Paul Mulrennan: Decent York chances keep century in sight

Cheltenham's Clerk of the Course Jon Pullen defended the decision to run the final race on the card after the discovery of a collapsed drain on the hurdles track. The final race at Cheltenham on Saturday was run in near darkness and almost 30 minutes after the advertised start time after a hole, possibly caused by a collapsed drain, was discovered, leading to inspections and frantic reconfiguring of the course. Horses were in the paddock for the Grade Two AIS Novices’ Hurdle when it became apparent there was a problem as ground staff did routine repairing of the ground, leading to much deliberation and jockeys returning to the weighing room. While the previous race had also taken place on the hurdles course, no runners had appeared to take a false step – but television pictures showed a member of ground staff putting his arm deep into what looked a significant hole. Nicky Henderson withdrew likely favourite Act Of Innocence and when the race was eventually run it was the Joe Tizzard-trained Kripticjim who passed the post almost as one with Taurus Bay, with the judge able to separate them after a tense wait. Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

Ma Shantou threw his hat into the Stayers’ Hurdle mix with a dominant display in the Pertemps Network Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham. Emma Lavelle’s charge will undoubtedly now be drawing comparisons to Paisley Park, a three-time winner of this Grade Two for the yard who went on to win at the Festival and perform with credit on countless other occasions. Ben Jones, deputising for the injured Harry Cobden, had saved plenty up his sleeve for the hill as though Impose Toi briefly looked a threat, his challenge soon petered out and Ma Shantou (5-2) bounded clear to win by seven lengths. The winner was cut to 8-1 from 50s for the Stayers’ Hurdle by both Coral and Paddy Power. Lavelle said: “He was an easier watch than Paisley and stayers are just lovely as they are much more straightforward generally and his attitude, he just sticks his head down and just gallops. “He was impressive, he jumped, travelled and did everything right so he clearly doesn’t want to be staying in handicaps. “He’s answered plenty of questions emphatically and today has been the most impressive he’s been and as soon as Ben gave him a click off he went. In my wildest dreams I wasn’t expecting him to be that impressive. “The one thing I’ve always said about him is his way of racing is befitting of a genuine stayer and he’s just gone and done that beautifully today. “One of the things I love about this horse is he loves Cheltenham more than anywhere else and if you are going to have a horse who loves a particular course, then Cheltenham is not a bad course to pick. “Why has he improved the way he has? I think he’s maturing, enjoying it and loves Cheltenham. “I was unbelievably lucky to have one like Paisley Park and to think I’ve got another one that may be heading in that direction, I feel very spoilt and we’re going to enjoy this journey as well.” Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

Kripticjim wins the finale at Cheltenham in the gloom. Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

A ready win for Ma Shantou in the Cleeve Hurdle. Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

Nicky Henderson’s Sir Gino was able to walk into the horse ambulance after pulling up just after halfway in the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham, with The New Lion going on to win the contest. Sir Gino was the odds-on favourite in the Grade Two event and had been the ante-post market leader for the Champion Hurdle. He had returned to action in the Christmas Hurdle after a year off the track enforced by a nasty infection in his leg which at one point had threatened his career. However, he showed his engine was still intact there when beating the current champion Golden Ace with plenty to spare. Henderson said: “They were able to put him into the ambulance, it’s his right-hind, it appears to be high up so there’s no lower limb fractures – it would appear to be a pelvic injury at the moment. “He has loaded and I’d rather they take him to Three Counties veterinary hospital without unloading here and then they can assess and scan and just see where we are. Everybody is fighting. “Pelvic injuries can be little or big, so we’ve just got to keep everything crossed. “We won’t know anymore tonight. They need a chance to assess him so it will be late on I expect.” He added: “I’ve been lucky enough to have many good horses but I haven’t had many like him, I can tell you that.” Dan Skelton, who won the race with The New Lion, said: “I’m a big fan of this sport and Sir Gino could be the best horse in training and we just didn’t need that. We’re all thinking it and we just hope he is OK, it’s important. “The team at Seven Barrows have been through hell and back to get him back on track and hopefully he is OK.” Harry Skelton was content to take a lead for as long as possible on The New Lion, a winner over two miles and five furlongs at the Festival in March, before he asked him to quicken approaching the last. Nemean Lion and Brentford Hope proved tough adversaries, before The New Lion (9-4) eventually got on top to win by a length and a half. Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

Spillane’s Tower roared back to his very best to take victory in the Betfair Cotswold Chase on Trials day at Cheltenham. Jimmy Mangan’s stable star has always shaped as potentially a real top-notcher and after a couple of comeback runs over hurdles his Grand National-winning trainer was confident of a big run. Jack Kennedy was happy to let L’Homme Presse bowl along in front, and while Grey Dawning also took a stalking role, in his case in third of the four starters, his chance ultimately went with a bad mistake at the second-last. Ahead of him Kennedy was in cruise control coming to the final fence on the JP McManus-owned 11-4 winner and while L’Homme Presse did not go down without a fight, it was the Irish raider who was three-quarters of a length to the good at the line. Paddy Power made the winner 10-1 for the Gold Cup in March and after registering his first UK winner since Monty’s Pass landed the National in 2003, Mangan said: “I would have gone back to Ireland a disappointed man if he had put up a poor show today. “We were very confident today with him and Grey Dawning is a very good horse and Venetia’s (Williams, L’Homme Presse) horse has made him fight, it was no walkover. I suppose you do have to start dreaming of the Gold Cup and he’s in that grade now. We’ll speak to Frank (Berry, racing manager) and JP. “Without using the racecourse as a schooling ground, we’ve had to get him fit so we’ve mixed and matched between fences and hurdles and I was disappointed in his run over hurdles. “It was trainer error because he had travelled all the way to Down Royal five hours there and five hours back and then ran him the following Saturday and he was flat. “He’s a lovely horse and he’s a star. I wouldn’t mind a few more like him and if it wasn’t for JP sending me horses like him I might be closed, but that’s the way the game goes, you are at the top of the ladder one minute and then at the bottom the next. “It’s my first in Britain since Monty’s Pass and I thought I nearly had one with Oscar Delta one day but this is great.” Venetia Williams is also inclined to send her runner-up to the big one after doing all he could to defend his Cotswold Chase crown. She said: “If you go back to the King George last season we were ahead of Spillane’s Tower off levels but we were giving him 6lb today. “I think at three out all three horses thought they would go by us but Charlie (Deutsch) wasn’t going too hard all the way round and he had to keep the revs up at that point as he couldn’t afford to let it turn into a sprint which the others might have preferred. “He’s a fantastic horse and has never been the easiest to train. I didn’t stop yelling for him all the way up the run-in and I knew if L’Homme Presse was neck-and-neck up the run-in he would have every chance. But in the end the margin remained the same all the way. “They put considerable distance back to the third and I think we’ve got to come back in March. There is the best part of two months between now and then so we will discuss things with the owners and make a plan.” Dan Skelton was also far from despondent as he focuses firmly on one day in March. He said: “I did wonder how I would feel if he got beat and I’m disappointed to get beat but I’m not disappointed with the overall feel of the race. “He jumped very well, there wasn’t much pace on and it turned into a bit of a sprint up the hill. He missed a crucial fence and then stayed on afterwards and I was most encouraged at the staying on to the line after the mistake. “He didn’t win but we needed to run and I couldn’t keep him up there for so long. We trained him up and he needed this run. “I’m training him for the Gold Cup this year and I’m not going to get to the 11th hour and forget it. “We’re happy with the fact we’ve got a run under our belt and 90 per cent of the race he looked great, jumped well and then stayed on after a mistake that may or may not have cost him victory. “We felt coming into the race Spillane’s Tower would be the one to beat but I’m not discouraged for March. I’ve no doubt we will reverse form, but whether we will beat the others only time will tell.” Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Read less

The New Lion lands the International, but our thoughts are with Sir Gino. Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

Memories of the great Tiger Roll were evoked when Favori De Champdou (9-1) defied top-weight of 12 stone to come home the very comfortable eight and a half length winner of the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase under Jack Kennedy. The three miles and five furlongs contest was rescheduled to today having had to be abandoned at The November Meeting. Like Tiger Roll, Favori De Champdou is owned by Gigginstown House Stud and trained by Gordon Elliott. Gordon Elliott said: “He fell at the water when he ran here in December, but it definitely sweetened him up and done everything right today – he enjoyed himself. I am delighted. “He seems to have a new lease of life and it’s great to wins another cross country race as these races have been close to us and it’s nice to win another one. “I didn’t actually want Jack to ride him, I wanted Sean Bowen but Jack jocked him off – he said I’m riding him! “We’ll come back for this race at The Festival and he is also definitely a Grand National type.” Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less

Spillane's Tower wins the Cotswold Chase. Must-see compilations and best bits ➡️ http://y2u.be/Kfl2CXtG6xA Greatest Hits! Some of our most amazing action ➡️ http://y2u.be/AfNpAewK4m4 Feature-length documentaries for racing lovers ➡️ http://y2u.be/xIprr1hNCeA Thrills, spills and funnies! ➡️ http://y2u.be/AHqOQUnNhXo Racing Greats ➡️ http://y2u.be/74MKoH7TLIE All the best Group One and Grade One action ➡️ http://y2u.be/mOq9ZgMn_ME Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland. Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs Read less