Ruby Walsh: Finally, National Hunt racing takes the centre stage

Lunchtime starts with cold air, soft ground, heavy coats, woolly hats, gloves, atmosphere and big-name horses.

Sat, 04 Nov, 2023 - 07:37

Fireworks may have lit up the skies on Tuesday night for Halloween, but the fireworks that interest me most are about to light up our afternoons.

Everyone has their own take on when the National Hunt season properly gets into gear after taking a back seat for the summer months. Some will say Chepstow in early October, and the Munster National meeting in Limerick, while others will have chosen last weekend in their own minds as Flooring Porter romped up the Cheltenham hill to make a successful chasing debut.

We have already watched Minella Indo beating Conflated at Punchestown, so perhaps that was the start. Still, for me, it is when the jumping fixtures become the centre point, and that should have been today with Down Royal and Wetherby.

The former was meant to kick off RTE’s winter jumping coverage, and the latter is the centre point of ITV’s coverage in the UK. That’s jumping front and centre, with the exciting stuff from the Flat taking place tonight in Santa Anita for the Breeders Cup meeting.

Lunchtime starts with cold air, soft ground, heavy coats, woolly hats, gloves, atmosphere and big-name horses. That’s precisely what we will have as mid-term comes to an end and the thoughts of schools re-opening appear like a shadow in your kids’ eyes.

Last year, Bravemansgame rocked into Wetherby after a disappointing Aintree season finale, having missed his engagement at Cheltenham owing to soft ground. He had question marks over him, but he produced a performance here that signalled him as a major staying chasing force.

He blew the King George apart and played a major role in the Gold Cup before faltering late at Punchestown beside his Gold Cup conqueror Galopin Des Champs as Fastorslow sped past them both.

It was odds-on that Paul Nicholls would choose a similar route for his stable star this season, so he goes to post in the Charlie Hall at 3 o’clock afternoon at Wetherby. Bravemansgame will be expected to deliver this time as he builds up to defend his King George crown at Christmas before seeking seven or eight pounds of improvement to turn the tables on Galopin Des Champs come March.

Luccia and You Wear It Well face off in the Mares’ Hurdle (1.50pm) at Wetherby, and Dashel Drasher and Thyme Hill do likewise in the Stayers’ Hurdle at 2.21pm. Ascot has a £100,000 handicap chase at 2.05pm, where the handicapper looks to have given Funambule Sivola enough grace to be competitive on a day where Ascot’s handicap-laden card will complement Wetherby’s quality.

Unfortunately for us, Down Royal has fallen to the recent weather, but the flexibility of the Irish authorities means we will have it next weekend instead when it will be the first of five consecutive weekends of National Hunt racing on RTÉ.

Navan, Punchestown, Fairyhouse and Cork make up those weekends, with the Troytown, Fortria, Lismullen, Morgiana, John Durkan, Hatton’s Grace and Hilly Way up for grabs before we steady up to rebuild for the Christmas festivals at Leopardstown and Limerick.

The UK will go Wincanton, Cheltenham, Haydock, Newbury and Newcastle, Sandown, Cheltenham and Ascot before Kempton and Chepstow after Santa Claus has come.

In the blink of an eye, we will know the Paddy Power Gold Cup, Betfair Chase, Ladbrokes Gold Cup, Tingle Creek and Long Walk Hurdle winners. The steam train leaves the station today, and I still love the journey it brings us on.

To my amazement, at a time when the ESRI leads us to believe that gambling addiction is almost a pandemic in this country and our government is about to ban gambling advertising, the most prominent gambling product, which will be exempt from any advertising ban, is getting bigger.

I am repeating myself here, but I doubt anyone wants to see another person with any addiction issues, and I most certainly don’t.

Yet, from last week, you can play the Lotto six days a week, a product that began with only a Saturday night draw that now has Daily Millions, Irish draws on Saturday and Wednesday, EuroMillions on Tuesday and Friday and now EuroDreams on Monday and Thursday.

Each line on the Lotto is the same as having a flutter on a ten million to one shot or a 139 million to 1 shot for the EuroMillions and EuroDreams draws.

A game of complete chance, stacked in favour of the house, offering life-changing winnings or with the newest game solving the major issue most households face in a cost-of-living crisis: monthly expenses.

One could say it is admirable that when so many people struggle to pay monthly bills, a game has been created where the lucky winners will have their monthly bills paid for 30 years. What an incentive to have a bet that is.

The minimum stake is €4 for two lines, which is €24 a week or €1248 a year if one participates in all those draws mentioned above. That’s well over one month of expenses bet on a no-hoper trying to change your life before you win a scratch card that leads you to buy more of those.

Apparently, our government cannot separate different sports for exemption from its new legislation and yet it can separate various forms of gambling from its proposed advertising ban, and that I cannot figure out.