Will there be tears for Triolo D’Alene in the Hennessy?

Pic: Racing UK. THE script is written. A potential tear-jerker if ever there was one. But if a certain chestnut wins the Hennessy Gold Cup on Saturday, there won’t be a dry eye down at Seven Barrows. The loss of Simonsig at Cheltenham hit Nicky Henderson like a sickening punch to the stomach, coming two …[Read More]

Ante-post focus: 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup

AT THE start of the National Hunt season, purists and pundits were licking their lips at the prospect of a so-called “golden generation” of young chasers coming to the fore. The thought of these upwardly mobile, scopey creatures making it to the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup line-up gave goosebumps to those of us drenched in …[Read More]

King George VI Chase preview

MY third favourite race of the year (behind the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup) rarely disappoints when it comes to drama. I was reminded the other day of the man dressed as Santa who nearly ran into and brought down a knackered Kicking King on the run-in in 2004. Seconds earlier Kicking King had …[Read More]

Hennessy Gold Cup preview

JUST five may have turned up for the Betfair Chase last Saturday but the Hennessy Gold Cup promises to be something completely different. Seventeen go to post for the £200,000 contest, one of the oldest and greatest races of the season on Saturday. It is the major highlight of the three-day bet365 Festival at Newbury, …[Read More]

2015 Cheltenham Festival clues

I’VE always been slightly suspicious of Trials Day at Cheltenham as a reliable guide to the Festival itself. The meeting is usually run on deep ground, conditions that you rarely see in March, and it can throw up a few red herrings when looking for 2015 Cheltenham Festival clues. But I would be very surprised …[Read More]

Cheltenham Gold Cup: Ante-post focus

IT happens nine weeks on Tuesday. You know, that familiar roar, when the tape goes up for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. The roar kick-starts four days of heaven for National Hunt purists. Yup, the Cheltenham Festival is well within punting distance. After the plethora of festive Jump racing, the fog has cleared a little from …[Read More]

Hennessy Gold Cup: Sky the limit for Many Clouds

IF YOU were to design the perfect National Hunt specimen then you would probably come up with something akin to MANY CLOUDS. The leading Hennessy Gold Cup contender has been a favourite of this blog since he hosed up in a Wetherby bumper on a bitterly cold February day in 2012. His performance had pundits …[Read More]

The 2014 RSA Chase

THE RSA Chase can often make or break a horse. Yes, it has produced future Cheltenham Gold Cup winners such as Mandarin, Bobs Worth and Denman and, of course, the ultimate National Hunt icon in Arkle. But it can be a cruel race that can leave its mark on a young animal and many trainers …[Read More]

2014 Cheltenham Festival: Latest movers and shakers

THE tapes go up for the 2014 Cheltenham Festival four weeks tomorrow. And after a magnificent weekend of racing in both the UK and Ireland, the ante-post market has seen a raft of changes. LAST INSTALMENT was the biggest mover of the weekend after his scintillating victory in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown. (His …[Read More]

Cheltenham Festival: D-day for Alan King

I’M a huge fan of the Alan King yard. I’ve followed his fortunes closely this season, when a golden autumn quickly changed into a grey, grim winter of discontent. The yard sensibly shut up shop in January to contain and eradicate a bug that affected most of the Barbury Castle inmates. Happily, the tide is …[Read More]