year’s winner, she gets a handy 7lb from Goshen, who roared back to form in the Kingwell Hurdle last time out and bids to atone for *that* unfortunate mishap in the Triumph Hurdle 12 months ago. All three will have plenty of supporters, though Goshen is slightly on the drift this morning having been backed in to challenge Epatante for second-favouritism in recent days. He was out to around 11-2 at midday, with Epatante top-priced at 4-1 and Honeysuckle attracting most support of the main contenders at 5-4, having been 13-8 overnight.
Among live each-way shots, Sharjah was only three lengths behind Epatante last year and has it in him to run a big race, and Abacadabras has bits of form that put him in the mix, most obviously a close second behind Shishkin over track and trip in last year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle. Silver Streak, a Grade One winner last time out but friendless in the betting at around 25-1 here, could make his presence felt too.
Ultima Handicap Chase (2.30) preview
The first handicap of the meeting and a significant gamble on Kim Bailey’s Happygolucky, a novice who beat only four opponents last time out but coped well enough with a big field when he finished fourth in the Martin Pipe Conditionals’ Handicap Hurdle here last year.
Only two favourites have obliged in this so far this century, however, although a dozen winners were at a single-figure-price, so fancied horses just behind the market leader might be the ones to focus on.
Aye Right never seems to run a bad race and has Richard Johnson booked, while Milan Native was a winner at last year’s Festival and bids to give Denise Foster her first winner at the meeting since taking over the licence at Cullentra House from Gordon Elliott. Alnadam, One For The Team and Discordantly – in the famous harlequin silks which Oh So Risky carried to victory in the Triumph Hurdle back in the day – are all on the shortlist too.
Arkle Trophy (1.55) preview
The field is down to five after Numitor’s withdrawal, and Shishkin will be a roaring-hot favourite to extend his unbeaten record over fences to four races. He could not have been any more impressive in the Lightning Novice Chase at Doncaster at the end of January, winning on the bit in a strong time, which is a very difficult trick to pull off. He is, however, priced up accordingly and it is easy to overlook the fact that Allmankind has an identical three-from-three record and also put up a career-best last time in the Kingmaker at Warwick.
He is a very dangerous opponent if he gets loose on the lead, and 11-2 or so is a decent price in a race where a single mistake by the favourite could put a massive dent in his chance. In the unfortunate late absence of Willie Mullins’s Energumene, meanwhile, Ireland’s best two-mile novice form is represented by his stable companion Franco De Port and Henry de Bromhead’s Captain Guinness, with the market preferring the latter despite his fall behind easy winner Energumene last time.
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Cheltenham Festival tipping competition
Hello, good morning and welcome to the annual Talking Horses tipping competition, in association with Betfair, who are offering a three-figure account credit (£100) for the tipster with the best daily profit to a £1 level stake at starting price.
As ever, non-runners count as losers, and it will make our lives a little bit easier whole lot easier if you could post all seven selections in a single posting, before the first race at 1.20. Normal T&Cs apply, you can read them here.
In the unlikely event of a tie for first place after all seven races, the winner will be the one who posted their tips earliest. If you have to repost to replace a non-runner, the time of the later posting will be used in the tie-breaker.
If your luck’s out today, don’t forget to try again tomorrow. Good luck to all!
Supreme Novices' Hurdle (1.20) preview
The smallest ever field for the traditional curtain-raiser here at the Festival, and a favourite in Appreciate It that has had punters who like to charge into the meeting head-down pawing the ground in anticipation for many weeks.
There’s a lot to like about him, for sure: two Grade Ones in the bank already, including a defeat of today’s opponents Ballyadam, Blue Lord and Irascible at Leopardstown in February when there was so much confidence behind him that he went off at 1-3. They are coming for him again today, from odds-against overnight to 5-6 now. And yet … there’s something about him which doesn’t quite convince me that he’s a genuine odds-on chance.
This is a race that tends to be won by five- and six-year-olds: horses that are improving at a rate of knots. The seven-year-old Appreciate It sets a fairly high bar, but one or more of the lightly-raced types that are up against him could definitely clear it.
Metier definitely has it in him (and doesn’t have much to find on his latest form), and I’ll also have a small stab at Grumpy Charley at around 33-1. He arrives from a handicap where he brushed off an opening mark of 132, beating a horse that had won its previous start by 20 lengths and posting a really good timefigure too.
Simon Claisse speaks: “It’s been challenging and it’s been different but the racing function is still the racing function and we’ve been preparing that for the past four or five weeks,” Cheltenham’s clerk of the course tells The Opening Show. “We couldn’t get on to the course until the middle of February, it was still that wet. But the weather has been kind to us, we’ve had a dry fortnight and a bit of rain over the weekend, so we’re really pleased with the conditions.”
Ryanair Chase news: Paul Townend has sided with last year’s winner Min over Allaho - in this year’s Ryanair Chase, for which there are 14 declarations. Allaho, who will be ridden by Rachael Blackmore on Thursday, has been ante-post favourite since winning a Grade Two at Thurles last time out - but Townend will partner his tried-and-trusted Willie Mullins-trained stablemate.
Mullins also runs Melon, who has finished second at the Festival four years in succession. He will be ridden by Bryan Cooper, with Danny Mullins on a fourth Closutton contender Tornado Flyer. PA Sport.
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Willie Mullins speaks: “I think it’s an extraordinary team of horses we have coming over here,” he tells Alice Plunkett on the Opening Show. “It you’d said to me last October that we were going to have a team like this, I’d have said you were mental. It’s just the way it’s happened, they’ve all come through the winter and at Christmas in the Dublin Racing Festival they all appeared to shine and hopefully they can shine here. Hopefully that wasn’t just a fluke, you know?”
On Appreciate It in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle: “He’s been doing everything right,” says Willie. “That rain that fell has made this place so soft; when we were here on Sunday I couldn’t believe how well the whole place looked and how good the ground looked. It’s in great shape.
Upon hearing Appreciate It isn’t as solid a favourite as expected, he looks surprised. “Is he not?” he laughs. “I don’t take any notice of that stuff. He probably wasn’t that impressive the last day and looked a little bit vulnerable, but he got the job done when it needed to be done. I think all that rain that fell yesterday will work in his favour. I’m happy with him and Paul [Townend, his jockey] is happy with him.”
Ruby Walsh speaks: The winningmost jockey in Cheltenham Festival history with 54 triumphs to his name, Walsh is now retired but working part-time as an assistant to Willie Mullins. After helping ride out Mullins’ string this morning, he appeared on ITV’s The Opening Show.
“Everyone’s excited but I guess it’s just so quiet here and there’s so little atmosphere – there’s none – that it’s whatever it is among yourselves,” he told presenter Oli Bell. “Everyone’s excited, I was talking to Paul Townend this morning and Rachael Blackmore … it’s still so big for them and the fact there’s nobody here isn’t easing the pressure on them either. It is Cheltenham, it is the week when you are judged, it is the week that can make or break a season for you and all those horses are primed and ready to go.”
The elephant in the room
Gordon Elliott, who has saddled 32 Festival winners over the past decade, will be notable absentee from this year’s Festival, although his spectre will loom large as horse-racing attempts to clean up a reputation badly tarnished by the distressing image of the Irish trainer taking a phone call and giving a peace sign while sitting on a dead horse, Morgan.
Elliot has since apologised for his insensitivity and had his licence taken away for 12 months (six suspended), and his raiders from Cullentra House stables will appear alongside the name of Denise Foster, the replacement licensee in his yard.
Foster won’t be at Cheltenham this week, as she did not take up the reins in time to complete the Covid-related admin required to travel. She will not be alone among Irish trainers in not attending; up to a third of those with runners are reported to be staying at home, leaving it to trusted stable staff to accompany, look after and take full responsibility for their charges.
“It is the shop window of our sport,” said Julie Harrington, British Horseracing Authority chief executive, in the build-up to the Festival. “It is an opportunity for us to really shine and tell the positive stories that are linked to our sport.”
Leading jockey ...
With his pick of the majority of the horses from Willie Mullins’ yard, Paul Townend is aiming to emulate his successes of last year when he was leading Festival jockey with five winners, the pick of them his Gold Cup victory on Al Boum Photo. Horse and rider will attempt to win their third consecutive Gold Cup on Friday and it is no surprise that the Irishman is odds-on favourite to be leading jockey again.
Jack Kennedy, who rode his first Festival winner as a 17-year-old four years ago, is second in the betting, while his and Townend’s compatriot Rachael Blackmore is proving popular with punters to become the first woman in history to be top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival.
Blackmore has three Festival winners to her name across the past two years. Her odds shortened dramatically on the morning of last year’s Festival and it would be no great surprise to see the same thing happen again today. Blackmore rides the current favourite, Honeysuckle, who is unbeaten in 10 starts for Irish trainer Henry De Bromhead, in today’s Champion Hurdle.
Leading jockey odds
- Paul Townend 4-9
- Jack Kennedy 9-2
- Rachael Blackmore 8-1
- Nico De Boinville 14-1
- Aidan Coleman 20-1
- Mark Walsh 20-1
- Harry Cobden 25-1
Leading trainer ...
Willie Mullins is the white-hot favourite to be leading trainer at the Festival, having prevailed in six of the past eight years. Al Boum Photo is going for his third consecutive Gold Cup, Mullins could be out of sight before Frdiay’s main event. He also saddles odds on favourite Appreciate It in today’s opener, Monkfish in the Brown Advisory and Chacun Pour Soi in the Champion Chase among a plethora of other entries.
Leading trainer odds
- Willie Mullins 1-5
- Henry De Bromhead 8-1
- Nicky Henderson 11-1
- Denise Foster 12-1
- Dan Skelton 33-1
- Paul Nicholls 33-1
- Colin Tizzard 66-1
- Kim Bailey 66-1
Today’s non-runners
- 1.55: No5 Numitor
- 4.15: No18 Tinnahalla
- 4.50: No11 Soldier of Love
Today’s races
- 1.20: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2m ½f)
- 1.55: The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase (2m)
- 2.30: The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase (3m 1f)
- 3.05: The Champion Hurdle (2m ½f)
- 3.40: Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)
- 4.15: Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race (2m 4f)
- 4.50: National Hunt Novices’ Chase (3m 6f)
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Our racing correspondent sets the scene
Good morning from a slightly overcast Cheltenham, where the lucky handful of us who have a job that gets you past the gate are looking forward to what promises to be quite the experience over the next four days, and also one that none of us will ever want to repeat. Hand on heart, I will never, ever complain about how difficult it is to get around at the Festival again.
Simon Claisse, the clerk of the course, has come down on the side of soft, good-to-soft in places for the going on both the chase and hurdle courses, and expects what would have been a pleasant, dry day with temperatures around 11 degrees for 60,000 spectators.
Instead, they will join more than a million others in front of the TV for this Festival, no doubt many of them wearing their Cheltenham gear on the sofa to get in the mood. The action is under way at 1.20pm GMT, when the well-backed Appreciate It will attempt to get the meeting off to a flyer for the punters (and, if we’re honest, the bookies, as a decent chunk of whatever is in anyone’s account after race one will be back in their virtual satchels at some stage this week).
To recreate the experience of a shady character sidling up to you in the car park and offering to sell you a “marked” card, here are some thoughts on the possible winners on day one (buckshee, too!). Here too some thoughts on a Festival that starts a few strides behind the tapes after the grim incident which is responsible for Gordon Elliott’s absence from the racecards.
Cheltenham Festival: Day One
Hello and welcome to the first of four days of live coverage of what promises to be a decidedly unusual, bordering on downright weird Cheltenham Festival. While the cream of the equine crop will assemble to take their chances in 28 races, including 14 Group Ones), the raucous, ribald and thirsty hordes who flock to Cheltenham for the Festival each year will be sadly conspicuous by their absence.
While it could be argued that Cheltenham without a crowd and the attendant excitement and craic will be little more than a pale facsimile of itself, we have a feast of on-track thrills, spills, sob-stories and fairytales to look forward to as the very best of the best equine steeplechasers and hurdlers compete.
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