THE sport of kings can sometimes test the patience and loyalty of its most ardent fans. Today was such a day. The end of the Cheltenham Open Meeting ended in genuine heartbreak and tears with the death of the beautiful grey Simonsig. Excruciatingly, it came just two hours after his trainer Nicky Henderson had openly …[Read More]
TRAINERS finally got their wish last night when 16mm of rain fell at Cheltenham. With the Open Meeting days away, the ground is good, good to soft in places and forecasters are predicting another band of rain from late on Friday into Saturday. Great news for those of us wanting to see some serious equine …[Read More]
THERE will be a mini invasion in Gloucestershire this weekend. Nothing of the scale that we will see in March but the burgeoning popularity of Cheltenham’s Open Meeting means that Irish racegoers will form a healthy chunk of this weekend’s spectators over three wonderful days. The centrepiece is tomorrow’s Paddy Power Gold Cup, which has …[Read More]
NOT many were leaving Cheltenham. The last race of a pulsating opening day at the 2014 Festival had just finished. Present View had passed the post half a length ahead of Attaglance but the stewards were deliberating whether the interference suffered by the runner-up at the hands of the errant winner was enough to warrant …[Read More]
FEWER sights were more uplifting last season as GODSMEJUDGE soaring over the last few fences at Ayr to win the Scottish National. It was some performance for a novice chaser who had been on the go since the previous October and who had already run some mighty races. Alan King’s chaser looks a ready-made Grand …[Read More]
Today has lost some of its lustre with the defections of Sprinter Sacre and Darlan but it is still a cracking card. Here are some pointers… 1.10: This is a race to sit back and enjoy rather than risk your money. A superb novice chase, which sees the fencing debut of the much-heralded Captain Conan. …[Read More]
by JACK MILNER, at BetVictor. PROPER racing is back. No offence to the flat, but the difference is quintessentially men against boys, and the jumps season really kicks off with Cheltenham’s Open Meeting. There’ll be many pointers to the Cheltenham and Aintree spring festivals with a host of superstars in action to set tongues wagging. …[Read More]
IT WAS November 1977. I was only a kid but I vividly remember Peter O’Sullevan’s dulcet tones calling home Bachelor’s Hall in the Mackeson Gold Cup. What I didn’t realise at the time was that this was the start of my love affair with this great race. Now called the Paddy Power Gold Cup, for …[Read More]
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