Saturday, October 17, 2009
I’M at Cheltenham today for four rides for Paul Nicholls, on what is probably best described as a low-profile meeting by the high standards of that great track.
I start on Classic Swain, in the opening hurdle, and have to say I’m far more hopeful than confident. He ran a nice sort of race to finish second at Chepstow last weekend and is fit and well, but seems to face an uphill task against Alan Fleming’s Starluck.
He was a particularly smart juvenile last season and I know is regarded as being best on a flat terrain.
But Starluck did finish fourth in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, run on the new track. Today, we are on the old course and that’s not as stiff.
Picture This will run a big race in the novice hurdle over three miles plus. He is a fine horse and does stay forever.
You might remember him winning a bumper at Navan one day when trained by Michael Cullen. He cost 110,000 guineas and took a little time to acclimatise at Paul’s.
But I rode him to win well at Cheltenham back in April and will be surprised should he not at least go close. Mind you, looking down through the opposition, I can’t say I know a lot about them.
Poquelin has a lot to weight to carry in the handicap chase, but won’t be too far away. He was a bit disappointing in the Grand Annual at Cheltenham and again afterwards at Liverpool.
But the trips on both occasions were on the short side and look for a far better effort, stepping up to two and a half miles.
He has lots of experience and the way Paul’s horses performed at Chepstow showed they are in good shape. A big plus is that he has to go left-handed.
Just Amazing is likely to test whatever skills I possess in the novice chase. Let’s say he is simply not dead straightforward.
He has a high head carriage, but is fit and well. We will be attacking late and don’t be shocked should we manage to get it right!
I give Charlie Swan’s Cloone Stream and David Casey a real life in the two miles and five handicap hurdle. I rode him when we were a desperately unlucky second at Gowran Park.
He lost a lot of ground when hampered before the straight and then I went and lost my whip. If he hadn’t been hampered, I could have thrown away the whip and still won.
I head to Naas tomorrow for just two ridess and they are both live possibilities. I’m on Healys Bar for Ollie McKiernan, a neighbour of my father’s, in the conditions hurdle and he has Silverhand to beat.
In theory that shouldn’t present too much of a problem, considering Healys Bar is rated 5lbs superior to Silverhand and they meet at levels.
It’s not that simple, however, because Silverhand has been running out of his skin on the flat of late. But is he actually a better horse at that game than over flights? We’ll soon find out and I’m relishing the challenge.
Thousand Stars has his first outing for Willie Mullins in a handicap hurdle and we have seen what Willie has done with Tilabay, Our Monty and Scholars Mate of late, horses who arrived from other yards.
Thousand Stars has a bit to prove now, but is working well and is as fit as a flea. If you gave Willie a goat he’d win with it.
A word about Mikael d’Haguenet, who, as you probably know by now, has suffered a minor hiccup and is about a month behind where he might be.
There are no worries, though, and he looked really well when I took him off the horse walker at Willie’s on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, I’m heading across to Paul Nicholls’ to have a sit on the likes of Kauto Star and Master Minded, so we’ll have a word about that here next week.
And can I finish by making a comment about the decision of the British authorities not to allow any remounting, under any circumstances, in the future.
Excuse my French, but there is only one word to sum up such thinking and that’s horseshite. I sincerely hope there will be no knee-jerk reaction in this country and we must not attempt to go down that road.
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