Accordion over-reaction
The firm immediately slashed him to 6-1 favourite for the Champion Hurdle. Ladbrokes are normally very reliable in such situations and you would have to be forgiven for thinking the odds-compiler might just have been at the sauce!
As one who had his few quid on Accordion Etoile at 7-2, it was thoroughly enjoyable watching the contest unfold.
Truth to tell he won in a canter. But to promote him to favouritism for the Champion Hurdle, give us a break!
Those of us who know the horse really well are aware that all his best work is done on the bridle. John Cullen was able to keep him on it for a long time on Sunday and by the time he came off it the race was over as a contest.
He had just 10-6 to carry and was in receipt of 20lbs from Rooster Booster, a horse almost certainly on the downgrade.
Accordion Etoile is all class and likely to get the good ground he has to have come next March. But surely he has a lot more to prove before you could even contemplate putting him forward as a likely champion, not to mention making him favourite to achieve that.
What his performance did tell us, however, is that trainer, Paul Nolan, is a young man rapidly on the up.
Nolan already has two Galway Hurdles to his credit and, as well as Accordion Etoile, has another Cheltenham candidate in Cloone River. Days like Sunday can only add to a growing reputation.
lHRI will surely give the green light to Dundalk at some time in the near future for the first all-weather track in this country.
It has been well known in racing circles for a while now that it would be Dundalk or no all-weather. Dundalk wants the facility and there seems little enthusiasm for it from other tracks.
When it us up and running it will be a major help to get those dreaded low-class flat horses out of the system, at least to some extent.
The HRI plan is to remove all horses rated under 36 from the game anyway next season and that’s causing a fair amount of consternation.
In Ireland you can say what you like about a man’s wife, but don’t insult his horse! Nevertheless, HRI has no choice but to go ahead with all guns blazing.
Such horses are, essentially, worthless! Maybe, you can argue they provide a living for some trainers and are adored by their owners.
But if you are a trainer who is, basically, depending on such animals then your career isn’t really going anywhere.
Punters and bookmakers hate those horses. Bookmakers hold little or nothing in 33-60 handicaps, with punters, largely, giving them a wide berth. And you can only imagine the reaction of racecourse managers when they have to play the game and take their share of such contests.
DRESS it up anyway you like, but the manner in which Harchibald laughed at both Back In Front and Macs Joy at Punchestown on Sunday was a hard result to accept.
His starting price of 10-1, to beat two rivals, just about summed up his prospects for most.
Back In Front, who was simply explosive when scoring at Cheltenham last year, ran like a horse who now needs further than two miles.
Macs Joy was exposed as just a handicapper and it is hardly unfair to say that neither horse can now be fancied to win the Champion Hurdle.
A quote from Edward Gillespie in Monday’s Racing Post caught the eye. Gillespie is the managing director at Cheltenham and, probably, as sound as a pound!
He is, however, well remembered in this country as the man who didn’t recognise Aidan O’Brien and prevented him from entering the winner’s enclosure after one of Istabraq’s memorable Champion Hurdle victories.
Anyway, Gillespie, talking about the three-day open meeting at Cheltenham, said: "Many feel this signals the start of the season proper and you can tell that by the professionalism of the jockeys who all arrive in suits, even though it is only 200 yards from the car park to the weighing room. They mean business.”
Sat down and had a good think about it and have almost resolved it will be the last time I go to my favourite racecourse, Thurles, without a suit.
If wearing a suit has the power to actually help a jockey to ride better then it would be crazy not to don one. Anything that gives you an edge...!
