Gold Cup day round-up
And so ends another Festival, with Minella Indo taking the big prize of the week in the hands of Jack Kennedy to give Henry De Bromhead the holy trinity of Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup.
De Bromhead saddled the first two home, with leading Festival jockey Rachael Blackmore making her only mistake of an otherwise fantastic week in electing to ride A Plus Tard ahead of his stable rival.
The day began with Blackmore romping to her sixth victory of the week on board Quilixios in the JCB Triumph Hurdle. Her compatriot Kevin Sexton booted home his first ever Festival winner with a fine ride on the Kevin Fahey-trained outsider Belfast Banter in the County Handicap Hurdle, while Irish trainer Gavin Cromwell saddled his second winner in as many days when Vanillier won the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle under Mark Walsh.
He got the leg up in place of the luckless Jonathan Moore, who missed out on two high profile winners this week after doing the honourable thing and standing himself down through injury yesterday morning.
Porlock Bay was the surprise winner of the Hunters Chase under Lorcan Williams, while Willie Mullins trained the winner of the first ever Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase in Colreevy, ridden by Paul Townend. Galopin Des Champs won the final race of the day, the Martin Pipe conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle. The final score: Irish trainers: 23-5 English trainers. That is a slaughter that is likely to prompt no end of handwringing among English horseracing folk.
Leading trainer: While Henry De Bromhead – who saddled the winners of the Champions Hurdle, Champions Chase and Gold Cup – may beg to differ, that win means that once again, Willie Mullins takes the trophy for leading trainer at the Festival.
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.50) result
1 Galopin Des Champs (S F O’Keeffe) 8-1
2 Langer Dan (Lorcan Williams) 13-2
3 Floueur (Paul O’Brien) 33-1
4 Whatsupwithyou (Luca Morgan) 33-1
22 ran
Also: 4-1 Fav Gentleman De Mee
Non Runners: 8,10,23
CSF: 54.84
Tricast: 1672.37
Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.50)
The technical gremlins finally take over in the last race of the Festival, so apologies for the loss of transmission. I can tell you that WIllie Mullins has taken the final race of the Festival. Gallopin Des Champs has won the Martin Pipe under Sean O’Keefe.
Updated
Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.50)
Gentleman De Mee leads over the third last with Simon Torrans in the plate, with Langer Dan making progress ...
Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.40)
Gentelman De Mee leads them along with his main rival in the betting market having come a cropper. The field is tightly bunched at halfway ...
Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.40)
Away they go for the final race of the Festival and Gabynako has unseated after being hampered by a faller whose name I didn’t get ....
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.50) betting
- Gentleman De Mee – 3/1
- Gabynako – 4/1
- Galopin Des Champs – 8/1
- Langer Dan – 17/2
- Folcano – 12/1
- Fire Attack – 12/1
- Fronal Assault – 14/1
- Martinhal – 25/1
- Commandingpresence – 25/1
- Leoncavallo – 25/1
- Mill Green – 33/1
- Eglantine Du Seuil – 33/1
- Floueur – 33/1
- Dallas Des Pictons – 40/1
- Dream Berry – 50/1
- Adjali – 66/1
- Whatsupwithyou – 66/1
- First Lord De Cuet – 66/1
- Armour de Nuit – 66/1
- And the New – 100/1
- Fabulous Saga – 100/1
- Golden Taipan – 125/1
- Clondaw Cian – 150/1
- Dolciano Dici – 200/1
- View on Oddschecker
Updated
Festival jockeys' championship
With just one race for conditional jockeys remaining, here’s how it panned out over the week for their senior colleagues.
- Rachael Blackmore: 6 winners
- Jack Kennedy: 4
- Paul Townend: 3
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle (4.50) preview
Anyone who is in front after 27 races can kick back and let this one pass (as if). The rest of us are pretty much obliged to make one final stab at the “getting out” race, which offers up no end of possibilities.
Gavin Cromwell’s Gabynako is the one for money this morning, and threatens to overtake the Willie Mullins-trained Gentleman De Mee at the top of the market at some stage, but desperate situations call for desperate measures and I’m going to take a very small each-way interest in Nicky Henderson’s Adjali at around – gulp – 66-1.
He’s that price for a reason in terms of his overall profile, but his mark has started to ease, he’s lightly-raced for a six-year-old and looked like a very decent prospect a couple of seasons ago.
Updated
Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (2m ½f) (4.15)
Colreevy wins from Elimay in an all Willie Mullins affair. Paul Townend was in the saddle for that one on a week that hasn’t gone as well for him as he would have liked.
Updated
Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (2m ½f) (4.15)
Elimay and Colreevy continue to lead with Shattered Love in pursauit about two lengths back ... COlreevy and Elimay jump the last side by side ... Colreevy wins by half a length from Elimay with Shattered Love in third ...
Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (2m ½f) (4.15)
Cabaret Queen is pulled up by Rachael Blackmore, whose Festival comes to an end, at the head of the field, Colreevy leaps in front of Elimay. Colreevy keeps jumping to her right, impeding the favourite as she does so. They’ve four to jump ...
Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (2m ½f) (4.15)
Magic Of Light and Robbie Power lead from Really Super with |volreevy in third. Elimay the grey favourit is in fifth place ...
Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (2m ½f) (4.15)
It’s the penultimate race on the final day of what’s been a strange but entertaining Festival. Colreevy leads them over the first with a fine leap.
Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase (4.15) betting
- Elimay – 5/4
- Colreevy – 11/4
- Shattered Love – 11/2
- Magic of Light – 14/1
- Cabaret Queen – 16/1
- Salsaretta – 25/1
- Zambella – 33/1
- Moyhenna – 50/1
- Really Super – 66/1
- Chilli Filli – 80/1
- Cut the Mustard – 100/1
- View on Oddschecker
Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase (4.15) preview
Say hello to the Festival’s new arrival, a two-and-a-half mile chase for mares and a race which Willie Mullins will probably waste no time adding to his collection.
Mullins fields the first two in the betting – odds-on Elimay and Colreevy – and two more besides, while an Irish-trained winner is all but a certainty as Denise Foster and Jessica Harrington supply the other fancied runners. The shortest-priced contender from a British yard, in fact, is Nigel Twiston-Davies’s Zambella at 33-1.
Rachael Blackmore wins the Leading Jockey prize
That result means Rachael Blackmore cannot be caught in yet another race – the marathon to decide the leading jockey in the Festival. She becomes the first woman in history to lift that particular prize with her current tally of six. She rides Cabaret Queen in the next and that’s her lot for this year’s Cheltenham. Congratulations to her.
Updated
St James' Place Hunter Chase result
1 Porlock Bay (Lorcan Williams) 16-1
2 Billaway (P Townend) 2-1 Fav
3 Staker Wallace (M P Walsh) 9-1
18 ran
Also: 12-1 Latenightpass 4th
Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f) (3.40)
Porlock Bay wins in a photo under Lorcan Williams for trainer Will Biddick. BIllaway was second.
Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f) (3.40)
Still waiting for an announcemnt but I think Porlock Bay got up to win by a short head.
Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f) (3.40)
Billaway goes into the lead being stalked by Porlock Bay. Porlock Bay and Lorcan Williams jump the last in front. Porlock Bay wins by a short head from Billaway ... I think!
Updated
Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f) (3.40)
The field is tightly bunched apart from Sonneofpresenting, whose rider hoists the white flag and pulls him up. Latenightpass continues to lead them along from Billaway and Porlock Bay ... they’ve three to jump ...
Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f) (3.40)
Chameron is pulled up after a series of poor jumps left him in danger of being tailed off. At the business end of the race, Mr Mantilla leads them along. Last year’s winner, It Came To Pass makes a mistake ... Mr Mantillaleads from Latenightpass and Billaway ...
Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f) (3.40)
They’re off and racing in the After The Lord Mayor’s Show Stakes, the professional jockeys taking the places of their amateur counterparts, who aren’t considered elite enough to be allowed ride at this Festival because of covid restrictions. Chameron almost comes a cropper early doors, but Harry Cobdon stays on board ...
St James' Place Hunter Chase (3.40) betting
- Billaway – 9/4
- Bob and Co – 9/2
- It Came to Pass – 8/1
- Staker Wallace – 10/1
- Stand Up and Fight – 11/1
- Red Indian – 11/1
- Parlock Bay – 16/1
- Latenightpass – 20/1
- Hazel Hill – 22/1
- Chameron – 22/1
- Salvatore – 33/1
- Mr Mantilla – 33/1
- Mighty Stowaway – 40/1
- Wishing and Hoping – 50/1
- Law Gold – 66/1
- Monbeg Gold – 100/1
- Ravished – 150/1
- Sonneofpresenting – 200/1
- View on Oddschecker
St James' Place Hunters Chase (3.40) preview
Professionals replace the amateurs for one year only, in a race that has gone to Ireland in seven of the last 10 years and has an Irish-trained favourite in Willie Mullins’s Billaway with Paul Townend in the saddle.
He was a pretty smooth winner in a big field at Naas last time and was the 10-length runner-up when 11-4 favourite for this last year, but he can make the odd mistake and will be just as short a price this time around.
The main hope from a British yard is Paul Nicholls’s Bob And Co (Sean Bowen), in a race that the trainer has won four times since 2004 and twice in the last four years.
His stable jockey Harry Cobden, though, is on Chameron, a horse that is part-owned by Nicholls and trained by Sam Loxton, whose late wife Rose, who died last year, was a champion trainer in the point-to-point field for many years. Rose Loxton had links to the Nicholls stable for many years, including as the groom of the outstanding staying hurdler Big Buck’s, and had a big influence on the riding career of Nicholls’s daughter, Megan, with a regular supply of point-to-point winners when she was a teenager.
Updated
Rachel Blackmore: She’s had a week beyond her wildest dreams, but a penny for the thoughts of Rachel Blackmore, Minella Indo’s usual jockey, who decided to ride A Plus Tard in today’s race instead. It is a measure of just how good she is that she had such a difficult choice to make. Hopefully she won’t beat herself up over it.
Jack Kennedy speaks ...
“I can’t believe it,” he tells ITV, while on the verge of tears. “This is what I’ve dreamt of since I was a child. I’m just so grateful to Henry and [owners] Mike and Barry Moloney for giving me the opportunity to ride him. I can’t thank them enough and I’ll owe them forever.”
On his fightback from multiple injuries: “This is what I live for and I can’t believe this is after happening. I landed over the last and he pricked his ears. He was pulling up but not out of tiredness. When he heard Rachael coming behind him he took off again.”
Minella Indo was simply incredible!
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 19, 2021
Henry de Bromhead becomes the first trainer to win the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and the @WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup at the same Festival#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/FdFpsMlwPq
Minella Indo wins the WellChild Gold Cup
After suffering the disappointment of being unshipped from Festival hotpot Envoi Allen, Jack Kennedy wins the Gold Cup. Rachael Blackmore had her pick of the two Henry de Bromhead horses in this race and, in her first error of judgement this week, picked the wrong one. She has to settle for second. De Bromhead, meanwhile, become the first trainer in history to pull off the Festival Holy Trinity in the same week.
Updated
WellChild Gold Cup (3.05) result
1 Minella Indo (J W Kennedy) 9-1
2 A Plus Tard (Rachael Blackmore) 10-3
3 Al Boum Photo (P Townend) 9-4 Fav
12 ran
Also: 12-1 Native River 4th
CSF: 39.15
Tricast: 91.54
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Minella Indo wins the Gold Cup from A Plus Tard and Al BOum Photo. Minella Indo and Jack Kennedy win the Gold Cup for Henry De Bromhead ...
Updated
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Minella Indo leads from A Plus Tard ... Minella Indo leads over the last ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Frodon leads over the third last from Minella Indo and Al Boum Photo ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Frodon continues to lead, jumping beautifully with four to go ... Minella Indo is second ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Frodon pings the eighth and seventh fences from home and Native River is next to come under pressure. Frodon from Minella Indo and Al Boum Photo ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Eleven fences to go and Frodon continues to plod along in front with Kemboy on his outside ... Black Op is third ... Santini is pulled up ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Champ is pulled up and Santini blunders into some birch but stays up ... Frodon continues to creep along in front ... Black Op is second and Kemboy in third ... they’re travelling at 32 miles-per-hour ... Santini is five lengths behind the field ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
Frodon is on the rail, inside Kemboy and Black Op. Champ is jumping like a hairy goat but still upright ...
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
THey’re away and running in the Gold Cup, with Al Boum Photo going off the 9-4 favourite. Native River and Frodon take up the running ... Champ and Al Boum Photo make minor errors at the first ...
The parade: The horses line up and parade past the empty grandstand for the benefit of the TV cameras and the viewers at home, before their handlers release them into the sole care of their jockeys and watch them canter down to the start.
Ding! Ding! The parade ring bell goes for the jockeys to mount their horses for the Festival showpiece. While much of the attention this week has been on Rachael Blackmore, she is not the only pilot in this race trying to become the first woman in history to win the Gold Cup. Bryony Frost is also riding and gets the leg up on Frodon.
Up next - the race they all want to win 🏆
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 19, 2021
Strap yourselves in for the 2021 @WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup 👌#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/L4WxdVcu9x
WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f) betting
- Al Boum Photo – 5/2
- A Plus Tard – 10/3
- Champ – 13/2
- Minella Indo – 9/1
- Santin – 12/1
- Royale Pagaille – 16/1
- Native River – 16/1
- Kemboy – 18/1
- Frodon – 18/1
- Lostintranslation – 33/1
- Black Op – 200/1
- Aso – 250/1
- View on Oddschecker
Another winner for Ireland, a second for Gavin Cromwell!
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 19, 2021
Vanillier runs out a wide-margin winner in the @albert_bartlett Novices’ Hurdle#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/Y9hJzG2FDK
WellChild Gold Cup (3.05) preview
Even by its own very high standards, this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup – sponsored by local childrens’ charity WellChild – is rich with potential storylines and dramas, so much so in fact that Al Boum Photo’s attempt to become only the fifth horse ever to win the race three times has been somewhat overshadowed.
Rachael Blackmore hopes to become the first female rider to win, and so does Bryony Frost on Frodon. Henry de Bromhead could be the first trainer ever to win the “Big Three” at a single Festival, Colin Tizzard goes for one more big-race win before retirement with Native River, British racing attempts to salvage something from the wreckage of just four winners on the first three days … the list goes on.
Al Boum Photo has to be the place to start, though, as his course-and-distance form could hardly be any better and he is all but guaranteed to run his race. He’s unlikely to actually improve too much either though, and an up-and-comer like A Plus Tard could well be too sprightly for the nine-year-old. A Plus Tard has raced over three miles just twice, putting up a career best at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting where he needed every yard of it, and Minella Indo, a Grade One winner over hurdles two years ago, is a useful second-string for de Bromhead. Frodon took the King George at Christmas, loves the track and gets on famously with Bryony Frost, as does Native River with Richard Johnson, returning to the scene of their epic head-to-head with Might Bite three years ago.
The novice Royale Pagaille has come from nowhere to be a contender on the basis of a remarkable run under top weight in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, and along with Champ, forms the core of the home-based challenge at the end of a week when Irish dominance has reached new heights.
Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (2.30) result
1 Vanillier (M P Walsh) 14-1
2 Oscar Elite (Jonjo O’Neill Jr.) 40-1
3 Streets Of Doyen (S D Torrens) 10-1
16 ran
Also: 7-2 Fav Stattler 4th
Non Runner: 6
CSF: 476.25
Tricast: 5745.14
Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m) (2.30)
The unfortunate Jonathan Moore misses out on another winner through injury, with Mark Walsh the beneficiary, getting the leg up from trainer Gavin Cromwell.
Updated
Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m) (2.30)
The grey Vanillier goes a length clear as they approach the last and pulls away up[ the hill to win under Mark Walsh, who notches his second success of the meeting. Oscar Elite was second and Streets of Doyen was third.
Updated
Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m) (2.30)
Ask A Honey Bee is being scrubbed along at the back of the field, while Adrmiel continues to lead at the third flight of hurdles from home. Beatthebullet is going backwards while Barbados Buck’s is making ground around the outside ...
Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m) (2.30)
They’re cruising along at 30 miles per hour with Vanillier and Adrimel leading the way. You could throw a blanket over the closely bunched field ...
Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m) (2.30)
Off they go in the Albert Bartlett and I’ve had a fiver on N’Golo at a big price, after his namesake’s terrific performance in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night. Anyway, they’re away and running and N’Golo, Stattler and Vanillier are up at the front after four flights of hurdles ...
Albert Novices' Hurdle (2.30) betting
- Fakiera – 4/1
- Stattler – 9/2
- Torygraph – 7/1
- Threeunderfive – 17/2
- Barbados Bucks – 17/2
- Streets of Doyen – 9/1
- Alaphilippe -14/1
- Adrimel – 14/1
- Vaniller – 20/1
- Ngolo – 28/1
- Pats Fancy – 33/1
- The Cob – 33/1
- Oscar Elite – 40/1
- Castle Robin – 66/1
- ChampagneSuperOver – 100/1
- Ask a Honey Bee – 100/1
- Beatthebullet – 150/1
- View on Oddschecker
Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (2.30) preview
The novice hurdle of choice for future staying chasers, with winners since 2000 including Bobs Worth, who landed the three-mile novice chase and then the Gold Cup in the next two seasons; Minella Indo, who runs in today’s Gold Cup; and Monkfish, who added another Festival success in the Brown Advisory Novice Chase on Wednesday. Penhill, who took the Stayers’ Hurdle a year later, is also on the roll of honour. So who will join them?
Fakiera has been the one for money overnight, supplanting Stattler at the head of the market, while Torygraph is also prominent in the betting. Perhaps Michael O’Leary will avoid accusations of bias by naming one of his horses “The Grauniad” when he gets a moment. Paul Nicholls’ only winner this week was at Taunton on Monday, but Barbados Buck’s and Threeunderthrufive have done little wrong season and along with Tom Lacey’s equally likeable Adrimel, seem likely to offer the most resistance to the Irish onslaught.
County Handicap Hurdle (1.55)
It’s another winner for the Irish, with trainer Peter Fahey saddling the long shot Belfast Banter. Kevin Sexton rides his first Festival winner at the ripe young age of 26.
Bottom-weight gets the better of top-weight!
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 19, 2021
Belfast Banter springs a 33/1 surprise in the @ltd_mccoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/qTaXJanvqh
County Handicap Hurdle (1.55) result
1 Belfast Banter (K C Sexton) 33-1
2 Petit Mouchoir (J C Gainford) 22-1
3 Milkwood (R T Dunne) 28-1
4 Eclair De Beaufeu (J W Kennedy) 11-1
25 ran
Also: 5-1 Fav You Raised Me Up
Non Runner: 8
CSF: 633.16
Tricast: 18582.92
Updated
County Handicap Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.55)
Milk Wood leads them over the last but it’s Belfast Banter who wins from Petit Mouchoir after weaving his way through the field under a good ride from Kevin Sexton.
Updated
County Handicap Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.55)
Mengli Khan continues to lead them along from fifty Ball and Petit Moucher and Third Time Lucki... they’ve three-quarters of a mile to travel but only two hurdles left to jump ...
County Handicap Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.55)
They’re away and running in this 25-strong County Handicap Hurdle field. Mengli Khan tows them along from Global Citizen and er, the 23 others ...
Paul Townend: Asked by ITV’s Luke Harvey, down at the start, if there is any point in showing the horse the “practice” hurdle before they set off, as is customary, the jockey says: “If they don’t know how to jump them by now we’re in trouble.” He has a point.
Some sad news: ITV Racing have just announced that Chester Barnes, former English table-tennis champion turned side-kick and assistant trainer to Martin Pipe, passed away last night.
County Handicap Hurdle (1.55) betting
- Ganapathi – 6/1
- You Raised Me Up – 6/1
- Champagne Gold – 7/1
- Third Time Lucki – 7/1
- Éclair De Beaufeu – 10/1
- Fifty Ball – 14/1
- Captain Kangaroo – 16/1
- Gowel Road – 16/1
- Cayd Boy – 20/1
- Edwardstone – 22/1
- Drop the Anchor – 25/1
- Buildmeupbuttercup – 25/1
- Ciel De Neige – 25/1
- Thyme White – 25/1
- Milkwood – 28/1
- Petit Mouchoir – 33/1
- Strong Glance – 33/1
- Belfast Banter – 40/1
- Saint DOroux – 40/1
- La Patriote – 50/1
- Darasso – 66/1
- Getaway Gorgeous – 66/1
- Global Citizen – 66/1
- Mengli Khan – 80/1
- Wolf Prince – 100/1
- Anna Bunina – 125/1
- View on Oddschecker
A nice gesture: On ITV Racing, Ed Chamberlin has just announced that, as a thank you to Cheltenham Racecourse for looking after them so well this week, the Irish trainers, jockeys and stable staff have had a – pun intended – whip round and will be donating €25,000 to WellChild, the sponsors of today’s Gold Cup.
Discussing Rachel Blackmore’s chances of beating Ruby Walsh’s record of six winners in one Festival with AP McCoy, Ed can’t resist resist a giggle when the former champ says with - pun intended - unbridled relish: “I really hope she beats him”.
Quilixios dictates from the front!
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 19, 2021
A sixth winner of the week for @Rachaelblackmor in the @jcbmachines Triumph Hurdle#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/JtbJQZcCJe
County Hurdle (1.55) preview
Such is the week that Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore are enjoying that the punters are starting to back them blind, and Champagne Gold could well start favourite here having opened at around 14-1 on Wednesday. He has a fair chance, but a 12lb hike for finishing second at Leopardstown in early February does not make his life any easier.
Ganapathi, meanwhile, raced in Grade One company last time and finished a close-ish second in a Grade Two in January, yet carries 4lb less than Blackmore’s mount here, which just doesn’t feel right. Elsewhere in the field, Denise Foster’s Eclair De Beaufeu is also prominent in the betting and can boast some decent course form – albeit over fences - when second here last year in the Grand Annual Chase.
Third Time Lucki bids to improve Dan Skelton’s record in this race to what would be a fairly mind-boggling four out of the last six, while Fifty Ball and Edwardstone represent the Betfair Hurdle form having finished second and third at Newbury last month.
Rachael Blackmore: In her post-race interview, Rachael points out that Quilixios was, until very recently, a resident at the yard of suspended trainer Gordon Elliot before being moved to Henry De Bromhead’s stable. She says “all the credit should go to them, we just had to put him on the boat”.
Updated
JCB Triumph Hurdle (1.20) result
1 Quilixios (Rachael Blackmore) 2-1
2 Adagio (T Scudamore) 10-1
3 Haut En Couleurs (P Townend) 20-1
8 ran
Also: 11-8 Fav Zanahiyr 4th
CSF: 19.92
Tricast: 304.91
JCB Triumph Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.20)
Quilixior wins, Adagio finishes second just ahead of Haut En Coleurs ...
JCB Triumph Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.20)
They’re well bunched heading to the second last, which Talking ABout You jumps in front ... Quilixios moves to the front with Adagio, Haut En Coleurs and Zanahiyr ... Quilixios pulls clear to win for Rachael Blackmore, her sixth success of the week.
JCB Triumph Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.20)
Quilixios and Rachael Blackmore move to the front with about four lengths separating the field. Historic Heart has made a couple of jumping errors and is being scrubbed along. Two left to jump and Historic Heart gets a reminder from his jockey ...
JCB Triumph Hurdle (2m 1f) (1.20)
Off the go in the first race of the final day, with Talking About You and Harry Bannister making the running. Quilixios moves upsides him, with Zanahiyr in third ...
The bookies are running scared ...
Have a look at this, by Matt Butler from the Racing Post ...
Rachael Blackmore’s remarkable success at this week’s Cheltenham Festival has reportedly prompted several major bookmakers to take evasive action on Gold Cup day, with punters restricted when placing multiples on the five rides of the Champion Hurdle-winning jockey.
Sky Bet have confirmed a maximum payout cap of £25,000 was introduced on the Blackmore five-fold this morning.
Kevin Blake: Hats off to terminally cheerful Irish racing pundit Kevin Blake, who tipped an 800-1 treble out of three selections yesterday. His picks for today, just in case lightning happens to strike twice.
- 1.55: You Raise Me Up (nap)
- 2.30: Barbados Buck’s (NB)
- 3.05: Santini (outsider)
JCB Triumph Hurdle (1.20) betting
- Zanahiyr – 11/8
- Quilixious – 9/4
- Tritonic – 4/1
- Adagio – 16/1
- Haut En Couleurs – 28/1
- Tax for Max – 40/1
- Historic Heart – 125/1
- Talking About You – 150/1
- View on Oddschecker
JCB Triumph Hurdle (1.20) preview
Former stable companions Quilixios and Zanahiyr head the market for an eight-runner Triumph, which in terms of numbers at least is a pale shadow of the 28-runner spectacles that once marked the start of proceedings on Gold Cup day.
The arrival of the juvenile handicap hurdle on Tuesday has done for those, though eight runners is an unusually small turnout even by modern standards.
Quilixios, of course, was in the Gordon Elliott stable until shortly before it turned into the Denise Foster stable a week and a half ago, and has attracted plenty of money overnight as Rachael Blackmore is in the saddle on Henry de Bromhead’s runner.
Tritonic, on the other hand, is on the retreat in the market, and after a brutal three days for British-trained runners, it is understandable. On the other hand, his form looks rock-solid, and he is, by Alan King’s own admission, the best Flat horse that he has ever sent over hurdles.
The shape of the race makes it hard to see a winner from outside the top three in the betting, although David Pipe’s Adagio was very impressive in the Finale at Chepstow and stormed to victory in the trial over course and distance at the December meeting.
A message from @rachaelblackmor, @AP_McCoy, @olibellracing & Bryony Frost to ask for your support for @WellChild today! #WellChildGoldCup
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Martin Pipe Conditionals Handicap Hurdle
Anyone who is in front after 27 races can kick back and let this one pass (as if). The rest of us are pretty much obliged to make one final stab at the “getting out” race, which offers up no end of possibilities.
Gavin Cromwell’s Gabynako is the one for money this morning, and threatens to overtake the Willie Mullins-trained Gentleman De Mee at the top of the market at some stage, but desperate situations call for desperate measures and I’m going to take a very small each-way interest in Nicky Henderson’s Adjali at around – gulp – 66-1.
He’s that price for a reason in terms of his overall profile, but his mark has started to ease, he’s lightly-raced for a six-year-old and looked like a very decent prospect a couple of seasons ago.
Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase (4.15) preview
Say hello to the Festival’s new arrival, a two-and-a-half mile chase for mares and a race which Willie Mullins will probably waste no time adding to his collection.
Mullins fields the first two in the betting – odds-on Elimay and Colreevy – and two more besides, while an Irish-trained winner is all but a certainty as Denise Foster and Jessica Harrington supply the other fancied runners. The shortest-priced contender from a British yard, in fact, is Nigel Twiston-Davies’s Zambella at 33-1.
St James' Place Hunters Chase (3.40) preview
Professionals replace the amateurs for one year only, in a race that has gone to Ireland in seven of the last 10 years and has an Irish-trained favourite in Willie Mullins’s Billaway with Paul Townend in the saddle.
He was a pretty smooth winner in a big field at Naas last time and was the 10-length runner-up when 11-4 favourite for this last year, but he can make the odd mistake and will be just as short a price this time around.
The main hope from a British yard is Paul Nicholls’s Bob And Co (Sean Bowen), in a race that the trainer has won four times since 2004 and twice in the last four years. His stable jockey Harry Cobden, though, is on Chameron, a horse that is part-owned by Nicholls and trained by Sam Loxton, whose late wife Rose, who died last year, was a champion trainer in the point-to-point field for many years. Rose Loxton had links to the Nicholls stable for many years, including as the groom of the outstanding staying hurdler Big Buck’s, and had a big influence on the riding career of Nicholls’s daughter, Megan, with a regular supply of point-to-point winners when she was a teenager.
WellChild Gold Cup
Even by its own very high standards, this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup – sponsored by local childrens’ charity WellChild – is rich with potential storylines and dramas, so much so in fact that Al Boum Photo’s attempt to become only the fifth horse ever to win the race three times has been somewhat overshadowed.
Rachael Blackmore hopes to become the first female rider to win, and so does Bryony Frost on Frodon. Henry de Bromhead could be the first trainer ever to win the “Big Three” at a single Festival, Colin Tizzard goes for one more big-race win before retirement with Native River, British racing attempts to salvage something from the wreckage of just four winners on the first three days … the list goes on.
Al Boum Photo has to be the place to start, though, as his course-and-distance form could hardly be any better and he is all but guaranteed to run his race. He’s unlikely to actually improve too much either though, and an up-and-comer like A Plus Tard could well be too sprightly for the nine-year-old. A Plus Tard has raced over three miles just twice, putting up a career best at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting where he needed every yard of it, and Minella Indo, a Grade One winner over hurdles two years ago, is a useful second-string for de Bromhead. Frodon took the King George at Christmas, loves the track and gets on famously with Bryony Frost, as does Native River with Richard Johnson, returning to the scene of their epic head-to-head with Might Bite three years ago.
The novice Royale Pagaille has come from nowhere to be a contender on the basis of a remarkable run under top weight in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, and along with Champ, forms the core of the home-based challenge at the end of a week when Irish dominance has reached new heights.
Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (2.30) preview
The novice hurdle of choice for future staying chasers, with winners since 2000 including Bobs Worth, who landed the three-mile novice chase and then the Gold Cup in the next two seasons; Minella Indo, who runs in today’s Gold Cup; and Monkfish, who added another Festival success in the Brown Advisory Novice Chase on Wednesday. Penhill, who took the Stayers’ Hurdle a year later, is also on the roll of honour. So who will join them?
Fakiera has been the one for money overnight, supplanting Stattler at the head of the market, while Torygraph is also prominent in the betting. Perhaps Michael O’Leary will avoid accusations of bias by naming one of his horses “The Grauniad” when he gets a moment. Paul Nicholls’ only winner this week was at Taunton on Monday, but Barbados Buck’s and Threeunderthrufive have done little wrong season and along with Tom Lacey’s equally likeable Adrimel, seem likely to offer the most resistance to the Irish onslaught.
County Hurdle (1.55) preview
Such is the week that Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore are enjoying that the punters are starting to back them blind, and Champagne Gold could well start favourite here having opened at around 14-1 on Wednesday. He has a fair chance, but a 12lb hike for finishing second at Leopardstown in early February does not make his life any easier.
Ganapathi, meanwhile, raced in Grade One company last time and finished a close-ish second in a Grade Two in January, yet carries 4lb less than Blackmore’s mount here, which just doesn’t feel right. Elsewhere in the field, Denise Foster’s Eclair De Beaufeu is also prominent in the betting and can boast some decent course form – albeit over fences - when second here last year in the Grand Annual Chase.
Third Time Lucki bids to improve Dan Skelton’s record in this race to what would be a fairly mind-boggling four out of the last six, while Fifty Ball and Edwardstone represent the Betfair Hurdle form having finished second and third at Newbury last month.
JCB Triumph Hurdle (1.20) preview
Former stable companions Quilixios and Zanahiyr head the market for an eight-runner Triumph, which in terms of numbers at least is a pale shadow of the 28-runner spectacles that once marked the start of proceedings on Gold Cup day.
The arrival of the juvenile handicap hurdle on Tuesday has done for those, though eight runners is an unusually small turnout even by modern standards.
Quilixios, of course, was in the Gordon Elliott stable until shortly before it turned into the Denise Foster stable a week and a half ago, and has attracted plenty of money overnight as Rachael Blackmore is in the saddle on Henry de Bromhead’s runner.
Tritonic, on the other hand, is on the retreat in the market, and after a brutal three days for British-trained runners, it is understandable. On the other hand, his form looks rock-solid, and he is, by Alan King’s own admission, the best Flat horse that he has ever sent over hurdles.
The shape of the race makes it hard to see a winner from outside the top three in the betting, although David Pipe’s Adagio was very impressive in the Finale at Chepstow and stormed to victory in the trial over course and distance at the December meeting.
The Festival in Lockdown
Tom Jenkins, a major winner at this week’s Sports Journalist Association Awards, has been wandering around Cheltenham this week pointing his camera at things in order to bring you this wonderful picture essay of a Cheltenham Festival like no other. Enjoy.
I declare the comments section open! Humble apologies for our tardiness.
Today's races
- 1.20: JCB Triumph Hurdle (2m 1f)
- 1.55: County Handicap Hurdle (2m 1f)
- 2.30: Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3m)
- 3.05: WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup (3m 2f)
- 3.40: Open Hunters’ Steeplechase (3m 2f)
- 4.15: Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeplechase (2m ½f)
- 4.50: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (2m 4½f)
Cheltenham Festival tipping competition
Welcome to day four of 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 much 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.
We haven’t actually figured out who won yesterday yet, but will let you know just as soon as somebody [specifically: Greg Wood] has.
If your luck’s out today, despair, as a dear friend of this parish used to say. Good luck to all!
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An email: An intriguing bit of correrspondence dropped into my email inbox yesterday morning, which I meant to post on the blog but proceeded to completely forget about. So, with apologies and in the spirit of late being better than never, over to you Hanna Coltman ...
“Twelve years ago, our diminutive hero Kayf Aramis stormed up the hill giving Venetia William’s her first win of the day and Aiden Coleman his very first win at the Festival,” writes Hanna. “He said the first is always the one to remember. Does he? Kayf Aramis was, apparently, put in for a social ride. We still cannot fathom how he won. Was it the roar of the crowd or was he intent of getting away from all those brutish Irish rivals? What an unforgettable day!”
Here’s a post-race interview I’ve found with Kayf Aramis’s owner Isobel Phipps Coltman, who I’m guessing might be Hanna’s ... mum?
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"She's had as many falls as she's had winners, and she's come back better and stronger than ever"@AP_McCoy is full of praise for @rachaelblackmor
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 19, 2021
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Millie Wonnacott: Jockey Millie Wonnacott faces “several weeks” on the sidelines after injuring her neck in a fall yesterday.
Prominent conditional Wonnacott, who was due to have her first ride for top trainer Paul Nicholls on the final day of the showpiece meeting, was unseated at the fifth on Kansas City Chief in Thursday’s Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.
“Unfortunately yesterday at Cheltenham Millie Wonnacott injured her neck after her fall on Kansas City Chief in the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle and will now be out of action for several weeks,” said a statement issued by her management. “Millie was booked to ride Fabulous Saga in the Martin Pipe conditional hurdle and have her first ride for multiple champion trainer Paul Nicholls. Millie has been in excellent form this season and she will be back stronger than ever.”
Rex Dingle will replace her on Fabulous Saga in the closing race of this year’s Festival. Wonnacott spent three months sidelined with a broken back suffered in a fall at Newtown Abbott last year, returning to partner Doing Fine in the London National at Sandown in December.
Today’s non-runners
4.50: No10 Pileon
Rachel Blackmore: “Even if Al Boum Photo wins on Friday, this Festival seems likely to be remembered first as the one that unfolded in front of empty grandstands, and then as the meeting where Blackmore dominated the week,” writes Greg Wood, from Cheltenham. “It seems to be the story of Al Boum Photo’s career. There is always a better story that pushes him down the list.”
Our racing correspondent sets the scene ...
Good morning from Cheltenham on Gold Cup day, ahead of a Friday afternoon that could well deliver an “I was there” moment, even though there’s no-one here. Rachael Blackmore seems likely to set off as joint-favourite at least to win the Gold Cup on A Plus Tard at 3.05, and victory in the Festival’s showpiece event would make her the first rider since Norman Williamson in 1995 to win both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup at the same Festival.
Oh, and the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup, of course, but then that was only ever a matter of time, because men and women have been competing as equals in racing for decades…
Anyway, Blackmore is having an almost Dettori-like effect on the betting markets on Friday morning, having racked up five winners over the first three afternoons including doubles on both Wednesday and Thursday. She is also 1-6 to end the week as leading rider – Jack Kennedy (6-1) and Paul Townend (14-1) are the only plausible rivals still standing – and has an obvious chance for a sixth winner of the week on Quilixios in the opener.
Blackmore has five rides on today’s card while Kennedy – who is 2-0 up in terms of second places, which could be significant if it comes to a countback – has six. The Triumph Hurdle at the top of the card is the most interesting head-to-head between the two, as Quilixios and Kennedy’s mount Zanahiyr were stable companions at the Gordon Elliott yard until three weeks ago. A win for Blackmore should pretty much seal the deal in terms of the top jockey prize, while Kennedy getting to within one winner would open it right up.
Simon Claisse, Cheltenham’s head of racing, reports this morning that the ground has continued to dry, and the going is now good-to-soft, good in places. Some thoughts on possible winners this afternoon are here, and all the news, views and images of one of the great days in the racing calendar will be here all afternoon. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
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Cheltenham Festival: Gold Cup day
Horse racing needed a hero this week but it got a heroine instead. With five winners and two big feature races to her name Rachael Blackmore is the name on everyone’s lips going into the final day of the Festival and the quiet Irishwoman could make further history today by winning the meeting’s blue riband event, the Gold Cup.
She rides A Plus Tard in the big one and her very presence in the saddle means the already fancied Henry De Bromhead-trained seven-year-old has attracted a further tsunami of bets to upstage Al Boum Photo as he attempts to become one of only five horses in history to win three Gold Cups. Golden Miller, of course, remains the standard bearer with an astonishing five consecutive victories in the race between 1932 and 1936.
There’s plenty more action either side of the Gold Cup, so please join us for a day hi-octane equine action as we bring you news, colour, updates, tips and reaction.
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