Hopefully we’ve made the right decision with Supreme
He was simply brilliant in taking the Champion Chase here and the reception he got was just as good. It was a deadly performance in the face of a good challenge from Well Chief and from the way Moscow handled it you could see him coming back and doing it all again next year.
He’d be 12 years old next year but you really wouldn’t put it past him, he’s that good.
It’s hard to compare generations and from my point of view, I wasn’t around for Arkle but Moscow Flyer is definitely the best I’ve ever seen.
Unfortunately Barry Geraghty’s flying dismount in the winners’ enclosure won’t be going into any hall of fame. It was very entertaining but he wouldn’t score very well in the Olympics, that’s for sure.
Having spent most of yesterday looking at the winners disappear over the horizon I am full of sympathy for Ruby Walsh after the lacklustre performance of Moscow’s big rival Azertyuiop.
In the first race I had been very disappointed with my ride, Olaso. It was just not happening for the horse from an early stage and I knew it wasn’t going as well as it should have been. That’s exactly what happened for Ruby. He said there was nothing there from an early point and he just wasn’t travelling, which was a puzzle to all the connections as he had been in flying form.
Another unlucky jockey yesterday was Nina Carberry who was unseated from the well-fancied Karanja as the tape went up in the Bumper. After such a great day on Tuesday when she picked up her first Festival win on Dabiroun, she was certainly brought back down to earth with a bump.
Missed That put in a great performance to win that race for Willie Mullins and it rounded off another good day for the Irish.
Our big day comes today when Rule Supreme goes in the Ladbroke World Hurdle. Willie may have decided not to send him into the Gold Cup but that does not mean the horse is in fine form. He is in very good order and we’ve a great chance in this three-miler, especially after the bit of rain which we had yesterday. Hopefully we’ve made the right decision.
I’ve heard the race being billed as us against Baracouda but I’d say we have more to worry about than just the French star. It’s a competitive contest and I’ll go through the entries before the race with Willie and analyse every runner, trying to figure what way the race is going to be run, the pace which will suit our horse best, and what way the other others are planning to be run.
Inglis Drever is stepping up in trip and looks like he’ll improve with that step up. He’s one to be wary of while Crystal D’Ainay and Korelo have both been running well.
I suppose the ideal scenario would be a big pile-up at the start of the race leaving Rule Supreme out on his own but just in case that doesn’t happen we’re confident he’ll stay well and put in some good jumping.
We’re looking forward to the race, the horse is well and I’m very happy with him.
Looking down the rest of today’s card, I’ll go for Graphic Approach in the first race, the Jewson Novices’ Handicap Chase, while I think Our Vic will win the second for Martin Pipe, I’ve heard the connections are pretty sweet on him.
The Mildmay of Flete is a hard one to pick. I’ll go for Redemption as an each-way choice although my horse, Multeen River for Jonjo O’Neill, won last time out and should handle the ground and could run well.
Point Barrow is my choice for the four mile amateurs’ race while I’ll have to side with Martin Pipe again for the last with Ravenwood. David Johnson, the owner, said he ran quite well the other day. I don’t know a lot about my horse in that, Rambling Minster but I know the trainer, Keith Reveley, is expecting him to run quite well.
As usual during Cheltenham week we will have had a quiet night in at the house with a couple of friends before an early night as I will be riding out this morning. All very low key and a lot different to the wild nights in town that the punters enjoy during the Festival. That suits me fine and we’ll all let our hair down, hopefully, on Friday night although the extra day means there’ll be no day off on a Saturday.
With any luck we might have just a little celebration of our own tonight.
