Equinties - Cheltenham Festival awards

Gm Equinauts

Today’s newsletter is going to be dedicated to reviewing last week’s Cheltenham Festival, and well, what a week it was. From Skelton’s master plotting to Mullins’ incredible domination, we’ve highlighted the best of the best in today’s edition.

But before we get into the good stuff, one are which should absolutely not be downplayed was the staggeringly low attendance across the week. 

Wednesday saw just 46,000 trudge into Prestbury Park, the second-lowest single-day figure since the Wednesday of 2009. Okay it was a disastrously wet day, so much so we saw our favourite race the XC abandoned, but surely with 20k people not showing up compared to ‘22, alarm bells are ringing?

Changes obviously need to be made, and quickly. From the race program, on-site prices, and ticket prices, something needs to happen.

Anyway, rant over, let’s dive into the awards. 

THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL AWARDS

BEST PERFORMANCE

As we like to in this newsletter, we try to review as many of the good performances as possible, so in fear of merely contributing to the surplus (but warranted) media praise for the obviously spectacular GALOPIN DES CHAMPS or LOSSIEMOUTH, we’re going to highlight some winning performances away from the Mullins yard that impressed us, before we hand the title over to a very special mare

CHIANTI CLASSICO

He won the Ultima Handicap Chase and only boosted his credentials as a Grand National horse.

For backers of him in the Ultima (us), they wouldn’t have had any worry as the seven-year-old novice glided around Prestbury Park and barely touched a twig to beat a well-handicapped TWIG and MEETINGOFTHEWATERS, a potential Grand National horse for this season too. He’s always been a horse of ability, and he showed that last week. Kim Bailey may not have too many years left training, but he has a good one to take to war with in the big races with this lad.

PROTEKTORAT

Admittedly, on his truly best form, PROTEKTORAT had the ability to trot up in the Ryanair, but it was just a case of which PROTEKTORAT turned up. Isn’t hindsight wonderful? 

Though, as he sprinted away from ENVOI ALLEN after the last in the Ryanair, it certainly was obvious which PROTEKTORAT had turned up as he routed a strong field. He stays three miles but doesn’t quite get a stiff staying test, so maybe this race will be his season-long target for next season. He’ll be 10 by the time we get back to the Festival in 2025, but we know how good Dan Skelton is at prepping his horses for Cheltenham, so we would be fearful of this lad going forward.

GOLDEN ACE

Wasn’t it nice to see one of the classic ‘good guys’ get one on the board on Thursday?

That’s right, GOLDEN ACE’s victory was a truly memorable one for Jeremy Scott and his team, but it was also an impressive one as she absolutely routed a field full of the Festival’s talking horses in BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD and JADE DE GRUGY in very easy fashion.

Thoughts were immediately with Fergal O’Brien’s team who had had a horrible week made worse by the scratching of their mare DYSART ENOS. She’d already beaten up GOLDEN ACE in a bumper so the team must have found that result hard to watch.

BALLYBURN

Like his stablemate IMPAIRE ET PASSE did 12 months ago, everything came so easy to him, but the way he quickened up with such ease off the home bend and jumped the last was staggering.

Don’t be surprised to see this lad in the Champion Hurdle next year, though obviously novice chasing is an option however not a certainty given his ridiculously low head carriage. 

Could Willie be preparing a two-pronged attack of LOSSIEMOUTH and BALLYBURN to take on CONSTITUTION HILL next year? Probably… 

and now for the winner…

LOSSIEMOUTH

Undoubtedly the best performances of the week was that of LOSSIEMOUTH in the Grade 1 Mares Hurdle.

She’ll give the freak CONSTITUTION HILL something to think about next year as a 6yo in the Champion Hurdle, especially as she’ll get 7lbs from him. 

She’s versatile ground wise and more, she has learnt to settle better in her races meaning she’s improving no end. Last year she bolted with Paul Townsend and pulled herself to the front at the top of the hill, however, this year she raced very professionally giving herself the best chance of seeing out the 2 and a half miles. An exciting mare to look forward to over the coming years. 

BEST TRAINING PERFORMANCE

We’re splitting this award because we feel there was one standout training performance for one particular horse and one training performance for one man who, by hook or by crook, had sacrificed basically his whole year for winners at the Festival (and help get Britain some winners in our own back yard"!).

First up, the training performance for an individual horse.

In Willie’s own words (after GAELLIC WARRIOR’s win), it was his best training performance of the week as to keep a hood on GAELIC WARRIOR while dropping him down in trip to the Arkle and winning it in the style he did was sensational. 

As many people saw on Racing X earlier in the week, it was revealed the quirky beast is a much different character when he is around his best mate, STATE MAN. Maybe the presence of STATE MAN racing on the same card made him a calmer beast, but there seemed to be no trouble throughout the Arkle from GAELIC WARRIOR. He jumped slightly out to his right – though that was expected – and he picked himself up after the last to dance in.

Where next for the future? Your guess is as good as ours as the obvious route would be Champion Chase or Ryanair, but he could well be a Gold Cup horse according to Rich Ricci. 

The other half of the award goes to Dan Skelton. 11 runners, 4 winners in LANGER DAN, UNEXPECTED PARTY, PROTEKTORAT and GREY DAWNING.

It was a perfect product of exceptional foresight and planning. Well played.

BEST EYE-CATCHERS

As is customary with our Monday newsletter, we have picked out a few eyecatchers to watch out for going forward. Our record is pretty good as several of our eyecatchers from recent editions, TERRESITA and HELTENHAM have bolted up since. 

LUCKY PLACE

In a week where the Nicky Henderson yard couldn’t buy one to get round, let alone a winner, LUCKY PLACE ran brilliantly well in the Coral Cup to finish fourth behind the plot of the century, LANGER DAN. 

Much like his run behind GIDLEIGH PARK on Trials Day, he made a move around the outside and stayed on well up the hill. He’ll be one to keep on sire when the Hendo yard have recovered.

STRAW FAN JACK

Place in the Plate, he’d been promising to produce a run like that all season.

The 9yo clearly loves Cheltenham and his small yard love to target him there - their real life Saturday horse. It’s great to see and he’s always one to note when turning up to Prestbury Park.

SALVER 

These two were major eye-catchers in the Triumph Hurdle in KARGESE and SALVER. The former had beaten the winner MAJBOROUGH on her last start before Cheltenham (the well fancied STORM HEART and BUNTING were also behind her that day at Leopardstown) and the latter, SALVER is a very unexposed horse on the up. 

KARGESE is a grand daughter of SAINTS DES SAINTS who had a good week with MONMIRAL and PROTEKTORAT winning so could steps up in trip despite her looking like she has lots of pace. 

Gary Moore describes SALVER as a big horse so you’d think he is only going to improve as he gets older. A lovely prospect to look forward to in the coming years from that yard.

LANTRY LADY

We tipped this girl with HISPANIC MOON at huge prices in the the Grade 1 Mares Hurdle.

She had only ran 2 times before the Festival, both at Gowran Park and had never been challenged but considering Henry De Bromhead put her on the bus she should be taken very seriously. She knows what racing is all about no and given she was one of the youngest in the race as a 6yo and being by SAINT DES SAINTS she’s got some options for the future! Next years race will be a belter; GOLDEN ACE, BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD, JADE DE GRUGY, DYSART ENOS and possibly KARGESE.

BEST RIDE

Derek O’Connor gave INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN a peach of a ride in the Kim Muir. He started off in a good position having bossed all the other amateur riders out of the way and got pole position on the JP McManus owned horse but made a pigs ear of the first and after some big and slow jumping he found himself at the very back of the 21 runners field. Derek O’Connor is notorious now for not panicking and he is a master at coming from behind in a race, he often chooses to switch his horse off and settle off the pace rather than make the running.

He said he said afterwards he went to “plan B, C, D and then E”. With a circuit to go trainer Gavin Cromwell said “I thought going past here mid-race that it was going to take an awful lot of luck. His jumping was big and slow, he wasn't very economical. He has quality and scope, but I would just like to see him jump a little bit slicker.”

DOC slivered his horse through the tired horses on the second circuit and produced him with two fences to go at the head of the field. They had gone a good clip and Derek judged it perfectly steaming away clear up the hill to win by 8 lengths. He holds a Grade 1 entry at Fairyhouse at the end of the month, at the age of 6 he looks to have a bright future.

BEST BLOOD

Big honours on the breeding side goes to SWAY.

Who?

Well, she’s the dam of TWO 2024 Cheltenham Festival winners in INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN and LIMERICK LACE. They are full siblings as both are by WALK IN THE PARK.

RISK ON

The flat is BACK as the Curragh holds the first turf meeting of the ‘24 flat season.

There are two jumps meetings at Southwell and Fontwell but pretty low grade stuff, if there is a bet we will post it via X @Equinties.