Kim Bailey says it is "sad" how wound up people get for the Cheltenham Festival.
The 1995 Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup winning trainer, whose yard is located some 15 minutes from Cheltenham racecourse, believes the obsession with the four-day meeting is not good for horse racing.
He told MyBettingSites: "Cheltenham has always dominated.
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"I remember winning a novice chase at Towcester one day by 25 lengths and the first thing the press man said to me afterwards was: “Which race are you going for at Cheltenham?” Norman whispered in my ear, 'The horse will never win another race, get rid of it!’ - and he never did win another.
"But the lead up to Cheltenham wasn't covered as much by the press and you didn't have those ridiculous Cheltenham preview nights. People get really wound up about Cheltenham now which I think is really sad for the sport, because it creates its own feast of endeavours to a certain extent and you get so top heavy.
"It was quite interesting what Nicky Henderson said that Cheltenham was not the be all and end all as he is probably the most successful English trainer ever at Cheltenham.
"He has owners, in fact we all have, who will say they would actually rather go to Aintree now, which is an awful lot more fun because it's not as pressurised. Owners are now looking for alternatives.
"The other thing is, you know that the Irish are going to come over in droves if they possibly can and Cheltenham is their be all and end all, bar winning at Punchestown. Apart from the Grand National, Aintree is not their most important target so they also point towards Cheltenham because they have obviously got very good horses.
"It’s taken away a lot of the owners who thought they would have a fun time, have a runner and finish eighth or ninth, because there's no point doing it."
Bailey has four entries for the Cheltenham Festival and believes Happy Go Lucky, who was second in the Ultima two years ago, is his best chance of a winner as the nine-year-old aims to go one better in the same race.
He added: "I’ve got two in the Albert Bartlett - Phantom Getaway and Chianti Classico - but one wants heavy ground so that's going to be a disaster. I’ve got Happy Go Lucky in the Ultima who nearly won it two years ago, so that's going to be my main hope."
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