Ruby Walsh: Cheltenham Festival chiefs making the best of a logistical nightmare
A general view of the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle during day two of the Cheltenham Festival last March. This year's Festival will look very different but the lengths the IHRB, HRI, the BHA, and Cheltenham Racecourse are going to just to run the event is considerable, says Ruby Walsh. Picture: Tim Goode
The performance of the week goes to Hugh Morgan for his skill and determination aboard Young Dev at Navan last Sunday when he not alone managed to complete the course with no leathers and irons but also managed to grasp victory from what looked like an impossible situation.
Of course, it was possible â most things are, if people try hard enough â but it sure was unlikely and the pure power and strength of his core fitness is very hard to explain to people who never rode a horse.
Adrenalin, youth, and desire helped, but it took a lot more than that. Horsemanship and a great lot of skill were required to complete the remaining two miles six furlongs, but to jump the 15 fences required while using your thighs for grip and core for balance is something not every one of his counterparts could do.
Everyone should know how to ride without the aid of a saddle, and most probably do, but not too many would have the fitness in theirs legs to match what Hugh Morgan did. He most certainly impressed me.
He may well get himself some more opportunities of the back of his achievement last weekend, which he certainly deserves, but some of the finest horsemen and women riding right now have been denied the opportunity to showcase their skills at next monthâs Cheltenham Festival because of Covid-19 and the strictest interpretation of lockdown rules.
The continuation of sport throughout the lockdown has been allowed in the UK for only those considered to be elite, but to be considered elite they had to have a link to the earning of income during the act of participating in that competition. Paid to play, run, ride, etc, and not what the actual meaning of elite is: A selected group that is superior in terms of qualities to the rest of a group or society.
There is no doubt that even in amateur terms, Derek OâConnor, Patrick Mullins, Jamie Codd, Maxine OâSullivan, et al, are elite compared to casual riders who hunt or ride in an occasional point-to-point, but the fact they are not professional by title excludes them from participating in the UK right now.
It is a loss to the Cheltenham Festival to be without these riders this year and it is a massive blow to each individual qualified rider â their correct title in this country â too.
They may participate in the grassroots of our sport through riding in point-to-points or bumpers, but they are no different to the paid coaches at grassroots level of any other sport â a vital cog in the big wheel.
A literal following of the guidelines for the greater good is my interpretation of the BHAâs ruling but, with so many other sports in the very same boat, let alone the millions of people tied up the same way through guidelines relating to whatever their business or work is, the BHA, like the FA and RFU, is grateful for the lifeline it has.
That is of little use to our qualified riders, some of whom may contemplate turning professional, but some of whom will just try to swallow this bitter pill down on top of all the setbacks this past 12 months has already handed so many people.
The Cheltenham Festival without crowds, atmosphere, owners, and the amateur jockeys is going to be very different but the lengths the IHRB, HRI, the BHA, and Cheltenham racecourse are going to just to run the event is considerable.
To comply with government isolation guidelines, all Irish participants will undergo rigorous PCR testing before departure, on arrival, and on their return. They will also be contained in a bubble to replicate how Irish teams have travelled in the past few weeks.
Every Irish trainer, jockey, and stable person will be confined to the Cheltenham racecourse compound for the duration of their stay and undergo daily temperature and health checks. Irish jockeys will have a separate changing room, Irish horses will have separate stabling from English and French horses, and stable staff will have onsite but separate accommodation located in what is basically an Irish-only zone.
Trainers and jockeys will also have onsite accommodation and a separate area to use once inside the enclosure gates. All meals will be onsite and nobody without a runner on the day will be permitted in the enclosure and so will have to remain in the compound area or leave and return home once their business is finished.
A logistical nightmare but one being carried out for the benefit of National Hunt racing.
It is pretty much the last weekend for horses to showcase themselves for the Cheltenham Festival and, in honesty, that probably only applies to the juvenile Winning Fair Hurdle at Fairyhouse and Adonis Hurdle at Kempton.
Gordon Elliottâs Teahupoo will be hard to beat in the Winning Fair Hurdle but Willie Mullins unleashes two first timers in Tax For Max and Farout. Both were pretty decent Flat performers, but preference could be given to Tax For Max whose last run on the Flat in Germany was at Grade 1 level and equated to a Flat handicap mark in excess of 100. They have both schooled well but will need to allay stamina doubts, of which Teahupoo has none.
Tritonic, from Alan Kingâs yard, could confirm himself at the number one British Triumph Hurdle contender by winning the Adonis. He doesn't have to have improve too much from his Ascot debut success to do so.
Elsewhere over the weekend, Acapella Bourgeois could prove too strong for Burrows Saint in the expected Fairyhouse mud in the Bobbyjo Chase today at 2.52. However, if you fancy Burrows for the Randox Grand National, donât fret if he suffers defeat today because the expected drying ground of the spring will suit him much better.
Fairyhouse also hosts the rescheduled Red Mills Hurdle, in which Henry de Bromheadâs Jason The Militant will bid to lay a Champion Hurdle claim. Glengouly will try to make a winning racecourse debut for Willie and Patrick Mullins in the last - well, from what I have seen of him on the Closutton gallops I expect him to, at least, go close.
At Naas tomorrow, Daly Tiger has a definite fitness edge over Cilaos Emery in the opener, which could prove vital. Echoes In Rain may well just have enough energy to last home in the 3.00, and Micro Manage can recoup his Leopardstown losses at 4.30.
However, if there is a future star on show it could be Gerri Colombe in the lucky last. Gordon Elliottâs runner blew me away when winning at Fairyhouse on his rules debut and is a name to remember.
