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Bob Olinger did not show his best, says De Bromhead

By Racing TV

Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023

The high-class Bob Olinger was a very fortunate winner but maintained his unbeaten record at the Cheltenham Festival (Photo: Focusonracing)

Henry de Bromhead plans to give Bob Olinger a thorough check-up after having reason to believe his star novice under-performed at the Cheltenham Festival when a running out a highly-fortune winner of the Turners Novices’ Chase.

The seven-year-old was struggling some 12 lengths behind Galopin Des Champs when that horse dramatically fell at the final fence, leaving Bob Olinger to come home a long way clear of the other two finishers.

De Bromhead was finding Bob Olinger’s performance difficult to comprehend until jockey Rachael Blackmore reported after the race the horse made a noise.

“He was very disappointing. Rachael said he made a very strange noise after he jumped the fourth-last,” he told Racing TV.

Henry de Bromhead talks to Nick Luck this morning about Bob Olinger and more of his stable stars, including Honeysuckle and A Plus Tard

“She just felt he started to empty after that so we definitely need to check that out. It might be an individual thing for him, but we have to dig into these things and make sure we have them as best as we can.

“Before I spoke to Rachael I never believed any horse could make Bob Olinger look like that. Without taking too much away from Galopin Des Champs, having spoken to Rachael and watched the race again, he wasn’t right. He could barely trot up the hill this year. He was stiff and sore when he got home.

“He’s booked in for plenty of tests this week. It’s probably one of the most disappointing Grade Ones we’ve ever won, but that’s the reality of it and we have to try to get him back to his best.

“We’ll run our tests and see. It might be something simple. We just need to get him checked out and see from there.”

De Bromhead also plans to have Minella Indo checked out as he felt last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner did not finish in his usual style when beaten by stablemate A Plus Tard in this year’s renewal.

Minella Indo is likely to head for the Punchestown Gold Cup now, reports De Bromhead (Photo: Focusonracing)

“Minella Indo did not gallop to the line so we might run a few checks on him to make sure everything is all right, but A Plus Tard’s performance was incredible,” said the County Waterford trainer.

“I haven’t discussed it with the Molonys (owners), but I’d imagine we’d all be keen to go to Punchestown if he’s OK. He has a good record there.

“He really needed the line. I’m not used to seeing that with him. It’s being ultra cautious, just to make sure that he is 100 per cent. Take nothing away from the winner, either.”

As for A Plus Tard, it is unlikely he will run again this campaign with De Bromhead keen to follow this season’s route, starting with the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November.

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