RACING

POST CHELTENHAM THOUGHTS

Having missed Detling and Fontwell over the weekend due to injury, there has been ample time to think about Cheltenham and mull over events in a considered fashion. But instead, the usual litany of stream of consciousness ramblings and intentional contrariness will be presented. 

3 Mile Chases

A comprehensive win for Imperial Commander. History tells us that he has no chance of winning the King George as both efforts at Kempton have been woeful. And whether it is injury or constitution to blame, he does not make the racecourse all that often - 16 runs in three and a half years - so there just is that possibility that he will not be available for a defence. But who else could it be? Paul Nicholls nominated What A Friend. Those that completed behind Denman were too far adrift to take seriously. All year some muppets in the media keep mentioning Big Buck's but the words, "We know he can't jump, so what is the point?" were uttered by Andy Stewart, a man not obviously inclined to pessimism, when quizzed about a return to chasing. The runners in the RSA Chase mostly jumped terribly, and as the exception was Weapon's Amnesty, whose owner is the founder of Ryanair, it would be morally unacceptable for him to win a Gold Cup. It is not the horse's fault, but a sack of pooh is a sack of pooh. Perhaps something will emerge from almost nowhere?

2 Mile Chases

Big Zeb did no more than confirm that which we should have known, that he can run a bit fast when the fences don't trip him up, and the race was harder than a six lengths margin suggests as Forpadydeplasterer tied up on the run-in quite sharply. Again, none of those behind ran like champions of the future - except possibly Kalahari King over a longer trip. In the Arkle, Sizing Europe was impressive in his narrow win, because those behind him did actually look like top class horses - Somersby another for whom two miles was a bit sharp, as it seemed was true for Mad Max, and Riverside Theatre and others therein. Will this year's novices sweep aside the "old guard" (Well Chief being the only runner aged above nine, it seems a harsh dismissal of the rest, as ready for their pipe and slippers) or, perhaps more probable than we imagine, is the 2011 Champion Chase winner still resident in France? And which of these sections should Long Run be considered in? 

3 Mile Hurdles

An unusually visually intimidating effort from Big Buck's as he opted not to give a mid-race tease to the lesser mortals around him. A monstrously game effort from Time For Rupert who did enough to win comfortably in many other years. Another race where there was not huge encouragement amongst the also rans. The Albert Bartlett seemed a mystery before it was run, and just as confusing afterwards. Watch for Silver Kate to clean up in mares' novice chases next season. The result of the Neptune Investments was a pleasing one, as although his bullying of far inferior individuals made Peddlers Cross hard to measure up, he seems the right sort of chap. Having won both his hurdles at 2 miles, time may show Ghizao to have been in the wrong race. Having only really tackled heavy ground, 10/1 about Summit Meeting seemed terribly short, but he ran really well and having been the most "stayerish" of the main contenders, did not get as much post-race credit as he deserved.

2 Mile Hurdles

Who remembers Feb 2009? Binocular could not win a Champion Hurdle, we were continually told, because he needs to quicken from a slow pace. Who remembers Autumn 2009? The same people that had made the first statement were blaming Binocular's disappointing Fighting Fifth run on not having the end to end gallop he needed. The truth is, he is much more flexible than given credit for - apart from when his back aches. It is hard to see any but Khyber King being up to his level next year, although Medermit could have a better showing if Alan King's team is in better shape and he is not novice chasing. All credit to Menorah, condemned as over rated after his Ascot defeat by those charlatans at UK-Jumping (er, hold on...) but it is now clear that the horse to blame for his loss was Planet Of Sound, for bouncing Richard Johnson on his noggin half an hour earlier. Get Me Out Of Here looked the part as well, and will no doubt be favourite for the 2011 Champion Hurdle if Binocular gets bored and feigns injury to get an untimely holiday again. As for Dunguib, Jim McGrath (AUS) rightly described Mcririck's tirade against his rider as a cowardly outburst against someone with no recourse to reply by a person desperate to generate publicity for himself. But bear in mind, having a clear run on the outer was probably the best chance that the horse had, and Barry O'Connell will not have been the only rider to mistime his challenge during the week. Oh, and who is to say that he would have won anyway? Having seen plenty of Barizan this season, it is hard to believe that he is so quick that none of the others could keep up with him in the Triumph Hurdle, unless the others were an ordinary bunch. Was Sanctuaire in the right race?

The rest.

The Ryanair Chase is very much the poor relation of the Grade 1 events, but the rule of thumb that when not betting, the likeable horses that you would want to win never do at the Festival was broken here. An excellent effort by Ogee on day one - he has a very big handicap in him on this evidence. Quevega is a bit handy, isn't she? Great boneheaded things of the last two years (point-to-point chapter). 1) Not backing Noakarad De Verzee (9th in the National Hunt Chase, now rated 122) in a two runner race when he was 2/1 last season. 2) Opposing Reach For Top (third in the Foxhunters) at Detling by backing the horse that struggled to pick up the novice hunter chase at Fakenham on the Friday. Micheal Flips - will he be next year's excellent novice chaser for which there is no right race at the Festival? Tullamore Dew: nearly another big thumbs up for Plumpton novice hurdle form. A big hand for two meeting regulars - Buena Vista, and Mister McGoldrick, who threatened to repeat 2008's unthinkable triumph for a very long way. Orsippus is named after the ancient Greek exhibitionist that invented the concept of aerodynamics in the Olympic running by doing it in the nude. God knows what may have happened had he won the Fred Winter.

FULL EXPERTS AND CELEBRITY SELECTION BOX

Day one was a tough one, with only Karl Marx managing to show a profit, thanks to his nap Sizing Europe and some suspiciously convenient non-runners. which he claimed further enhanced his reputation as economist and political prophet. Hmmm. UK-Jumping managed a winning nap and a couple of heroic seconds.

Day two, and having apologised for an abject start, Bob Marley rebounded with Big Zeb, but based on results, we must all bow down and worship Vincent Price (which we should have been doing anyway) who dug out not only Poker De Sivola, but also Cue Card. Scores so far: Price 2/12: +52pts, Marley 1/10: +1pt, Marx 1/9: -2pts, UKJ 1/9: -7.5pts, Darwin 0/6: -6pts, The Great 0/9, -9pts.  Overall: 5/55 +38.5pts 

Day three's best effort was again by Karl Marx who minimised the damage by picking four that did not run. Big Buck's was the only winner, although Prince Erik, Time For Rupert and From Dawn To Dusk at least made the frame at worthwhile each-way prices.

Day four honours returned to Catherine The Great, who selected Imperial Commander. Also, the "must be rated 129-134" rule again worked in the Grand Annual, although of the five qualifiers, nobody could be blamed for ignoring Pigeon Island due to him having no obvious genius for chasing.

We also had less complete returns from other celebrities:

John Malkovich returned his sheet with only the following written on it: "If you don't interfere with me, I'll always do something really good." It might be helpful in unexpected ways.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Thank you for your interest in my opinion <<several pages of ranting condemnation of everyone and everything deleted by UK-Jumping  in the interests of brevity and not causing offence>> but Menorah deserves nothing, nothing! And I think Rite Of Passage is a good thing.

Mel Gibson: Failed to return his sheet, but it can be assumed to be similar to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tensing Norgay: Blackstairmountain, Mount Oscar and anything else to do with mountains that I have not noticed. Plus Mad Max, as it is my favourite film.

From UK-Jumping's mole with his ear to the ground, codename "Dodgy." Dunguib, Long Run, Big Buck's, Sericina

From UK-Jumping's mum: Kauto Star will beat Denman.

COMING SUNDAY - full celebrity preview of the festival. If the Racing Post can have enough tipsters to pick every horse in every race and then claim glorious triumphs, so can we. 

One golden rule of the festival is horses that you hope will excel themselves due to being "likeable" invariably perform to a more lowly level on the day. From a personal point of view, this rather counts against Starluck, Restless Harry, Weird Al and Wolf Moon.

If Paul Nicholls' suffers some sort of mental breakdown in the build up to the festival, it will not be the pressure of training the horses, but that from dealing with half the writers on the Racing Post camped in his house for two weeks - they really have gone absurdly over the top.

Despite reading the JP McManus interview in the Racing Post several times, and tried to interpret every word in every possible way, the bit where he names a horse and says, "The rider has been putting the Boston Strangler to shame and we are going to have a right touch at Huntingdon when everyone else is looking elsewhere" appears to have been edited out.

On the same day, there was a Ferdy Murphy feature. His yard is hitting form in the nick of time, so expect more heroic efforts in the handicap chases, not always by glaringly obvious selections, and especially those that got no mention in the article.

Reports that Roulez Cool is not 100%, even for what was stated to be a very minor setback, does move the goalposts in the Foxhunters. He seems to have ideal credentials should there be no further alarms.

5/3 update: The pick for the National Hunt Chase was Clan Tara. However, in looking it up, it did not go unnoticed that some rather tasty oppo could wind up in this instead of the RSA Chase, so a late rethink may be in order when the decs are known!

Snippets from the London Racing Club preview night, with Steve Smith Eccles, Dave Nevison and George Primarolo:

a) French Opera is a potential Arkle winner, but his trainer is sentimentally thinking Grand Annual – get on with non-runner, no bet.

b) The price of Zaynar is laughable, as are his chances.

c) Quevega is the best mare around by far and should be the shortest priced favourite of the meeting.

d) Get on Rite Of Passage now as there is every chance that the best oppo will drift into easier races.

e) There are some good horses in the RSA Chase, but jumping when the heat is on can be questioned – possible major upset here.

f) Master Minded is beatable and Kalahari King won the best two mile handicap chase in many a year with ease.

g) The Jewson looks to be between Hey Big Spender and Sunnyhillboy.

h) Big Buck’s is a worthy favourite but not invincible and Tidal Bay is a very serious threat. Time For Rupert a very good each way chance.

i) No evidence exists that the British juvenile hurdlers are anything out of the ordinary (including Mille Chief) but which Irish one will win it?

j) Restless Harry for the Albert Bartlett.

k) The Grand Annual has an uncanny knack for the winner being rated between 129 and 134.

Nap / Lay of the meeting

Dave Nevison: Tricky Trickster (without the big two and also each-way) in the Gold Cup / Dunguib

Steve Smith Eccles: Song Of Songs (runs on Thursday) / Dunguib

George Primarolo: Rite Of Passage / Master Minded

There is a lot of guff in the media building up to the Festival, much of it unoriginal or repetitive, even when interviewing people not often in the public eye the same things are said by different people about completely different horses. However, that said, the Racing Post interview with Robin Dickin on 1st March was well worth reading.

The first spectacular insight UK-Jumping can offer is that a dark horse has been uncovered for the four miler. It is trained in Ireland, but it's name has been temporarily forgotten. Keep coming back for revelations on an "as thought of" basis.

GRAND NATIONAL NEWS

A horrible event for people who place 100% faith in the betting market as a forecaster of things to come. I did not consider Mon Mome but when I looked back at his form after the race, it is astonishing that he was allowed to go off at 100/1. His credentials were comparable to many more shorter priced horses, and he definitely had a squeak, especially as the course going eased slightly. On the other hand, Big Fella Thanks was a total no-hoper, yet was priced at 22/1, and would anyone analysing the race prior to the Cheltenham Gold Cup said that there was a great deal to choose between Mon Mome and My Will? With Comply Or Die making the frame in the circumstances he met in 2009, there is not reason, as long as he stays fit and well, for him not to repeat the effort in 2010, which makes him the new West Tip in my book. And if it is run on better ground, why would State Of Play not go even closer?

WHAT'S IN A NAME? AGAIN

Thursday 13th May. An event of great rarity. Not unprecedented, but momentous and catastrophic to those involved. Gordon Brown's response was to ask someone else if they knew what had happened and why, and leave it at that. Actually, I was referring to the mini-Foinavon incident in the novice hurdle at Hexham, but it is easy to see the parallels with the economy. On the same day, Brown the ATR man (and for all I know, Brown the incompetent-chancellor-come-incompetent-PM) napped Capybara. As most fascinated schoolkids know, a capybara is basically a giant rat, used to wallowing in South American streams and marshes, dodging anaconda attacks with mixed success, and not for it's gymnastic or athletic ability. The horse Capybara seems to be well named, certainly as a chaser if not as a hurdler, and not all owners give punters such helpful warnings when naming their horse. Well done.

CHELGUFF09

Lessons We Learned (Or Knew But Were Reminded Of, Or Lies We Saw Through):

1 - The hats worn (or not) by the trainer affect the running of their horses.

2 - Paul Carberry will have a post-riding career as a sieve, for which he is gradually becoming better and better qualified.

3 - The Racing Post has a vast stock of paper it can afford to waste by printing the same stories over and over again for a month prior to the meeting.

4 - The other side of the coin is that the Racing Post correctly suggested that we need a new word to replace a perceived certainty than 'Banker.' Perhaps it should 'Kalashnikov' - the last word in reliability.

5 - For 2010, Master Minded has nothing to fear, but fear itself, or possibly Kauto Star running in two Championship races!

6 - Fakenham is a level track. Standing there on Gold Cup day, watching them ascend from the dip at the entrance to the home straight, and climb such a hill that from 200 yards away, an average person's eye level is with the top of the sports centre roof, then go through the undulations caused by the north-south valley running through the course, I could have sworn it is undulating with an uphill (not Towcester or Carlisle, but still uphill) course. However, enough people in the print and television media dismissed Starluck as only having run on a flat track, that this must be an illusion, and one that tricked the Ordnance Survey as well. 

7 - Campbell Gillies rode Culcabock in the County Hurdle. Those watching ATR on Tuesday were told this about 47 times by Gordon Brown, and then all over again on Thursday from Hexham. Truly a broken record and one that would have had me throwing bricks at television, had there been any to hand and the insurance covered it.

8 - There are an alarming number of people who prefer to be an also ran at Cheltenham than a winner elsewhere.

9 - The handicaps' relevance, except to the amateurs, are rapidly fading, but they are still ten times more interesting than the cross-country chase.

10 - Do not generalise. At the London Racing Club preview, Mark Johnson pointed out that apart from their cross-country races, only ten chases all year in France are run over 3 miles plus. Thus French horses are not bred to stay more than 2m 6f, ergo Kauto Star and Cappa Bleu cannot win. Well, overlooking the fact that French-breds do win three mile chases here and there in the UK, and something must be winning their cross-country races, that is a mere probability, not a black and white, all or nothing situation. 

11 - You can have a wrong price in a BAGS race. It is not strictly Cheltenham but it amazed me. Anyone in a betting shop for the 13.39 at Oxford on Friday will have heard betting suspended because the wrong prices had been chalked up on course. I thought that the pricing of a BAGS race was: 5/2 the trap which won the last race, 7/2 a randomly selected other trap, 3/1 the rest. What could go wrong?

12 - With seven of the twenty-three runners in the Martin Pipe race, David Pipe managed only third. This could be the beginning of a gruesome obsession that makes the Knights of the Round Table's quest for the Holy Grail look like a quick outing to the pub.

13 - It is perfectly acceptable to insult people for running no-hopers in Championship races, except: Thomas Cooper (River Liane 125/1 and tailed off in the Champion Hurdle), Tom George (Othermix 100/1 and fell in the Champion Hurdle), Rebecca Curtis (Marodima, 100/1 and disrupted the start badly before tailing off in the Queen Mother), Howard Johnson (No Refuge 100/1 and tailed off in the World Hurdle), Nick Henderson (Afsoun 100/1 and tailed off in the World Hurdle), Ian Williams (Just Rob 150/1 and well beaten in the Triumph Hurdle), Nigel Twiston-Davies (Knowhere 100/1 and well beaten in the Gold Cup) and Sally Alner (Miko De Beauchene 150/1 and fell in the Gold Cup). And that ignores those in the 66/1 to 80/1 range, or former title holders that are no longer at their best.

Friday:

A rather splendid day for those in the Kauto Star fan club. A point of interest is that Denman was further ahead of Neptune Collonges this year than last, so would an on song Kauto have beaten him last year. Exotic Dancer's contribution to the measurements is not helpful to Kauto Star, thus will be ignored. Sticking with the chases, the Foxhunters usually takes a very specific mix of youthful energy and old-headed experience to win, and some experience under Rules, so there is a very real possibility that Cappa Bleu is an exceptional horse. But he did not look like one that finds 3m 2f at Cheltenham ideal (yet?).

The Albert Bartlett was a cracking race - without as much strength is depth as the shorter novice hurdles - and Weapon's Amnesty (who is Weapon, and for what is he being pardoned?) arguably posted the most gutsy, indomitable effort of the week. However, in it's short history, this race seems to have stifled more careers than it has energised, and Pride Of Dulcote in particular had a very, very tough race in vain. The Triumph Hurdle is in serious danger of becoming a proper race in which the runners have a serious future - would Zaydan have got by in the old days of the 28 runner melee? Odd as it seems in a frantic two miler, Zaydan and Walkon shaped as if they will prefer longer trips sooner rather than later, and I still like Starluck, even in defeat.

Put it where you want, the County Hurdle is a mess of a race, except for one horse this season. And with the proliferation of Championship and Grade 2 races, the handicaps seem more and more like time fillers - putting two on at the end of the last day does not help in the least - the festival just sort of peters out, although Alan King may disagree. Midnight Chase should never have been a 100/1 shot for the Martin Pipe race. And when it comes to 2010 and the Irish trainers moan about their hurdle handicap marks, they may wish to remember that only two Irish runners got into the that race, two into the Pertemps Final and three in the Fred Winter ( for completion there were eight in the County Hurdle and seven in the Coral Cup). Be well handicapped or be there, to adopt an old cliché that was never any good in it's prime, unless you are American Trilogy, when you can do both.

Thursday:

As ever, a rather splendid World Hurdle, even though it would have been even better had Kasbah Bliss been at his best and got involved in the shake up. Some may say it was just a natural head movement in righting himself after a mistake at the last, but in slow motion it did look like Big Buck's indulged in not one, but two pieces of mockery of Punchestowns after the hurdle. But the big question. Big Buck's what? And how many Punchestowns can there be? Imperial Commander's win was less of a turn up as he excels at the course, but he is a horse I have never quite forgiven for having the season off when I picked him as an obscure entry in the London Racing Club 6 To Follow. And I am not happy with the sponsorship arrangements for this race. If an organisation claiming to be the Confederation of European Neo-Nazis applied to sponsor, I suspect the course would say no thanks. So why accept Ryanair?

The Pertemps final is always a bit of a lottery, but it was nice for a home-bred horse to win it, especially one in Kayf Aramis that only decided to be any good last month. Poor old Pennek might be one of those horses that cannot find a race over far enough. The Jewson Novice Handicap Chase has also quickly ascended into the realm of mystery - in both picking the winner and the attraction to people of targeting a horse at a race where he can run really well, have a really hard exertion and come in an honourable twelfth. The way Chapoturgeon won, even being second was actually a case of futile going through the motions. Simon Holt gave one or two outsider backers a bit of a shock in the Freddie Williams Plate when he was struggling briefly to identify a faller and said 'Something else has gone." Something else / Something Wells? Easily misheard. At least Venetia Williams had abandoned the hat this time, and I am sure it is no coincidence that she had a winner earlier and a 1-2 in this and a runner-up later. Glad to see that when one stable that usually can be relied on for endless places decides to start winning, Ferdy Murphy (especially in handicap chases) gives us welcome element of stability in that area. Which was what happened with Pretty Star in the Kim Muir, although having got very enthused about Character Building for the four miler when he was runner-up a couple of years ago, I was not best pleased with him finally putting his nose in front at Cheltenham now. Also, fate threw a spanner in the betting stats works for the last race of the day. For some years know, the handicap chases are swept by horses carrying under 11 stone. In the Kim Muir, the weights were so compressed that only two met that criteria.

Unsung hero of the day was Graham Lee, who had little to show for it, but performed some heroics on a succession of horses that seemed determined to dash him to the ground. The heroine equivalent over a couple of days has been Rose Dobbin. Having made a name for herself by being perfectly adequate in amateur's races and then out of her depth against the pros, she has ridden like a woman possessed for the last two days, picking up a couple of places along the way. 

Wednesday:

So it all started with quite an impressive win from Tricky Trickster, who scooted clear, as a combination of lack of stamina and dreadful jumping punctured the hopes of the main challengers, and the obscure ones as well. So perhaps not as excellent as the finish suggested? Then, despite a smaller than average field, another storming novice hurdle where the ones up front all looked very strong novices and only Mad Max really flopped. Michael D'Whatnot, Krab-ache and Demented-not-today Harry all having a fine time of now and the future, hopefully. Cooldine is an impressive winner, although with Horner Woods (rated 126) in second, the established staying chasers have only one horse to be fretting over ready for next year. In fact, with a really mediocre bunch of novice chasers this year, the excellent novice hurdlers have been a counterbalance to provide anticipation for the future. In fairness, some of the defeated horses in the RSA Chase might be decent but not well suited to the Cheltenham Festival and Lightning Strike was frightened by Venetia Williams' hat. I was, and that was from a couple of hundred miles away. 

Master Minded proved a bit more this year as the oppo (except Marodima) did not adopt suicidal tactics to hand him the race on a plate. In fact, it looks like the only tactic to beat him is to push Ruby Walsh off as the tapes go up. It was quite nice that Well Chief still managed to get an honourable second. Coral Cup? No accident that a bookie sponsors it and it's only purposes is to allow lazy pundits to justify a selection by saying it has been trained for the race, as if the other twenty plus trainers in the race would never have thought of such an idea. Knowing some of the people involved, I was rooting for Tobago Bay in the Fred Winter (who ran a blinder up until the last) but was glad Folkestone form hold up on the big stage. Incidentally, as impressive as Silk Affair was, with wins at Sandown and Towcester over two and a half miles already, it is hard to imagine her doing a Crack Away Jack in the Champion Hurdle next year. The mares' hurdle however... As for the bumper, I am not keen on these races that are just in their to provide a soft festival win for the trainer, such as Enda Bolger (Cross Country boredom), Willie Mullins (Bumper most other years), Paul Nicholls (Gold Cup, Champion Chase etc). Slightly more seriously, a few years ago the bumper used to be a source of many, many hurdle winners, but now it seems to have become a be all and end all, and throwing up many flops. The range of powerful trainers and owners not having a runner in it this year seems significant...

Tuesday: 

This is really something of a damp squib day, the one that has raised a question mark over the four day festival. The Champion Hurdle is the undisputed leader in it's field, but the supporting cast is iffy. The Arkle is usually a big deal - but not this year? The Supreme Novice Hurdle is one to reflect on and enjoy, but does not, for me, create a sense of anticipation, because there is always a huge field and plenty of unbeaten (or almost) contenders. The William Hill Trophy is normally farcical, one of those races where any horse with apparently ideal credentials should immediately be ruled out - but not this year also? The mares race is not really going to take off if the best mare(s) would rather be 16/1 also rans in the Champion. The Cross Country chase? ZZZZZZZ. A non-event and even more pointless if there are no runners from the continent, where there is a genuine interest in that type of race.

Punjabi finally won the big race that he threatened to, probably one or two tries after his most loyal supporters had given up investing. Jered ran pretty well considering the ground had begun to turn against him - one to be on at Aintree?. Everyone rushed to say that Binocular did not fail for lack of stamina, but it was testing enough to remove the turn of foot that frightened the living daylights out of Celestial Halo at Aintree and Ascot. The first two in the Supreme will hopefully turn out to be top notch, as Go Native's form, even in defeat, is pretty solid. Given the multiple problems encountered in the last mile, hopefully Medermit will not turn out an interference magnet. On the subject of which, how much damage to the result did Tatenen's fall do? Plenty would be my guess as most of the field were forced into evasive action. An uninspiring renewal in advance, the Arkle looks a weaker one in hindsight, with the For Padydeplasterer having previously lost three of his four chases (although being named to commemorate political corruption is a plus for him) and the runner-up having been unconvincing. An amazing effort for Wichita Lineman - but bear in mind Maljimar had fallen in his only try longer than 2m 5f, so that horse failing to get home helped his task greatly. The mares' race was a two horse affair, as Chomba Womba was unlikely to stay unless they walked the first half mile, so it's only appeal was that you back them both and be in profit, or just pick up the forecast by the skin of United's teeth.

SEASON TO REMEMBER

We can only cut the cloth that we are given, and whilst no trainer would be complaining about a 1-2-3 in the Gold Cup, others have quiet contentment to be gained from less high profile achievement. In this respect, Zoe Davison has had a blinder, winning with not one, but two apparent eternal maidens in the same season. Before Christmas, Just Beware won her first race at the 42nd attempt. Then, just after Easter, Spider Boy opened his account at the 46th try. Both horses had been absolute legends of the Placepot, and won races that were not obviously weaker than ones in which they had failed in the past. Whatever the reason for sudden success, they provided two moments to savour.

CHELTENHAM REVIEW

Quite an eventful year, to say the least. The novice chases backed up the view that it was not a vintage year but at least Tidal Bay and Albertas Run won with an encouraging degree of authority. Good stuff in the novice hurdles, especially Captain Cee Bee and Binocular, where Robert Thornton was presumably joshing when he said that being on the outsider of the two JP McManus runners made him think he had no chance. They were 8/1 and 17/2. The Triumph, despite being a more selective race than normal, shaped as if any future impact will be over staying trips. The three mile novice was a cracking race on the day, but those at the London Racing Club's jumps preview might recall Eddie Fremantle's view that in it's short history, the race seems to have bottomed for good most of the serious combatants. 

In the Champion Hurdle, the idea that not one Irish horse would make the first three (the Bumper went more to script) was risible. This season's crop of novices should give Katchit, Osana and Punjabi plenty to think about next term. And despite all the evidence, some nutters still lumped on Harchibald. The bookmakers must have wet themselves laughing. As for the stayers, UK-Jumping always argued that Baracouda was an underestimated god, but Inglis Drever has outdone him, even with Kasbah Bliss now at a more suitable age for the race. 

The Queen Mother saw the most eye-catching win, but the way the race was run probably helped exaggerate Master Minded's superiority. After Aintree 2007 and the Tingle Creek, Twist Magic was supposed to be equally invincible. However, even in a more sensibly run race, surely the win would have been authoritative enough. The Ryanair Chase was. The Gold Cup was an anti-climax, in that Kauto Star was beaten such a long way out. This can be blamed on the the vast quantity of dull space-filling hype produced by Channel 4 and the Racing Post (there was some, but not much, informative hype). However, it was reported that worry in the build up to the 1983 race caused the hardly Bunter-esque Michael Dickinson to shed a couple of stone. The picture on the front of the Racing Post after the 2008 race proved that thankfully Paul Nicholls had not suffered the same way! The Foxhunters' was secured, unusually for a British winner, by a horse that qualified in points alone.

In some ways incompetence can benefit. I went into the betting shop on Thursday and noticed that Tamarinbleu was a non-runner. What I failed to spot was that it was for the Ryanair Chase, and not the Queen Mother, so I did not bother to back him for a fairly woeful effort. Saving money in that way is as satsifying as a winner! And by running Ma Yahab and Silverburn in the wrong races, they went unbacked and hindsight suggests that they probably would not have won the races they were fancied for. Flight Leader made a good fist of things at 100/1 until the second last, but the greatest horse in training, for the next week or so, is clearly Ballyfitz.

TRIAL OF THE 21st CENTURY & THE SPIRIT OF 19th CENTURY NEPOTISM

The Race Fixing trial has been far more entertaining than many might have imagined, helped by David Ashforth's reporting and the generally shoddiness of the plot. The most fascinating bit has been the evidence of DI Manning. By his own admission, his knowledge of racing and betting was/is non-existant, and his stint in the witness box, as it has been reported, does nothing to change the view. So which claret-addled buffoon in the BHA thought he would be the ideal recruit for the security department? It is almost as if they desire to be mocked.

SPIN OUT OF HAND

As usual, when the site has a rare comment on flat racing, it seems to be driven by someone being supremely daft. All the media outlets for racing just last week made a big fuss that lack of a large venue with a dirt track was stopping the Breeders Cup being staged in the UK. Much more significantly, the even spokesman pointed out that as all the stakeholders, who put up the cash by various means for the prizes, are in North America, and have zero interest in the disadvantage to their horses of running overseas. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story...

HOW CAN THIS BE?

UK-Jumping recently had the chance to visit Belmont Park, a sadly flat only oasis in the urban sprawl on western Long Island. Given the amount of space, turf course available and the rather substantial portion of the local populace that are of Irish descent, it is impossible to believe that some form of jump racing has not established itself there, even if it were one or two races a week, as at Saratoga.

ASCOT

Loathe as I am to defend Ascot or flat racing, some of the press coverage around the track in recent months has been really, really idiotic. As regards crowds at the Royal meeting and the quality of the King George, year on year comparisons are statistically valueless, and with the new stand, the 2006 meeting surely was inhabited by the sort of sheep of turn up at anything as a one-off because it is new. As the course observed, the 2006 King George attracted the highest average rating of the runners of any flat race in the world. On this sort of evidence, the wet July means that we should be abandoning all winter racing, for ever more. Starting now.

FOLKESTONE

Rare as it is for Folkestone to be at the cutting edge of anything but earthquakes, the new link up with Pompadour, in France, did provoke some investigation. As well as racing, the track stages all sorts of mad animal related events (the National Donkey Show on Bastille Day, for instance) and after a flight to Limoges (from Southampton, Stansted, Liverpool, Nottingham, Newcastle or Manchester, but sadly most are Ryanair), it is but a short rural train ride to Arnac-Pompadour, with the station right next to the track. It looks well worth a visit. Imagine that - inspired by Folkestone.

RACING POST ON SUNDAY'S 'WEEK AHEAD' FEATURE

For those who do not get the paper on the Lord's Day due to some bizarre principle or because it is priced the same as the Saturday edition despite being half the size, then a fascinating psychological phenomena is being missed. The Week Ahead pages are a list of the coming week's features, highlighting any special events, arrangements or offers in that period. This depends entirely on what the racecourses submit (Worcester's special freebie - How to Rescue Someone Washed Away by the River Severn - has yet to feature), and the text from the submitters is clearly being reproduced word for word. Thus we are able to see how totally self-delusional the big racecourses are about what racegoers think of them, and how desperate the smaller ones are to make mountains out of molehills. But as most Post readers would be fairly regular racegoers who now for themselves that if you go to certain tracks there will be no superstars but fun competitive racing and others are just staging a drink up with racing in the background, what is the point of the pretence?

TWO DIFFERENT MARKETING PHILOSOPHIES

Two adjacent adverts in the Racing Post. One reveals that with every £5 Tote bet at Lingfield this summer, the bettor receives a free scratch card. Top of the 100,000 prizes is a new car, but there are some decent cash and betting voucher offers, free drinks and free badges. Anyone with an intention to bet £20 can presumably get four, even if they have to visit four Tote windows. The other reveals that there is a London Festival of Racing, which involves a 'week of racing.' In fact it is the two day Eclipse meeting at Sandown with a shabby Kempton night dirt racing meeting either side of it, and the man used to promote it is the twenty-years-past-his-sell-by-date Mcririck. Things look good for Lingfield...

THE NATIONAL TIPSTER'S

Plenty of professionals in the media put forward Hedgehunter, L'Ami, Eurotrek and Numbersixvalverde as their tips. Their respective weights were 11-12, 11-8, 11-8 and 11-3. In the last 20 runnings the only winners to lug 11 stone or more round are Rhyme 'n' Reason (11-0) and Hedgehunter (11-1). This is not a statistical anomaly, as there are sound explanations for this. In a generally solidly paced race, the energy required to carry high weights around is greater than in shorter races, so lower weights have a commensurately greater edge. Also, the changes to the fences have lessened the specialist factor that the like of Red Rum and West Tip benefitted from. Take out those who have not won a chase of 3 miles or more and the novices, and you have a much shorter list of contenders, eliminating many popular tips. It even would have included Silver Birch, although for most of us, somewhere near the bottom...

THERE'S ALWAYS AN IDIOT

Due to the big staying chases all being won by the same horse, John Randall was unable to use the Racing Post for his annual anti-Gold Cup rant of refusing to accept that the winner is the champion staying chaser. So, adopting his normal 'my opinion is fact' approach (ironic for the man entrusted with the paper's custodianship of obscure genuine facts), he declared that winning the Betfair Lancashire Chase and Tingle Creek chases were Kauto Star's best run of the season. Voy Por Ustedes Cheltenham success gives the latter a squeak, but Randall preferred the former, in which Kauto Star beat:

Beef Or Salmon (no wins in his career when travelling overseas), 

L'Ami (last win a novice chase in Jan 2005)

Ollie Magern (his only defeat of less than 30 lengths since October 2005)

Iris's Gift (retired without racing again)

Kingscliff (9th in the Gold Cup on only subsequent run)

Whereas at Kempton & Cheltenham, Kauto Star beat Exotic Dancer, winner of the Paddy Power & Boylesports.com Gold Cups, and after Randall's article, winner of the Betfair Bowl. As Kauto Star was an extra six lengths ahead at Kempton, if there was a better run than Cheltenham, it was surely the King George?

TOP WEIGHT

On Monday at Leicester, on ATR, Mike Cattermole made a point about Mr Splodge being a small horse to be lugging around the maximum burden, although adding a qualifier that it might be a trick of the eye as his jockey was so tall. But of course, the horse does not know he has top weight, and can a horse sense the difference between 11-12 and 11-0? So there is no morale effect on the horse. But does the knowledge affect connections approach to the race, tactically? The confidence of his rider? Is the human element over-riding (excuse the pun) the equine element. What if the horse is getting mixed messages from different people involved? Does this prove that there are so many questions, ifs, buts and what nows that we should cease trying to rationalise it? It certainly gives you an appreciation of how hard conspiracy theorists work.