Equinties - Cheltenham chess

Gm Equinauts

Surely Hendo wouldn’t enter LULAMBA for the Supreme just for banter?

But equally we know he’s not that brave…. is he!?

Henderson bingo has taken over Mullins bingo this year!

Let’s dive in.

HEADINE ROUND UP

OPTIONS OPEN

Who are the horses that won the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase for Nicky Henderson in the past? DUSK DUEL, FONDMORT, CARACCIOLA, JACK THE GIANT, RIVERSIDE THEATRE, SPRINTER SACRE, SIMONSIG, ALTIOR, SHISHKIN, and SIR GINO.

He’s been a prolific trainer in the race, though ALTIOR is a horse worth highlighting for another reason as he stepped out of novice company to win the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on the way to winning the Arkle in 2017.

The race was a fairly easy contest back in 2017, and in recent years it’s been a very similar case, so that’s probably why Nicky Henderson is targeting SIR GINO for the Game Spirit Chase next month.

This isn’t set in stone as the race falls on the same day as the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick (classic British racing calendar nonsense), but with L’EAU DU SUD likely to go to the Kingmaker, Henderson is probably looking at the two races and thinking Newbury could be easier – plus it’s his home track.

Ultimately, it would be great to see him against L’EAU DU SUD in the Kingmaker, but from a trainers’ perspective, it probably makes more sense to go elsewhere.

He does need to show he can back up that epic success and doing that in open company won’t be a cakewalk, but what he did at Kempton last month was pretty special, especially for a chasing debutante.

Henderson said: "I'm very happy with Sir Gino, he's been excellent. I'd like to go to Newbury with him for the Game Spirit on the way, I've used that for a novice before.

"There's also the Kingmaker at Warwick and we'll keep both options open. They're the same day so nothing changes in our world, we're preparing for that Saturday."

Overall, running him again before Cheltenham is the correct decision. Keep him on the go, get him to the Arkle, win, send him to Aintree and cap off a quite brilliant season.

BULLISH ENTRY

LULAMBA was handed an entry for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle yesterday. Yes, the four-year-old Triumph Hurdle favourite was given a chance to run in the opening race of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. Woof.

No four-year-old has won the Supreme since 1999 when HORS LA LOI won the contest for Martin Pipe, and the fact that SALVATOR MUNDI, owned by the same connections as LULAMBA, is the Supreme favourite also makes the entry interesting.

obviously the owners would have been consulted before making the entry in the first place, but do we actually think LULUMBA will run in the Supreme? Not really.

If he was owned by different people, we could maybe see the case. The race is wide-open this year and he is quite clearly a very smart horse. Why not do it?

It would save you a year as you can go open grade hurdling the season after or do a SIR GINO and jump a fence.

But, the fact that Joe Donnelly owns both him and SALVATOR MUNDI would make us think that the latter will go to the Supreme and the former will go to the Triumph Hurdle.

Why, as an owner, would you throw two darts at one race if you can have the favourite for two? Are those close to SALVATOR MUNDI worried he is either not good enough or, worst case, crocked? Yes, the tin foil hat is on!

That’s the owners anyway, what about Hendo’s rationale?

Henderson gave LULAMBA an entry for the Supreme on the same day that he declared PALLADIUM, the record-breaking €1.4 million German Derby-winning purchase, for a maiden hurdle on Huntington. So, if he goes and wins tomorrow, he could also be a Triumph Hurdle horse (though he does have an ultimate target for later this year).

Is Hendo thinking he can bag both the Triumph and Supreme – stinks of it!

Henderson said: "He's [PALLADIUM] got the entry in the Triumph but the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot is where we're really wanting to aim him. He's got the form on the Flat.

"Lulamba is in the Triumph as well and the Supreme. That would be a possibility, but we'll just see how things pan out."

We do suspect SALVATOR MUNDI goes to the Supreme and LULAMBA goes to the Triumph but Lord would it be a statement if he sent LULAMBA to the Supreme.

OWNERS GOING?

It’s not a new thing to see British-based owners leaving our shores, or the sport entirely for that matter! Whether they leave here and continue in a different country or turn their back on the sport who gives nothing back entirely, the reason behind the decision tends to be the same - it’s too expensive and unrewarding.

This problem crops up time and time again, and it seems like another high-profile owner is set to move to France and Ireland to host his new ownership interests. Bryan Drew, the owner of BRAVEMANSGAME, FISHERY LANE, and FINAL DEMAND, is the man in question.

We’ll just let the quotes do the talking as he fairly sums up his reasoning behind the move. He said: "The problem in UK racing for owners with regards to prize-money and the dilution of the sport due to too much racing is well documented. A lot of people share that frustration.

"If you've got a horse rated in the mid-130s, it's very difficult to get it to pay its way and if you've got a good horse, I don't think you get enough in return for winning Graded races. That's a big part of my decision to have more horses in Ireland.

"UK racing is in a bit of a mess because the economics are just not working. There's too much racing and the product is hugely diluted, usually for the benefit of bookmakers. It means your good races at the top end are not adequately rewarded and if you win a maiden hurdle at the lower end, you'll pick up less than three grand.

"Your chances of getting your running costs are very low. It's a pretty worn-out record and I'm not saying anything new but it's a fact."

Look, racehorse ownership for many is ultimately a hobby. For sole owners it’s a pastime that they can use their disposable income on with the thinking that they may not get it back or for micro shareholders it’s an inexpensive bit of fun with no expectations of a return.

Furthermore, if we are being fair, the prize money over in Ireland isn’t exactly legendary either. The Grade 3 Limestone Lad Hurdle is worth €22,125 to the winner on Sunday at Naas and other Grade 2/3 events are worth similar throughout the Irish jumps season. We’re not saying Britain is perfect – it’s far from it – but ultimately, owners know what the craic is. It’s not really an area to make too much money.

Ah well, best of luck to Bryan but we would love love love the BHA to wake up and smell the coffee.

Speaking of owners leaving the sport, is top owner Olly Harris going?

The yellow and black silks of Harris have been prominent in recent years thanks to PEAKY BOY and SHANAGH BOB, but yesterday, the owner sold PEAKY BOY for an “undisclosed six-figure sum” as well as BREAK MY SOUL (£70,000), IN THE AIR (£15,000), and KANSAS DU BERLAIS (£10,000).

This caught us a bit by surprise and we hope he’s re-investing but it would be alarm bells for British racing should he too be turning his back on it!

RISK ON

14.38 DIAMOND KODA

Has got to win soon and could prove well handicapped having bumped into a few good ones now rated a bit higher - has the pedigree to improve anyway. Yard have very bullish strike rate here. 5/1 a good ew in a big but exposed field.

17.30 TRIBAL ACT

A quiet run last time allowing his stablemate to win the race. Other than a slow start he did nothing wrong and despite needing to find a fair bit with the Varian fave (a filly) we think he’ll find it today, especially if he goes fave by race time. 5/4.

SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO ENTER TODAYS BUMPER COMPETITION!

BUMPER

We took our chances with THEY’RE CHANCERS yesterday and it paid off! Well done to J Sandle (jonnynoshoe@…) - you won yesterday’s £400 cash prize, we will be in touch this afternoon!

Today’s bumper is a moderate heat to finish the only the only jumps card of the day at Catterick.

TILEHURST heads the market. Named after a local town in Berkshire, he must have gone a huge price in running on debut as Sammy Twiston Davies was at the pump a long way from home, struggling right out the back. The home turn though featured something not often seen in racing and TILEHURST, who seemingly had no chance, found new gears and left the field as if they were made of stone and bolted up. The form of that race has not worked out one bit but TILEHURST was far better than those in behind and deserves to be fave here despite his flat sprint orientated pedigree.

NAVAL TRIBUTE is a Juddmonte cast-off trained by James Owen. He owns one of the best pedigree’s you’ll find, by SEA THE STARS and out of a mare who is a half to a mare who has produced two sires in BRIAN BORU and SEA MOON - beautiful. The red flag? The sales price tag of only £16k…something must have been wrong with him - whether he’s small or had an injury/bad vetting, we don’t know.

DILLYS GUNNER is one of four girls in the line up. She’s by DARMOUTH (DUBAWI) who isn’t really producing much in the form of bumper winners at the moment, the mare offers some hope having produced once rated 136 hurdler SAMS GUNNER (her only good progeny).

Don’t let the silks deceive you, CONNECT THE DOTS isn’t another Donnelly horse. This lad is fairly well bred on the dam side and could play a part at the finish.

CASTING is by a sire we’ve not heard of, DESINVOLTE, so a little opaque - watch the money. Top jockey booked and we wonder if this is another attempt by the yard to win and sell like they did with their other bumper winner in REALCO.

REGAL RIVER is nicely bred but she needs to leave her debut behind. She should be one to note for later though.

EMERALD TIME is seeing some support. This TIME TEST gelding is Dominic Elsworth’s first runner as a trainer. The market is calling for this one (50’s into 10’s) and the pedigree offers hope - the dam was a two time bumper winner.

MERELY A DETAIL is already a bumper winner (beating REGAL RIVER) but needs to improve on that.

Other pedigree’s to note might be THE THREE J’S who, for jumps, is absolutely the best bred in this race. The dam is half to two bumper winners in Grade 2 winner INDEFATIGABLE and LITIGATE - that’s proper! Coltherd’s yard is off the boil at the minute and they typically don’t target bumpers but we imagine if they had a crystal ball and knew the lack of depth in this race beforehand, they’d have wound this lad up for it because it’s a winnable race. 50’s say’s this really isn’t his race today which is such a shame. He’s definitely a pedigree to note for the future though!

Verdict: As always, we base our selections of pedigree’s (with a little market guidance) and the outstanding pedigree in this race is NAVAL TRIBUTE. His price tag is very off putting but flat buyers don’t want to spend money on 4yo’s so perhaps it can be forgiven. A such, he’s today pick.

Competition: we will bet £100 on NAVAL TRIBUTE at 7/2 for a reader to win should he oblige.