Time to sign off after a big day for football managers at Cheltenham, with Sir Alex Ferguson winning a double and a t’riffic result for Harry Redknapp too. Join me tomorrow for seven more races, including the Gold Cup. Back of the net!
Updated
Here are Greg’s previews and tips for all of Friday’s action.
It’s the landmark 100th Gold Cup day tomorrow – Greg Wood looks back at a century of racing thrills:
Here’s Barry Glendenning on the British fightback, as home trainers won five of the seven races on St Patrick’s Thursday.
A word on Paisley Park, who ran his final race in the Stayers’ Hurdle earlier. Emma Lavelle has confirmed that the hugely popular 12-year-old, who won the race in 2019, will now be retired.
“We have an awful lot to thank him for, we really do,” Lavelle said. “It’s definitely the right thing to do, we said this season would be on a race-by-race basis but he kept running his heart out, it was just a shame he couldn’t get his head in front for one last time.
“Today was the big test and he doesn’t have the same pace that he used to, that turbo button is missing and based on that, Andrew [Gemmill, the owner] had a discussion as we crossed the line and as he’s done so much for us, he doesn’t need to do any more.”
Ireland get another point on the board to end the day, but they lead the Prestbury Cup standings by just 12 wins to Britain’s eight.
🏆 Prestbury Cup standings:
— Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) March 14, 2024
🇮🇪 Ireland 1⃣2⃣ - 8⃣ Great Britain 🇬🇧
What a comeback from the Brits 🏇
🇮🇪 Supreme
🇮🇪 Arkle
🇬🇧 Ultima
🇮🇪 Champion Hurdle
🇮🇪 Mares
🇮🇪 Boodles
🇮🇪 National Hunt Chase
🇮🇪 Baring Bingham
🇮🇪 Brown Advisory
🇬🇧 Coral Cup
🇮🇪 Champion Chase
🇬🇧 Grand Annual
🇮🇪… pic.twitter.com/AUGytcA4bh
Cheltenham 5.30 result
1 Inothewayurthinkin (Mr Derek O’Connor) 13-8 Fav
2 Git Maker (Mr William Biddick) 28-1
3 Whacker Clan (Mr J L Gleeson) 17-2
4 Where It All Began (Mr B O’Neill) 8-1
22 ran. Non-runners: 5,22
Inothewayurthinkin wins the Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir
Angels Dawn goes down at the second-last, leaving Git Maker and Inothewayurthinkin to contest the victory as Demnat slips back. It’s not much of a contest as Inothewayurthinkin canters through to win by a distance. Git Maker must settle for second place after a fine effort.
Updated
Rapper is unseated at an open ditch, while Angels Dawn moves into contention. Inothewayurthinkin isn’t done yet, and is gaining ground on the outside …
The field is starting to spread out, with Inothewayurthinkin heading backwards rather than closer to the leaders. Whacker Clan, Denmat, Rapper, Git Maker and Annual Invictus all in the leading group …
Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir: Grozni, Fakir D’alene and Flash De Touzaine all struggling at the back. Whacker Clan leads from Demnat, with Inothewayurthinkin biding their time in midfield …
Updated
Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir: They get away at the second time of asking. Whacker Clan sets the early pace, with Rapper, Cloudy Glen and Git Maker in behind the leader.
They’re off in the Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir … or not. It’s the first false start of the day. The group will regather after heading out way too quickly there. Watch out for Bowtogreatness, a potential second winner of the day for Harry Redknapp, at around 14-1.
Updated
5.30 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup odds
The last race of the day, with a big field to choose from …
Inothewayurthinkin, 2/1
Daily Present, 6/1
Whacker Clan, 7/1
Where It All Began, 17/2
Bowtogreatness, 14/1
Angels Dawn, 16/1
Cool Survivor, 16/1
Git Maker, 22/1
Cloudy Glen, 25/1
Chavez, 25/1
Dom Of Mary, 25/1
Fakir D’Alene, 33/1
Rapper, 33/1
City Chief, 35/1
Annual Invictus, 50/1
Demnat, 50/1
A Wave Of The Sea, 50/1
Cepage, 70/1
Grozni, 80/1
Celebre DAllen, 90/1
Whistleinthedark, 100/1
Flash De Touzaine, 125/1
Via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Inothewayyourthinkin 3/1 into 2/1
Git Maker 25/1 into 18/1
More from Sir Alex Ferguson after the managerial legend saw two horses that he part-owns win consecutive races earlier today.
“I’ve finally had a winner here, I can’t believe it. The jockey was absolutely brilliant on him. I was thinking at the start, ‘what the hell is he doing at the back?’, but he crept forward and judged it perfectly.”
“It has been probably 20 years that I’ve wanted to have a winner here. When I first started I just had Flat horses and no National Hunt ones. “It’s special here, it’s like the Derby or the FA Cup final and I’ve waited a while to experience this.
“Of course it’s not the same as winning at football, that was my life, I was immersed in that, this is what I do for pleasure so it’s a different feeling. I don’t have to worry about it, I leave that to the trainer.”
Updated
Victory for trainer Jeremy Scott, delivered by jockey Lorcan Williams – and another point in Britain’s column. Having feared an embarrassing blowout this week, British trainers now trail by just three wins, with Ireland leading 11-8.
Golden Ace wins the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
Jade De Grugy and Birdie Or Bust stutter at the second-last, allowing Golden Ace and Brighterdaysahead to get involved. The latter two have the momentum down the inside over the last, and it’s Golden Ace who gets the win!
Updated
Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle: Victoria Milano continues to lead, but now only by a couple of lengths from Birdie or Bust, with Jade De Grugy also well-placed. Mollys Mango and Majestic Force currently bringing up the rear …
They’re off in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle! Victoria Milano, a 150-1 outsider who may be the best chance of another football-related winner, makes an early burst at a surely unsustainable pace.
4.50 Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle odds
Brighterdaysahead 5/6
Jade De Grugy 2/1
Golden Ace 11/1
Birdie Or Bust 14/1
Majestic Force 40/1
Mollys Mango 40/1
Titanium Moon 70/1
Victoria Milano 150/1
Via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Brighterdaysahead 11/8 into 5/6
Jade De Grugy 4/1 into 2/1
Here’s how 24-year-old jockey Ben Jones led Shakem Up’Arry home for trainer Ben Pauling and owner Redknapp. Another win for Britain, they now lead 4-1 today.
It's a day for the football managers! ⚽
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
Shakem Up'Arry holds on to win the Trustatrader Plate Handicap Chase for @Redknapp & @benpauling1 #ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/pztePazHmJ
Updated
Cheltenham 4.10 result
1 Shakem Up’arry (Ben Jones) 8-1
2 Crebilly (Jonjo O’Neill Jr.) 7-2
3 Straw Fan Jack (Sean Houlihan) 28-1
4 Life In The Park (M P O’Connor) 28-1
21 ran. Also: 10-3 Fav Theatre Man
Harry Redknapp talks: “My nan got me into it, she used to be a bookie’s runner back when it was illegal! She ended up in Poplar police station every week! Me and Sir Alex both love the racing, love the football too. This means more than winning I’m A Celebrity … to have a winner at Cheltenham, it’s one of the greatest days of my life.”
Updated
Shakem Up’Arry wins the Handicap Chase!
Shakem Up’Arry pulls clear and leads by three lengths at the last. Crebilly has been there or thereabouts and now moves up to second, with Straw Man Jack charging through. Is the leader tiring? He’s got enough in the tank to get home – and deliver another football winner, this time for Harry Redknapp!
Updated
Plate Handicap Chase: Frero Banbou, Shakem Up’Arry and Straw Fan Jack all keeping pace near the front as Fighter Allen drifts back, while Killer Kane is struggling with the pace. Four fences to go …
They’re off in the Plate Handicap Chase, after a standing start with the drizzle a little heavier out on the New Course now. And Theatre Man is down at the third fence! Glengouly is the early leader, alongside Fighter Allen and Ciel De Neige …
4.10 TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase odds
Theatre Man 3/1
Crebilly 5/1
Shakem Uparry 7/1
Saint Felicien 8/1
Arctic Bresil 9/1
James Du Berlais 14/1
Il Ridoto 16/1
In Excelsis Deo 16/1
Riaan 22/1
Glengouly 25/1
Watch House Cross 25/1
Frero Banbou 28/1
Life In The Park 33/1
Straw Fan Jack 40/1
Killer Kane 40/1
Torn And Frayed 50/1
Fighter Allen 70/1
Mars Harper 80/1
Embittered 80/1
Hereditary Rule 80/1
Ciel De Neige 90/1
Via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Theatre Man 6/1 into 3/1
Arctic Bresel 12/1 into 9/1
That victory for Teahupoo gets Ireland on the board today after three British wins. In the overall Prestbury Cup battle, Irish trainers now lead 11-6 over the entire week.
The wait is over for @gelliott_racing
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
Teahupoo is a classy winner of the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/1iLkkt4FWt
Updated
Cheltenham 3.30 result
1 Teahupoo (J W Kennedy) 5-4 Fav
2 Flooring Porter (K M Donoghue) 9-1
3 Home By The Lee (J J Slevin) 16-1
12 ran. Also: 40-1 Buddy One 4th
Non Runner: 3
Jockey Jack Kennedy looks a relieved man after finally delivering Gordon Elliott a win this week. “He’s an amazing horse, makes my job very easy. You can put him anywhere you want in a race, he jumps great. The horses have been running well, but it was starting to annoy me yesterday.”
Teahupoo wins the Stayers’ Hurdle!
It’s Teahupoo and 50-1 Buddy One who keep pace with Flooring Porter, and the pre-race favourite gets an edge over the last fence and outlasts the former winner down the straight. Home By The Lee comes through to take third place.
Updated
Stayers’ Hurdle: Still a tight group moving at a steady pace with two to jump now. Flooring Porter still leads, with Teahupoo, Paisley Park and Crambo all looking to make moves …
Stayers’ Hurdle: Flooring Porter takes up the lead from Asterion Forlonge, but the entire field are within seven lengths at halfway.
They’re off in the Stayers’ Hurdle! Noble Yeats and Asterion Forlonge are the leading pair, with Flooring Porter in third despite an early stumble and Dashel Drasher leading the pack. Janidil is the back marker.
Updated
Alex Ferguson celebrating his second win of the day, alongside Sam Allardyce and Alan Halsall, aka Tyrone from Coronation Street. Also watching from the stands today is actor Bill Nighy.
Ferguson time at Cheltenham! 🤣
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 14, 2024
His horse Monmiral wins 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xbQ8gdodfd
Updated
3.30 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle odds
Teahupoo 6/4
Sir Gerhard 15/2
Noble Yeats 15/2
Crambo 15/2
Flooring Porter 10/1
Sire Du Berlais 11/1
Paisley Park 18/1
Home By The Lee 18/1
Dashel Drasher 28/1
Asterion Forlonge 40/1
Buddy One 50/1
Janidil 100/1
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Teahupoo 5/2 into 6/4
Flooring Porter 14/1 into 10/1
Updated
5.30 Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir Handicap Chase
A field of 24 runners and amateur riders for the getting-out race, and a surprisingly warm favourite in the circumstances with Inothewayurthinkin currently trading at around 9-4. He ticks plenty of boxes, as Gavin Cromwell has a fine Festival record already and Derek O’Connor is one of the best amateurs in the game, but this is quite the test for a horse with only four starts over fences in the book.
His short price does ensure that each-way options abound, however, and Angels Dawn – last year’s winner off an 11lb lower mark – is certainly among them, along with Where It All Began, and the veteran Cloudy Glen, with Lucy Turner, successful on the 40-1 shot Chambard two years ago, holding the reins. Daily Present, a 14-1 chance yesterday, has also been attracting support, and is another that goes to post with a definite chance under leading point-to-point rider, Jack Hendrick. Selection: Daily Present.
𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 winner for @harryskelton89 & @DSkeltonRacing!
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
Protektorat flies home to win an engrossing Ryanair Chase#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/RVzYr5KPAC
“I’ve been coming here for 15, 20 years without a winner, now I’ve had two in 40 minutes,” says Sir Alex Ferguson. “It’s unbelievable. It’s a special place – Cheltenham’s like the FA Cup final, the Derby. Is it better? It is now!”
Updated
Cheltenham 2.50 result
1 Protektorat (Harry Skelton) 17-2
2 Envoi Allen (Rachael Blackmore) 9-4 Fav
3 Conflated (J W Kennedy) 11-1
11 ran. Also: 9-1 Capodanno 4th
Jockey Harry Skelton: “He’s as mad as a wasp, he’s so difficult, you’ve got to be so patient. But today he was settled, tough … he deserves it, this horse. He’s had his day in the sun.” Skelton is also keen to highlight the work of Protektorat’s groom, Izzy, who says: “He comes alive on the gallop, I love this horse so much. We’re having an incredible week.”
Protektorat wins the Ryanair Chase!
Another win for the Skeltons – and another for part-owner Sir Alex Ferguson – as Protektorat takes the lead approaching the last fence and holds off the challenge of Envoi Allen.
Updated
Ryanair Chase: They stay in formation, although Conflated has joined the leaders while Fugitif and Ga Law have fallen away. Now Blackmore makes a move on Envoi Allen, up against Protektorat at the last …
Ryanair Chase: Envoi Allen is in midfield, just off the pace of the leading five – Stage Star, Ahoy Senor, Protektorat, Banbridge and Hitman. The other five runners are bringing up the rear with eight to jump …
They’re off in the Ryanair Chase! One of Thursday’s two big races, and it looks set to be a quick and highly competitive race. Envoi Allen looks a little uneasy before they get away. The syndicate-owned Stage Star makes the early running, just ahead of Ahoy Senor with Protektorat third …
4.50 Mares’ Novice Hurdle
Betterdaysahead is now an odds-on favourite for this race following the bitterly disappointing news that Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos, who was unbeaten in six starts under Rules and was expected to set off as a strong third-favourite, has been ruled out after pulling up slightly lame this morning. Gordon Elliott has made little secret of his high regard for the five-year-old in the run-up to this meeting, and an unbeaten record after five starts speaks for itself, but Jade De Grugy has also emerged as a very live contender for the Willie Mullins stable and there is very little to choose between the pair on ratings. Jade De Grugy, in fact, arguably has more scope for progress after just two starts over timber, and looks the better bet at around 2-1. Selection: Jade De Grugy.
Updated
4.10 Plate Handicap Chase
Another Festival handicap with no end of possibilities to ponder, and not nearly enough time to list them all. Crebilly, though, is quite weak in the market this morning, having been installed as a clear favourite when the weights were published a fortnight ago, and the money has all been for Richard Bandey’s Theatre Man, who finished just under three lengths behind Ginny’s Destiny in a handicap here in January. A big run from Ginny’s Destiny in the opener would no doubt see his price shrink further still, but he was getting 13lb from the winner there and is up another 3lb in the ratings today.
Arctic Bresil, for the in-form Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore combo, is another novice getting plenty of attention in the market, while Il Ridoto and the Harry Redknapp-owned Shakem Up’Arry are both course-and-distance winners in with a serious shout. I’m with Harry Fry’s In Excelsis Deo, who will appreciate the step back up to two-and-a-half miles and has often looked like a winner-in-waiting this season, not least when unseating at the last at Sandown last time with victory within reach. Selection: In Excelsis Deo.
Cheltenham 2.10 result
1 Monmiral (H Cobden) 25-1
2 Kyntara (Charlie Deutsch) 16-1
3 Cuthbert Dibble (Sam Twiston-Davies) 11-2 Fav
4 Bold Endeavour (D A Jacob) 50-1
22 ran. Non-runners: 2, 20
Here’s Monmiral coming through to win the Pertemps in Fergie time:
✅ @PFNicholls is on the board!
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
Monmiral is a 25-1 winner of the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/hrzp6eY5OA
2.50 Ryanair Chase odds
Envoi Allen 11/4
Banbridge 7/2
Stage Star 13/2
Capodanno 17/2
Protektorat 9/1
Conflated 10/1
Ahoy Senor 16/1
Fugitif 20/1
Ga Law 22/1
Fil Dor 28/1
Hitman 40/1
Via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Banbridge 6/1 into 4/1
Updated
Alex Ferguson, who lands his first Festival winner with Monmiral, speaks. “That was fantastic! What a jockey, he was amazing. Champion in the making? He’s got a chance. It’s my first winner here – but John [Hales, co-owner] is the master, he picks the horses and I back him all the way.” How does this compare to winning the Champions League? “That’s a bit different.”
Updated
It’s a 49th Cheltenham victory for trainer Paul Nicholls – and a moment to celebrate for Sir Alex Ferguson, who is one of the horse’s owners. Racing, bloody hell, and so on. The jockey, Harry Cobden, says: “He was 25-1, I thought he should have been 125-1 – it shows what I know! I think the blinkers made a big difference.”
Updated
Monmiral wins the Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle
Up the hill, Kyntara begins to open up a lead over Bold Endeavour, with 25-1 shot Monmiral coming through as we approach the last. Cuthbert Dibble is still in contention but fading – and Monmiral catches Kyntara to grab victory by a length!
Updated
Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle: The leading group now includes Cuthbert Dibble and Flight Deck, with Bold Endeavour another long shot faring well with five to go …
They’re off in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle! A slower pace than in the opening race, with outsider Prairie Dancer and 16-1 chance Kyntara the early leaders …
A non-runner to report in the day’s final race – Back on the Lash is out of the 5.30 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase.
3.30 Stayers’ Hurdle
The outcome that every racegoer at Cheltenham will hope to see here is for Paisley Park, the winner in 2019, to return home safe and sound after what seems likely to be the final run of a memorable career. He is currently only 16-1 to do much more than that, however, and bring down the curtain with a second victory in this race on his seventh trip to the Festival. He warmed up for his sixth start in this race with a narrow defeat behind Noble Yeats, the 2022 Grand National winner, in the Cleeve Hurdle at the Trials meeting here in January, and since the winner there is only around 7-1 for today’s race, some will see Emma Lavelle’s 12-year-old as the value bet in the race.
That was only Noble Yeats’s third career start over hurdles, however, and he is entitled to find further improvement for the experience, and both a stronger pace and softer ground are likely to play to his strengths. Crambo, unraced since winning the Grade One Long Walk at Ascot just before Christmas, would be another popular winner as his trainer, Fergal O’Brien, has yet to register a winner at this meeting, while other runners likely to attract support include two more previous winners in Sire Du Berlais and Flooring Porter, but the likely favourite is Teahupoo, third last year after a slightly unfortunate run in the straight. Selection: Noble Yeats.
2.10 Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle
Cuthbert Dibble 5/1
Le Milos 6/1
Icare Allen 7/1
Gaoth Chuil 15/2
Cleatus Poolaw 17/2
Gabbys Cross 17/2
Popova 12/1
Springwell Bay 16/1
Farouk D’Alene 16/1
Kyntara 18/1
Gowel Road 25/1
Chantry House 25/1
Monmiral 28/1
Anna Bunina 28/1
Noble Birth 28/1
Emitom 33/1
Alpesh Amin 33/1
White Rhino 33/1
Hyland 40/1
Mill Green 40/1
Prairie Dancer 50/1
Hector Javilex 50/1
Jai Froid 66/1
Bold Endeavour 80/1
Flight Deck 100/1
Market Mover from Oddspedia:
Cuthbert Dibble from 10/1 to 4/1
Updated
2.50 Ryanair Chase
The first of the day’s two Grade One events, and a highly competitive one too, with Envoi Allen, last year’s winner, currently 5-2 favourite for a repeat success, ahead of Banbridge (5-1) and Stage Star (11-2). All three are previous winners at this meeting, and Envoi Allen would be a fourth consecutive winner of this for Cheveley Park Stud, his owner, following successes for Willie Mullins’s Allaho in 2021 and 2022.
Banbridge, meanwhile, took the Martin Pipe Conditionals’ Handicap Hurdle two years ago – a race that was won by Galopin Des Champs, last season’s Gold Cup winner, in 2021 – while Stage Star landed the Turners at the top of the Thursday card 12 months ago. They face a posse of runners with strong form in one or more of the two-and-a-half mile handicap chases that feature at the big meetings earlier in the year, including Fugitif and Ga Law, and Dan Skelton’s Protektorat, third and fifth in the last two runnings of the Gold Cup. Selection: Envoi Allen.
Updated
Here’s how the first race played out, with a titanic Battle of Britain over the last fences.
Grey Dawning gets revenge on Ginny's Destiny
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
The @harryskelton89 & @DSkeltonRacing win a 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 battle for the Turners Novices’ Chase#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/YMdc4I7x6g
1.30 Turners Novices’ Chase result
1 Grey Dawning (Harry Skelton) 5-2 Jt Fav
2 Ginny’s Destiny (H Cobden) 11-2
3 Djelo (Charlie Deutsch) 25-1
11 ran
Also: 5-2 Jt Fav Facile Vega, 17-2 Zanahiyr 4th
Grey Dawning has just delivered a third Grade One win of the week for the Skeltons. The winning jockey, Harry Skelton, says: “Thank you, Cheltenham! These people make it special. Everything went just perfect. He’s a very good horse, absolutely brilliant. He’s so unassuming, he doesn’t know how good he is … hopefully he’s a bit special.”
Grey Dawning wins the Turners Novices’ Chase!
Grey Dawning and Ginny’s Destiny leave Djelo behind, and it looks a two-horse race to the line. Facile Vega is pushing for a place, but at the last, Grey Dawning begins to pull away after the last fence – and holds on to win despite a determined push from from his old rival down the home straight! Djelo comes home in third to complete a very welcome British 1-2-3 in a Grade One race.
Updated
Turners Novices’ Chase: Over the water jump and open ditch, the front three of Ginny’s Destiny, Djelo and Grey Dawning opening a small gap ahead of the rest, led by Zanahiyr. Sharjah and Le Patron are struggling to keep pace …
They’re off in the Turners Novices’ Chase … Ginny’s Destiny and Djelo making the early running, with Grey Dawning (who, helpfully, is grey) on the inside in third. Zanahiyr also well-placed, while Facile Vega is towards the back of the pack …
The runners and riders are out on the track for the first of today’s seven races, the Turners Novices’ Chase, with some spots of rain in the air. Races move to the New Course today, having been held on the Old Course for the first two days of the Festival.
'There's less luck on the New Course. It's tactics, patience, confidence' 💬 @Ruby_Walsh
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
New course, new challenges this afternoon at @CheltenhamRaces #ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/Tnh9461aGT
Updated
1.30 Turners Novices’ Chase odds
Facile Vega 5/2
Grey Dawning 11/4
Ginnys Destiny 5/1
Iroko 15/2
Zanahiyr 12/1
Letsbeclearaboutit 14/1
Sharjah 22/1
Djelo 28/1
Colonel Harry 40/1
Le Patron 100/1
Jamaico 150/1
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Zanahiyr 18/1 into 12/1
Letsbeclearaboutit 25/1 into 14/1
2.10 Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle
This should, in theory at least, be one of the more straightforward Festival handicaps to solve, as a top-four finish in one of the 20 qualifying races during the first part of the season is required to book a place in the final field. The fact that there have been just three winning favourites this century tells a different story, however, and this year’s renewal is as competitive as they come. There has been money this morning for Nigel Twiston-Davies’s Cuthbert Dibble, who arrives on a hat-trick, and he is now vying for favouritism with Dan Skelton’s Le Milos, who bids to give his trainer a third handicap winner at this week’s meeting.
Gordon Elliott’s Cleatus Poolaw – who trivia buffs might be interested to know is named after the most decorated native American to serve in the US Army – ran well into a close second on his handicap debut in the Naas qualifier in last February, but he is up another 9lb here, and while he remains lightly-raced, that could be a tricky extra burden to overcome. At least a dozen more are worthy of inclusion on any shortlist, but I’ll be having a small interest in Farouk D’Alene, a stable companion of Cleatus Poolaw, at around 20-1.
He is lightly-raced for a nine-year-old, having missed a season-and-a-half after a fall in the Grade One Brown Advisory Novice Chase here two years ago, and ran well to finish second when sent back over hurdles in the Leopardstown qualifier in December. He is set to carry top weight, but would not be the first horse by any means to run well in this race from the top of the handicap, and he also has Rob James, one of the best amateurs in the business, taking off 7lb. Selection: Farouk D’Alene.
Nicky Henderson has been talking to the Nick Luck Daily podcast about his decision to pull Sir Gino out of the Triumph Hurdle.
“He looked a million dollars, but I can’t have a horse like him run like in the first race yesterday [Jingko Blue]. How are we going to feel if Sir Gino gets to the top of the hill stone last and gets pulled up? I would look brain dead.”
Henderson added that the horses he is still running are “all older horses that have been through the mill. The younger they are, the more you’ve got to protect them.”
On his chances of another winner this week: “I’ve given up – I’ll attend, but [a winner] is impossible. The Sir Gino thing has been hanging over me for 48 hours, but now it’s over.”
On Willie Mullins: “He’s a very good mate, we have plenty of banter. He’s a genuinely good bloke, and he’s very, very good at what he does. It’s a tricky old job, this – but he’s making us all look very ordinary.”
Enjoyed this from Barry Glendenning on Cheltenham’s Style Wednesday and a social media storm in a teacup:
Updated
1.30 Turners Novice Chase Preview
Having landed the Arkle on Tuesday and the Brown Advisory yesterday, Willie Mullins is looking to complete a clean sweep of the meeting’s Grade One novice chases here with Facile Vega, the likely favourite but at a working person’s price of around 9-4 having been beaten in his last two races. Gaelic Warrior, of course, shrugged off a last-time defeat in the Arkle two days ago, and Facile Vega too also has very strong course form, having won the Bumper here in 2022 before finishing second to Marine Nationale in last year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle. He is stepping up in trip here, however, and faces a couple of very strong opponents in Grey Dawning and Ginny’s Destiny.
Grey Dawning will bid to give Dan Skelton his third winner of the week, and his first in a Festival Grade One since 2019, and arrives on the back of a career-best in a Grade Two at Doncaster in January. He should also probably be on a four-timer, having gone down only narrowly to Ginny’s Destiny on the Old course here in December, having made a momentum-sapping error at the second-last. Selection: Grey Dawning
Here’s the schedule for Thursday…
13:30 – Turners Novices’ Chase
14:10 – Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle
14:50 – Ryanair Chase
15:30 – Paddy Power Stayers Hurdle
16:10 – TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase
16:50 – Ryanair Mares Novices Hurdle
17:30 – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase
Catch up on Wednesday’s action, with Mullins enjoying his 100th Festival winner on a sketchy afternoon for the bookies.
Here are the updated Triumph Hurdle odds for Friday via Oddschecker, with Willie Mullins’ Majborough now the favourite.
Majborough 11/4
Storm Heart 5/1
Kargese 7/1
Nurburgring 8/1
Salvator Mundi 8/1
Salver 11/1
Highwind 16/1
Bunting 18/1
Fratas 20/1
Ethical Diamond 20/1
Mighty Bandit 28/1
Ithacas Arrow 100/1
Peking Opera 100/1
Good morning, everyone. Let’s start with more on the news that Nicky Henderson’s Festival has gone from bad to worse, with Sir Gino out of the Triumph Hurdle on Friday and Shanagh Bob missing the Albert Bartlett. The trainer released a statement confirming both horses have been withdrawn.
Statement from Nicky Henderson pic.twitter.com/GWXmauIVNl
— Nicky Henderson (@sevenbarrows) March 14, 2024
Updated
Preamble
Good morning from Cheltenham, where the going is improving ever-so-slightly before the third day of this year’s Festival meeting.
After two days on the Old course, the action switches to the New course for the second half of the meeting and the fresh ground is currently described as soft, albeit with some rain expected during the day.
All ground and courses seem to come alike to Willie Mullins’s horses, of course, and having celebrated his 100th winner at the meeting – an achievement that would have been widely regarded as impossible a quarter of a century ago – he can now turn his attention to the personal record of 10 winners at a single Festival, which he set in 2022.
Mullins does not have quite the same firepower to muster as he did on the first two days, and the shortest-priced members of his Thursday team are Facile Vega and Jade De Grugy, both on offer at around 2-1 for the Turners Novice Chase (1.30pm) and Mares’ Novice Hurdle (4.50pm), respectively.
He has plenty with an each-way chance scattered across the seven races, however, and Ireland should secure the four wins required to lift the Prestbury Cup before the afternoon is out. Gordon Elliott will be hoping to chip in to the total – Betterdaysahead, the favourite for the Mares’ Novice Hurdle, is his best chance to get off the mark for the week – while Rachael Blackmore, one of only three riders to have ridden more than a single winner so far, has a favourite’s chance aboard Envoi Allen in the Ryanair at 2.50pm,
The moment we will all be hoping to see, meanwhile, is the hugely popular Paisley Park ending his career with a second win in the Stayers’ Hurdle. He is a 16-1 shot, but much stranger things have happened here in the past.
In other news this morning, Nicky Henderson’s miserable Festival continues and he has now been forced to rule out Sir Gino, the favourite, from tomorrow’s Triumph Hurdle. Shanagh Bob, who was due to contest the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle on the same card, has also been ruled out
For the moment at least, Henderson has seven runners declared to run over the next couple of days – but only No Ordinary Joe, in tomorrow’s Martin Pipe Conditionals’ Handicap Hurdle, is priced up at less than 25-1.
My picks for the third day are here, and you can, as always, follow all the news, views and action here on the Guardian’s liveblog, and we will be under way on the track at 1.30pm.
