Greg Wood reports live from Cheltenham
3.55pm: A family affair in the handicap hurdle, as Campbell Gillies arrives late to claim victory on Lie Forrit, trained in his native Scotland and bought as a foal by his grandfather.
It is just 20 days since Gillies suffered a punctured lung and bruised liver when falling from the same horse at Aintree.
"My saddle slipped last time but I was sure I would have won and I really pushed myself back because I had to ride this fellow," he said. "He stays really well and I was impressed by how he quickened."
The horse's name, incidentally, is a Scottish saying meaning "get forward". He lived up to it in the end, but it certainly took a while, and even at this stage, the Pertemps Final at the Festival looks an obvious target.
3.30pm: Eddie O'Grady had been plotting Tranquil Sea's victory in the Paddy Power Gold Cup for several months, and knew that his horse would take some beating if he produced his best form.
"This race was always on my agenda, because I thought he was value for a place in the Jewson [at the Festival in March]," O'Grady said. "With luck he should have been second or third.
"It probably wasn't the greatest running of this race of all time. I thought there was an opportunity there and that if anything stood out as an up-and-coming horse it was him. I could only hope he would rise to it and on the day he did."
Despite the great success of Irish horses at the Festival in recent years, Tranquil Sea is, surprisingly, the first Irish-trained winner of the race since 1980. He is quoted at 10-1 for the Ryanair Chase in March, a race that O'Grady will give serious consideration.
2.30pm: Ferdy Murphy is thinking long term for Galant Nuit, the five-year-old winner of the Servo Trophy Handicap Chase. Very long term, in fact. "He'll definitely be a Grand National horse one day, but that's three or four years down the road," Murphy said.
"He jumps well and Graham [Lee] said that he just let the race come to him. He likes these conditions [and] we'll probably go for the Eider Chase now, and he wouldn't run before then. He's a five-year-old, and three miles three around here takes a bit of getting. I'll talk it over with my head lad, but my gut feeling is that we'll go straight to the Eider in February."
Will Hayler on today's TV races
Nigel Twiston-Davies saddles probably the best-backed horse of the season so far in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham. But for punters who have supported Ballyfitz from 16-1 down to clear favouritism at 6-1, there could be reasons for thinking that it might be a case of having found the right yard and the wrong horse. Ballyfitz is talented but his jumping left plenty to be desired upon occasions during his novice campaign and he seemed to struggle over the Cheltenham fences when pulled up on his most recent appearance in March.
Cheltenham 2.35 Knowhere seems to have been around forever, but Ballyfitz's stablemate and rival in today's race does not have many miles on the clock and he finished a gutsy third in this race two years ago (in what was possibly a slightly more competitive renewal). A jumping mistake meant he finished third behind Monet's Garden at Aintree on his seasonal reappearance, but his stamina may not have been tested and he is a horse who has relished the uphill finish at Cheltenham. With an under-rated conditional taking 5lb off his back, Knowhere looks a fine each-way bet at 33-1.
Cheltenham 1.55 Galant Nuit takes the eye with a feather- weight in a real marathon. Miko de Beauchene and Chelsea Harbour appreciate testing conditions, but may find their weight burdens proving too much, whereas off 10st Galant Nuit could prove interesting.
Cheltenham 3.10 Warne's Way is another with stamina to prove, but he showed his wellbeing when leading in the last stride to win on the Flat at Newbury last month.
Cheltenham 3.45 Zafranagar was biting off more than he could chew on his first couple of starts last season, but hinted at better to come on his final start. He has plenty of chance off a mark of 105 and with a recent pipe-opener under his belt.
Wetherby 2.55 Holiday Cocktail looks interesting if conditions remain relatively dry at the West Yorkshire track.
Wetherby 3.25 Gaora Lane looks to have found an opportunity at a lower level than he was competing at last season.
Horse sense
If the rain arrives in the forecast volumes, don't be surprised to see Ruby Walsh decamping for a ride aboard Tatenen (2.35) in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham this afternoon.
Walsh is currently jocked up to ride Poquelin, one of three possible Paul Nicholls runners. But there is not much between the pair and softening ground might well bring Tatenen to the top of the pecking order. He worked well last week with Celestial Halo, a gutsy winner at Wincanton last Saturday. According To Pete, another confirmed mud-lover, is also the subject of a positive message after a good run to blow away the cobwebs on the Flat last month.
Warne's Way (3.10) would not be guaranteed to get the trip if conditions became too testing, but his wellbeing is guaranteed after winning an amateur riders' contest on the Flat three weeks ago and he should not be discounted.
Charlie Mann's team have picked up the pace with three winners in the last seven days and the trainer looks to have a strong player away from the main action at Uttoxeter. Sullumo (1.05) has been off for a year since picking up an injury at the Open meeting, but he has been delighting his trainer with his recent schooling over fences and he is held in some regard at the yard. It would be no surprise to see him take this on his way to better things.
Marcus Tregoning had a good record with his all-weather runners last winter and looks to have a couple of interesting fillies in action at Lingfield. Rumoush (12.00) is a half-sister to 1000 Guineas winner Ghanaati, who herself started her career with success on Polytrack, while Fatanah (1.00) showed considerable promise despite her obvious lack of experience on her debut.
Mr Thriller landed a wholesale gamble for the David Pipe stable in a valuable handicap hurdle a fortnight ago and the yard might well have another potential plot on their hands in Sunday's Greatwood Hurdle with Ronaldo des Mottes (2.20). He has done well over the summer and is a much better horse than he showed at the Festival last season.
Alan King should have a profitable afternoon at Plumpton on Monday. His useful Flat performer The Betchworth Kid (1.50) makes his hurdling debut, while Bensalem (2.20) is expected to make his mark on his first start as a steeplechaser.
Seen and heard
TalkSPORT introduced an interview yesterday with Paddy Power "live from Cheltenham". The Irish bookie then had to admit he was not, actually, at Cheltenham for the start of the three-day meeting sponsored by his firm, saying that he had slept in and missed his flight.
Members of the press were surprised to be greeted by the offer of port on arrival at the stables of Nigel Twiston-Davies early on Wednesday. The yard, in rural Gloucestershire, can only be reached by car, so there were few takers - in contrast, we understand, to the recent visit by one ownership syndicate, who ploughed through a dozen bottles between them.
One Newmarket trainer has found a secret weapon in the quest for winners. The handler concerned swears by adding organic yogurt to the feed of his horses. The probiotic effects of the yogurt keeps the bacterial balance in the horses' stomachs right.
The end of the Turf season sees a winding-down of operations at most leading stables, but things remain busy at Sir Michael Stoute's Freemason Lodge yard in Newmarket. The dual Breeders' Cup Turf winner Conduit goes for the Japan Cup, while Spanish Moon and Confront are both heading to Hong Kong for valuable races next month. Newmarket-trained horses wishing to gallop on the Heath face an extra walk for a while, with the crossing on Bury Road set to be taken out of service for resurfacing and the installation of a new island to stop over-keen drivers overtaking other vehicles at the lights.
So much for racing's drive to attract the man in the street. Interviewed in the racecard at Cheltenham yesterday, The Jockey Club's chief executive, Simon Bazalgette, said that his four ideal dinner guests would be "Richard Feynman, Vaseley (sic) Kandinsky, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Captain Beefheart."
