Equinties - Cheltenham changes

Gm Equinauts

We are very unimpressed with the change to the XC.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

CHELTENHAM CHANGES

NH fans screamed, and screamed, and screamed from the rooftops to change something about the Cheltenham Festival after the 2024 renewal. Cries of the current programme not being fit for purpose as our ‘Olympics’ echoed all over Racing X, around the racing the pubs and more importantly, amidst the race goers at Royal Ascot - where that event just keeps getting better and better.

Whether you’re a die hard jumps fan or just a general racing enthusiast or punter, it’s hard to argue Royal Ascot isn’t head and shoulders above anything else in the calendar.

Nothing has trumped Royal Ascot this year as the best big racing race meeting and we guess it’ll hold that accolade for a few years to come, purely on the gap between second and first.

Cheltenham is too busy, too expensive and, unless you try land a lottery across-the-week-Mullins-acca, the betting opportunities are quite slim owed to the fact most of the open races are headed by odds on shots.

The Jockey Club has taken note of the quick decline of the event and have taken action by making some changes.

We can’t believe we’re saying this but, the best betting race of the whole meeting - the XC, has been turned back into a f*cking handicap!

Our favourite event - where we’ve taken big yield regularly from the likes of TIGER ROLL and DELTA WORK is now subject to a weights lottery where the best horses won’t win.

Okay the counter-arguement is for horses like OUR SAM, DIESEL D’ALLIER, ALPHA DES OBEAUX, and URGENT DE GREGAINE who don’t have a chance off level weights.

But our view si the XC is such a unique spectacle that it doesn’t really need to be messed about by handicapping.

Obviously, yes, we are completely biased here because readers of the newsletter will know that it’s often our big betting race. Ever since Mullins took hold over the game, the XC might have been our only big bet we’d have in the week where 11/10 about DELTA WORK in a 16 runner field is true value.

We’re devastated ngl.

That’s not the only change, the Turners Novices’ Chase is now going to be a novice handicap chase, much like the race that we had on the card until 2020.

What’s also worth noting is this new novices’ handicap chase is set to be open whereas the previous race, a contest won by IMPERIAL AURA and A PLUS TARD in the past, was a 0-145.

This change will directly alter the Arkle and Brown Advisory for notable reasons, but also the Plate Handicap Chase on the same card.

Back in the day (four years ago), the Plate was run on the New Course (Thursday) and the Novices’ Handicap Chase was run on the old course (Tuesday). Will they revert to that, or will they change other things?

Word at the water cooler is that more changes are still yet to come.

What they will do about the Plate, and specifically the line in the Racing Post about changes occurring to horses being “eligible to contest a handicap at the meeting”, will be interesting, but it’s certainly something to watch.

OTHER JUMPS UPDATES

Well, the news (apart from Cheltenham) was a bit dry yesterday, so it’s worth highlighting a few other bits of jumps, yes jumps, news that may have been missed.

Firstly, Olly Murphy provided a few updates on the weekend, and the interesting one is the target of GO DANTE who will be aimed at the Greatwood Hurdle after one prep run (which will be quiet).

The Greatwood is a big race and it’s one that will also have DYSART ENOS, the once ante-post favourite for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, who has a rating of just 131. That is just 12lbs below the rating of GOLDEN ACE who she beat in a Grade 2 bumper at the 2023 Aintree Grand National meeting.

GO DANTE, who has a rating of 134, beat DODDIETHEGREAT at the December meeting in Cheltenham who went on to finish fourth in the Betfair Hurdle.

Speaking of Fergal O’Brien (the trainer of DYSART ENOS), he has lost an unexposed horse ahead of this season as GO TO WAR will now be trained by Nicky Henderson!

He’s won two novice hurdles at Ludlow and has been sent off at odds of 5/6, 4/6, and 4/7 so far in his career, so he must have been well-regarded by connections.

What’s the age-old phrase? Once the Leger is over, we can start talking about the jumps, right?

PRIME-TIME MINISTER

Wathnan Racing have made a big splash this season, but their recent success over the last month has probably been below expectations.

However, they are looking to change that in Saturday’s Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes as the unbeaten DEFENCE MINISTER has been supplemented for £5,000.

His form is hard to weigh up, but he is by TOO DARN HOT out of the Listed-placed TEARS OF THE SUN (a half-sister to the Group 3 winner KILMAH), so his page is nice.

He’s unexposed, but it could be a nice little race with the Gimcrack winner COOL HOOF LUKE (who has a penalty to give away) as well as the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes winner SYMBOL OF STRENGTH, CAMILLE PISSARRO, and the impressive Aidan O’Brien-trained Group 3 winner IDES OF MARCH.

With it being 4/1 the field, this should be a good race to watch.

RISK ON

Unlucky yesterday with our only bet smashed from 11/4 into 13/8 only to fall at the second last when in the lead. Get used to it, that’s jumps racing!

We like one or two today but we’ll wait for a few calls and the markets to settle - they’ll be posted to X @equinties.

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