Penhill became the latest big name to be ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday when Willie Mullins reported the horse to be “very sore” one day after an important piece of work. Ironically, that news followed hard on the heels of the final set of entries being revealed, showing a record Irish-trained entry of 825 for Festival races, amounting to an unprecedented 45% of all entrants.
Irish raiders are odds-on to win more races than the home defence at Cheltenham next month but Penhill will be unable to contribute as he has done for the last two seasons. The eight-year-old is notoriously fragile and has had only four races over the last two years, but two of them were victories at the Festival, in the Albert Bartlett of 2017 and the Stayers’ Hurdle 12 months ago.
Mullins gave a clear warning of what could happen at his media day last week, when he reported Penhill on course for the Stayers’ but added: “Every day with him, you’re looking at him every morning to make sure that he’s all right. So far, so good. But he’s going to have a few more searching bits of work between now and Cheltenham.”
Penhill had been trading at 6-1 second-favourite in the markets for the Stayers’. In his absence Paisley Park tightened to 2-1 favourite, while Samcro is next in the betting. It was the second upheaval in the Cheltenham betting in the space of three days, following Monday’s news that Le Richebourg would miss the Arkle.
Those two unfortunate absentees notwithstanding, the Irish raiding party looks sure to dominate the Festival in a fortnight’s time, judging by the sheer quantity of entries made. This year’s tally is 110 more than the previous record, set two years ago. A similar increase, if repeated next year, would give Ireland more than half of all Festival entries.
Ireland has won the Prestbury Cup, given to the country which fields most Festival winners, for the last three years and it is seven years since the award for top Festival trainer was last won by a trainer based in Britain. Those numbers represent a sea change since the late 1980s, when only Galmoy prevented Irish raiders being blanked for three years in a row.
“It is tough,” said the Oxfordshire-based trainer Charlie Longsdon, reflecting on how much harder British stables are now finding it to make a mark at the Festival. Referring to the ownership vehicle of Michael O’Leary, he added: “We know how big Gigginstown is these days. Gordon Elliott’s got 200 plus horses and Willie’s got a lot.
“They are fantastic trainers but it does make it harder to compete, there’s no doubt. At the Grand National weights launch, Gordon was saying he wanted to run 10 or maybe more; well, that’s a quarter of the bloody field!”
Nigel Twiston-Davies was more sanguine about the increasing Irish influence in the best British races. “Obviously it’s harder because they do very well. But it’s good competition. It’s good for the sport, good for everybody.”
Asked if it was now harder for British trainers to buy the best young horses, Twiston-Davies said: “I’ve never been able to buy them anyway. It’s a problem if you’ve got a lot of money but, since we’ve never had that, we’ll just carry on doing what we’ve been doing.”
Eddie O’Leary, who runs Gigginstown, said: “We’ve had a good time at the Festival for the last few years but that probably means we won’t do well this time.” But O’Leary is now, after years of discontent, satisfied that Irish runners are treated fairly when they race in British handicaps. “I wouldn’t even know the English handicapper’s name and isn’t that a good thing? Like a good referee, you don’t even notice he’s there.”
Meanwhile the French ruling body has announced that jockeys will be limited to five uses of the whip per race from March. The British Horseracing Authority, once more consulting on possible changes to its own whip rules, seems sure to take notice of the change.
Musselburgh 1.35 Constancio 2.10 Samtu 2.45 Boy's On Tour 3.20 Ballynanty 3.55 Benny's Secret (nap) 4.30 Highate Hill
Ludlow 1.50 Snapdragon Fire 2.25 Kayf Blanco 3.00 Earlofthecotswolds 3.35 Calipso Collonges 4.10 It's O Kay 4.45 Now Ben 5.15 Hijran
Taunton 2.00 Regulation 2.35 Airton 3.10 Oscar Ceremony 3.45 Bastien 4.20 Colonial Dreams 4.55 Master Baker 5.30 New Guard
Newcastle 4.05 Glan Y Gors 4.40 Almost Midnight 5.10 Winged Spur 5.45 Treasure Me (nb) 6.15 Portledge 6.45 Fendale 7.15 Wise Words
Kempton 4.50 Solveig's Song 5.20 Jack Louie 5.55 Cashel 6.30 Creek Island 7.00 Astrospeed 7.30 Valentino Dancer 8.00 Blazon 8.30 The Detainee
