Time to sign off for the day; John Brewin will be back in the saddle on Friday to lead you through Gold Cup day. I’ll leave you with Greg Wood’s report from today, and preview for tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and be lucky.
The battle for the Prestbury Cup is heating up – Ireland lead Britain 11-10 going into the final day. I imagine most on this side of the Irish Sea would have taken that at the start of the week ...
All Thursday's winners
1.30 Bob Olinger 6/5 (Rachael Blackmore/H De Bromhead)
2.10 Third Wind 25/1 (TJ O’Brien/H Morrison)
2.50 Allaho 4/7 Fav (P Townend/WP Mullins)
3.30 Flooring Porter 4/1 (DE Mullins/GP Cromwell)
4.10 Coole Cody 22/1 (Adam Wedge/Evan Williams)
4.50 Love Envoi 15/2 (JJ Burke/H Fry)
5.30 Chambard 40/1 (LM Turner/V Williams)
Here’s how the race was won:
👏 A brilliant performance from Chambard who is a shock 40/1 winner of the Kim Muir for Lucy Turner, leading home a 1-3 for @VenetiaWRacing at @CheltenhamRaces #TheFestival pic.twitter.com/kuYoi9fkHe
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 17, 2022
Two horses fell early on in that race and while Elegant Escape is reportedly OK, Mindsmadeup is injured and still being attended to on the course. Hoping for some good news there.
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup result
1 Chambard (Miss LM Turner) 40-1
2 Mister Coffey (Mr S Waley-Cohen) 5-1 Jt Fav
3 Didero Vallis (Mr James King) 66-1
4 Fakir D’alene (Mr Harry Swan) 33-1
20 ran
Also: 5-1 Jt Fav School Boy Hours
Chambard wins the Kim Muir! Lucy Turner brings Chambard win at 40-1 for trainer Venetia Williams, with Mister Coffey stumbling at the last but holding off another Williams runner, Didero Vallis, for second place.
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup Didero Vallis is weakening, and Chambard leads over the last with Mister Coffey in second ... it’s going to be another win for Venetia Williams with Chambard ...
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup Mister Coffey, Chambard and Rightplacerightime have moved in behind Didero Vallis as they approach the second last ...
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup Frontal Assault is lurking on the outside, while Mister Fogpatches and Omar Maretti are struggling in midfield. Didero Vallis is still leading the way, and sadly one of the early fallers appears to be injured.
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup At the top of the hill, Didero Vallis still leads from Fakir D’alene, with Smoking Gun and Mint Condition well placed, and Come On Teddy improving ...
Updated
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup They’re off in the final race of the day! Two early fallers, Mindsmadeup and Elegant Escape going down at the second fence. Didero Vallis the early pace-setter ...
One more race? Go on then. Time for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockey’s Handicap Chase, Sponsored by the JRL Group. Or the Kim Muir for short.
5.30 Kim Muir Handicap Chase odds
- School Boy Hours – 6/1
- Frontal Assault – 7/1
- Mister Coffey – 7/1
- Aint That A Shame – 8/1
- Omar Maretti – 9/1
- Mister Fogpatches – 10/1
- Come on Teddy – 11/1
- Smoking Gun – 14/1
- Glenloe – 14/1
- Rightplacerighttime – 16/1
- Cat Tiger – 25/1
- Chambard – 40/1
- Powerstown Park – 40/1
- Mint Condition – 40/1
- Fakir Dalane – 40/1
- Larry – 50/1
- Didero Valis – 66/1
- Elegant Escape – 66/1
- Almazhar Garde – 66/1
- Mindsmadeup – 66/1
- Odds via Oddschecker
Let’s take a look ahead to Gold Cup day, as Greg Wood previews the big race:
5.30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup preview
A difficult puzzle with the added complication that it is a race for amateur riders, some of whom are more than capable of holding their own against professionals while others are … not quite so polished. Derek O’Connor, Rob James and Patrick Mullins, who ride leading fancies School Boy Hours, Frontal Assault and Mister Fogpatches respectively, very much fall into the former category and may well be the ones to focus on.
Frontal Assault is the young potential improver, with just three chase starts, while School Boy Hours prevailed in the ultra-competitive Paddy Power Handicap Chase at Leopardstown in December. I’ll row in with Patrick Mullins and Mister Fogpatches though, as he’s a thorough stayer who will love the testing conditions and ran an excellent trial – on much faster ground – over course and distance when second here in December.
Updated
4.50 Mares' Novices' Hurdle result
1 Love Envoi (J J Burke) 15-2
2 Ahorsewithnoname (Nico de Boinville) 50-1
3 Grangee (P Townend) 13-2
19 ran
Also: 11-8 Fav Dinoblue, 14-1 Nurse Susan 4th
Updated
The Dorset-based trainer is the first from outside Ireland to win this race since the first running in 2016. Love Envoi is owned by a syndicate that includes Noel Fehily, who won this race as a jockey for Willie Mullins in 2019, on Eglantine Du Seuil.
Love Envoi wins the Mares’ Novice Hurdle! She leads over the last, landing just clear of Ahorsewithnoname and pulling a couple of lengths clear! “She doesn’t know when she’s beat,” says trainer Harry Fry.
Updated
4.50 Mares’ Novice Hurdle Party Central, Nurse Susan and Ahorsewithnoname also in the mix behind the leading trio. Love Envoi moving up the outside as they turn for home ...
Updated
4.50 Mares’ Novice Hurdle It’s a gentle early pace with Dinoblue close to the front, alongside Mighty Blue and Mayhem Mya ...
4.50 Mares’ Novice Hurdle Time for the penultimate race of the day, with runners away despite a skittish start ...
4.50 Mares’ Novice Hurdle odds
- Dinoblue 11-8
- Party Central 6-1
- Grangee 13-2
- Love Envoi 15-2
- Nurse Susan 14-1
- Hors Piste 14-1
- Mighty Blue 16-1
- 25-bar; via Oddschecker
4.50 Mares’ Novice Hurdle preview
Harry Fry’s unbeaten six-year-old Love Envoi is the only realistic challenger to a huge Irish contingent here, which is led by Willie Mullins’s Dinoblue. She doesn’t have a great deal of form but what there is looks rock-solid, as she romped 15 lengths clear of her field on debut at Clonmel in early January and several of those behind her have run with credit since.
If 7-4 is not your kind of price in a 20-runner race, Gordon Elliott’s Party Central may appeal as an alternative, having won three of her four starts over hurdles including a cosy win in a strong handicap at Leopardstown in February, but she is more exposed than the favourite and unlikely to find as much improvement.
A better each-way alternative may be Dinoblue’s stable companion Grangee, who fell two out in a Grade Three at Fairyhouse in January but had previously run really well against geldings in a Grade One at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting. She was just over three lengths behind Three Stripe Life, the runner-up in yesterday’s Ballymore, and has an obvious chance to reach the frame at least at around 9-1. Dinoblue has to be the one for the win, though.
Coole Cody absolutely loves Cheltenham. The 11-year-old has eight career wins; four of them have come at this racecourse.
Terrific work from Adam Wedge to recover from a late mistake, and getting boxed in behind Slate House. And it’s another point on the board for British trainers – this time, it’s Wales’s Evan Williams.
👏 Coole Cody - the @CheltenhamRaces specialist
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 17, 2022
A brilliant performance from Coole Cody who keeps on strongly to land the Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate Handicap Chase for @EWilliamsRacing & @Adamkwedge#TheFestival pic.twitter.com/NJkzZPgPwc
Updated
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase result
1 Coole Cody (Adam Wedge) 22-1
2 Imperial Alcazar (P J Brennan) 7-2 Fav
3 Spiritofthegames (Harry Skelton) 12-1
15 ran
Also: 18-1 Stolen Silver 4th
Updated
Coole Cody wins the Plate! Another winner who led from the first fence – but Adam Wedge had to fight back after looking outpaced by Imperial Alcazar, who tires and is in a photo-finish for second with Spiritofthegames. I think he just about held on.
Updated
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase Coole Cody loses ground as Imperial Alcazar takes on Slate House over the second-last ... but he’s coming back as they approach the final jump, with Spiritofthegames also moving through the field ...
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase Celebre D’Allen is the back marker over the water jump, while Imperial Alcazar joins the leading duo. The Glancing Queen is also in the mix, as is the grey Stolen Silver ...
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase Coole Cody is joined at the front by Slate House with the favourite, Imperial Alcazar alongside Stolen Silver and Schiehallion Munro behind them with 10 to jump ...
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase Here we go – the fifteen runners are led over the first by Coole Cody.
Updated
Latest odds: Plenty in contention for the Plate Handicap, with Imperial Alcazar and Celebre DAllen joint favourites at 7/2, The Glancing Queen 9/2, Grand Paradis at 13/2, Adrimel 7/1 and Spiritofthegames at 14/1.
Jack Kennedy will ride Grand Paradis after Davy Russell, who has fallen twice today, pulled out. Fancy Foundations has joined Cavalry Master as a late non-runner.
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase preview
The first three names in the betting are all trained in British yards. The Glancing Queen, whose form over fences this year is 1-1-2, heads the list and her 10-length second behind L’Homme Presse, the winner of the Grade One Brown Advisory Novice Chase yesterday, on New Year’s Day suggests that an opening mark of 141 could be very much on the generous side. She faces some stiff opposition, however, not least from my pick Imperial Alcazar, a ready winner at the Trials meeting here in late January and, like the favourite, still unexposed after just three runs over fences.
Celebre D’Allen, meanwhile, has run just once over British fences, winning cosily at Warwick last month, but has a fair bit of experience in French chases earlier in his career which could stand him in good stead. Ireland’s challenge is led by Gordon Elliott’s novice Grand Paradis, with Cavalry Master a late non-runner.
Updated
What a result for trainer Gavin Cromwell, and for Flooring Porter’s owners – a syndicate who paid under €10,000 for the horse, found via a Facebook ad. Absolute scenes!
👏 Bought for €6,000, the Flooring Porter Syndicate go wild on St Patrick's Day@gavincromwell1 | @dan2231 | @CheltenhamRaces #TheFestival pic.twitter.com/KTc5AoTDBY
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 17, 2022
Here’s how the race was won:
👏 Flooring Porter retains his Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle crown at @CheltenhamRaces. Brilliant ride by @dan2231 with @gavincromwell1-trained Flooring Porter proving too strong at @CheltenhamRaces
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 17, 2022
🏆 2022
🏆 2021#TheFestival pic.twitter.com/2rXgjwqISZ
3.30 Stayers' Hurdle result
1 Flooring Porter (D E Mullins) 4-1
2 Thyme Hill (T J O’Brien) 11-2
3 Paisley Park (Aidan Coleman) 17-2
10 ran
Also: 11-4 Fav Klassical Dream, 11-2 Champ 4th
Updated
Flooring Porter wins the Stayers’ Hurdle! He led all the way, and it’s put to jockey Danny Mullins that he never saw a rival in that race. “I never seen them but I could hear them! I love the horse but he’s quirky – his training is what’s got him here again.”
Thyme Hill held off a surging Paisley Park for second, and Champ edged Klassical Dream to take fourth place.
Updated
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle Here comes Klassical Dream, moving alongside Champ with Thyme Hill still keen – and Paisley Park has found a late burst, too. But none of them can reel in Flooring Porter, who is going to win from the front ...
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle Over the third-last with several travelling well. Royal Kahala is on Flooring Porter’s shoulder, with Champ third and Thyme Hill moving well – Lisnagar Oscar has dropped off the pace ...
Updated
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle A steady pace at halfway, with the field bunching up as they turn away from the grandstand. Champ and Song For Someone are well-placed in midfield, with Paisley Park struggling a little and Klassical Dream improving ...
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle The trio behind Flooring Porter are Home By The Lee, Royal Kahala and Lisnagar Oscar, whose jockey Adam Wedge is wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Seven to go, with the majority of hurdles in the first half of the race ...
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle They’re off, a muddled start with some horses unsettled, including Klassical Dream, who will have to work his way through from the back. Flooring Porter is five lengths clear, but it’s very early days.
Scenes in the betting ring as Brian Gleeson takes a wad of cash from a willing punter and chucks it at a bookie, who is instructed to stick it all on Flooring Porter. There’s then a burst of bad language from behind him, for which ITV have to quickly apologise. It’s like the last days of Rome out there.
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle preview
- Klassical Dream – 10/3
- Flooring Porter – 9/2
- Royal Kahala – 11/2
- Thyme Hill – 11/2
- Champ – 11/2
- Paisley Park – 17/2
- Song For Someone – 33/1
- Lisnagar Oscar – 33/1
- Home By The Lee – 40/1
- Koshari – 80/1
- Odds via Oddschecker
Next, it’s the day’s feature race – the Stayers’ Hurdle, which has one of the week’s most competitive fields including three former winners – Flooring Porter, Paisley Park and Lisnagar Oscar. The favourite is another Townend/Mullins heavyweight, Klassical Dream but the crowd may be cheering loudest for Royal Kahala. Trainer Peter Fahey has had to fly home after the unexpected death of his mother this week; earlier, his horse Born Patriot required extensive treatment after a fall in the 2.10 race.
🔵🔴 Relentless & remorseless from Allaho who retains his Ryanair Chase crown
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 17, 2022
🏆 2022
🏆 2021
The Irish banker Allaho makes every yard of the running, delivering in fine style for @PTownend, @WillieMullinsNH & @CPStudOfficial at @CheltenhamRaces #TheFestival pic.twitter.com/lx6VRiXKpH
What a performance from Allaho to retain his title. I’m also pleased to report that Conflated and Davy Russell are OK after that heavy fall at the second last.
Paul Townend will be feeling better after that win, even if his mind is still on the final-fence fall on Galopin Des Champs earlier on. “Me and the horse are OK, that’s the main thing,” he says, and points out that he won in similar circumstances two years ago, in the Triumph Hurdle. “Doesn’t make it any easier, but I suppose what goes around comes around!”
2.50 Ryanair Chase result
1 Allaho (P Townend) 4-7 Fav
2 Janidil (M P Walsh) 12-1
3 Eldorado Allen (Brendan Powell) 14-1
7 ran
Also: 28-1 Fanion D’Estruval 4th
Allaho wins the Ryanair Chase! Conflated falls at the second last! Allaho is pulling away now – that final fence is the only thing in Paul Townend’s way ... and he’s over it, romping clear to win by a big, big margin!
Shan Blue fades from contention, leaving Janidil and Eldorado Allen battling for second – it’s Mark Walsh and Janidil who prevails, completing a long-range 1-2 for Willie Mullins.
Updated
2.50 Ryanair Chase Davy Russell brings Conflated back into contention, in a group of contenders five lengths behind Allaho with two to jump ...
2.50 Ryanair Chase Paul Townend eases up slightly, maintaining Allaho’s lead over Eldorado Allen. Shan Blue third, with Janidil looking good in fourth place ...
2.50 Ryanair Chase A swift pace from Allaho early on, with Eldorado Allen ahead of Shan Blue as the field spreads out to 15 lengths. Melon is in fourth, Conflated among the back group with 10 to jump ...
Updated
2.50 Ryanair Chase And they’re off! It’s a 2m, 4f race to the line, with hot favourite Allaho the pace-setter ahead of Eldorado Allen ...
Positive news from trackside: Born Patriot is up on his feet, and being carefully moved off the course.
The runners are out for the Ryanair Chase, taking a trot around the cross-country circuit as they wait for the race to begin ...
Back in Ireland, Tiger Roll is enjoying his first day of retirement:
TIGER having a roll in Cullentra this morning.Happy retirement Tiger. A legend of the sport, a horse of a lifetime. Thanks for the memories.❤️ @_Davy_Russel_ @jackkennedy15 @Lisa_0_Neill @donoghue_keith @92bryan92 @CheltenhamRaces @AintreeRaces pic.twitter.com/BA7clkVgDu
— Gordon Elliott (@gelliott_racing) March 17, 2022
While we wait for news, let’s take a look ahead to Thursday’s other big race:
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle preview
The feature race of the day, and an intriguing cast of characters which includes the last three winners: Flooring Porter, Lisnagar Oscar and Paisley Park. Lisnagar Oscar was a 50-1 shot when he took this two years ago and has yet to add another win to his record in nine attempts, making him a big outsider again today, but Flooring Porter and Paisley Park will both have plenty of supporters and yesterday’s rain could play to Paisley Park’s strong-finishing running style in particular. Champ, who was one of the favourites for last year’s Gold Cup but was pulled up before halfway, is another interesting contender though he could not cope with a revived Paisley Park in the Cleeve last time.
Klassical Dream, who was Ruby Walsh’s last Festival winner in the 2019 Supreme Novice Hurdle, is back at the meeting for the first time since, having suffered from all manner of injury problems in the meantime before rediscovering Grade One-winning form at staying trips. He is closely matched with Flooring Porter on some recent form but was way below his best in late January after a tough race against Flooring Porter at Christmas. The defending champion, though, has been kept fresh for this and that could tip the balance his way.
Race delayed: the start of the Ryanair Chase has been put back – that may be because Born Patriot, who fell in the previous race, is still being assessed on the course. More news when I get it.
R3 @CheltenhamRaces: There will be a delay to this race.
— BHA Stewards (@BHAStewards) March 17, 2022
Five minutes to go! Allaho, last year’s winner, will go off as the odds-on favourite with Paul Townend eager to get back in the winners’ circle. Shan Blue is a late mover with the bookies, in to 8-1.
Updated
2.50 Ryanair Chase odds
- Allaho – 4/6
- Conflated – 15/2
- Janidil – 11/1
- Shan Blue – 11/1
- Eldorado Allen – 16/1
- Melon – 16/1
- Fannion Destruval – 25/1
- Odds via Oddschecker
Result confirmed! We’re now looking in on the stewards’ enquiry, with both jockeys giving their version of events. Paddy Brennan, who came in second on Alaphilippe, is very sporting in his response, saying Tom O’Brien did nothing to impede him in his winning ride. The two men have barely left the room before the result is confirmed, and Third Wind’s team can finally celebrate.
3.10 Ryanair Chase preview
Allaho bids to repeat last year’s runaway win in this race and also improve the record of odds-on shots at this year’s meeting to 3-1, after Shishkin’s bitterly disappointing run in the Champion Chase yesterday. He has looked as rock-solid as anything at the meeting from some way out and Paul Townend, who watched on from afar aboard Min as Rachael Blackmore steered Allaho home last year, will be confident of securing another win.
Conflated looks likely to be the biggest threat after winning the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival last time and the decision to opt for this race rather than the Gold Cup itself was probably the smart choice. Even that form gives him plenty to find with an on-song Allaho, though, and while he remains quite lightly-raced for an eight-year-old with just 10 starts over fences behind him, it is still a very big ask.
2.10 Pertemps Final result
1 Third Wind (T J O’Brien) 25-1
2 Alaphilippe (P J Brennan) 11-2 Co Fav
3 Mill Green (Nico de Boinville) 33-1
4 Winter Fog (P Townend) 11-2 Co Fav
22 ran
Also: 11-2 Co-Fav Sire Du Berlais
Updated
Here is some reaction to Bob Olinger’s dramatic victory in the Novices’ Chase:
Rachael Blackmore: “It’s fantastic to win but nobody likes winning in those circumstances and it was brilliant to see Paul [Townend] and Galopin Des Champs get up. I don’t know if it was the true Bob Olinger today, even coming up the hill it wasn’t the fashion of last year. It’s strange emotions but unbelievable to get another winner here.
“I think he’s a Gold Cup horse, he’s one of the best in Henry’s yard so I wouldn’t be too disheartened today as I know that wasn’t the true Bob, for whatever reason I don’t know, but we’re lucky to have him.”
And Willie Mullins, who saw Galopin Des Champs fall at the last while well clear: “He’s fine. I think Paul is probably sorer than the horse is. Paul just said he landed well and slipped on his next stride. We move on. It’s disappointing, but we have a sound jockey and a sound horse and we live to fight another day.”
“It’s tough, but it looks like we could have a very special on horse on our hands. I’m delighted I ran him in that race because I can go back to two miles now. It has always been in the back of my mind that we could go back in trip with him.”
Some troubling news to report – there were green screens up around the hurdle where Born Patriot fell. The other horse brought down, Sassy Yet Classy, ran on without jockey Davy Russell, but no word on Born Patriot’s condition yet.
The enquiry is to check whether Third Wind impeded Alaphilippe by moving right-to-left down the home straight. It doesn’t look that way to me. Winter Fog and Honest Vic came fourth and fifth; we’re just waiting for an official announcement.
Third Wind takes the Pertemps Final! Tom O’Brien steers his ride towards the front, into a battle with Alaphilippe – and has the pace to win by a head. Mill Green was third (I think) in a helter-skelter finish. Nothing official yet though – there’s a stewards’ enquiry!
Updated
2.10 Pertemps Final It looks like Alaphilippe vs Mill Green as they take the last – but Third Wind is charging down the outside and will be in the mix ...
2.10 Pertemps Final As they approach the last, Whatsnotoknow and Honest Vic make their move, as do Mill Green and the accelerating Alaphilippe ...
Updated
2.10 Pertemps Final The field will bypass the hurdle where Born Patriot fell – I really hope all concerned are OK. The field are still tightly bunched together, Pileon and Kansas City Chief still leading ...
2.10 Pertemps Final Born Patriot takes a fall in midfield, and brings down Sassy But Classy! That incident also impedes Sire Du Berlais, who is pushed towards the back. Kansas City Chief still leads, Honest Vic is also well-placed ...
2.10 Pertemps Final The 22-strong field of runners collectively look a little keen, but they get away cleanly, with Kansas City Chief, Pileon and Dame De Compagnie the leading trio early on ...
Updated
In the race to be the Festival’s leading trainer, Willie Mullins still leads the way with four winners, despite the disappointment of today’s opener. Gordon Elliott, Nicky Henderson and now Henry de Bromhead all have two apiece.
In the jockeys’ standings, Paul Townend missed a huge chance for his third win of the week and shares the lead with Patrick Mullins, Nico de Boinville and now Rachael Blackmore ...
Deep breath, and on we go ... Gordon Elliott has plenty of contenders in the next. Personally, I’m finding it hard to overlook a name as strong as Sassy Yet Classy ...
2.10 Pertemps Final odds
- Sire Du Berlais – 6/1
- Winter Fog – 6/1
- Alaphilippe – 6/1
- Dunboyne – 15/2
- Sassy Yet Classy – 12/1
- Ballyandy 14/1
- Born Patriot – 16/1
- Folcano – 20/1
- The Jam Man – 22/1
- Tullybeg – 25/1
- Third Wind – 25/1
- If The Cap Fits – 28/1
- Bar 33/1
- Odds via Oddschecker.
Updated
You can watch the closing stages below; it’s a nasty-looking fall, but both horse and jockey are reported to have come back fine.
🚨 What drama at @CheltenhamRaces!!
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 17, 2022
👀 Galopin Des Champs falls at the final-race with the race at his mercy to hand Bob Olinger victory
🏇 Eight runs
🥇 Seven wins
🏆 Turners Novices' Chase
3️⃣ G1 victories
👊 Dual @CheltenhamRaces Festival hero#TheFestival pic.twitter.com/s19MSg172R
What made that all the more dramatic was that 50% of the crowd had money on Galopin Des Champs; the other 50% on Bob Olinger. Before the race, ITV reported on a £25,000 bet on Galopin Des Champs. That’s a great example of why it’s a really bad idea to do that.
That was extraordinary drama to start the day. Galopin Des Champs was putting in such a dominant display before that dramatic fall. It wasn’t as close as expected, but Bob Olinger ends a disappointing run as the winner. 50-1 shot Busselton, who was barely on camera, comes in second ahead of El Barra.
Updated
1.30 Turners Novices' Chase result
1 Bob Olinger (Rachael Blackmore) 6-5
2 Busselton (J J Slevin) 50-1
3 El Barra (Mr P W Mullins) 18-1
4 ran
Also: 5-6 Fav Galopin Des Champs
The most important thing is that both Galopin Des Champs and Paul Townend are up and OK. There’s no celebration from Rachael Blackmore, who is looking back to check both are OK after a nasty-looking fall.
Updated
Galopin Des Champs falls at the last! Oh my days – Townend was pulling away at speed, but Galopin Des Champs stumbles over the last and goes down in stages, to roars of joy and pain from the stands. Townend can’t stay on, and Bob Olinger canters through to win the race!
Updated
1.30 Turners Novices’ Chase An error from each of the front-runners, Bob Olinger struggling over the fourth fence from home. Blackmore pushes her ride along, with Galopin Des Champs beginning to pull away now ...
1.30 Turners Novices’ Chase Galopin Des Champs is a little high over the first half-dozen fences, with Bob Olinger smoother in the jumps. The front two have already opened up a small gap over El Barra in third.
1.30 Turners Novices’ Chase They’re off! Galopin Des Champs makes the early running, with Blackmore happy to push Bob Olinger along a few lengths back ...
Updated
A couple of minutes to go befor, the first-ever all-Irish race at Cheltenham. This is all set to be a battle royale between Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs, ridden by Paul Townend, and Henry de Bromhead’s Bob Olinger, with Rachael Blackmore on board. They are currently 10-11 and 11-10 respectively; the bookies are hoping against hope that one of the other two, El Barra and Busselton, pulls off a shock.
2.10 Pertemps Final preview
Always one of the most competitive events at the Festival, and while all the runners are required to run in a qualifier before they are allowed to line up for this contest, it is still possible for a canny trainer to get a horse in without revealing its full potential to the handicapper. It has been an Irish benefit in recent seasons, with six wins in a row, and Gordon Elliott – who has taken three of the last four – has a very strong hand again.
Sire Du Berlais, successful in 2019 and 2020 with Barry Geraghty aboard, goes to post with leading amateur rider Rob James taking 7lb off his top-weight burden of 11st 7lb, while Dunboyne, Sassy Yet Classy, Folcano and Tullybeg are all towards the top of the list and go to post with much the same chance on form (a comment which can also be applied to most of the field). The betting rates Alaphilippe as the best chance of a British win to scupper the St Patrick’s Day greenwash, and having finished fifth in the Grade One Albert Bartlett last year, he will have plenty of supporters at around 6-1 as he attempts to give trainer Fergal O’Brien a first Festival win.
My pick is Tullybeg, who was sent over for the qualifier at Cheltenham’s October meeting, finished a creditable fifth and has been put away since. He’s a little uneasy in the market this morning, perhaps as a result of all the rain, but has form on soft ground and makes as much appeal as any at around 16-1.
A rollercoaster of emotions 😮
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 16, 2022
Stable staff cheer on TIGER ROLL in the @Glenfarclas Cross Country... but watch him beaten by their own horse, DELTA WORK! pic.twitter.com/SkAWzeEIwp
1.30 Turners Novices’ Chase odds
Thursday’s opening race is both a four-horse race, with a quartet of Irish-trained entrants, and a two-horse race between two heavyweights. Bob Olinger was the long-time favourite but Galopin Des Champs may be odds-on at the post.
- Galopin Des Champs – Evs
- Bob Olinger 6/5
- El Barra – 28/1
- Busselton – 50/1
- Odds via Oddschecker
ITV racing has just beamed in live from the sun-soaked Guinness Village, where gallons of the black stuff are being quaffed before the first race. AP McCoy is singing The Wild Rover on stage. It’s 1.05pm.
Updated
Non-runners: A fair few have dropped out after the rain yesterday reduced the hopes of good ground today. As my chief concern is typing their names at speed come race time, I’m sad to see Guy go, less so Didtheyleaveuoutto ...
2.10 Go Another One, Didtheyleaveuoutto
2.50 Mister Fisher, Saint Calvados
4.10 Simply The Betts, Pistol Whipped, Fusil Raffles, Presentandcounting, Guy
4.50 Walk In Clover
5.30 Janika, Lord Accord, The Mighty Don, Rocco.
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Here are Greg’s previews for the day’s two biggest races:
2.50 Ryanair Chase
Allaho bids to repeat last year’s runaway win in this race and also improve the record of odds-on shots at this year’s meeting to 3-1, after Shishkin’s bitterly disappointing run in the Champion Chase yesterday. He has looked as rock-solid as anything at the meeting from some way out and Paul Townend, who watched on from afar aboard Min as Rachael Blackmore steered Allaho home last year, will be confident of securing another win. Conflated looks likely to be the biggest threat after winning the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival last time and the decision to opt for this race rather than the Gold Cup itself was probably the smart choice. Even that form gives him plenty to find with an on-song Allaho, though, and while he remains quite lightly-raced for an eight-year-old with just 10 starts over fences behind him, it is still a very big ask.
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle
The feature race of the day, and an intriguing cast of characters which includes the last three winners: Flooring Porter, Lisnagar Oscar and Paisley Park. Lisnagar Oscar was a 50-1 shot when he took this two years ago and has yet to add another win to his record in nine attempts, making him a big outsider again today, but Flooring Porter and Paisley Park will both have plenty of supporters and yesterday’s rain could play to Paisley Park’s strong-finishing running style in particular. Champ, who was one of the favourites for last year’s Gold Cup but was pulled up before halfway, is another interesting contender though he could not cope with a revived Paisley Park in the Cleeve last time.
Klassical Dream, who was Ruby Walsh’s last Festival winner in the 2019 Supreme Novice Hurdle, is back at the meeting for the first time since, having suffered from all manner of injury problems in the meantime before rediscovering Grade One-winning form at staying trips. He is closely matched with Flooring Porter on some recent form but was way below his best in late January after a tough race against Flooring Porter at Christmas. The defending champion, though, has been kept fresh for this and that could tip the balance his way.
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Catch up with Greg Wood’s tips for Thursday at the Festival here:
With the weather much improved overnight and this morning, the going is now soft all over, on all courses. Riders will shift from the old course to the new for the final two days of the Festival, as is tradition.
Update from @CheltenhamRaces: The Going is now Soft all over on all courses.
— BHA Stewards (@BHAStewards) March 17, 2022
1.30 Turner’s Novice Chase preview
Just four runners for a Cheltenham Festival Grade One, and not a single horse to represent Britain’s jump-racing industry. It is not what anyone would really want to see, but at least Galopin Des Champs and Bob Olinger are both potential superstars of the chasing game, going up against each other for the first time in what could well be a key rivalry over the next two or three seasons. Both were winners over hurdles 12 months ago, though Bob Olinger’s Grade One success was undeniably of a much higher standard than Galopin Des Champs’ win in the concluding Martin Pipe Conditionals’ Handicap Hurdle on Friday.
Galopin Des Champs, though, already promises to be every bit as good as Bob Olinger over the bigger obstacles and all the money has been heading his way this morning. Bob Olinger was a narrow favourite yesterday afternoon but Galopin Des Champs is now odds-on across the board with Rachael Blackmore’s mount out to 6-5. This could also be a key race in the top-jockey contest, as Paul Townend, with two on the board so far, is aboard Galopin Des Champs and will go two clear of Blackmore with a win.
It promises to be a tight one but I’m going with Willie Mullins’s runner, who has looked outstanding in his two chase starts and posted a notably fast time at the Dublin Racing Festival last month.
There are another seven races on the St Patrick’s Day card, with the opening Novice Chase being contested by four Irish runners. Here are all the start times.
1.30 Turner’s Novice Chase Grade 1
2.10 Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Grade 3
2.50 Ryanair Chase Grade 1
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle Grade 1
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase Grade 3
4.50 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle Grade 2
5.30 Kim Muir Handicap Chase Ungraded
Our photographer, Tom Jenkins, braved the rain to capture some spectacular images on Wednesday. Here are some of my favourites:
Good morning, everyone. Before we stroll into the sunlit uplands of Thursday, let’s take a look back at the mud and mayhem of Wednesday. This is a great read from Barry Glendenning on Tiger Roll’s farewell outing and the most dramatic finale of the Festival.
Preamble
Good morning from Cheltenham on a Festival morning that could hardly be more of a contrast with the one before. It rained for 10 solid hours here yesterday, but sunglasses are the required accessory for racegoers today and while the sun might disappear behind a few clouds later on, the rain is expected to stay away.
Jon Pullin, Cheltenham’s new clerk of the course, came in for plenty of criticism yesterday for his decision to water the track on Tuesday evening, as it became apparent that the ground was deteriorating rapidly.
As it transpired, however, 5mm on Tuesday, which only went on to the quickest parts of the track, was neither here nor there, and Nicky Henderson, who would have been bitterly disappointed to see Shishkin run no sort of race in the Champion Chase, was among those to make that point. It was a reminder that forecasts, even just a few hours out, are no more than educated guesses based on the best information to hand, and also that the clerk’s job is bordering on impossible at times.
Despite today’s sunshine, the ground is inevitably to be testing later on. “Following the 21mm of rain that we had yesterday,” Pullin said in his early-morning briefing, “the ground on the New course, which we switch to today, has been updated to soft, heavy in places. The forecast for today is dry, bright this morning, clouding over later with temperatures around 13C.”
The third day of the meeting is generally the weakest in terms of quality, but it has provided some memorable moments in the past, not least when Bryony Frost and Frodon took the Ryanair Chase three years ago and Paisley Park landed the Stayers’ Hurdle 40 minutes later.
Paisley Park has been the beaten favourite in the last two runnings of the Stayers’ and his powers appeared to be slightly on the wane before he bounced back to winning form for the first time since December 2020 in the Cleeve Hurdle in January. Andrew Gemmell, his devoted owner, has been blind since birth and missed his latest win as he was undergoing a heart operation at the time. He is certain to be back on track today and Paisley Park would be a hugely popular winner.
He faces strong Irish opposition though, including Flooring Porter, the defending champion, and there is a real possibility that the Irish could go through the whole card at Cheltenham today for the first time. St Patrick’s Day would be the ideal afternoon for it too, and there’s no doubt that they will get at least the first race on the board as all four runners are from across the water.
The action is under way at 1.30pm, picks for all seven races are here should you be so inclined, and you can follow the whole day as it unfolds here, so keep hittin’ refresh y’all.
