The Weighing Room - March 2016

Created by Gordon Millard Cover Photo provided by Michael Harris Graphics by Lucy Dixon Edited by Polly Rodgers

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Contents Racing Calendar / Event Focus

3-4

Fantasy League Competition

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Walking The Courses

6-8

The Scales and The Importance Of Ice Cubes / Kauto Star Poem

9 - 10

Head Cases (Jockey concussion study)

11 - 12

The Day We Buried Red Rum

13 - 15

A Jockeys Journal

16 - 17

Mullins It Over

18 - 21

Billy Blakemans Guide To Handicaps / Cheltenham Focus

22 - 26

Final Flight Festival Focus

27 - 30

Mullins Domination / Dare To Dream

31 - 33

Midlands Grand National / On Air With Bobby Beevers

34 - 36

Inspiration For A Generation

37 - 38

Pointing News

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A Catch Up With Saturday Royalty Kerry Lee

40 - 41

Dubai Super Saturday

42 - 43

Meydan World Cup

44 - 46

Photography By Polly Rodgers

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Editors Cut

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Mencap Charity Day - Friday 4th March 2016 Celebrate the start of spring with the first of two great days of Jump racing in support of a good cause. Winners on the day last year included subsequent December Gold Cup winner Village Vic and as always at Newbury there is a good chance there will be some equine stars of the future on show.

The day itself will support West Berkshire Mencap, a charity doing invaluable work to support people living with learning difficulties and their families in the local area.

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Greatwood Charity Raceday Saturday 5th March 2016 The second of our two days of racing centres around the Grade 3 Greatwood Gold Cup, whose past winners include subsequent Hennessy hero Madison du Berlais. Last year’s winner Sound Investment went on to win the Grade 2 Old Roan Chase at Aintree the following October, and it is always a day of high-class competitive equine action.

Sound investment and Bennys Mist in last years Greatwood Gold Cup

You can also learn more about Greatwood, a unique charity based near Marlborough which provides fulfilling futures for former racehorses and teaches emotional literacy and life skills to children and young people with special educational needs.

Lady Wulfruna Stakes Day Saturday 12th March 2016 This Saturday afternoon fixture is the only Saturday afternoon fixture of the year, and features the only Class 1 race staged at Wolverhampton each year, the Lady Wulfruna Stakes, a Listed event since 2007 and now an AW Championship Fast-Track Qualifier. Past champions include; Sovereign Debt (pictured), Chookie Royale and Solar Deity.

There are a host of further exhilarating AllWeather Championships races, including the Lincoln Trial and a number of Class 2 affairs, increased prize money across the card and the chance to get to Finals Day at Lingfield Park on Good Friday with Fast-Track Qualifier success attract all the top jockeys, owners and trainers on this Saturday meeting.

Bettered Midlands Grand National - Saturday 19th March The second longest Steeplechase in the country at 4 miles and 1 1/2 furlongs, the Betfred Midlands Grand National is a true test of stamina and courage for both horse and jockey.

Since 1969 this prestigious fixture has been a firm favourite in the racing calendar and with a prize fund of £100,000 it’s no wonder that top jockeys, trainers and owners all want to win the BIG race.

Taking place on the 19th March 2016 the Midlands Grand National attracts some of the best chasers in training and previous runners have even gone on to victory in the Aintree Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Page 4

COMPETITION TIME

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Walking The Courses

By Richard Farquhar @WalkTheCourses In February 2012 I lost my father to pancreatic cancer. My father, who had worked in racing as a youngster, instilled his love of this great sport in me. He became one of the 9,000 people in this country every year who succumbed to a disease with an average life expectancy of just five months and a one in five chance of surviving for a year.

My 50th birthday was approaching and in the aftermath of losing him, it occurred to me that the only thing that I had done, to that point, in my life for charity, was to grow the most feeble moustache imaginable for prostate cancer. It honestly looked like a caterpillar with a hair loss problem! And so it was that I began to muse on doing something, just once in my life, of note and scale, that could reach a large audience and raise a pile of cash for Pancreatic Cancer UK , the only national charity fighting pancreatic cancer on all fronts. The big question was……what?

A couple of months later, a great friend rang me one day to tell me that he had been racing at Great Leighs (now Chelmsford City) and had, as a result, been racing at every racecourse in mainland Britain. As a lifelong racing fan, this struck me, in a slightly trainspotterish way, as an achievement that I would like to mirror. I remember sitting down an ticking off the names of all the tracks that, at that point, I had visited. I got to 28…….not bad, but a long way from 60!

So the idea was sown. But how to do it? I couldn’t simply go racing at each course and expect people to sponsor me. Riding between them was out of the question as I don’t ride. Cycling likewise was a non-runner, as years of quick bowling have left me with a left knee that does not like one particular angle of flex. And then I considered walking. Physically I thought I was probably capable of getting myself into shape to do it and it did sound like an endeavour that might be deemed worthy of support.

And then I did what all sensible people do when they come up with a ludicrous idea, namely to come up with all the excellent reasons why I shouldn’t undertake such a hare brained project: too old, unfit, job to hold down, family. So the idea was mothballed, set to one side, but not quite put out with the rubbish!

It was two years or so later in June 2014, when Lambourn trainer John Hills passed away, that I really decided that I had to carry it through. John was but a year older than me, also had four children and succumbed dreadfully quickly to pancreatic cancer. I did not know him at all well, but it was clear from the heartfelt tributes that he was a hugely popular individual, who was enormous fun to be with. I had always had a huge respect for his father Barry and the rest of the Hills dynasty. I remember my father relating the story of how Barry set himself up as a trainer by landing a coup on the winner of the 1968 Lincoln, Frankincense, when assistant to Gerald Oxley.

I knew that an inevitable by-product of John’s tragic death was that the racing world, which is largely such a caring community, would get behind my project. So I took the decision to go ahead, subject to a number of key stakeholders agreeing: my family and my employer most notably! To my considerable surprise, my employer, fund management group Liontrust Asset Management, agreed and hired someone to cover my responsibilities for as long as the project would take. The family also agreed and, crucially my eldest daughter Minty, who had just left university and was thinking about finding her first job, consented to come to work full time on the project with me.

The other major decision I took was to incorporate Racing Welfare on the ticket. All fans of racing Page 6

know all about the Injured Jockeys Fund, which does such wonderful work for the heroic occupants of the weighing room. Not everyone know of the fantastic work that Racing Welfare does for the legion of workers without whom racing simply wouldn’t happen: for example, stable lads, stud hands, box drivers, racecourse employees, breaking yard workers. An army of 45,000 people who give so much, without whom racing simply wouldn’t happen.

So from September 2014 through until March 2015 the planning was in full swing. There was so much to do: devise a name, plan the itinerary, liaise with the racecourses, develop a media presence, build a recognisable brand…….to say nothing of getting myself into shape!

By the time I departed the Rowley Mile at Newmarket on March 20th heading for Towcester, we had got the support of all the key stakeholders (racing authorities, racecourses, media) and I had lost 10lbs by walking about 45 miles per week! Whether I was in shape to walk the 3,000 miles over 13 months to complete the project only time would tell.

There have been so many highlights since I started. The racing Gods smiled on us in a big way when Many Clouds, our equine ambassador, won the Grand National, for one of our project supporters, Oliver Sherwood. We had great fun on the leg from Catterick to Cartmel, on which we were joined by Oliver and wife Tarnya, joined by, among others, Alan King and Simon Sherwood. I had amazing support on the “Lambourn” leg from Ascot to Newbury, with trainers Eve Johnson Houghton, Daniel Kubler, Jamie Snowdon Many Clouds - our equine ambassador and Harry Dunlop joining me, along with Sir Anthony McCoy. The story was the same on the trek from Yarmouth to Fakenham, when I was joined by Ed Dunlop, William Haggas, Sir Michael Stoute, Roger Varian and Stuart Williams. Every leg that I do is completed by a lap of the course on arrival, on which I have been joined at one point or other by the vast majority of jockeys, from both codes. We have had Nicky Henderson “jumping” hurdles, Ben Pauling jumping (literally) a fence at Market Rasen. We walked the course at Aintree with Jonjo O’Neill on Grand National Day. We met HRH The Princess Royal at the Royal Mews, we met HM The Queen at Ascot on British Champions Day.So many amazing moments, so many fantastic people.

None more fantastic than Andy Gray, a 49 year old, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early in 2013 and, despite being told he had just weeks to live, fought and battled through more than thirty sessions of chemotherapy, to be clear of the disease when he joined me for his local leg, from Sedgefield to Redcar, on Easter Sunday. He joined me for a further two legs, but sadly the disease returned with a vengeance and Andy, a man of extraordinary courage, humour and humanity, finally succumbed just two weeks before I returned to his part of the world to do the leg from Newcastle to Sedgefield. His partner, children, ex-wife and mother joined us at Sedgefield, the day before his funeral: an emotional day, but one on which we celebrated an exceptional human being.

At the time of writing I have completed 53 of the 58 legs, having walked 2,520 miles. The final leg, from Huntingdon to Newmarket, concluding on April 14th (Craven Day) is but six weeks and Page 7

about 400 miles away now. We have raised substantial funds for both charities and I have been lucky enough to enjoy the most fulfilling year of my life. To see the stunning beauty of this incredible country at 3mph, frequently in the company of close friends and figures from the racing world, has been a rare treat. To walk from the bottom of Lake Windermere up to Keswick or along the Jurassic Coast from Exmouth up to Lyme Regis, to name but two stunning walks I have been privileged to do, have left an indelible mark on me. Do yourselves a favour: before you book your next foreign holiday, see some more of our country. If the weather is as kind to you as it has been to me, you will not regret it!

It hasn’t been easy, either in the planning or the execution. I have been incredibly lucky to have had my daughter working full time on the project: it would not have happened without her. There has never been a moment when I wished I had never come up with such a ludicrous idea. To date, assuming I don’t croak between now and the finish, we have raised about £330,000. I hope that we will add significantly to that by the time we draw a line under the project in mid May following the Walking The Courses “Final Flight Ball”.

One man, 13 months, 60 racecourses, 3,000 miles. One lucky man, one amazing journey!

If you wish to donate, please go to www.virginmoneygiving.com/walkingthecourses. To find out more, visit www.walkingthecourses.com.

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The Scales and the Importance of Ice Cubes By amateur jockey Rachel Wilson @RachelEMwilson The first horse I raced as an amateur on the flat was a filly. As a three year old, carrying a brand new licence holder she had the triple bonus of 3lbs for being a filly, 3lbs for being a 3 year old plus my 7lb claim. So, you might think, great, a 13lb advantage. Well yes, but also not so much. That meant I had to be almost a stone less than her handicap weight, before taking into account my clothes, boots and saddle.

And so I was introduced urgently and painfully to the methods, extreme and otherwise, that jockeys over the ages have devised to reduce their weight.

Firstly you don’t eat. Anything at all. Second you don’t drink, anything much. Third you spend a great deal of time in the bath. Fourth you become completely obsessed with the accuracy of your scales.

Fifth you learn the jockey’s maxim: ‘Everything weighs something.’

Not eating is actually the least difficult part. After a couple of days you lose the urge and as a novice, having my first ride in public I was so nervous that eating didn’t really feature. Limiting fluids however is a very difficult proposition. You sit in your hot bath, in which you can lose a 1lb in an hour, so long as you don’t give in to the urge to sate your thirst. I was told; ‘Suck on an ice cube or two.’ It’s funny that luxuriating in a hot bath takes on an entirely different aspect when you are doing it to lose weight. It becomes a necessary torture (just as the sauna is changed from a lovely relaxing lounge to a hellish box of heat.) You stay in as long as you can bear and then dry off and weigh. Repeat until weight is made. Sado-masochism totally devoid of any pleasure perverted or otherwise. It was Sir Antony McCoy’s pet hate.

On race day itself there is the sweat suit. You drive to the races in your sweat suit, underneath as many clothes as you can stand with the car heater on and when you arrive walk the course like a wobbly Michelin man.

Then you dress for the race, or rather you undress. There is no real need for knickers or a bra – frivolous ounces – your wedding ring can be dispensed with, as can that lovely gold pin your husband bought you to pin your colours. All you need is a pair of tights, your colours, the lightest britches money can buy (why is it that the lighter the gear the more it costs?) and then you take what until now you had thought of as a saddle for a dog, the one that weighs 1lb fully dressed, and go and face the scales.

If you are struggling the relief of making the weight is so great that it’s not until after this time that you start to consider that you’ll be galloping along on half a ton of thoroughbred in front of a stand of people and the television cameras practically naked. Actually this worry is irrelevant compared with the urge to down a can of coke. (Weighing Room Valet: “you drink that you’ll be a 1lb over; suck on an ice cube.”)

I’m making fun, because for me it mostly is fun. I’m an amateur and I don’t have to do this daily, but it is a serious issue for racing as a whole. A former professional I know smashed his Page 9

scales with a sledge hammer the day he decided to retire. Perhaps the historic weights for both codes are too low, given that the general population has grown considerably since the minimum weights were dictated. Undoubtedly for some, the pressure does lead to ‘flipping’ and the like, and long term neither the body nor the mind can sustain such extreme privation. It’s also not an advisable state to be in when going out to race ride, although adrenalin does take care of your immediate energy needs.

But until such time as the racing authorities decide to review the weights, those that struggle will reach for the ice cubes, the hot water tap or the other extremes and that will have to do….

Kauto Star A poem by Kathryn Trudgeon @writeforracing The Betfair Chase 2011 At Haydock Park the crowd begins to roar To see this legend wing the final flight.

The Gods themselves could not conspire to draw Such plans for Kauto Star to reignite.

Those critics who proclaimed his talent gone Backed younger horses trailing in his wake.

Makes all the running. Headed? Not by one.

A flawless round of jumping, no mistake.

He silences all talk of his decline, With racing pages jubilantly flung To see his whiskers pass the winning line, To be his witness, pure phenomenon.

Naysayers stunned by the spectacular now bay, ‘Let’s hear three cheers for Kauto Star.’

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Head Cases

By Fergal O Brien @FOBRacing and Dr Simon Gillson @DrSimonCMP We’ve all done it, some more vocally than others.

We’ve all had a horse beaten by a head or a neck and we’ve questioned the jockey’s part in that defeat. Some people have even taken to social media to harangue the jockey for a protracted spell. The rise of a modern day coping strategy!

But I guess we all ultimately recognise that jockey’s are fallible. They make mistakes from time to time, like the rest of us, and do so in a dangerous arena that most people can’t truly comprehend. Split second decisions make the difference between a famous victory and being catapulted into the turf at high velocity. Accordingly, the spectre of injury is never far away. And that’s the focus of this article, to look at the damage which jockeys accumulate throughout their careers. In doing so, we hope it might modify how you perceive them.

Broken bones are commonplace. But broken bones heal don’t they? Well yes they do, but they may need the brutal skills of an orthopaedic surgeon and their metallic pins, plates and nails to do so. We’ve heard some jockeys suggest that they’ve broken every bone in their body. We hope this is poetic license. After all, there are 206 bones in the adult skeleton! However, there’s no doubting that some pilots will have racked up a high fracture tally and numerous weeks on the sidelines in the course of their careers.

Unfortunately, even when the bones heal, the damage and disruption that the injury caused may last. Top amateur jockey JT McNamara fell at the first fence in the 2013 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir chase at the Cheltenham festival. He fractured the third and fourth vertebra in his neck but it was the resulting, and irreversible, damage to his spinal cord which has left JT requiring a wheelchair and a ventilator.

Such injuries are obvious to onlookers. A jockey sporting a full leg cast and using crutches leaves few questions about the nature of the problem.

But what about the ruptured spleens, lacerated livers and punctured lungs? Unless you find yourself in the weighing room, you won’t see the patchwork of surgical scars that these injuries leave. And is there something else lurking out there that may also adversely affect jockeys’ health? Sadly, yes, there almost certainly is.

Have you ever experienced a ‘complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces, which produces transient impairment in neurological function and then resolves spontaneously’? You may well have, as that’s a somewhat wordy, medical definition of concussion. In simpler terms, it represents a blow to the head which causes your brain to switch off and then back on again (similar to the tried and tested way of fixing any malfunctioning electrical appliance). There is no structural damage to the brain in concussion.

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What’s certain is that jockey’s concussion rates are high. In amateur race riding they’re 500 times higher than in American football! Currently, jockeys must undergo annual neurological assessment to be licensed and there are set protocols to follow if they do become concussed. Unfortunately there is strong emerging evidence that people who receive recurrent mild head injuries, primarily military veterans and certain athletes, develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) later in life.

In its most aggressive form, CTE is characterised by dementia, aggression and an increased suicide risk. At the present time, CTE can only be diagnosed at post mortem.

Richard Dunwoody often tells the tale of a day he suffered a bad fall at Hereford. “I came in, told Martin (Pipe) I was OK, sat in the corner of the weighing room and picked up The Sporting Life to see what I was riding in the next because I couldn’t remember. Then I saw the headline ‘Dunwoody leaves Pipe’ and, even though it was a decision which had been about three months in the making, I thought ‘why on earth have I left Pipe’s?”

Richard has now become an ambassador for Concussion in Sport and we urge you all to please have a look at www.ichirf.org. They are conducting good quality research into the after effects of concussion in sport. This is not meant as a means of banning or dumbing down our fantastic sport, instead to accurately give jockeys an understanding of the risks they face and what might be done to modify them. And what’s great is that you can help. Robust research needs a control group, in this case a cohort of people who have never suffered from concussion. Your participation has a great chance of improving jockey safety. And you don’t have to risk falling off a horse or the ire of disgruntled punters to do so. Get involved To volunteer for the ICHIRF study, click here http://www.ichirf.org/volunteer-now/ Dr Simon Gillson Medical Director simon@conciergemedical.co.uk Concierge Medical Practice Limited Tel: 01451 600 900 www.conciergemedical.co.uk info@conciergemedical.co.uk

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The day we buried Red Rum

By Joe McNally @steeplechasing I just finished reading Ginger McCain’s autobiography, which I can recommend highly. I knew Ginger from my time working at Aintree, and reading his life story from his boyhood, set me thinking of my own, and how his path and mine converged at the graveside of the greatest horse in Grand National history.

It was October 18th, 1995 and I was having breakfast in Winterborne Cottage, where I was living at the time. It was the shortest commute I’d ever had, nestled in the trees about a hundred yards west of the winner’s enclosure at Aintree racecourse. I’d left SiS the year before to become Aintree’s first marketing manager.

At 8.20 my phone rang. Aintree MD, Charles Barnett, perfect diction unruffled said, ‘Joe, Red Rum died this morning. He’s on his way here. We want him under the ground before telling the press.

Can you meet me by the winning post in half an hour?’

It was a job. I didn’t stop to reflect on my life, or the part Red Rum had played in it, or the path that had led me from a pit village in Lanarkshire, Scotland to the best racecourse in the world. I was a working class boy whose habitual truancy led to a note from the headmaster to my father eight weeks short of my fifteenth birthday: “If your son dislikes school so much, tell him not to come back.” (Oh those pre-politically correct days).

And I never went back, considering myself expelled at 14. I rejoiced and headed out into the world without a qualification to my name but armed with a twenty-two carat romantic view of life gained from all the books I’d read, huddled in the corner of warm libraries when I should have been at school. The only teacher I’d paid attention to was one I had never met, Dick Francis.

On a patch of old farmland behind St Pat’s school in my village, an optimistic farmer called Jim Barrett trained a dozen horses. I never thought then how incongruous it was, those ten acres, surrounded by steelworks and abandoned pits, because what I saw as I approached that yard each morning was Uplands, Saxon House and Seven Barrows. But no Lanzarote or Bula was housed there.

Still, third-rate thoroughbreds were racehorses, creatures of unlimited potential and I’d be there in many frozen dawns to groom and muck out and sometimes ride and watch the stable jockey, three years my senior, and better known in the village as the son of the owner of the fish and chip shop.

His name was Len Lungo and a couple of years later he headed south to ride Martin Pipe’s first winner, Hit Parade.

The Guv’nor (oh, how I loved calling him that) used to weigh me once a week and I’d starve in the previous 24 hours hoping that next day he’d tell me I’d make it as a jockey. But he never did, and I never stopped growing. Jim Barrett died a relatively young man and I was cast adrift looking for some way to stay in ‘the sport’.

The best I could manage was a job with Ladbrokes. By the time of Red Rum’s first National I was nineteen and managing a busy betting shop near Hamilton racecourse. I cursed Red Rum, not just for catching the magnificent Crisp in the dying strides of that wonderful race, but for being the best bet for many at 9/1 joint-favourite.

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Those were the days when settling was done without machines. We worked furiously through 5,000 betting slips as the queues of happy punters snaked around the shop and out the door.

That was the first of Rummy’s Nationals. It was the first of mine as a worker in the betting industry.

That race, that finish, and the participants were to play a huge part in my life: unplanned, and never knowingly sought.

Twenty-two years later, breakfast abandoned, I sat in Winterborne Cottage drafting the press release to fax to my great friend Nigel Payne who had recruited me to SiS and had been instrumental in me getting the job at Aintree. The plan was to give the old horse a quiet burial without the media swarming all over the track. One of the reasons for the secrecy was, I suppose, the fact that it is almost impossible to bury half a ton of thoroughbred in a dignified manner.

Walking toward the winning post on that fine dry morning, I passed the place where I’d stood with Red Rum on the day of his 30th birthday, five months’ before.

May 3rd was to be just another fixture at Aintree. We were down to five meetings a year. In the 1960s, Aintree had staged about 17 meetings annually, flat and jumps, but as the course fell further into disrepair, Mrs Topham gradually surrendered meetings till we were left with just a handful.

Anyway, preparing for that May meeting, I noticed in Red Rum’s Timeform essay that he’d been born on May 3rd 1965. I suggested to Charles Barnett that we call our meeting Red Rum’s 30th Birthday Meeting. Charles, always open to ideas, said “Crack on.”

I rang Ginger to see if the horse would be well enough to attend and, cheery and helpful as ever, he said. “Of course he will, old son.” It didn’t take long to get a buzz going. The BBC and ITV asked if they could send news teams. We were getting calls from the international media and I got kind of carried away and told Charles I was going to create a special racecard and order 10,000 of them.

That May meeting had seldom attracted more than 3,000 racegoers.

“You won’t sell them, Joe,” Charles said.

“We will. Trust me. I’ve got an interview with Ginger in there, a special portrait of Red Rum on the cover. Timeform have agreed to let me publish their full essay on him from Chasers and Hurdlers.”

“There’s no way, you’ll sell close to ten thousand.”

“Trust me, Charles!”

He smiled and gave one of his shrugs (think Hooper in Jaws trying to dissuade the men in the overcrowded boat “They’re all gonna die!”)

When the track emptied after the meeting, I was left staring at a stack of unopened boxes holding about 7,000 racecards. But CB never ever said “I told you so,” and the fact that he didn’t meant a lot to me.

Anyway, on that May evening, I’d walked out with Red Rum and his handler from the old stables.

We approached from behind the stands, Rummy looking splendid in his coat in the fading sun, ambling along quietly. But just as we came around the end of the Queen Mother stand, about thirty yards beyond the winning post, Rummy raised his head quickly and pricked his ears.

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His eyes became brighter and he stood very still for what seemed a long time, just watching.

Lord knows what he was remembering, but I will never forget that image.

Twenty-four weeks later he was back close to the winning post he loved so well. This time lying on his left side, head toward the red and white disk above him, eyes closed, breath gone. No pallbearers, no coffin, no shroud.

Ginger was on my left, Charles on my right beside the only other man there, Bob Dixon, head groundsman, whose precious turf had been gouged by the shovel of a yellow JCB which scooped out more than enough earth to make sure there’d be no embarrassing ‘rehearsal’.

I asked Ginger what had happened. He said, “He’d been poorly since yesterday, and the vet’s been keeping an eye on him. Early this morning, the vet pressed his thumb on the old horse’s gum, and when he lifted his thumb, the gum stayed white. That showed his circulation was failing, and that was it.”

Charles turned toward Ginger. Ginger looked at his oldest equine friend one final time and nodded. Charles signalled to the JCB driver and the shovel was lowered to slip slowly below the spine of the finest Grand National horse ever to gallop those acres.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, Rummy was pushed toward the edge of his tomb until gravity took over.

Ginger walked forward and threw in a handful of fresh earth. I turned and went to my office to place an order for his headstone and to write his epitaph for it.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that a square yard of marble was never going to be enough on which to do credit to a true equine legend and I settled for the simplest of words: I showed them to Charles and to Ginger and they agreed there was nothing more to say. *A couple of weeks before the 40th anniversary of Rummy’s first National victory, another player in that 1973 National sat with me on Fred Winter’s memorial bench outside his old yard, Uplands, the place I’d dreamed of as a teenager. Richard Pitman and I published our first novel 20 years after Rummy’s first win and Richard’s heart-rending defeat on Crisp.

From that famous yard behind us, Crisp had travelled to Liverpool. He came back having endeared himself to anyone who had a heart. His jockey came back with the memory of an experience no other human being would ever have. Richard never claimed to be a great jockey, but he has always been too modest. There were few who could get a horse jumping the way he could, and even fewer who would blame themselves for losing the most famous race in the world when giving 23lbs to what turned out to be the greatest Grand National horse in history.

Sitting on that bench Richard explained to me, “It wasn’t so much picking up my stick before the Elbow that was the mistake, it was taking my hand off the reins to use it.” Richard has now had more than 40 years of being tough on himself. I have had more than 40 years in a sport I love.

How could I have known that the touchstone for me would turn out to be the 1973 Grand National? I helped bury the winning horse, and wrote his tombstone epitaph. The man who’d had arguably the most exciting ride in steeplechasing history had become my writing partner in my efforts to emulate my ‘teacher’, Dick Francis. I have not sat on a racehorse these past 40 years but it has turned out a great ride through life for me – no skill required from the pilot, carried safely round the course by Lady Luck.

Page 15 *That chat with Richard can be found on YouTube by searching for ‘Crisp Grand National’ Richard and Joe’s first novel Warned Off is on sale on Amazon for a special price of 99p for the eBook

A JOCKEYS JOURNAL

By Racheal Kneller @Rachealkneller Well the start of the turf season is just around the corner and I for one can’t wait! It has been a relatively quiet winter for a lot of us in the weighing room but things are just beginning to pick up now and the vast amount of racing taking place during the summer always makes it slightly easier for our agents to pick up spare rides for us.

The last couple of weeks however have been really good to me on the all weather. I signed a new agent called Andy Lewis who is a really successful jockey agent. I don’t quite know how I pulled that string because he is a really great guy who works very hard as an agent. He has booked me on some nice horses so far that have given me winners and placings in some good races too, so it’s been a great start for us.

Horses running well really does give you that extra boost of confidence you need going into a new season, so I am really grateful to work with him. I didn’t have to wait long for our first winner together and it was on who other than the superstar Idol Deputy last week. It was the tenth time I have won on this horse and he really is one in a million! Jack (to his friends!) won at my home track Wolverhampton in a Class 4, which is a grade above what he has been winning at and he did it off his highest Winners: Racheal and Idol Deputy (Photo by Leslie Hurley winning rating of 75. That day was also my dad’s birthday and leshurley@btinternet.com) he was there cheering me on in the stands, so it really was a fairy tale day at the sports! Jack means the world to me and he has kept me going when racing has been quiet. I would have really struggled to make a living had it not been for the rides on him and the support from his trainer James Bennett.

James is a great man to ride for. Very competitive yet understanding when things don’t quite go to plan, and a very loyal trainer so I owe him a lot for his support over the years. As for Jack, he is definitely a horse to keep on side as he’s rarely out of the placings, especially at Wolverhampton!

He appears to be in his prime at the age of 10 crazily, so keep a look out for him in the coming weeks! I am most excited for this season because I now have a contracted trainer to ride for in Mark Usher. I served my apprenticeship with Mark Usher and I am ecstatic that he has signed me as his claiming jockey for the coming flat season.

Having the regular support of a yard is a huge help in this very cutthroat industry so I am hugely grateful for his support and I hope to do the yard very proud. I ride out daily at Mark’s so we have a great relationship which I think is important with any trainer/jockey. I like to be in the yard working with the horses when I’m not racing as its good to be apart of the training and race preparation that the horses go through.

Another contract I have signed is a fantastic sponsorship deal with the very successful and popular ‘Racing Hat Hire’, based in Newmarket. They cater for race meetings throughout the year as well as any other occasion you might require a hat for. They do everything from fedoras to fascinators to hats to trilbies. All the stunning creations you see at Ascot & Cheltenham will be from Racing Hat Hire so I am very lucky to have the support of them. You will definitely see me with their stunning hats on during the coming season!

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So going into the turf I have a new agent, a contracted trainer, the support of a really fantastic sponsor and the help of a Dietitian / fitness coach in George Wilson from Liverpool John Moore’s University. I don’t think I have ever been so motivated and prepared for the season as I am now and I can’t stress enough how keen I am to get things rolling! It has been an injury packed two years and I finally feel like things really are going well again so let’s keep it up and get you all some winners!

www.racinghathire.co.uk

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Mullin’s It Over

By Jack Staples @iiStaples Annie Power is going strongly, she’s cruising along, over the la- OH NO SHE’S NOT. AND. SHES. DOWN. The bookmakers have been rescued.

As the dust settled across the Cotswolds, the record breaking 8 time Cheltenham festival winner Willie Mullins will no doubt have been left with a bitter sweet taste as Annie Power crashed out at the final hurdle on the opening day for the final leg of his four timer, saving the bookies a reported £50 million. To come there was the performance of the festival by Vautour, making every yard in the JLT with quite possibly the best round of jumping by a novice there has been at Cheltenham for many years and even the usually poker-faced Ruby Walsh was struggling to stop his grin spread from ear to ear. Don Poli was another to burst onto the future Gold Cup scene, galloping relentlessly up the hill to win the RSA equally impressively in his own right. The race that Don Poli himself won, the Martin Pipe was won by the well backed Killultagh Vic, who went on the claim the scalp of Thistlecrack at Punchestown, and although the County Hurdle may not have been taken by Mullins’ strongest fancy Max Dynamite, Paul Townend added to his earlier victory on Glens Melody on Wicklow Brave to score impressively. 6 year old Djakadam being touched off in the Gold Cup by the brilliant Coneygree and strongly fancied favourites Nichols Canyon and Black Hercules also beaten, there would have been an air of despite it being the most successful raid on the festival ever by a trainer, there was still room for improvement.

Alas, a new season was fast approaching, and before the flat season had even drawn to a close, a new name had popped up on everyone’s radar; Min (right). Bought by Rich Ricci and sired by Walk In The Park, like Douvan, he was quite quickly backed down from a first show of 50/1 into joint favouritism with the then favourite Moon Racer before anyone had seen the horse in the flesh. The first of the previous year’s Festival winners, unbeaten Champion Hurdler Faugheen, was the first to make his seasonal return against stablemate Nichols Canyon with a routine win expected at odds as skinny as 1/7. Having let Nichols Canyon make the running, he never really travelled and hung right on the run in, ultimately going down a neck to his stablemate. This was the first warning sign that maybe the Invincibles of last year were not quite as bombproof as we thought, and the second came when Vautour was made to work extremely hard to beat a game Ptit Zig in receipt of 5lb. Both were reportedly way off their peak condition and were expected to come on massively for their first runs. The return of Douvan was a high point, comfortably cruising to a first win over fences before two Grade 1 wins, dispatching old foe Sizing John once again and being eased down to a walking pace on both occasions. Then came by this time the hugely anticipated debut of Min, who despite being keen quickly took up the running and routed his opposition by 14 lengths, with Gurteen in second winning his subsequent maiden hurdle hard held. He followed in the footsteps of Douvan and went to the Moscow Flyer, again not being extended to beat Ball D’Arc and Attribution by 9 lengths, with the former taking a listed race next time out and following that up with a cosy Grade 2 success. Un De Sceaux was another early season snag for Willie Mullins, cantering along in front before falling 2 out, his second fall in six chase starts.

Boxing Day at Kempton was a big day for both Vautour and Faugheen, both with questions to answer over their first starts of the season, and Vautour stepping up to a distance that people weren’t convinced was suitable. Faugheen quickly took up the running and looked much back Page 18

running and looked much back to his best, easily shaking off The New One and co swinging in and kicking comfortably clear. The King George was without doubt the race of the season so far, with Silviniaco Conti taking up the early running with Vautour right on his tail, but with the former not performing well enough, Ruby was forced to take up the running and despite jumping left much of the way round he appeared to be travelling like a dream turning in, with Cue Card and Don Cossack well off the bridle giving chase. The latter fell two out, and with only Cue Card giving chase, Vautour looked to have the race won, but a slightly sloppy jump at the last and a very game Cue Card who dived on the line to prevail by a neck. It was without doubt a good performance from Vautour in defeat and did his reputation no harm. Un De Sceaux was the next with the need to bounce back, and he did so in style, seeing off Sire De Grugy in the Clarence House Chase when barely asked a question and cementing his position at the top of the Champion Chase betting. Faugheen then headed to Leopardstown for the first time for the Irish Champion Hurdle where he had a score to settle with Nichols Canyon and other stablemate Arctic Fire again having a crack at the Champion Hurdler. Settle the score he did, beating Arctic Fire by 15 lengths without being extended, travelling beautifully throughout and an interview from the owner afterwards saying he will still improve has left him unopposable in the market to retain his title. Vroum Vroum Mag was another to catch the eye, winning all of her chase starts against mediocre opposition before winning at 1/16 reverted to hurdles. She was given her first test in a Mares Hurdle at Ascot, readily drawing clear from a decent group of Mares to enhance her festival claims even more. Other Gold Cup hopes, Djakadam and Don Poli have had differing seasons so far, with the former winning extremely impressively at Gowran Park over two and a half miles before falling back at Cheltenham in a far from ideal trial for the Gold Cup. Don Poli began with a workmanlike victory over the ever game Many Clouds, getting 5lb, before a Grade 1 Lexus win, finding plenty under pressure before again idling in front, affectionately earning him the nickname ‘Don Slowli’, but there is no doubt he stays.

As the Cheltenham festival approached and the Mullins grip tightened on the Grade 1 races at the festival, there was news of an injury to Killultagh Vic, who had sustained an injury in his incredible Faugheen who will sadly miss the festival recovery in his last race, and he would miss the (pic by Michael Harris) festival. This opened up the JLT market and just showed that maybe not everything was going to go quite the way of the Champion trainer. Then, the unthinkable happened, and Faugheen, the Champion Hurdler, was ruled out of the festival. Completely out of the blue, it threw a massive curveball onto the race and saved the bookies an absolute fortune before we have even started.

1-0 to the bookies. Barely an hour after the announcement, Annie Power breezed through her prep run and was immediately chucked into favourite for the Champion Hurdle with punters very quickly snapping up the 3/1 on offer at first show. As the drama had barely settled down from Faugheen, Arctic Fire, 2nd in last year’s race was also ruled out of the festival and started to throw all sorts of rumours into the mix, with Supreme Novices Hurdle favourite Min drifting from 2/1 to 7/1 on the exchanges, which quite amusingly might have been caused by the Tottenham Hotspur footballer, Heung Min Son being announced injured that morning.

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The opening day of the festival, despite injuries to two of his star performers, Willie Mullins still has the favourite in all 5 non-handicap races with Min not putting a foot wrong in two faultless displays heading up the opening race, shortly followed up by Douvan in the Arkle, who at the current price of 2/5 suggests quite how well thought of the horse is, with Mullins suggesting he could be the best he has ever had. That and the main opposition being ruled out or disappointing suggest that the Arkle should again be returning to Ireland. Annie Power now represents the head of the market in the Champion Hurdle with Nichols Canyon next up which shows just how strong the hand is having had his two best darts ruled out. On the official ratings, as well as the 7lb allowance, she should go extremely close and probably should have run in the race two years ago had it not been for Hurricane Fly being on the scene at the time.

At her age now she will not get a better chance and she has always been too good for the Mares Hurdle despite last year and this year has the benefit of a prep run. Vroum Vroum Mag now looks to fill in for Annie Power in the Mares Hurdle and like her stablemate she is also far too good for this race but it should be a straight forward Grade 1 for trainer and owner and if all goes to plan, their 4th of the day. That is obviously a long way away with the horses having to produce after all the pre-festival hype. He also has a 5th chance, with Black Hercules, a last flight faller with the race at his mercy last time out the current favourite for the 4 mile National Hunt Chase. With the services of classy amateur Patrick Mullins, he has to have a big chance.

Un De Sceaux (pic by Michael Harris)

The Wednesday focuses mainly around Un De Sceaux in the Champion Chase. He was very impressive at Ascot when easily dispatching Sire De Grugy and a repeat of that performance would see him go very close. There has been question marks over his jumping at times but his two falls have both come on his seasonal debut, one being his chase debut so it maybe he just races a bit keenly and freshly when coming off a break. Yorkhill and Bleu Et Rouge will be a threat to all in whichever route they take, whether that is the Supreme or the Neptune remains to be seen. The former absolutely tanked through the Tolworth at Sandown in bottomless ground, with the two in behind winning good races since. Bleu Et Rouge turned over the well fancied Bellshill in the Deloitte and going off the fact JP McManus has Yanworth for the Neptune it would make sense were he to go for the Supreme. I will not go into too much detail in the handicaps with Mullins having so many horses entered and that being someone else’s job, but a few I would take note of would be Kalkir, Townshend and Children’s List, who could all make their presence felt in possibly the Coral Cup or Martin Pipe. In The Bumper, Augusta Kate, part owned by Graham Wylie with Alan Shearer, Lee Westwood and Ant and Dec looks to be the main one this year. She won two bumpers by a landslide and the form has been franked since and is now favourite in places after being confirmed as a target for the race.

It doesn’t look as though Mullins has quite the firepower for the opening race on the Thursday as he did last year with Vautour, but Outlander looks a decent prospect and the race looks completely wide open. I am not crazy about him and I’m sure he’s not a horse that people get excited about but he is quite workmanlike and could still have plenty of ability we haven’t seen yet. The best chance of a Mullins winner on the Thursday is without a doubt Limini, who belatedly followed up her maiden win when breezing to an easy success just in time for the new Mares Novice Hurdle. She has been massively talked up by Ruby Walsh who has labelled her Page 20

as his banker of the festival and has said she would have the class to win a Group 1 on the flat.

She should be far too good for these and looks a future Annie Power type horse. He goes into the Friday with some huge chances. The Triumph being the starting point, with Footpad (right) now looking his main threat for the race after he beat stablemates Lets Dance and Allblak Des Places, with Triumph favourite Ivanovich Gorbatov well beaten behind. There could be a number of runners in the Albert Bartlett, including Up For Review and Bellshill, but one I like is Thomas Hobson who won a Grade 2 at Warwick from stablemate Open Eagle when getting a bit lonely out in front and clattering the last two hurdles. He was classy on the flat and owner Rich Ricci has compared him to Faugheen in interviews, which is high enough praise in itself.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup this year looks an absolute cracker. Willie Mullins has 3, maybe 4 serious chances in this year’s renewal. The outsider of the 4 is Valseur Lido, who deserves to be given his chance after bouncing back from a poor King George when falling at the last in the Irish Gold Cup when absolutely cantering upsides last year’s 3rd Road To Riches. Djakadam is the next in line, who has gone slightly under the radar since falling in the Trial race in January.

He was 2nd last year and on that form alone he commands some respect and some would view him as the one to beat on that form. Don Poli, last year’s RSA winner is definitely not easy on the eye, but the horse knows how to win and always finds under pressure and I have absolutely no doubts about the trip with my only concern being whether he is genuinely good enough to keep up with a Gold Cup run race. I can see him being a Synchronized style horse who may pick off the rest coming to the last and should definitely be taken seriously. Last but not least, Vautour. 2nd in the King George when just getting nabbed on the line, he has been the talk of this year’s race. Whether he will stay or not is something we will only find out on the day, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is the classiest horse in the race. Back at Cheltenham where has come alive the last two festivals he will definitely improve for his Christmas run but whether that will be enough is at the moment only down to opinion. In mine? It will.

To conclude, Willie Mullins and his team have built up such a fantastic team of horses to bring to the Festival that he, the staff, jockeys and owners deserve massive credit. From the riders daily who work with the horses, to the bloodstock team who seek out these fantastic horses in France they all play a huge part in the Mullins machine that has taken over both Irish and English national hunt racing. How many winners he comes back can be argued about, as I am sure it will, right up to the day, but there is no taking away from him that right at this moment he is the complete master of his trade.

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Billy Blakemans guide to the Cheltenham handicaps Don’t Handicap Yourself Out Of A Profitable Festival When I was asked if I would be interested in penning something for this exciting new online magazine, my mind drifted off with thoughts of Glorious Goodwood, Royal Ascot and any number of other highlights of the flat racing calendar. Then I remembered it was January.

January and February are better described as ‘pre-March’ when it comes to National Hunt Racing and so summer thoughts of speedball colts, frisky fillies and a jug of Pimms must wait; we have The Cheltenham Festival to deal with, so it’s ‘plodders*’ a warm scarf and a pint of Guinness for now! Cont’d…..

Getting Started Just before I started to pen this article, I got roped into a twitter discussion about the relative merits of the market leaders for the Supreme Novices’. I openly confess to being somewhat bemused why anybody would be concerning themselves with such things 6-weeks ahead of Cheltenham.

When betting on novice hurdles at the festival, it must be remembered that the challenge has little to do with what has been shown so far, it is all about what is yet to come. I would quite happily take a look at the final declarations on the preceding Monday and make a decision in an hour or so.

A couple of points here; surely most punters have now latched on to the fact that the value in ante-post betting is virtually non-existent and why so many so keen to dissect rather meaningless small field trials of a weekend? My lumpy bet on Jezki to win the Champion Hurdle in 2014 was mostly to illustrate to my sparring partners that a double-defeat over in Ireland by Hurricane Fly pre-festival actually counted for nothing.

What does count? Well in truth, this meeting is no different to any other in that value is what matters rather than winners. That said, I do get that there is only one Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle etc per year and we all want to back the winner, regardless of price.

So, as a successful gambler, how do I manage my festival betting strategy and ensure enjoyment, winners and most importantly, a profit? This article will cover how I approach the week and as this will be my 35th Cheltenham Festival, then I like to think I have got things pretty fine-tuned.

Months of Preparation For some, it is as early as October that festival fever begins and by whilst the Hennessey and King George manage half a look-in, even they are part of the ‘Road to Cheltenham’. Each Sunday in Ireland, there will be a race or two graced by Cheltenham possibles and a thousand people will take to twitter after such races to make one of only the handful of possible comments. Interviewers will endlessly ask slightly annoyed trainers what the likely target is post-win and on we roll.

Crack Irish Trainer Willie Mullins, and others, will when grated make the point they reserve the Page 22

to leave any decisions as late as possible in the best interests of any particular horse and their owner. This doesn’t always please the punting fraternity but no matter.

Personally, I tend to ignore all the hype, supposition, post-race commentary in the safe knowledge that the market will adjust itself fairly accurately and there will be plenty of time to look back at what’s gone on during the week before Cheltenham. Instead, I am trawling the low-grade AW handicaps and ordinary jumps races for the many opportunities that exist.

Basically, in betting at least, live for today and don’t miss the daily opportunities thinking about races that are months away!

Handicaps Unlike the Championship races, it is very difficult to guess the field for a handicap as there may be 100+ entries and it can be a struggle to find a horse that isn’t entered in more than one of them. It isn’t possible for the hype to build up months in advance and there in itself lies an advantage for the punter. By the time the Champion Hurdle is days away, the odds are going to be pretty much right and those who think not are probably deluding themselves.

With the handicaps, there is much less interest and hence there is a much bigger chance that the bookies have got things wrong somewhere and this is where the shrewd punter might focus.

Stats, trends and other ‘useful’ pointers Right, let’s get this out of the way; 7/10, 8/10, 9/10 of past winners carried somewhere between the lowest weight and the highest weight, were aged between 5 and 12, ran between x and y days ago, finished first, second or seventh last time out etc etc blah blah.

‘The equine athlete moved easily to the start. Months of preparation had paid off as every muscle was fine-tuned and the horse was at his mental and physical peak. His trainer knew his handicap mark was nicely below what his charge was capable of and nerves were with the jockey, who knew he had to stay out of trouble, get into a rhythm and his mount would surely take him past the post in front.’

If only connections had read the endless stream of largely pointless stats peddled by those who know best then they would have realised that because ‘8 out of the last 10 winners carried less than this weight or that’ or that ‘9 out of 10 were first and second last time out’, then they would surely find better pointers to their horse’s chance than whether it was fit, well and nicely handicapped!

That doesn’t mean to say that there isn’t a profile or profiles into which many of the winners will fit and fit well. To win one of these festival handicaps, a horse will often have to perform above what it has previously achieved and even then, hope that not too many others do similar. Not always, in some of the handicaps then there is opportunity for a horse to regain past glories and Mr McGoldrick is a fine example. Having his 68th race, Sue Smith’s 11-y-o took what was then the Racing Post Plate at 66/1 by a margin of 13-lengths no less!

Generally though, a younger horse with more scope to improve will be winning and this is a good starting point. Perhaps a bit of an obvious one as well so there are plenty of ‘talking horses’ and the like that go off at crazy short prices but a starting point is only that.

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What To Consider Targeted Horses – By that we mean that this has been the seasonal plan, rather than a bit of an afterthought and often, it is better to back a horse that comes to the meeting off a bit of a break rather than one that has been on the go for the past few months.

Irish Hurdlers – The Irish challenge is always strong and particularly in the handicap hurdles, Irish horses are worth keeping on side, especially when they also have an unexposed look about them. The handicapping in Ireland is managed separately to that in Britain and it seems there is a slight inconvenience to chasers perhaps against a slight advantage for hurdlers.

Been Here Before – Previous course form and indeed Festival form is often hugely valuable, particularly in the chases and this is not a meeting to be trying a new trip or the like. The same is true of headgear to my mind; whilst it can often work first time as we know, I personally like a horse to have been tried with the aid before this meeting.

Trainers – One thing that should not be underestimated is who trains the horse. Perhaps increasingly we are seeing the super-powerful stables holding the aces but regardless, the experience that Mr Mullins, Mr Henderson, Mr Nicholls and the like have of preparing for and bringing a horse to the festival is of tangible value. That said, again if we separate out the handicaps then we would expect a much wider mix of winning yards but still the experience of trainers such as Alan King and Venetia Williams in winning these races is worth something.

Weight Carried – It is often ventured that a lighter weight in the handicaps is an advantage and that is a half-truth. My suggestion is that there is no disadvantage to having a big physical weight as such and any apparent advantage is a direct result of the need for a horse to run above his mark. In a top grade handicap, it is a mathematical fact that the lower the mark, the more potential a horse has in theory and so the goal remains to find a well-handicapped horse, regardless of weight carried.

Billy Blakemans Cheltenham Focus Tuesday – Ultima Handicap Chase 3m 1/2f This is the first handicap run at the meeting and it requires a horse with plenty of stamina. The winner will be a horse that either already does will be in the future contesting marathon chases.

A number of Grand National winners appear on the role of honour and this is one of the handicaps where age need not necessarily be a barrier. With 19-fences, a fluent round of jumping is of course essential and the winner will need to have plenty of guts, especially in testing ground. Where there is any stamina doubt, it pays to be cautious and a good oldfashioned jumping pedigree is preferred.

Tuesday – Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase 2m 4f One of the newer races, there is not a lot of history but given the race is confined to novices, beware of stats fans pointing out it is a bad race for 10-y-o’s! The winner is likely to be trained this side of the water and we are looking for a confident jumper. Previous course experience crops up when you look at many of the recent winners’ profiles and a classy novice has tended to prevail. Given the need for jumping, a horse does not need to be wrapped in cotton wool ahead of this and a horse who has been busy need not be disadvantaged.

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Wednesday – Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle 2m 5f A trap not to fall into is to be thinking this is an extended 2 ½ mile race. It must be thought of as a 3-miler and stamina is always a requisite. The English and Irish horses both win this in their turn and a quick glance at previous winners very much illustrates that top yards from either side of the sea tend to provide the winners. Given the field size and the speed they go, it takes a very good performance for a horse to be up there all the way and the winner is likely to be cutting through the field late into the race. A horse will need to travel though so we are not looking for out and out plodders.

Wednesday – Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle 2m 1/2f Another of the newer races, this juvenile hurdle has thrown up winners with differing profiles.

What I would say is key is that a horse needs to have speed to win this. Stout French pedigrees have not been the norm and a flat racing career is no bad thing it seems so don’t be put off by a higher mileage animal. The winner could come from either team and whilst Paul Nicholls has won the race twice, smaller yards can nick this and a bit of value is there to be found. Flaxen Flare won easily in 2013 in first time blinkers and applied headgear is an interesting angle, perhaps more so than in some of the other handicaps.

Thursday – Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle 3m Stamina is the key here. A huge field going a decent clip over this trip will find any weakness and this is about grinding out a victory. This is one of the races where an older, battlehardened horse can beat the young pretenders . Still we see that some of the bigger stables known for excelling with stayers come to the fore ( Nigel Twiston-Davies, Jonjo O’Neil, Venetia Williams and David Pipe) and in recent times at least, this is a race that has tended to stay with the home team.

Thursday – Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate Handicap Chase 2m4f Even I am struggling to remember the traditional race names but this must be what was once the ‘Mildmay Of Flete’. Pond House have very much targeted this race with 7-wins in the past 20-years and winners from the yard tend to be lightly-raced and prepared for the day. Outside of that, Venetia Williams has won this 3-times in recent years with more exposed horses.

Although this is not a slog, older horses have tended to show up well overall and this is one race where a lighter weight does generally seem to be of advantage. The Irish have not really sent enormous firepower over in recent times and it is many years since they won it so best stick to the British stables.

Thursday – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Chase 3m 1f Given I have managed to back the winner of this race for the last 3-seasons, I am minded to award it ‘my favourite race’ status! The angle here is that this race is confined to amateurs so there may be a wider spread of experience in the saddle than most of the other races. Simply put, it pays to select jockeys with plenty of talent, experience and hopefully some festival miles under their belt. Of course, in a field this size, plenty will meet that specification but also many will not. The winning horse will need to possess plenty of stamina and then some so Grand National types are always worth considering. The average age of the winner looks surprisingly low, although as with all stats, the exception comes along often enough and The Package was the first winning 12-y-o for 34-years in 2015. Come to think of it, Spring Heeled was the first Page 25

Irish trained winner in 30-years so in 2014 but whilst an Irish-trained 12-y-o might win it, generally a younger horse trained on these shores is more likely.

Friday – Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle (Handicap) 2m 1f This speed test certainly is a race where Irish challengers should be afforded maximum respect; indeed assorted Mullins’ have trained half of the last 10 winners. First or second season hurdlers, as one might expect, tend to be better handicapped to win a race like this and the ability to travel at a pace early is essential as it is difficult to come from too far back.

Friday – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 2m 4 1/2 f Willie Mullins has taken 3 of the last 5 runnings of this and a Mr Nicholls has also hit the scoresheet. It might pay to consider seeming second or third strings from such yards and sooner or later, David Pipe is sure to find the right candidate. A couple of the Mullins winners of this newer race have been decent (Sir Des Champs and Don Poli) and the winner is likely to progress into a 3-miler chaser in time. This has not been a race for 4-y-o’s and a jumping pedigree seems an advantage.

Friday – Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase 2m 1/2f This is probably the most likely handicap chase for the Irish challenger and being the last race of the festival in recent years, it has a certain appeal. Perhaps some of the Irish winners have a definite look of being specially prepared about them so this is something to look for. A 14-year trend of winners carrying less than 11-stone was broken in 2014 with Savello and Next Sensation rubbed salt in the wounds of stats fans 12-months later. As with other races, previous Cheltenham and Festival form is of huge value and plenty of 9-y-o’s win this so experience need not be a hindrance.

Some Final Thoughts…….

Back More Than One There is only one winner? Yes indeed, only one winner but that doesn’t mean we need only have one bet. I have no problem at all backing 2, 3, 4 or on occasion even more in a race and whilst I know a minority struggle with that concept, the Cheltenham Festival is not a time to be arguing the point. The fact is that more than one horse will be a value price and any horse at a value price should be backed.

Each and Every Way Similarly, plenty of horses will be value to place and with low over rounds, bookmakers’ extra place offers and high liquidity on the exchanges, each-way, or win and place bets are certainly a good idea. This can also turn an agonising near-miss into a, well, slightly less agonising near-miss! When betting as I do with a focus more on the bigger price, much of the skill is taking the big paydays and limiting the losses on the bad days.

Written by Billy Blakeman @five2tenracing #BillysBigOnes *Plodders – Term used by the good judge of a 3-y-o maiden Mr Thomas Marriot to describe a horse that is too slow to win at Windsor on a Monday evening and thus has to suffer the indignity of jumping over things.

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The Final Flight Festival Focus

By Grant Copson @thefinalflight1 The Cheltenham Festival is notoriously competitive throughout, particularly in the handicap races. In this column I focus on six of the handicaps in which I have a strong opinion and advice that these are kept on side in their respective races during National Hunt season’s ‘Olympic Games’.

I hope you enjoy this column, my first for the new magazine ‘The Weighing Room’ and that it provides you with plenty of pointers to the upcoming Cheltenham Festival.

Grant Copson, Author of ‘The Final Flight Jumps Guide’.

ULTIMA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS HANDICAP CHASE (GRADE 3) (Class 1) (5yo+) 3m1f The first race that comes under the microscope is the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase which is contested over three miles and one furlong on the opening day of the festival.

Although I am not a firm believer of statistics, it is fair to say that novice chasers and second season chasers have a good record in this particular race and after basing my selections on form, I was pleased that both horses advised fit this trend too.

THOMAS BROWN is a horse that I have always held in high-regard and after a good season over hurdles in 2014/2015, he was switched to the larger obstacles at Ascot in November. He made a smooth transition to that sphere when running out an impressive nine length winner before returning to that venue where he bumped into the smart Paul Nicholls-trained Le Mercurey. He was back in the winning groove at Doncaster in January when tackling three miles for the first time over fences and his emphatic ten length victory over the useful Vintage Vinnie went a long way to booking his Cheltenham Festival ticket. At the time of writing, this gelding is declared to run at Kempton on Saturday 27th February and I hope that this race will be an ideal preparation for his assault on this fiercely competitive handicap event. I must stress that I do have a nagging doubt that his connections may opt for the RSA Novices’ Chase instead, but as I feel that this Harry Fry-trained 7-year-old will fall short at the highest level, I hope that they decide to let him continue his progress in handicap company. After achieving a rating of 142 over timber, I am certain that there is more to come from Thomas Brown and the 20/1 that is currently on offer represents excellent ante-post value.

With question marks surrounding the participation of the aforementioned Thomas Brown, I feel that the Paul Nicholls-trained SOUTHFIELD THEATRE is also worth a punt. He has plenty of positives including all-important course form over fences when second in last season’s RSA Novices’ Chase, he is an assured jumper and with this race looking like his only target, he is almost certain to take-up his engagement. The obvious negative with this 7-year-old son of King’s Theatre is his lack of current form after failing to beat a rival on either of his two starts this term. However, it is important to note that a number of Nicholls’ string have been belowpar this season, but they have begun to fire in recent weeks and with a return to better ground this spring likely to suit, he looks overpriced at 33/1.

CLOSE BROTHERS NOVICES’ HANDICAP CHASE (LISTED RACE) (Class 1) (0-140, 5yo+) 2m4½f This highly-competitive novices’ handicap chase over two miles and five furlongs is the

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concluding race on opening day of the festival and this race is often a good pointer to some of the following season’s handicap chases, meaning that a number of the horses that contest this prove themselves to be well-handicapped. I have decided to focus on horses that feature near the top of the handicap and once again two horse take my fancy at this stage.

ALOOMOMO, trained by Warren Greatrex at his famous Uplands stables, strikes me as the ideal type for this race; young, progressive and relatively lightly raced. Since making his debut for Greatrex in March last year, this 6-year-old gelding has risen from an opening mark of 113 to an impressive 140. The highlight of his career to date was when bounding clear of a competitive field at Newbury’s Hennessy meeting in November and with this race in mind, there is no surprise that connections have refrained from running him over fences since. However, as he is still a novice over hurdles, he contested a hot novices’ hurdle in February and his thirdplaced finish behind the talented Yala Enki was a perfect pipe-opener. If I were to judge him solely on this performance then his mark of 140 looks a fair assessment of his ability (three lengths behind Yala Enki who is rated 142). Having said that, I feel that this scopey individual is a better chaser and with further improvement highly likely, I expect him to run a huge race if taking up his engagement in this particular race.

The second horse who is worth consideration for this event is DOUBLE SHUFFLE. His trainer Tom George pitched this lightly-raced hurdler in at the deep end on his chasing debut at Cheltenham in October and his second behind the smart Art Mauresque was a good effort. He returned to Prestbury Park the following month and although he only managed to finish fourth of seven, he was far from disgraced, finishing eleven lengths behind RSA Novices’ Chase fancy More Of That. This 5-year-old gained much deserved compensation for his efforts with victory in a two and half mile novices’ handicap chase at Ludlow, beating subsequent winner Fourth Act by a narrow margin, with the runner-up in receipt of a significant nine pounds. Not sighted since, there is every chance that Double Shuffle has had this race as a spring target and off a mark of 138, he is guaranteed to get a run. This gelding is open to plenty of improvement in this sphere considering that he has only raced three times and the tasty 20/1 that is available is a tempting ante-post proposition.

CORAL CUP (HANDICAP HURDLE) (GRADE 3) (Class 1) (4yo+) 2m5f The Coral Cup, run on the second day of the festival over two miles and five furlongs, is one of my favourite races of the week and I think in the form of POLITOLOGUE, Paul Nicholls may have a star of the future on his hands. This 5-year old French import rates who as one of my strongest ante-post fancies as at this stage, appears to have an incredible amount of untapped potential. Since unfortunately unseating Sam Twiston-Davies on his British debut at Cheltenham, this son of Poligate then finished behind Barters Hill in the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury in December. He shed his maiden tag at Exeter in February in facile fashion and although he was fully-expected to land the odds on this occasion, he jumped particularly economically and the manner in which he sauntered away from his rivals to record a wide margin success was very easy on the eye. Nicholls and Twiston-Davies teamed up with the John Hales-owned Aux Ptits Soins to land this prestigious handicap hurdle last season and I think that this dashing grey gelding has what it takes to record back-to-back victories for his leading connections. He is a strong travelling individual who is certain to be full of running turning into the straight and the stiff finish will bring his stamina into play, when a number of his rivals will have already given maximum effort.

Two others to consider for this fiercely competitive affair are KILCREA VALE and SAINT CHARLES who look progressive young hurdlers on fair handicap marks but as Politologue is Page 28 currently best priced as 14/1, I advise that he is a very good each-way bet.

PERTEMPS FINAL (A HANDICAP HURDLE) (LISTED RACE) (Class 1) (5yo+) 3m After finishing third in last season’s Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree’s Grand National meeting, I thought that OUR KAEMPFER was capable of winning a decent prize over timber, particularly in the handicap hurdle sphere. He ran creditably to finish fourth on his seasonal reappearance in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow before posting a runner-up effort at Aintree over three miles on his next run. However, the most eye-catching performance was when he was brought down when travelling well in the ‘Fixed Brush’ Handicap Hurdle at Haydock in November and although it was too far out to confidently predict the outcome, he held every chance at the time of coming to grief. I feel that it is significant that Charlie Longsdon has protected this 6-year-olds handicap mark and he remains feasibly treated off a mark of 139.

This son of Oscar is often held up in his races which is dangerous in big fields, but granted a clear run, I fully expect him to be delivered late to form a strong challenge. He needs to prove that he stays a stiff three miles but taking into account that he will be ridden to get the trip, I see this as a minor issue. Based on the form in the book and the potential that I feel he possesses, I find it difficult to envisage this gelding finishing out of the first four if taking up his engagement here and therefore he is a good each-way bet. It is important to note that this horse holds an entry in the Coral Cup and although I understand that the Pertemps Final is the target, he would warrant the ultimate respect in either race.

It appears that current ante-post favourites CUP FINAL and MISSED APPROACH have been campaigned with a crack at a big handicap very much in mind and both certainly have progressive looking profiles. However, with the step-up in trip bringing out more improvement on his first start for over a year at Musselburgh in February, I would side with the Jonjo O’Neilltrained Cup Final as an alternative to the selection, Our Kaempfer.

VINCENT O’BRIEN COUNTY HANDICAP HURDLE GRADE 3 (Class 1) (5yo+) 2m1f The County Hurdle over two miles and one furlong is often targeted by connections of novice hurdlers who are judged to be just below Grade 1 class at this stage of their career. Having said that, as it is often contested by a number of unexposed hurdlers, there is reason to suggest that this race can be used as a springboard to the Champion Hurdle, with Rooster Booster completing the double in 2002/2003.

Philip Hobbs trained the aforementioned Rooster Booster to success and his WAIT FOR ME looks to have an outstanding chance in this year’s renewal. After proving himself as a highclass bumper performer last season, this 6-year-old son of Saint Des Saints made his hurdling debut at Newbury in November, where after failing to fire in the jumping department, he was no match for impressive winner, Buveur D’Air. However, this race has worked out particularly well and he returned to this Berkshire venue to get off the mark over timber, beating subsequent winner Potters Legend by seven lengths. He then followed-up under a penalty at Kempton where his jumping was again suspect and after a workmanlike performance, the handicapper allotted him a mark of 139. Although his latest display was far from impressive, I expect that this gelding will show lots of improvement when he encounters better ground and the guaranteed strong gallop means that the County Hurdle is the ideal assignment. Wait For Me will need to become the first horse to win this particular race on handicap debut but records are there to be broken and the reward outweighs the risk at a current price of 16/1.

The Dan Skelton-trained SUPERB STORY ran a good race to finish second in the Grade 3 Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, only two lengths behind Champion Hurdle hope Page 29

Old Guard. The majority of his form is on better ground so it is no surprise that he hasn’t been sighted since but the wet weather during the winter may be a blessing in disguise as he will run. off his revised handicap mark of 138. On the evidence of his latest effort, this 5-year-old son of Duke Of Marmalade is a progressive type and similar to Wait For Me, he is one of the more intriguing contenders.

MARTIN PIPE CONDITIONAL JOCKEYS’ HANDICAP HURDLE (Class 2) (0-145, 4yo+) 2m4½f Known as ‘the boys’ race, the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle is a race that is often targeted by leading connections well in advance and has been a good pointer to future stars of the National Hunt game in recent years with winners including Sir Des Champs, Don Poli and Killultagh Vic. With 158 entries for this year’s renewal, there is every chance that a new star is lurking and I consider the Gordon Elliott-trained duo of JETSTREAM JACK and TYCOON PRINCE as live contenders if they take-up their engagements here. Currently rated 134, it is touch and go whether Jetstream Jack will make the cut but this son of Beneficial ticks a lot of boxes for this race, most notably that he is a proven stayer (this race is often won by future staying prospects) but he has a progressive profile that is essential when attempting to win a race of this nature. A winner of three races over timber, this Dianna Whateley-owned gelding has been highly tried at times and has far from disgraced himself finishing behind some smart prospects including Up For Review in the Grade 2 Dorans Pride Novices’ Hurdle at Punchestown on his penultimate start. The fact that he finished thirteen lengths ahead of Nambour who subsequently ran a solid race last time out at Thurles further enhances my belief that this horse is well-handicapped and I expect that he will make his presence felt if he were to sneak in at the bottom of the weights. Tycoon Prince has always been held in extremely high-regard by his handler and announced himself as a bright prospect when winning all three starts in bumpers last season. However, after bolting up in his maiden hurdle, this son of Trans Island has disappointed on his two subsequent starts and finds himself only rated 136 at present.

Assuming his handicap mark is not altered drastically when re-assessed by the British handicapper, I believe that this 6-year-old is fairly treated. Taking into account that Gigginstown often target this race with their novice hurdlers, it is possible that this race may have been the plan for a while.

Of the remainder, IBIS DU RHEU deserves a mention after some good performances in some competitive handicap hurdles this term and the fact that he is a half-brother to Saphir Du Rheu, there is every chance that there is more to come when he encounters a sounder surface. It is also a positive that when Paul Nicholls’ string were out of sorts this winter, this 5-year-old was running some very respectable races and taking that into account, he has scope for further progress in this sphere before switching to the larger obstacles in the autumn.

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Mullins Domination

By Matt Clarkson @MattClarkson3 We’ve had many an equine hero over the years. From Shergar to Frankel on the flat and Arkle to Kauto Star over the jumps. But is it possible to have racing hero with only two legs?

That hero being Willie Mullins.

Over the years we’ve not been a custom to seeing many odds on festival favourites trained by one man. Apart from the greats Kauto Star, Master Minded and Big Bucks trained by Paul Nicholls, it’s not been a common feat. Until this year. As Cheltenham approaches Willie Mullins currently has 5 odds on and a further 6 favourites out of the 28 festival races.

There’s been a big debate about this in both the racing world and on social media about whether this domination makes Mullins a hero or whether it’s simply ruining our sport. Personally, I don’t see how it can.

The negativity towards it seems to be around the fact that there’s no real betting opportunity and that his main protagonists tend to scare off the opposition leaving small fields and making his horses shorter prices. Does this mean then that the 5 festival races with odds on favourites are ruined? I totally disagree.

I love horse racing. I love horse racing for the thrill, the excitement. For those performances that leave you in awe. Yes I like to bet and I like it more when I’m winning money. But that’s just an extra plus.

People who love Game Of Thrones love it for what it brings. Not because they can make money from it. Unfortunately I believe this is what people are sadly forgetting.

To see a horse ping 16 fences without moving a twig is what we all love. It’s the main reason I first realised this is the greatest thing on turf. Faugheen for example, now whether he is 1/3 or 10/1, if he puts in a brilliant performance we should celebrate his brilliance. Not complain about his SP. Did these same people complain when Frankel won the Queen Anne with a breathtaking performance at an SP of 1/12 or did they get out of there chairs and applaud like the majority of us as they knew they had witnessed some special.

This so called “Mullins Domination” is fantastic. We’re getting awesome performances but multiple horses every year. All trained by one man. The heroes that we have are our heroes due to what they’ve achieved and how they’ve inspired and delighted us. So why can’t the man who gets these horses in the best shape to put in the best performances be a hero? Because they’re all short priced? In that case then Frankel was terrible and Sir Henry isn’t a legend. There’s youngsters now who are wanting to train race horses like Willie Mullins. That surely can only propel the sport and be a good thing.

In 30 years when we look back at the modern greats with the next generation. The performances that will live long in memory such as, Kauto Star regaining the Gold Cup, Master Minded winning the 2008 Champion Chase in a common canter and the 2016 Gold Cup (trust me), the Mullins era and his horses performances will also be on that list. We can say I was there. I remember. Will we Page 31

be saying well he was a 1/4 shot. I doubt it. We will look back at a time when a trainer allowed us to witness some of the greatest equine superstars we’re ever likely to see. And for that reason we should be grateful. Willie Mullins is a hero. He is a man who is dominating our sport due to his incredible ability to get the best out of each horse on a consistent basis and a man who has already delivered so many horses that whether we’ve backed them or not, we’ve simply stopped, smiled and applauded what they have just achieved on a race track.

People say lucky Mullins. I say lucky us

Dare to dream

By Joe Smith @Smithyjoe16 Cheltenham racecourse, 15th November 2015. The Open Sunday On a cloudy Sunday afternoon at the home of jump racing, the horses were down at the start for the beginning of the Grade 2 Shloer Chase. Sprinter Sacre was the warm favourite as he normally is when he’s in attendance. The atmosphere in the air prior to the race seemed very different to those before. Many had written this great horse off and maybe expectations for the afternoon were slightly lowered. After a year out with heart and back problems and 3 seemingly disappointing runs last season, who could blame them.

For the believers amongst us, we were hoping and praying that the real sprinter sacre would stand up.

Trainer Nicky Henderson gave Sprinter a glowing report ten minutes before race time but you could sense the fear of failure in his voice. It was now or never for the messiah of seven barrows.

The race begins and Nico De Boinville settles Sprinter in 4th place of the 6 runners. Nothing out of the ordinary half way through the race as Mr Mole takes a lead with Nico still happy to bowl along in 4th place, jumping effortlessly and efficiently. 4 fences from home and it seems Sprinter with Nico the willing pilot have seen enough and with one majestic leap join the front two and edge ahead. Another exuberant jump at the 3rd last and Sprinter has pulled 5-6 length’s clear of the field, hard on the bridle while the others are seemingly hard at work. At this point, the grandstand fills with murmurs of excitement as they sense that this may be something of a return?

He scampered clear up the Cheltenham hill and the place just erupted with roars. When he came clear towards the finish line in splendid isolation, the atmosphere was mesmeric. The swagger was back, the old Sprinter Sacre is back are words heard amongst the stands. The emotion on everyone’s faces were there for all to see. This great horse, had just risen from the ashes like a phoenix. Down and out but not for long. Tears of joy and pure relief filled the winner’s enclosure.

He jumped, travelled and put the race to bed in the space of a furlong. Which is exactly what we so used to seeing form the black aeroplane before injury.

When the dust had settled, there were still negative vibes from some of the racing world. Many still weren’t buying into the return of sprinter Sacre.

Kempton Park 27th December.

Desert Orchid Chase. Sire De Grugy a former Champion Chaser himself and reigning Tingle Creek Page 32

winner would be in opposition, so this would be a massive acid test of Sprinters resolve. Jamie Moore riding Sire De Grugy tried to push on 5 from home but Nico had every move covered and turning for home it was neck and neck with Sprinter travelling the better. Over the second last and Nico was having to push and shove on Sprinter. At this point it looked as if Sire De Grugy had Sprinters number as he moved a length clear.

Many saw Sprinter as a horse who didn’t have the heart to battle. Battle is exactly what he did though, producing a sublime leap at the last and digging in all the way to the line to claim a second victory of the season.

A victory which looking ahead, we dare to dream. It wasn’t vintage Sprinter Sacre but it showed he still has the ability but also the heart who many questioned existed.

It looks like he will now go straight to the Cheltenham Festival. Preparation firmly behind closed doors at Seven Barrows. There are young pretenders snapping at the heels to be named Champion Chaser but it will take a brave man to write Sprinter Sacre off.

7 grade 1 wins, at one time the 3rd highest timeform rating of all time of 192, a former Arkle winner, a former Champion Chaser. The scenes of a second Champion Chase victory doesn’t bear thinking about. WE DARE TO DREAM. Do you?

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The Midland Grand National

By Joe Smith @Smithyjoe16 On the evening of Friday 18th March the sun will set on what could possibly be the greatest Cheltenham festival of all time. Many will celebrate long into the night, others will retire to home comforts to cast their mind over what could have been. If like myself you will remember that jumps racing isn’t just about the Cheltenham festival. As one door closes, another opens.

Saturday 19th March provides us with more fascinating equine action in the way of the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter racecourse. It is the second longest steeplechase in the country at a stamina sapping 4 miles 1 and half furlongs. It’s a race that has been in existence since 1969 and this year has a huge prize fund of £130,000. The Midlands National is a hugely popular race and very hard to win. In fact, no horse has managed to win it twice!

Of the trainers, David Pipe has found this a very successful race in recent years winning it 4 times.

2011 (Minella Four Star), 2012 (master Oversteer), 2013 (Big Occasion) and 2014 (Goulanes).

The five timer was only stopped last season, with the fact that the Pipe yard didn’t have a runner in the race.

That renewal was won by Goonyella. Trained by Jim Dreaper and ridden to success by J J Burke.

Goonyella was given a lovely ride by J Burke and travelled into the race sweetly, before seeing out the trip impressively to win very comfortably indeed. He then went on to finish a fine second in the Scottish equivalent. Now as mentioned earlier, no horse has won this race twice but Goonyella is well equipped to do so. He has had 3 pleasing runs this season which should put him spot on for this if connections decide to run.

Woodford County of the Philip Hobbs yard came 3rd behind Goonyella and has already thrown his name into the hat for this year’s edition with a 5th placed finish behind some very handy horses in the Welsh Grand national. He does seem to hi the odd flat spot in his races but there is no doubt he stays.

Talking of staying, Bobs Ford does exactly that. He hasn’t had the most fruitful campaign so far but I get the feeling he is being wound up for a race like this and if entered he should not be taken lightly.

Of the rest, Upswing has the perfect profile for the Midlands National and would surely be high up in the betting if he was to bypass the Cheltenham festival for this. Godsmejudge isn’t getting any younger but at 10 years old he could still be a danger in race of this nature. You have to go back to 1994 to find the last 10 year old winner of this race but a wind operation and change of yards could see him revitalised .On his day, Godsmejudge is very talented stayer who jumps for fun.

Subtle Grey (Donald McCain) and Beg To differ (Jonjo O’Neill) are another pair of horses I would love to see line-up but at this present time, it’s just speculation on who will be entered.

The Midland Grand National isn’t for the faint hearted so be sure to have a selection with proven stamina. I’m not sure what David Pipe has lined up for this but his record in the race shouldn’t be taken lightly. It will take a brave, courageous horse to win it and we can only hope all horses get round safely and that the 2016 edition is one to remember.

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On Air With Bobby Beevers @BobbyBeevers So as I’ve been travelling around the Yorkshire region bringing Yorkshire Racing to the White Rose County Airwaves, I thought it would be best to go through what I’ve seen in the big races.

Unfortunately due to the weather, we lost last years Rowland Meyrick at Wetherby which was a huge shame, however we did see Cue Card get his season off to a flyer in the Charlie Hall last October so all is not bad.

Lets start with the North Yorkshire Grand National which we saw take place back in January at Catterick. Lackamon was a tremendous winner in a race which does test the stamina. Both Sue Smith and Danny Cook are having a great season with the horses being in great form and this was Lackamon’s first win since April 2013, which delighted connections. Having watched the race back, I thought it was a performance from Lackamon that showed guts and determination, he literally gave it his all with Danny Steering him to victory beating Alto Des Mottes by half a length with the rest trailing behind.

On to the SkyBet Chase, and two words Ziga Boy. Despite the 16 pound rise after his handicap win in December beating Godsmejudge, he literally had them all playing catch up. To start the day the weather was dry and sunny but when it came to the SkyBet Chase, the sleet had arrived and it turned really cold. Top marks to Mark Johnson for the commentary because it cant have been easy with the pictures being blurry especially when they went up and over Rose Hill. Ziga Boy beat some good horses on the day with the likes of Le Reve and Holywell in the field. Buywise ran onto finish 3rd, he is a frustrating horse because he always looks like he’s going to go on and win his race, his time will come and it will be the day I don’t back him. All in all a great renewal and Ziga Boy is 33/1 for the Grand National, he could be a nice each way bet.

And then we had the Towton at Wetherby, unfortunately we didn’t see the renewal of Blaklion vs Seeyouatmidnight like we did in the Dipper at Cheltenham but we did see a great race in West Yorkshire. Blaklion a deserved winner beating Definitely Red by 8 lengths to set him self up for a run in the RSA. Bitofapuzzle was pulled up rather quickly in the home straight which I’m lead to believe was due to her breathing, if she goes to Cheltenham I think she should run the Mares race especially now Annie Power runs in the Champion Hurdle. Definitely Red should run in the 4 miler, think the trip should suit and would be a cracking each way bet.

So that’s my review on some of the Yorkshire Racing that I have been privileged to see plus my thoughts going forward. For More Yorkshire Racing drop me a follow on Twitter @BobbyBeevers

Handicapping

By Michael Harris @mjyharris In the BHA guide to handicapping it states that, “A handicap is a race where each horse is set to carry a weight, allocated according to the horse’s ABILITY, in attempt to equalise every horse’s chance of winning.”

I have often wondered if horses were handicapped on current ability or on current form, or a combination of both. Horses cannot be purely assessed on current ability because the frequency with which they are handicapped is far greater than any real fluctuations in ability. This obviously varies to a degree between progressive horses, promising horses, and proven horses but generally ability is constant for a said period of time and what fluctuates more are the conditions under which horses have to perform.

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Most horses need certain conditions to perform at their optimum. When horses run under unfavourable conditions and run poorly, it is not that they are deteriorating in ability, it is that they are not suited by the conditions, and cannot perform at their best. This in my opinion is where there is weakness in the handicap system. If trainers know that a horse will be dropped in the ratings each time that they appear to run poorly, it encourages the system to be manipulated, by not running a horse to it’s merits or running a horse under unfavourable conditions to prepare a handicap mark for a future target. The recent Jim Best case is a good example of this.

Horses that are consistent and often run to their mark are penalised by the system. Horses that take longer to come to hand benefit from the system. By dropping these horses in the ratings they then often become extremely well handicapped when they do hit form because they haven’t regressed at all as their drop in the ratings would indicate, they have just taken longer to find their form.

I will endeavour to expand on this topic in next month’s edition and highlight some examples but for the moment it is food for thought and any feedback would be encouraged and appreciated.

All the best, Michael

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INSPIRATION FOR A GENERATION

By Jack Lander @JacksIJFwalk My name is Jack Lander I am 9 years old and I love horse racing, I want to be a jump jockey when I’m older, In July last year I did a walk for the Injured Jockeys Fund. I thought about the walk when I had a couple of falls off my pony River, he was very cheeky and taught me loads as well as how much it hurts when you fall off.

I wanted to do something for the jockeys because the falls I had made me realise what the jockeys put themselves through every time they go out and race. I found out about the IJF and I wanted to do something that would raise money for them.

My first proper fall from River I found out about Oaksey House and that jockeys go there for treatment, and it seemed a good idea to walk there, then I had to decide where to start from, Stratford Racecourse was my first choice because I have had a few good days out there with my family and it’s one of our local racecourses.

Mom and dad thought that the 56 miles was going to be a long way for me as I am so young, but I wanted to do it, I wanted to help the IJF because I want to be a jockey one day.

I don’t want to give to many details about my walk as I have a book ‘Jockey Jack’s Jaunt’ coming out very soon all about my walk, giving a more detailed account of each days on my adventure.

Here is a little bit as a taster for you to read then hopefully you will all buy it, as all the money raised will also be going to the IJF Then we came to a sign saying Swinbrook was three and a half miles away. Three and a half?! I was bursting to get there, so I wasn’t a very happy jockey Jack because I thought it was loads less than that. Dad calmed me down and said think of the jockeys we are helping with the money raised.

Arrival would mark more than the half way point, which was a huge positive. But my feet were sore, my legs were aching and I was tired. I remember dad driving down the lane when we were planning our route. It seemed a short distance in the car. Now we were walking along it, it seemed endless.

It was one long lane all the way to the pub.

My walk raised £13,716.84 for the IJF I am very very happy that I was able to raise so much money for them and be able to help jockeys that might need it.

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One of my biggest helpers is a man called Chris Coley who runs the Yes No Wait Sorries syndicate, who I met at Lingfield in December 2014 he was on the next table to me and my family and I got talking to him about the racing he has been brilliant to me and has given me lots of days at the races as well as inviting me to visit Fergal O’Brien’s yard, which I have been to on a number of times now.

One huge thing he did for me was ask people for his 70th birthday and retirement rather than buy him gifts as he has everything he asked people to donate to my walk fundraising. I cannot thank him enough for what he has done for me.

My favourite jockey is Aidan Coleman I love the way he rides and looks after his horses, I hope I will be as good as he is when I’m a jockey. I have met Aidan lots of time and he always has time to speak to me. I was lucky to be interviewed with him on Racing UK at Market Rasen the day before I started my walk.

Me and Chris Coley

On the first day of my walk I was very pleased because Richard and Minty Farquhar form Walking The Courses, asked if they could come and walk with me, even though Richard is walking 3000 miles from racecourse to racecourse raising money for Racing Welfare and Pancreatic Cancer he still had time to come and support me.

I have since walked with Richard on the final 5 miles to Cartmel Racecourse, and walked the course with him at Cheltenham and Ffos Las. I am walking the course with him at Huntingdon on the 6th March as well as bucket collecting for him.

I am then walking about 22 miles on the Worcester to Stratford leg on the 13th March, and then bucket collecting at Stratford after school on the 14th March. So if you see me please come and say hello. If you would like to find out more about Richard’s huge challenge please go to www.walkingthecourses.com The racing world have been amazing to me and I have met many trainers, owners, jockeys and racegoers everybody has been brilliant to me and I cannot thank them enough for all their support.

I am already planning a bigger adventure for the summer of 2017 so please keep your ears open for the announcement……..

Just remember if the Injured Jockeys Fund never looked after the jockeys who would ride the horses in the sport that we all love, if you see a collection for the IJF please try and spare a few pennies to keep this great charity helping jockeys.

Thank you Jack Lander Page 38

Pointing News

By Chloe Batchelor @p2pchloeb Larkhill 11th February 2016 Local trainer Harriet Waight took the Coronation Gold Cup at Larkhill on Sunday with the grey Impact Area ridden by Louis Muspratt, great start to the day.

With Owner/Trainer James Young taking the Combined Services Club, with Swallowhide, ridden

by Jody Sole and bred by part-owner Ian Bare. This was first win this season for James with this horse.

Great news today (28th February) Impact Area, ridden by Louis Muspratt and trained by Harriet Waight qualified for the Foxhunters at Cheltenham in a few weeks coming 2nd to the Dave Maxwell ridden Mendio Express in the 4:20 at Fontwell.

He is my one to follow at Cheltenham.

Cambridgeshire With Enfield Chance Just one month on from suffering a heart attack trainer Chris King sent out home-bred Pedro King to take the Young Horse Maiden in spectacular style, with local and national ladies champion Gina Ellis on great form with doubles when partnering Bertie’s Dream for trainer Laura Braithwaite and Total Compliance for husband/trainer combination Tom Ellis.

Another rider who rode doubles on Sunday was Sam Davies-Thomas with the David Kemp trained Will Fight and Brave Encounter.

Charing – South East Hunts Club 14th February 2016 Trainer Charlotte Marshall had a day to remember at Charing, not only training a winner Conkies Lad, ridden by daughter Izzy, son Charlie won the 2m4f Maiden on the Ian Cobb trained Letskeepitsimple.

All hats off to Hayley Moore who was the only rider to finish in the 3m Maiden on the experienced Beneficiorius, who was trained by the talented Michaela Tomlinson, with the conditions being too testing for the other runners.

Unfortunately Charing was also a day of sadness as one of our trainers to follow Cat Kerriush lost one of her horses Showman.

He was being ridden by and part owned by Chris Pendry, Cat and Anna. He was a beautiful gelding out of Carroll House and has been a great loss to the yard.

Next Issue All the news from the point to point meets in March.

Spotlight on Trainers to follow this season.

Behind the scenes at Oakley Point to Point Meet Plus all the reaction and news from Cheltenham.

Showan and Chris Pendry

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A Catch Up With Saturday Royalty Kerry Lee Was it always the plan to take on a trainers license this season?

Yes, the long term plan was always for Dad and I to swap places in 2015. So far, so good.

Before you took on the license can you tell us exactly what you were doing at Channel 4 racing?

A variety of very interesting behind the scenes jobs including organising and co-ordinating the graphics department.

I was very lucky to travel to all the main flat and jumps meetings and learn a lot about racing, production and attention to details from both Andrew Franklin and Carl Hicks.

You’ve had a 20% strike rate this year with 14 winners from 71 horses and an impressive £236,000 in prize money – what were your goals when you set out and what are they for the rest of the season?

The goals haven’t changed. Keep the string fit, happy & healthy. Make it fun for the staff & owners. Win with every horse in the yard, increase the strike rate, improve the quality, get some more Festival winners, be it Aintree, Cheltenham or Punchestown.

Will any of your yard be aimed at the Spring Festival meetings?

It’s highly possible and the likes of Top Gamble, Mountainous and Kylemore Lough will have entries, though all are most at home on Soft ground.

Is your Father Richard a great source of advice?

Massive. I’m biased, but I honestly believe I have by far and away the best assistant in the country.

Who else can look at their right hand man and say they’ve trained hundreds of winners?

Is the news about Hereford reopening in October good news from your perspective?

Outstanding news. Hereford is on our doorstep, and is an excellent track to educate a novice.

What’s been the biggest lesson learned as a trainer since starting out this season?

I will never stop learning that’s for sure and this season has been something of a learning curve!

It’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice!

Teamwork. Having always been a part of team I didn’t realise quite how important everyone is. I rely on my family and staff and we have all worked so hard this season. Jordan, Emily and Stacey have been relentless all winter and I don’t think I could have a better support network in terms of family and friends.

Jamie Moore and Richard Johnson have also been a huge part of the team at the Bell House.

Richard lives just down the road and has contributed a great deal in terms of schooling and advice – I often ring him up and pick his brains on horses and courses. Jamie lives a little bit further away but is a huge team player and you can always rely on him for a bit of encouragement when the chips are down.

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What was the most pleasing aspect of the victories of Mountainous and Russe Blanc?

The most pleasing aspect for Mountainous was seeing him return to his peak form, it was a long road back from the tough race he had when winning in 2013. For Russe, it was seeing him put all his talent and ability together on the big stage, peaking in the race we’d long targeted.

Mountainous and Russe Blanc have farmed the headlines in recent months, who else should we watch out for in the months ahead?

My horse to look our for is Mr Bachster. Not one of the big names but simply loves jumping and amazingly remains for sale despite two easy wins this season.

You’ve 28 horses in the yard, what would be your ideal number?

40 would be great, then we could run a few on the Flat, and try and win more summer jumping pots too.

Kerry Lee and Jamie Moore after winning Welsh National with Mountainous

Now that you are a trainer, which other trainers do you most admire?

Willie Mullins was an incredible source of inspiration and encouragement when I visited his yard last season. Alan King is also someone I admire for his sheer professionalism and enthusiasm.

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Dubai Super Saturday

By Laura King @LauraKingDXB Cheltenham is the main attraction for most in the UK and Ireland at the moment, but for any flat racing fan, there is no better place to be right now than Dubai. The richest meeting in the world, the Dubai World Cup, is just weeks away, and the dress rehearsal for it, ‘Super Saturday’ is a tantalising prospect next week.

When you consider that the last two Dubai World Cup winners, African Story and Prince Bishop, both ran in Group I Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on Super Saturday then the meeting’s official feature race has much more resonance.

This year the mile and a quarter event looks even more exciting, following the news that Keen Ice, the only horse to beat American Pharoah in 2015, is going to use it as his final World Cup prep.

The Dale Romans-trained five-year-old is already in Dubai and will face the Hong Kong raider Gun Pit, as well as several locally-trained horses.

With California Chrome and Godolphin’s main World Cup hope Frosted sitting this one out, the main challenger might be Mubtaahij, from the yard of Mike De Kock. The 2015 UAE Derby winner looked a bit ring rusty when only managing fifth on his Meydan return, but will be much fitter on this occasion. Special Fighter, most progressive in handicaps this season before flopping on his latest outing, is another who could line up for local trainer Musabah Al Muhairi.

Super Saturday’s other Group I is the Jebel Hatta, over an extended mile on turf, which is usually a top-notch contest in its own right, as well as officially being a prep race for the US$6million Dubai Turf.

This year’s race will have an exciting Godolphin contender in the mix; Tryster, who was impressive on his Meydan debut in the Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes last time. Charlie Appleby’s gelding could come head to head with two from the De Kock stable; Ertijaal, who flopped on dirt last time, and Forries Waltz, winner of a course and distance Group 2 when last seen.

The Group 2 City of Gold has never been won by the eventual winner of the race for which it is a prep; the Group I Sheema Classic, a statistic which surely has to change sometime. Whether it will be this year, though, is debatable, as the mile and a half race doesn’t look the strongest. De Kock’s recent handicap winner Liquid Mercury is likely to line up, along with Dhruba Selvaratnam’s Dormello and Battersea, who recently became trainer Roger Varian’s first winner in Dubai.

There is also likely to be a strong British contingent in the Group 3 Meydan Sprint, over five furlongs, with Sir Maximilian lining up for trainer Ian Williams, while Sole Power, who won last Page 42

year’s Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, goes for Irish handler Ed Lynam. They will have their work cut out to beat Ertijaal [yes, there are two in Dubai] who has been a revelation dropped to sprinting trips this season, and should have plenty in hand again here.

Super Saturday also features a three-year-old race, the Listed Al Bastakiya, for which Market Rally is likely to start favourite after his smooth win in the UAE 2000 Guineas last time out. Trained by Dhruba Selvaratnam, the American import might not have much to beat, with this season’s best three-year-old, Polar River, running in Thursday’s UAE Oaks instead.

The Group 3 Burj Nahaar, prep race for the Godolphin Mile, could see the fascinating Confrontation, a hugely impressive winner last time, reappear for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. He will face some local horses, including Group 2 winner Le Bernardin.

Although many of the horses running on Super Saturday are having their final warm-up runs for the big World Cup fixture, the level of racing is now such that the meeting is first class in its own right.

It’s World Cup day, but without the dramatic hats and packed grandstands.

On Super Saturday, the horses are the stars.

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Meydan World Cup

By Russell Blair @DangeRussBets Written Feb 15th Godolphin Mile (Dirt) Tamarkuz won this last year after a tardy start and looks like he won’t be defending his crown and will be going for the prestigious World Cup title. Top of the market will be the Godolphin owned and American trained Confrontation, who of course warrants respect after finishing a couple of lengths behind the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile champion Liam’s Map before getting a trainer uplift, moving to Kieran McLaughlin. He then took on good competition against the likes of One Man Band, Le Bernardin, Mubtaahij and stable mate Watershed. He won well after an 8 month break, but I feel the early frantic pace set him up perfectly to win in 1m37.37s. The last 2 winners to win this race went on to win the Goldolphin Mile for the last 2 years. Mshawish is 2nd in the market but is apparently lined up for the World Cup, plus I believe he’s better suited for the turf. Previously mentioned Le Benardin should reverse the form with One Man Band should they meet in this off level weights. I’m really surprised to see Safety Check priced up and can’t see him taking part in any dirt race. So last but not least, it leaves me with last year’s runner up in this race SLOANE AVENUE. He also had a bad start like the winner but unlike Tamarkuz who had the rail draw, he was drawn in 15 and was stuck out 5 wide through most of the race giving away lots of ground. He finished better than anyone that day and battled it out with Tamarkuz towards the finish, even getting his head in front after the post. They finished in 1m36.81s which was the quickest time for a few years and even more impressive considering their starts. He has a lovely progressive pedigree for the dirt, so we should see this lightly raced horse be even better this season. He is yet to be seen this season and is entered for the Winter Derby as a prep run for this race. He runs very well fresh so I recommend putting a bet on him running a big race in the WD at odds of 8/1 too.

UAE Derby Last year’s winner Mubtaahij won this very impressively. OK, you can probably argue that the race fell apart perfectly for him but it was still a jaw dropping finish. Using Mubtaahij as an early marker for this year’s POLAR RIVER Derby chances, Mubtaahij won his 2000 Guineas trial in a time of 1m24.86s and Polar River clocked a time of 1m24.26s in her 1000 Guineas trial, both recorded on fast ground and both off 8s8lb over 7f. Now taking into account if they were to meet, Polar River would would be claiming 5lb fillies allowance knocking off another half a second taking her time to around 1m23.75s, more than a second quicker than Mubtaahij this time last year. Mubtaahij did improve the further he went and Polar River’s pedigree suggests the same and looks suited to 9.5f.

Also Polar River is less exposed than Mubtaahij this time last year, which makes her look even more impressive and a possible superstar. Next in the market is 2000 Guineas favourite Steady pace, who i think personally will struggle for the mile never mind the 9.5f Derby trip. Lani has a lovely pedigree and looks very well bred for this distance and could be dangerous but that’s as much as i know. Air Vice Marshal is interesting being priced for this. He’s really well bred for the dirt and I would love to see him entered for this this race where O’Brien has a good record to entries. Nothing’s been mentioned of him taking part in this race so it’s risky to take him seriously yet. Blue Creek won impressively on debut after missing the kick and the form has been franked considerably since with the 2nd and 3rd winning a couple of times since. Blue Creek did disappoint at odds on next time out missing the break again and not picking up quick enough, but he’s well bred for further and at 16/1 he’s the one to be backing EW. Page 44

Al Quoz Sprint Sole Power finally broke his Meydan hoodoo last season by winning this sprint in 57.24s and adding to his other 4 group 1 victories. That was the jockey Richard Hughes’ last group 1 victory before retiring. It seems like the veteran will be returning to defend his crown. Another year older and bound to be that little bit slower, but he’s an absolute hero and surely will be thereabouts if he gets a clear run and there’s plenty of early pace. Ertijaal has been unbelievable since his drop in trip to 5f, recording times of 56.9s and 57.28s, an average time of 57.09. With Ertijaal running 5/6lb higher than the Al Quaz regs, it calculates to a big 9lb better off than Sole Power’s 57.24s winning time of the Al Quaz last year, so he obviously looks the one to beat. But I am not a fan of taking short price favs in sprint races, so ill be taking him on. With who though is another question? Lady Shipman, who finished 2nd in the Breeders Cup sprints, looks better for that extra drop in trip but I’m not sure her pedigree suggests she’ll progress this season. She is lightly raced and unexposed so at 14/1 she gets my attention. Not Listenin’tome pedigree wants more but his run style suits sprints and form at 5f is solid. We had a lovely touch of 33/1 on Goldream last year in the Kings Stand, but I’m not entirely sure he’s aimed at this race unless anyone has heard different? If he is he could be very dangerous, especially if the ground is on the firmer side of good.

Buffering, who’s 2nd favourite, is another who’s very experienced, meaning he is getting on a little bit. Not only will he have lost a little pace, he’s always been better over further, so this trip will surely be on the sharp side and I’m not sure he’ll even show his face as its not been his preferred destination in the past. So at the minute i’m sitting on the fence saying the fav Ertijaal is the one to beat but apart from a tentative ATM 14/1 on Lady Shipman i’m a little bit wary where to play until I’ve seen or heard more.

Golden Shaheen Secret Circle won this last year in impressive fashion and time 1.10.64s, he’s gone retired to stud so he won’t be defending his title. Top of the market and 2013 winner Reynaldothewizard is in great form, his won his last 3 races over the last 2 years, he’s a 10-year-old now but is very lightly raced and in great health, his times aren’t that impressive and a few of his wins have come in races which the pace has blown up so I’ll take him on. Wild Dude comes next in the market, not been seen at Meydan before and is a hold up horse so not sure he’ll cope with the kickback which is the worst I’ve seen this year. Muarrab has a really good artificial ground record but has struggled when upped in class and was turned over at odds on LTO, but had vet excuses, the 14/1 looks pretty decent if he does show his better side. SUPER JOCKEY finished 2nd in this race last year and was finishing better than the winner Secret Circle, Super Jockey had a bad draw in 12 that day and had to be ridden early to get a prominent position, he had a bit of a barging match early on too which didn’t help his positioning, but once he did settle he travelled well and had to be angled out to mount his challenge, without the early excursions I believe he would of won. With a better draw and more luck this year he looks the one to beat especially if booking R Moore again. His form is patchy on turf, but is American bred and boasts a record of 112 on the dirt. Another that caught the eye last year was the fast finishing outsider of the field El Padrino, he didn’t break that well and was drawn wide, so he had to settle in awful position of 5/6 wide throughout the race, the early fast pace suited him and he finished quicker than anyone, with better positioning that day he could have got really close or even caused a shock, so I wouldn’t be putting anyone off having a good EW bet on him at 33/1 with betfair.

Dubai Turf Not going into too much detail in this race as its probably stupid to take on the defending champion Solow he won this race last year very easily in 1m47.76s and then went on to win another 4 group Page 45

1’s in a row. He may have stiffer competition this year in the likes of Japan’s horse of the year Maurice, he too was undefeated last year and has claimed himself 3 group 1 wins in a row in good times, not entirely sure the extra trip will suit thou. The Australian Ertijaal not to be mixed up with the Irish sprinter Ertijaal was being talked up as a big outside contender for this year’s Dubai Turf, but it was stablemate FORRIES WALTZ that took the limelight and won impressively when they met the end of January and floods of money came in for him too before the off. He was drawn in 13 and won in a time of 1m47.85s very similar to Solow’s wining time and he was off 1lb higher so it makes him look very dangerous on times. OK Solow didn’t need much pushing to win this last year and had more in the tank, but Forries Waltz is very lightly raced and open to further improvement.

Solow will be very hard to beat and one for muggy multiples, but I’m happy to play EW on Forries Waltz and a place will return more than backing Solow to win and who knows what could happen on the day.

Dubai World Cup The world’s richest race but to be truthful never the world’s best horse race mainly due to timing, but the surface change to dirt last season to try and lure back Americas finest makes this season look the most exciting for years. All eyes on the return of 2014 American Horse of The Year California Chrome again, he finished 2nd in this race last year to the now retired Prince Bishop, the race didn’t really suit Chrome as he was caught wide throughout and raced with the front group who went a quick gallop which suited Prince Bishop to come from the back. The one to take out of last year’s race was Lea who travelled behind the pace and was stuck behind a wall of horses at a crucial time but bar the winner he finished off best and a repeat of that will see the consistent horse go close if the rumours are untrue about him not taking part. Going back to Chrome, although a very talented horse it’s hard to back him with any confidence, especially being favourite after a disappointing 2015 season mainly due to injuries. He was due to retire to stud but owners want to give him one more season with this and the Breeders Cup his main focus. Next in the market is FROSTED, a group 1 winning 3yo that surely would of won more if it wasn’t for American Pharaoh, he has a lovely progressive pedigree that showed when winning very easily and breaking the Meydan track time by 2secs under a hands a heels ride, not many races have taken place over this distance but still a very impressive display and time to boot, on that display he looks like he’s the one to beat bar incidents. Intilaaq is an interesting possibility and has a very nice progressive pedigree for the dirt, he would be GB best hope of a winner, but not sure they will risk the trip with the delicate colt thou. Keen Ice could be brilliant if the race is ran like it was last year and if he handles the Meydan kickback. Effinex finally won a group 1 the end of last season after his shock 100/1 2nd to American Pharaoh in the Breeders Cup, he still looks to be progressing but still not one to rely on IMO. Impressive UAE Derby winner Mubtaahij wasn’t so impressive with his stint in the USA and was outclassed and looks the same in this company. Mshawish revert to the dirt has been successful and picked up a recent group 1 victory, but the race was run to suit him and he didn’t really beat a lot the way the race was run, plus also steps into the unknown trip wise and pedigree doesn’t advise it. Tamarkuz another that was impressive last year at the festival that bombed out against stiffer competition in the states and doubts whether he’ll stay. Hoppertunity is very game and will be close in the closing stages if getting a clear run. The speedy Tryster is priced up at 25/1 but looks outclassed plus also looks like he’ll be taking the turf route which I find strange as I don’t think it suits his knee action, but that tells me C Appleby fancies stable companion 33/1 Sir Fever’s chances more and he could be very interesting at the price, he’s had a lot more time with the colt and this year we could see his full potential.

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What does photography mean to me?

By Polly Rodgers @PollyRodgers My name is Polly Rodgers (24) I have an obsession with horse racing and a passion for photography and about 4 years ago I started to snap photos at the races and it was the best thing I ever did.

The question ‘What does photography mean to me?’ sounds so easy to answer, but in actual fact it’s not. Is it a hobby? Is it a passion? Is it an expression?

To me, it’s an art, I capture simple detail and yet it’s the object that makes the picture and the viewer that makes the story.

I see an image in my head and can see the photo before I even have my eye up to the lens.

Capture moments and make memories is something I always have in mind when I’m anywhere with a camera and every event that I go to, whether it be a yard visit or at the races, my aim is always to make a story through the collection of images I capture.

At the races it’s about capturing the horse before, during and after the race and the connections of the horse.

These images can mean so much to someone else. I have previously been an owner in a syndicate and for me it was the enjoyment of being at the races and the experience of being connected to the horse.

I was never focused on the result of the race – but I always knew in all the races I wanted a photo to keep as a memory and I put myself in their shoes to know what photos others will appreciate.

One of my favourite memories I have captured was on Champions Day at Ascot Races when Noble Mission and Al Kazeem went head to head. It was the first time that we saw Noble Mission follow in the hoof-prints of his famous brother Frankel and went on to with the Champions Stakes. Lady Cecil was reduced to tears, after she managed to win the same race her late husband Sir Henry Cecil won, with Frankel two year prior to this.

It was quite frankly a fairytale amongst races and one I have never since come across. The sheer joy from the racegoers was amazing, the atmosphere was intense and so emotional.

Jockey, James Doyle rode Noble Mission to the winning post and the emotion captured of him as he knew he had won is summed up in the image – it was the perfect shot. I have had it enlarged at home on my wall. Just another reason why I love this sport so much and as racegoers we sometimes forget the stories behind these racehorses and this is why photography means so much to me, to keep that reminder in place for all of us and to share my passion with every one of you.

It’s an honour to be able to take these photos to simply share on social media and the comments that are received are always greatly appreciated!

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Editors Cut

By Gordon Millard @WeighedInRacing Hi all and thanks for subscribing to our magazine.

I first thought of putting together a racing magazine around 12 month ago, however for one reason or another (mainly limited tech knowhow) did not get around to it.

I am delighted that I can now say that with a little help from a lot of people The Weighing Room is here. I am still completely out of my depth with the skills required to do this sort of thing but as always i keep battling through, learning all the time.

Whilst being fully aware that our first issue will possibly be a little rough around the edges i can assure you that i am 100% focused on improving and moving forward at all times. This is where you the subscribers come in, i want to hear your genuine and honest feedback , please do not hesitate to contact me either on twitter or via email at gordie1977@googlemail.com I’d now like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me to get to this point, from a retweet to an article and everything in between THANK YOU. Our next issue will be a CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL SPECIAL on March 12th Now last but certainly not least, The Weighing Room is and will continue to be a FREE publication.

This said if you have enjoyed our magazine and would like to show your appreciation for the work put in by each and every contributor you can do so via a small donation to our charity fund here on the site by either hitting one of the donate buttons or following the link below. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TheWeighingRoom

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