Let's Talk Racing: the Cheltenham Festival review

JOSH: For me, The New Lion winning the Turners Novices' Hurdle was the race of the week. The front three in the market turned for home together and delivered a thrilling, head-to-head battle all the way to the line. Final Demand and The Yellow Clay both shaped like future staying chasers with bright prospects, while The New Lion looked every bit the speedy two-miler. I have no doubt this is a race we'll look back on for years to come - all three could go right to the top.

And how cool was Dan Skelton? No flinching, no shouting, just a smooth, confident raise of the arms as his horse crossed the line. Pure swagger.

ANDREW: I can fully see the point behind Josh's selection, a mouth-watering clash on paper which thankfully delivered on all of that hype with the three big horses in the market coming down to the last in a line. 

For the sake of something different, I will nominate the Bet MGM Queen Mother Champion Chase. As much as it was disappointing to see Jonbon make such a costly blunder at an important stage and Quilixious come down at the final fence, it did have a feeling of being meant to be. 

What will get lost is how well Marine Nationale travelled through the race and how well he had jumped. Trainer Barry Connell has long since told us that this horse would be a different beast on better ground and that showed in spades. Hopefully he can prove it again at Punchestown.

 JOSH: There are so many, so I’ll fire through them without much explanation:

ANDREW: It's very difficult to disagree with plenty of that, but perhaps a few differing views:

JOSH: From the novice hurdles, I thought Final Demand shaped like a serious staying chaser in the making. Over three miles and fences next season I can see him being a real force. He just didn’t have the turn of foot to go with The New Lion and The Yellow Clay once they hit top gear but, on softer ground, I think he’d have finished much closer - and he wasn’t beaten far as it was. Despite his size his jumping was incredibly accurate too, which should translate well to fences. That said, 6/1 is very short.

I’ve no idea if this is even on the radar, but I’d love to see Teahupoo go over fences. With Bob Olinger in their ranks, Robcour already have a Stayers’ Hurdle contender for next season, so why not? I suspect Gordon Elliott might be hesitant to send both Teahupoo and The Yellow Clay down the same route, but if they did, I could see Teahupoo developing into a Gold Cup horse. He’s currently 25/1 for the Brown Advisory and that's tempting.

As for the bumper horses, Ksar Fatal is the best I’ve seen this season. He’s 20/1 for the Supreme.

ANDREW: The Turners' Novice Hurdle does look like a race that will throw up winners and it would be a surprise to not see the second and third develop into noteworthy staying chasers - both were perhaps beaten for a bit of speed by The New Lion. I would fancy The Yellow Clay to confirm that form over Final Demand, but perhaps fences might make a different test of that rivalry.

I was all against Jasmin De Vaux in the Albert Bartlett this year - I could not have even entertained the idea of him going close - so I was left with my tail between my legs when he won cosily. He doesn't do anything flashy and I am not sure whether fences will improve him that much so, with that in mind, could the 14/1 about him for a Stayers' Hurdle seem appealing?

JOSH: I’m guessing this isn’t so much a dig at Jack’s ability but more a question of whether he was fully match fit after such a long spell out of the saddle, with only a handful of rides to sharpen up before Cheltenham.

In reality, Jack Kennedy rode brilliantly all week. It just didn’t happen for Gordon Elliott, and that’s why the winners didn’t come. Kennedy had to wait until the 28th race to see one of Elliott's horses get on the board, and even then it wasn’t him in the saddle. However, it wasn’t for a lack of good rides or the rider's sharpness.

ANDREW: I suppose when you see Jack Kennedy visibly limping all week when getting off horses, it will always raise some eyebrows as to whether he was fit enough to ride. That being said, JJ Slevin was the exact same when winning multiple Grade Ones over Christmas, these jockeys are made of tough stuff. 

When it comes down to it, I don't think Jack Kennedy made a single error in his riding all week. Of course, when you leave Cheltenham with zero winners then questions will be asked but, on this occasion, I strongly believe that it was circumstance rather than anything else. A lot of Elliott's horses ran very well all week; they just couldn't get over the line when it mattered most. 

JOSH: Inothewayurthinkin was unbelievably impressive in the Gold Cup and while the temptation to run in the was obvious - he was 15lb well in - I think the decision to miss Aintree is understandable.

He’s only seven, has just beaten a dual Gold Cup winner by six lengths and surely the main goal has to be retaining his crown next year. That task would be a whole lot easier without slogging over four miles a few weeks after Cheltenham.

ANDREW: This news isno surprise to me as it would be a huge ask. JP McManus was tempted into doing it 13 years ago with Synchronised, who unfortunately passed away while attempting to complete the double, and that could have been weighing on his mind when the decision was being made. 

As much as it was a small surprise to see Inothewayurthinkin go by Galopin Des Champs like that at Cheltenham, I saw no fluke about it and it does feel as if the horse has been working his way to that sort of effort all year. His effort at the Dublin Racing Festival was packed full of promise, and to nobody's surprise the extra trip was exactly what was required. The only people I feel bad for are connections of the placed horses in the Kim Muir last year - they really had no chance, didn't they!

NOLAN / MCKIERNAN / CONNELL HORSE TO BACK (FROM ANDREW): It's a pretty dry week of National Hunt racing as you would expect, but Jasmin De Cotte has two entries over the weekend for the red-hot Paul Nolan and I would give him a decent chance should he take up his engagement at Limerick. The race at Navan could well be biting off more than he can chew, but the Limerick race strikes me as a perfect fit and should be primed to run well on his favoured better ground. 

NEWCOMER TO FOLLOW (FROM JOSH): He’s had just one run and was beaten, but I’m excited to see Talk To The Man return for Paul Nicholls in the 4:25 at Newbury on Saturday.