Nothing went as expected in the Anglo-Irish staying-chasing scene last weekend, with a trio of odds-on favourites all downed – outcomes that for some were more deleterious to their reputations than for others.
Either
Bravemansgame’s limitations were starkly exposed, given he ostensibly had more in his favour last Saturday than did
Galopin Des Champs the following day, or else he fell victim to an indecisive campaign strategy – perhaps even both? Meanwhile,
Shishkin’s temperamental issues went up a notch, while the Gold Cup hero seemed to have forgotten how to jump.
Meanwhile, by contrast, there was a super-straightforward return from State Man, extending his dominance over the Irish two-mile hurdling division. His trainer Willie Mullins also used the past week to unleash a fistful of talented novice chasers, setting up future clashes with a pair of Gordon Elliott-trained Graded winners who proved further advanced in their development to date.
JJ Slevin savours victory on Fastorslow in the John Durkan (Photo: Healy Racing Ltd)
Staying chasers
Last Sunday’s Punchestown Grade One was a very different John Durkan 12 months on from Galopin Des Champs’ first triumphant steps out of novice company.
This was a deeper field, even if four of his five opponents live next-door. The remaining player, Fastorslow, was a totally different proposition to his uncompetitive fifth in this same race last year on merely his second-ever career start over fences. This time, he lined up with the scalps of the Gold Cup 1-2 and Ryanair winner in his back pocket.
This race witnessed the scrappiest round of jumping produced by the highest-rated chaser since his novice days. He never found a rhythm, getting in too close to the first two, being scruffy at the third, braking into the fourth and sixth and then being airily slow at the ninth. As the pace lifted latterly, he got only marginally better – putting himself right four out and slightly stuttering into the next, with his last jump at least offering some forward momentum.
It was a highly tactical affair, with Patrick Mullins controlling the pace on Appreciate It – meaning Galopin Des Champs’ jumping sentenced him to remaining in his disadvantageous position towards the rear. Although he possesses tactical speed for a chaser who stays a well-run 3m 2f so well, he’s not a former Supreme winner and didn’t have the toe – or the jumping – for a sprint.
The more I’ve watched this race, the less disappointed in Galopin Des Champs I’ve become. Paul Townend switched him right after the last, incorrectly anticipating that Appreciate It would continue edging left after dragging his hind legs through the last. Instead, he hung right away from Mullins’ left-handed whip and shut the door on the odds-on favourite, ending what little squeak Townend had. That rider then accepted defeat. There will be better days from his mount this season.
Yet although he was better positioned than the third, Fastorslow only emerges with his reputation further enhanced. There were some justifiably held doubts about whether he was a proper Gold Cup prospect after his Punchestown success, given his key opponents had been in deeper all season and also appeared to press on together in slightly precipitate fashion. There is none now.
He jumped pretty much impeccably – admirably dependable at the critical final two fences – and proved better equipped for a sprint than I had anticipated. Martin Brassil and JJ Slevin, on the other hand, both foresaw how the race would pan out and held every confidence in their horse being more than equal to it. Not for the first time, they were right.
Brassil had acknowledged Fastorslow needed to demonstrate his April giant-killing had not been “a fluke” but was clearly quietly confident that he would do so. “He’s very professional – a great horse to jump, doesn’t waste much time in the air, loves what he does. There’s a lot of boxes you can tick and that’s what makes a good horse,” he told Racing TV’s Gary O’Brien afterwards. “He never disappoints us at home. He just has a bit of class.
“It was a steady enough pace, they only really quickened there from the turn in and I just told [JJ] don’t give him too much to do, just sit handy there and let them all have a go and you just wait until you’re jumping the last, if it works out that way. And that’s what happened...
“We weren’t worried about the trip. First time we schooled him at the Curragh – I’ll never forget – [JJ] said: ‘Are you sure we’re running this horse over the right trip? He feels like a two-mile chaser.’ So, he’s not a slow horse but he does stay very well.”
Brassil indicated Fastorslow was exactly where he wanted him, in terms of preparation, for this preliminary target and his next one, the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas. “His weight was good, everything was positive. We were going to find out, for the second time, his level of ability with those type of horses,” he added. “I was actually under more pressure that day [when he won the Punchestown Gold Cup] because it was my suggestion that we forget about handicaps and throw him into that race, so I felt more pressure that day probably than today. So, it worked out well.”
Asked in effect whether he now deemed Fastorslow the clubhouse leader in this division, Brassil replied: “I suppose so, yes. Tactically today, if he’d finished third, you’d have said he’ll be better going to three miles. But when he went by the [winning] post there, it took [JJ] until he got up to the next fence to pull him up. I think he’s going to be better going a trip.”
Brassil might have only 25 active horses in his yard – a conscious decision, as explained in the informative interview above – but he’s produced both a
Festival and
Grand National winner. He took just two horses to
Cheltenham last season, Fastorslow one of them, and each was narrowly touched off in their respective races. “I like to concentrate on what I have and treat them how they need to be treated,” he concluded. He’s a trainer worthy of the highest respect – as is his Gold Cup hope.
In second, this was Appreciate It’s best performance yet over fences but his early hurdles form attests to his essential quality. A late-comer to the discipline as a nine-year-old already, he was able to see out a steadily run 2m4f by calling the shots whereas the same trip palpably stretched him when only fourth to Stage Star in the Turners (Golden Miller). He does tend to go out to his left, over obstacles and on the flat, too.
Appreciate It put up his best effort yet over fences (Pic: Focusonracing)
Setting aside the cult figure that is Asterion Forlonge – because who knows what he’ll do next? – it’s a toss-up whether Blue Lord or Stattler was the more disappointing among the remainder. Of course, Stattler is the obvious answer because he finished last, wearing a first-time tongue-tie and beaten a heck of a long way out even if he does need an extreme stamina test.
Yet Blue Lord found zilch after turning into the straight as part of a wall of four, would reasonably be deemed a quicker horse than at least two of those rivals, was quick enough for Daryl Jacob to take the position Townend wanted entering the home turn, pushing the favourite wider still, but wound up almost five lengths adrift of him in fourth by the line. First time out? Maybe, but he’s won on every seasonal debut since he joined the Mullins yard.
In the previous day’s Betfair Chase, Royale Pagaille enhanced his almost unimpeachable record at Haydock with a resounding six-and-a-half-length defeat of Bravemansgame.
Afterwards, Venetia Williams and Charlie Deutsch confessed to the obvious race-tactic of placing as great an accent on stamina as possible, in order to advance their own claims and undermine those of the favourite. They were aided and abetted to some extent by the Skeltons, who were intent on the same game with titleholder Protektorat.
However, for whatever reason, last year’s winner was in no shape to play his part in full. Having reached for the first fence and dragged his hind legs through it, Protektorat never seemed at ease and landing on top of the fifth, having stood off too far, didn’t help. On the first circuit, he was still managing to mix it up front with Bravemansgame, but largely because the deputising Daryl Jacob would have been seeking to lay off the gas and conserve his mount’s stamina.
By the second circuit Protektorat was becoming increasingly careful, so Deutsch elected to move upsides Bravemansgame at the 13th fence and turn up the heat, leading narrowly two fences later whilst the erstwhile leader’s jumping got slower and slower. Entering the straight, you briefly hoped it might yet be a two-horse race but it was clear Jacob was hanging onto nothing before two out.
Only a peak A Plus Tard has lowered Royale Pagaille’s colours at Haydock but it would be brave to argue that the winner – three times a double-digit honourable also-ran in the Gold Cup – has produced form at all superior to his second Peter Marsh handicap chase success, from a mark of 163, over this same course and distance in January 2022. This is a well-placed Williams pouncing job and all power to her stonkingly in-form elbow.
It’s therefore logical to conclude that Bravemansgame, who finished more than 17 lengths ahead of him at
Cheltenham in March, has again underperformed, this time more markedly than when making a critical last-fence error in the Charlie Hall. Yet on this occasion, neither fitness nor testing ground can be blamed as the times indicated it was no worse than the softer end of good-to-soft at Haydock. This was no Bristol De Mai-esque slog.
The runner-up’s early-season manoeuvres have been a total mess, however, First, he was coming straight here but then the long-range weather forecast and Clan Des Obeaux-inspired déjà-vu doubts about the impact a Haydock slog had on his 2020 King George defence nudged Paul Nicholls towards Wetherby with his successor.
Then that ground turned out heavy and Bravemansgame wasn’t fit enough first time out to cope. Surprisingly, his trainer then oscillated back to the Betfair Chase en route to Kempton rather than going straight there. Was the result one flatter-than-flat display? The alternative is he’s feeling the effects of a searching Gold Cup – possible – or that Cheltenham form isn’t what it was cracked up to be – which I don’t believe.
Back in third, as widely expected the reigning Grand National hero Corach Rambler showed far more than on his debut at Kelso. Defensively ridden to find his rhythm on the first circuit and outpaced when the pace lifted in the back straight of the second, he stuck to his task well. It wouldn’t be outlandish for him to pick up the pieces for a place in a strongly run Gold Cup.
As for Protektorat, this was his worst performance on pure figures since he was beaten in a Kelso novice in February 2021, after which he had wind surgery. However, that’s been the reach four times now, so this was unnerving at the scene of his career flourish.
Is it worse to have a good horse under-perform or to decline to take part at all? It was an open secret that Shishkin had been getting increasingly tricky. “Mercurial” is the word I used to describe him on Road To Cheltenham two weeks ago.
Yet that would now be too much of a euphemism after he refused to start at Ascot, leaving Pic D’Orhy to overcome a scruffy round of jumping and a brief scare from outsider Straw Fan Jack to win the Grade Two Nirvana Spa 1965 Chase by 16 lengths. One of four winners clocked up for his retaining trainer at Ascot while his deputy left Haydock empty-handed, Harry Cobden nonetheless reported that Pic D’Orhy wasn’t “anywhere near his best”.
With the field reduced to three by Shishkin’s recalcitrance, Minella Drama made the running under Theo Gillard, who was deputising for an unwell Brian Hughes. Pic D’Orhy was prominently positioned to his outside, Cobden having immediately clocked Shishkin’s refusal, and Straw Fan Jack sat in rear.
The winner’s jumping started to get messy from the seventh, where he was low. Stuttering into the next, he lacked fluency and then got in too close to the next couple and Cobden opted to press on, taking over in front on landing the next. Despite having the benefit of a previous run, Minella Drama was quickly beaten – diving at the 12th and finding jumping an effort from the third last.
There, Pic D’Orhy made an error and Sean Houlihan galvanised Straw Fan Jack – who’d been nudged along from an early stage on the final circuit – to harry the leader entering the home turn. It merely took Cobden to ask his mount to step up a gear to see off that challenge, however. Straw Fan Jack was beaten entering the straight, the two remaining fences more of a challenge to the winner – and he was better at the last than the second last. It wasn’t a convincing enough display of jumping to suggest he will yet cut it with the staying elite.
“He didn’t really travel early, but he felt good beforehand,” Cobden told ITV Racing. “When I turned in, we had Straw Fan Jack upsides us and I thought it might get ugly, so I tried to get the race put to bed before the second last, and he was just hanging up the straight. He’s got the job done. He’s been a lot better than this in the past and there’s loads of improvement in him.”
Winning owner Johnny de la Hey – who enjoyed a big-race double with Blueking D’Oroux winning the Coral Ascot Hurdle (discussed in Thursday's show) – pronounced the King George “very unlikely” but suggested he’d be “interested in the Savills Chase” at Leopardstown over Christmas. More definite targets in his mind are February’s Ascot Chase and Aintree.
Henderson and de Boinville at Ascot last Saturday after Shishkin refused to race (Pic: FocusoNracing)
Yet the most significant event undoubtedly took place at the other end of the race when Shishkin, having stood proud and alert as he had his girth attended to by the starter, twice planted himself.
First, as the other runners jogged forward to the starting position, he stood at a 45-degree angle from where Nico de Boinville wanted him to go and turned his head to the left. His mount having ignored a couple of encouraging digs, de Boinville then followed the direction of Shishkin’s head and turned him a full circle to the left as the assistant starter came running over.
It then briefly looked like a false alarm as Shishkin consented to join the others, but as they moved forward, he instead dropped his left shoulder tricksily and turned, again planting his feet squarely into the turf and regally observing his disappearing opponents, ears pricked and chest puffed out. The assistant starter waved her hands behind him in vain, seemingly unnoticed by the horse she was attempting to motivate.
The Seven Barrows team had clearly felt Shishkin increasingly required motivating – hence his pre-training visit to Olympian event rider Zara Tindall’s for a spot of dressage and first-time cheekpieces in this race to counter any potential repeat of his disinterested early motions at successive Cheltenham Festivals, in the 2022 Champion Chase and 2023 Ryanair. Yet the notion he might widen his ambitions to refusing to race clearly took them by surprise.
In an excellent and candid interview with Sky Sports Racing’s Hayley Moore, trainer Nicky Henderson gave both his gut reaction to this setback and his train of thought on what to do next.
“I think you’d say it is out of character,” Henderson began, before admitting, “I won’t say he’s the most straightforward horse I’ve ever, ever set eyes on, in that it wouldn’t be… an impossibility. He needs treating carefully and to be fair, early in the year he’s always the same – he gets quite quirky in his early bits of preparation… But he’s never turned his head in a gallop in his life.
“They canter every day or virtually every day, whether it’s on the all-weather or the grass, and he would never, ever say no. And schooling. He’s never, ever looked like doing it... now we’re in a horrible predicament in what to do next. The solution doesn’t come to me immediately.”
A baffled and frustrated Henderson continued: “Our problem is two-fold, really, in that this was meant to be a prep for the King George, so he hasn’t had a prep-race...
“But I think the biggest problem… is the start there. This start today is [facing] away from home... If it was the two-mile start or the two-and-a-half-mile start, coming back towards home, I’d nearly guarantee he would jump off and there would be not an issue. It’s just when it’s going away...
Gerri Colombe is a King George possible (Photo: Healy Racing Ltd)
“And we know the three-mile start at Kempton does exactly the same thing. You start by the side of the [racecourse] stables, going away from where they come out – not ideal for a horse that’s just done that.”
Having rapidly regrouped, Henderson is set to run Shishkin in Newcastle’s Rehearsal Chase this Saturday – frosty weather permitting – meaning he’ll carry top-weight of 12st with a mark of 173, conceding 21lb to nearest-rated rival Ga Law and pushing most opponents out of the handicap proper. En route to his second-on-merit, but for unseating his rider at the last, in the King George, L’Homme Presse won the Rehearsal from a mark of 164 last year.
Henderson has concluded that he would in future “almost certainly have someone at the start that would lead him in”. “If we have any suspicion that a horse might turn his head, we would always have one of our travelling team or one of the assistants down at the start,” he added.
Given how utterly disdainful of the docility of his fellow equines Shishkin appeared to be at Ascot, it will require all of the skills of his trainer and staff behind the scenes and of his jockey on the day merely to get him to jump off.
At least one person was clearly encouraged by what took place in Britain last weekend – Gordon Elliott, who for the first time raised the prospect of Gerri Colombe taking up his Ladbrokes King George engagement.
“With the way things are working out over in Britain, the King George could be a possibility,” he admitted. “Gerri Colombe has plenty of options between Kempton, the Savills Chase at Leopardstown and the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in January. We’ll wait and see and we won’t be making a decision until closer to the time.”
Two-mile hurdlers
Whilst the world turned upside down in the sphere of staying chasers, the two-mile hurdling scene continued as advertised with State Man making a straightforward return to action at Punchestown last Saturday to claim his second Morgiana Hurdle and sixth straight Grade One success on Irish soil.
Indeed, the only controversy generated by this race was the post-race intervention of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board stewards, who invoked Rule 226 ‘Advantaging Another Runner’ for the first time in that country. This resulted in Sam Ewing receiving a five-day ban for what they deemed to be a manoeuvre, on Fils D’Oudairies, intended to aid Jack Kennedy on stablemate Pied Piper. We will analyse this incident in full on Road To Cheltenham on Thursday night.
Its only impact on State Man was to push him wider than ideal on the home turn, but Paul Townend had the horse to readily recover his preferred track position and then ease clear of his three rivals approaching the last. The time was nothing special, but the winner was dominant.
Stablemate Echoes In Rain, who’d sweated up beforehand, travelled into contention well but was also comfortably left behind. Her jumping ensured she bagged second whilst Pied Piper flattened the final hurdle and lost third to his stable companion.
State Man is a favourite of Townend’s. “He’s a pleasure to have anything to do with. I love riding him. He’s so nice and kind to do anything with,” he said with an unabashed affection that was great to hear.
Indeed, he’s such a straightforward character that his rider can change plans as he finds a race developing – an attribute that wins horses more races than their ability might merit.
In this case, however, that ability is also substantial and State Man remains clearly Ireland’s best hurdler – unless or until stable companion Impaire Et Passe reveals his hand, the first sighting of which will be in this Sunday’s Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse.
Interestingly, whilst Townend has never suggested State Man could have beaten Constitution Hill when they met in the Champion Hurdle, he has long maintained his mount underperformed against his own personal benchmark that day.
“Maybe I’m just looking for excuses because I like him so much,” Townend said, “but throughout the race at Cheltenham I thought I’d be going better at stages and I wasn’t, for whatever reason, so we won’t give up on him.”
Novice chasers
Willie Mullins deployed a legion of potentially top-flight novice chasers during the past week but
Gaelic Warrior’s opening drill at Punchestown was surely the most exhilarating. His trainer described the performance as “gobsmacking”. That’s about as street as racing gets. Woah there, Willie; let’s not alienate the base.
Some of us are still recovering from “G.S.I.”
Faced with inferior rivals going at a matching pace in last Saturday’s beginners’ chase, Paul Townend couldn’t hold Gaelic Warrior and so let him surge clear approaching the fifth. From that point onwards, he was a speck on the horizon for his pursuers. None of them is likely to be top-class, but one or two will surely become better-than-average handicappers, yet they were blitzed, the winner pretty much a fence ahead even when slowing down at the end.
“We did what Gaelic Warrior wanted to do,” Townend said. “He was jumping so quick early on that I just had to let him off. He was quick, slick. To be honest, I got to the third last before he dropped the bridle, so I just coasted home from there.”
As on his debut when finishing strongly two-and-a-half lengths behind Imagine over two miles at Fairyhouse, Inothewayurthinkin jumped airily in the early stages and then warmed to his task, taking the second last in particular in the style of a horse who will find his way over the larger obstacles. However, the winner had long gone.
Third-placed Senior Chief showed aptitude, despite a sizeable blunder two out, whereas Cool Survivor regressed from his debut and needs more of a trip. An Epic Song – the second of Martin Brassil’s Festival runners-up in March, in his case in the Coral Cup – jumped persistently left and may have characteristically needed this debut outing. Figaroc, in the second colours of winning owners Rich and Susannah Ricci, also adjusted left but shaped better than sixth implies.
The winner’s performance will prompt a campaign re-think, according to Mullins, who had hitherto been planning to run Gaelic Warrior at Leopardstown over Christmas, presumably in the Neville Hotels Novice Chase over three miles – although he’s also entered over 2m1f at the same fixture and 2m3f at Limerick. “I was aiming him at staying events, but looking at that we might have to review the situation. He looks more like a two-miler or two-and-a-half-miler there,” he said.
He also acknowledged the potential limitations of Gaelic Warrior’s ongoing trait of jumping right, over fences as he did over hurdles. “It is a concern,” he admitted to Racing TV’s Gary O’Brien. “However, he runs well around Cheltenham and he can run well left-handed, but I would say he has a preference for going right, yes.”
Klassical Dream (Photo: Healy Racing)
Mullins felt stablemate Klassical Dream – who’d made his chasing debut at Thurles two days earlier – had “jumped better” than Gaelic Warrior, who took some low-trajectory risks at times. Yet he also believed the latter would settle and jump better in a more soundly run race and with the debut freshness out of him. Both will need to prove they can perform this well when taken on by more substantial opposition, good enough to lie upsides and exert pressure.
Klassical Dream is a seven-times Grade One-winning hurdler, who had twice before been intended for a chase campaign before his serial fragility intervened. Last week, he finally made his belated debut at the age of nine in a 2m6f beginners’ event.
As Townend conceded afterwards, you’d have been disappointed if he hadn’t won, with seven of his ten opponents sent off at 125/1 or bigger, but it was still a faultless display. Runner-up Digby kept the winner honest but didn’t have the ability to translate that into an active challenge. He runs the risk of again bumping into another classier rival on his third start over fences but has shown enough to suggest he can be effective in handicap company.
Third-placed Gold Bullion started off in bumpers for Paul Nicholls prior to missing more than two years, but is now in his first full season with Henry de Bromhead. He was on the back foot instantly when the winner attacked the first whilst he adjusted right – a habit he displayed at almost every fence. He didn’t chase the winner and jumped slowly latterly, but shaped better than the bare form.
“He was foot perfect everywhere, very measured, quick from A to B and behaved himself relatively well as well, so maybe he’s growing up,” Townend reported of Klassical Dream. “He’s looking at [the fences] himself, from ten strides away he’s lining [them] up and I never had to interfere – just encourage him and not fall off him. He’s got plenty of scope when you need him but he was good and clever, too.”
Klassical Dream established a clear lead at a light jog from the outset and duly made all, never jumping alongside a rival nor forced out of cruise control. He negotiated the first a shade airily but otherwise he was exemplary – albeit he admittedly benefitted from a solo on the lead.
The most encouraging element – as Townend noted – was how well he settled. As my Road To Cheltenham co-presenter Ruby Walsh memorably said, this is a horse who’s “fast in his head” and therefore always wants to do everything in a hurry – a trait that makes him a difficult ride, particularly prone to being a handful to post and unruly at the start. He also spent a chunk of his earlier days on the sidelines with injury.
Yet he’s nonetheless much decorated – having won the 2019 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and four times at the highest level at the Punchestown Festival, as well as being twice placed in the French Champion Hurdle. However, he underperformed when only ninth in last term’s Stayers’ Hurdle after getting fizzy beforehand and failing to settle in the race.
The percentage call would be that, despite his raw ability and this promising start, Klassical Dream won’t take absolute top rank over fences. Yet Mullins saddled 2015 Champion Hurdler Faugheen to a debut success over fences four years later at the age of 11, before that horse went on to win two novice Grade Ones and place third in the Turners (then Marsh, always Golden Miller) Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham.
(Photo: Healy Racing Ltd)
Mister Policeman completes Mullins’ three of a kind from last week, albeit Townend indicated this horse might be the fastest of the trio given the right circumstances. He had to work hard to beat stable companion Feu Du Bresil – this pair also owned by the Riccis – at Fairyhouse last Friday, but it’s worth noting his rider was impressed by his response to a mere flick of the whip that enabled him to settle the race in the dash from the last.
A dual hurdle winner, first in his native France and also on his debut for this yard a year later in April, Mister Policeman was still entered in the Morgiana until the declaration stage and is clearly well regarded. He will need to become bolder at his fences if he’s going to cut it at two miles, as he was a shade careful and upright here.
Runner-up Feu Du Bresil looks like he’s going to be a much better chaser than hurdler and third-placed Pinkerton – third behind Imagine and Inowthewayurthinkin on debut – looks to have a future when handicapping, having pulled clear of the rest here.
If Mullins dominated the newcomers’ events, Gordon Elliott’s team was a step ahead, mopping up both of last weekend’s graded events.
Admittedly, Punchestown’s Grade Two Florida Pearl Novice Chase fell apart in Favori De Champdou’s wake, with Flooring Porter predictably underperforming on a right-handed track, Sam Ewing clearly worried that favourite Affordale Fury was not moving well, Sandor Clegane jumping persistently left, Maxxum barely leaving a fence unmolested, Quilixios stopping suddenly and Churchstone Warrior exiting at the second fence.
However, there was still plenty to admire about the winner, who jumped conspicuously soundly in an error-strewn event and had clearly learned plenty from his chase debut at Galway to get off the mark by a dominant 14 lengths here.
The slightly longer trip was a plus, too, with Jack Kennedy mentioning that Favori De Champdou had been hard to pull up as he’d got rolling more strongly the longer the race went on. The Festival’s National Hunt Chase was mentioned as a potential target, for which he’s already now favourite in some books.
However, even if he isn’t a second-season novice chaser, Salvador Ziggy – this winner’s stablemate at Gordon Elliott’s yard and runner-up in last season’s Pertemps – would have a more typical modern-day profile for that Cheltenham event, having already acquitted himself with credit in open handicap company when second in September’s Kerry National from a lofty mark of 150.
By contrast, Favori De Champdou got buzzed up prior to the Albert Bartlett in March, failed to give his running and was pulled up. He’ll need to prove he’s fully effective outside deep ground, too.
It’s perhaps somewhat odd that Gavin Cromwell should have selected Saturday’s Punchestown event for his dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner, bearing in mind he used to be concerned that Flooring Porter might veer left off a left-handed track if there wasn’t a continuous inside running rail.
Last time the horse went to Punchestown for the Champion Stayers Hurdle in April 2021 he was at the peak of his powers, having just recorded the first of his two Cheltenham successes. However, even then he couldn’t deal with the track’s wide-open spaces – getting worked up on the way to post, being the primary cause of a false start and then hanging badly left in the race itself prior to being pulled up.
Perhaps his trainer felt he’d become more tractable with passing time and some might argue the loose Churchstone Warrior was responsible for breaking Flooring Porter’s concentration here, but this horse had been resolutely confined to left-handed tracks in his ten most recent starts prior to Saturday. Throughout the final circuit, jockey Keith Donoghue had his right hand down in vain attempt to keep his mount straight but found him utterly un-steerable in the straight.
This was a shame, as the form of his Cheltenham debut success over fences in October was so well-advertised when –
as discussed last week – runner-up Broadway Boy torched his opponents at that same track the following month. There must have been more suitable targets for a horse whose application is not always unflinching.
The waywardness of Flooring Porter enabled Sandor Clegane to inherit second, despite himself jumping persistently left and never really threatening the winner. This longer trip suited him far better than did two miles behind Imagine at Fairyhouse. Last season’s Albert Bartlett third can surely get off the mark in a less competitive staying novice event and then build back up to this grade, perhaps at a left-handed track.
Maxxum – the winner of a Tipperary novice chase on his debut seven months ago – hauled himself into a distant fourth after a round of scrappy jumping. He may have been rusty but probably also found the company too rich; he can do better returned to handicaps.
The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer found Affordale Fury to be “post-race normal” when giving him a once-over at the behest of the stewards. His rider had already reported to Punchestown’s clerk of the scales that his mount had “hung right and jumped severely right”.
This was clear to the eye in-running, too, with Ewing looking down at the horse’s action after both six and five out, and perhaps briefly shaping to pull him up. However, having briefly rallied approaching four out, Affordale Fury was left behind on the home turn before making a mistake at the second last and finishing tired.
He’d beaten Favori De Champdou in good style on their respective chase debuts at Galway in October, is built to be a chaser and had enough quality to finish a length second to Stay Away Fay in the Albert Bartlett as a five-year-old in March. Hopefully, trainer Noel Meade will unravel this poor run because he’s worth bearing with.
Quilixios, who missed the whole of last season but narrowly beat Cool Survivor on his chase debut over two miles at Limerick in October, may not have stayed but his light snuffed out disconcertingly quickly. Churchstone Warrior is now no longer a novice, having won a Grade Two at Navan in February, drifted in the market and stumbled after taking an extra step into the second fence, decanting his rider. His de facto role here was to distract Flooring Porter; tougher tasks await.
(Photo: Healy Racing Ltd)
Elliott also claimed Punchestown’s other Grade Two novice, the two-mile Craddockstown, with Imagine under a cute ride from Jack Kennedy. His mount had already indicated he’d be better over fences than as a hurdler with a fluent debut success earlier this month at Fairyhouse. Here, he pulled this race from the fire despite not jumping with total fluency with a willing attitude and positive response to pressure.
Both his opponents had far more chase experience. Uncle Phil, returning from a short break after his Listowel success, jumped best for Michael O’Sullivan but lost two places on the run to the line as Lucid Dreams rallied strongly for second. The latter – winner of a Gowran handicap earlier in the month – had jumped two out stickily and needed to switch around the leading pair to unleash his challenge after the last.
Afterwards, Elliott said Imagine “definitely wants further” and plans to take him to Kempton for the Grade One Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day, meaning a step up to three miles at a track that rewards alacrity. He could be accompanying Gerri Colombe on the journey.
Halka Du Tabert and Jordan Gainford win at Cork (Photo: Healy Racing Ltd)
Elliott also unleashed Halka Du Tabert over fences last Sunday – a mare for whom I developed a strong liking last season prior to her promising third in the Jack de Bromhead (Dawn Run) Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. She’s built to excel as a chaser and made a ready start at Cork, trouncing her rivals by 20 lengths and more.
A little novicey over the first two fences, she soon bounded into the lead and drew clear. She dragged her hind legs a little through the ninth after stuttering into the take-off, but also jumped four out in especially fine style. She did have a tendency to go out to her left – nothing that should inconvenience her for the Mrs Paddy Power (Liberthine) Mares’ Chase at the Festival.
Switching countries but keeping to the mares, when Bangor’s pre-Cheltenham meeting was abandoned due to waterlogging, its Listed mares’ chase was transferred to Exeter the following week. This rescheduled edition grew in strength, if anything, comparing the intended field to the actual one and it was won by the four-year-old Arclight, who’s ostensibly bred to be a ten-furlong sort on the Flat.
However, she’d already displayed talent over hurdles last term, winning twice prior to finding classy handicap company tough, and won on her chase debut in a novices’ handicap at Kempton. Here, she jumped soundly but demonstrated scope when needed, soaring into the lead at the seventh and when needing to reach – race otherwise under control – two out.
However, those rivals whom the market expected to dominate all underperformed for one reason or another. Chasing type Nurse Susan was too keen on her return from a 613-day lay-off and was beaten before the home straight.
Fellow joint-favourite Lady Adare – who’d run a huge race when second to Knappers Hill at Wincanton nine days previously – was not in the same frame of mind. Jonathan Burke reported she was “never travelling”, leaving trainer Harry Fry to conclude he’d sent her out again too quickly. She’s undergone wind surgery three times and may not withstand heavy campaigning.
Irish raider Law Ella, for whom Sean Flanagan had stayed in Britain overnight after enjoying big-race success for Gavin Gromwell at Cheltenham the previous day on Malina Girl, was outpaced long before the home turn. She’d already won over fences at 2m4f at Thurles on similarly soft ground, but you couldn’t put this disappointing effort down solely to the drop in trip.
It was left to 33/1 shot Mayhem Mya to stay on from the rear into a career-best second, having settled better than usual, and for Carole’s Pass – who hails from a super staying family – to scream stamina, having been outpaced alongside Law Ella yet rallying strongly in the straight. Fourth-placed Galice Macalo raced typically freely at the fore prior to fading.
Four-time hurdle winner Endless Escape finished fifth, making her chase debut following an operation to correct her breathing but still wearing a first-time tongue-tie. She threw in some good and bad jumps, often running down her fences to the right. In sixth, Inspiratrice ran quite well in the context of being outclassed.
Two British races from last Saturday are also worthy of mention. At Haydock, Grey Dawning paid a handsome compliment to his Exeter conqueror Stay Away Fay – an experience from which he’d clearly learned plenty – when beating the highly experienced dual National-placed Gaillard Du Mesnil in a graduation event, last term’s Sefton Novices’ Hurdle heroine Apple Away in third.
He attacked from the start of the final circuit, jumping intelligently – bar for six out, where he seemed inclined to put himself right before recklessly letting fly but having the scope to deal with his guess. He reacted well at the next fence and then, turning for home, killed the race dead with a turn of relative speed against two rivals who need a greater test of stamina.
The third-placed mare was making her chase debut and shaped encouragingly. A little cautious early on, she also demonstrated an ability to put herself quickly right and will do better – she built her hurdles profile with each start last season. Giovinco, her stablemate at Lucinda Russell’s yard and recent winner of an Aintree handicap after shaping well at Carlisle, has shown more at this stage, however.
Chianti Classico winning his point at Tipperary before moving to Kim Bailey (Photo: Healy Racing Ltd)
At Ascot on Saturday, highly likeable prolific winner Chianti Classico added to his Chepstow debut success over fences despite not fully convincing with his jumping at this stage. Runner-up Scrum Diddly took a good step forward from his Newbury debut and pushed him resolutely until the final fence. This success means Kim Bailey’s charge has won six of his nine career starts, albeit he was seemingly outclassed in last term’s Albert Bartlett.
Finally, from the perspective of British racing’s immediate and future health, it was alarming – if sadly unsurprising – that the past fortnight has produced a walkover and half a match-race instead of novice chases.
The self-certificated withdrawal of Matata due to a respiratory infection left Pembroke merely having to walk past the post rather than face one rival at Warwick last Wednesday. Two days earlier at Exeter (on the same day as the mares’ Listed chase discussed above), a one-sided match between 1/4 favourite Might I and overly energetic Bourbali ended at halfway when the latter pulled up due to a slipped saddle.
In response to these disappointing non-events, the Racing Post and the British Horseracing Authority seemed preoccupied with only finding failings in the race programme rather than contemplating the underlying problem – the continuing breakdown in the supply chain of horses.
You can remove all the ‘failing’ races you like, replacing them with competitive races that provide full fields at a few grades lower, but that only sends the standard of this country’s racing spiralling further downwards.
Unless and until this industry concentrates money and resource into incentivising the breeding, buying, owning and training of quality horses across the full range of distances in Britain – on the Flat as well as over Jumps because the two codes are inextricably linked – merely to delete races from the programme is to manage decline.
For those who are interested in why British racing might, through its own short-termism and inaction, outstrip gambling legislation and speciesism in the race to its destruction, you can find my considered thoughts
here.
I’ll conclude by returning to Might I, a lightly raced seven-year-old who finished fourth behind Iroko in the Martin Pipe last March. He’d previously faced two non-novices on his debut over fences in a 2m5f intermediate chase at Newton Abbot in late October and, despite making two significant errors during a scruffy round of jumping, made a race of it with Complete Unknown – runner-up in Aintree’s Grade One Mildmay over 3m1f last April and a contender in Saturday’s Coral Gold Cup.
With this experience under his belt and first-time cheekpieces applied, Might I still jumped scrappily early on at Exeter – wandering on his approach to the first and untidy through two of the first four fences – but he got better after the exit of his sole rival. You would not yet be confident about his technique holding up under pressure.
Bourbali looked to have taken to fences well from the evidence of the seven he was able to jump before his tack failure, to which his freshness surely contributed. He has already bounced back by winning a... err... two-runner novice chase at Kempton.
Ante-post selections from Ruby:
Advised 16/11/23: Envoi Allen at 16/1 for the Ryanair Chase with Paddy Power
Ante-post selections from Lydia:
Boot’s on the other foot (the back one), isn’t it?