Review of the day

You know it has been a bad week, when you are relieved to come out of a day with just a small loss – but that was the case this afternoon.

A gutsy victory by Peace and Co prevented a complete white wash for the week – even if he couldn’t get close to saving it.

In truth, I could possibly have had a couple of other winners on the day – but I opted for the wrong horse in tight calls.

Non of these things help.

As I said this morning, I need to think about how I handle Cheltenham next season (and indeed Aintree) – the big festivals are very different to the normal day-to–day stuff that runs from November through to the end of Feb…

Anyway, onto a quick review of the performances:

As mentioned, Peace and Co was a very game winner of the opener.

I didn’t expect him to have to fight quite as he did – but he showed toughness to match his class.

I hope he can go on from this next year…

One of my better decisions of the week was to dodge the County hurdle – as I wouldn’t have picked the winner, Wicklow Brave, if you had given me a dozen tries !
He was pulled up at Sandown as recently as last Saturday – and that was on the back of 3 previous poor runs.

Last season he looked to have talent – this season he seemed to have gone.

A return to Cheltenham clearly perked him up !

The next tips to run were Tea for Two and Shantou Bob, in the Albert Barlett - but they were no match for the Irish novices…

It’s amazing just how much Irish horses (most admittedly trained by Willie Mullins) have dominated the novice events.

The future for the likes of Nichols and Henderson, isn’t looking too rosey at the moment.

In terms of performances, then Tea for Two was badly hampered quite early on – and a mistake soon after, did for his chances; whilst Shantou Bob was settled out the back – and although he did run on late to finish a distant sixth, he never had any chance of placing, let alone winning.

Next up it was the Gold Cup – and what a magnificent race it was !

I didn’t back the winner Coneygree – but I can promise you I was cheering him on as if my life depended on it.
His performance was simply unbelievable – and made so much better by the fact he comes from such a small stable.

As I said this morning, I fancied him to run a huge race – but as he was tackled by Djakadam and Road to Riches approaching the final fence, I felt he might well get nailed on the run in.

However, the horse has a heart as big as a lion – and he just battled his way up the hill.

There will be those who will drool over the grace and majesty of Vatour – but for me, Coneygree put in the performance of the week.

Relentless galloping; accurate jumping and a ferocious will to win.

NH racing at its absolute best.

It was back down to earth after that however, as Salsify got pulled up in the Foxhunters.

I don’t know what his issues have been – but clearly he is not over them.

The shame of it was that without him in the race, I would have really fancied On the Fringe, who represented the Salsify/Tammys Hill form line, which has now dominated this event for the past 4 years…

Next up it was McKinley – and another near miss, of sorts..!

He was on my two horse short list with Killultagh Vic – but I opted for him because of jumping concerns over the latter.

Well, Killultagh Vic didn’t jump too badly at all – and he too fought like a lion when pressed up the final hill.

I could easily see him returning for the JLT chase next season.

And so on to the final race of the meeting – and despite very good support for both Grumeti and Ted Veale, their jumping wasn’t good enough in such a competitive race.

It was all set up for a final winning festival ride for AP - but Ned Buntline faced the hill exactly as I expected !

Instead, it was left to Next Sensation to gain compensation for his spectacular defeat 12 months ago.

We were on him that day – but alas, not today.

I think that sums up the meeting quite nicely !

TVB.