The starts at Cheltenham were hailed as the fairest for a long time, following new starting procedures introduced in the autumn, it was claimed on Saturday. Paul Struthers, chief executive of the Professional Jockeys Association, said that “the starting team and the jockeys deserved a lot of credit” for the fact that, despite the immense pressure of the occasion, the new rules appeared to work well.
Last Saturday’s Imperial Cup was one of three major handicaps during the winter that seemed to create at least one hard-luck story from the use of a standing start after an initial start had failed and there were fears that the system might be severely tested during the Festival. But there was little notable disruption, despite the need for a handful of standing starts.
“The starts were a revelation,” said Struthers. “They were probably the fairest starts, as a collection, that we’ve seen at Cheltenham for some time, at least. Jockeys can now be confident that, if one horse breaks into a canter, it won’t be a start and they can take a pull. In the past, they were loathe to take a pull in case the tape might be let go anyway.”
Jamie Stier, the director of raceday operations for the British Horseracing Authority, said the starts had been “mostly pleasing”, adding: “It was apparent that the majority of riders were doing their utmost to cooperate with the starter … The only race to be a real disappointment was the Foxhunters.” That race is one of three at the Festival restricted to amateur riders.
Stier was also minded to give credit to jockeys for observance of the whip rules, noting that Noel Fehily and Wilson Renwick were the only two British-based jockeys to be found in breach during the four days. He also offered credit to “the vast majority of Irish riders” for making an effort to adhere but could not bring himself to name Bryan Cooper, whose two whip bans on Friday earned suspensions totalling 15 days, which will prevent him from riding in the Grand National or the Irish equivalent.
“There was one notable exception, which was disappointing,” said Stier. “It is simply not acceptable to just disregard the rules in this manner. However, we are sure that the penalty imposed is appropriate and will hopefully ensure that the lesson is learned.”
Struthers made a point of praising the visiting jockeys. “The whip rules are so different to the ones they ride under in Ireland and there is only one Irish rider, Barry Geraghty, who rides here regularly. They did fantastically well on the whole.”
