TUESDAY at Cheltenham was supposed to be a day for clarity and certainties; four odds-on shots, that could be combined to make a 7/1 accumulator, apparently had the power to hurt the betting industry to a level not seen since Annie Power’s fall at the meeting in 2015, though that ‘good thing’ four-timer came out at north of 20/1 and was before the affordability era.
In the end, chaos, even carnage, defined the card as we were reminded that there are no certainties in racing, only probabilities and outcomes, and if you can’t envisage something crazy unfolding, then you haven’t watched enough racing.
The day went to script early, as Kopek Des Bordes landed a strongly run Supreme, Romeo Coolio taking the field to the half-mile pole 1.78 seconds ahead of King Of Kingsfield in the later Champion Hurdle, as the also-rans thinned out early. A mistake at the last briefly opened the door for William Munny, who has improved with each start this season, but the winner was soon back on top late.
For many, the banker of the meeting was Majborough, and it made sense; the Arkle field had cut up, Sir Gino a notable absentee, while he had been an impressive winner at the DRF, albeit not always jumping fluently.
Jumping issues
Those jumping issues resurfaced here in a tumultuous race, as eventual winner Jango Baie looked the first beaten, Majborough went just about best to two out, before making an awful mistake, both L’Eau du Sud and Only By Night set to win after the last, before the Henderson runner came from a long way back to lead on the run-in.
Connections of Only By Night were nearly rewarded for their ambition in running against the geldings, the same of which could not be said for those attached to Lossiemouth. The commentator summed the Mares’ Hurdle up best by describing it as a ‘mismatch’ in the finish and, despite over-racing, Lossiemouth only needing to be pushed out to win by seven and a half lengths.
The decision to run her here negatively impacted the competitiveness of both the Mares’ Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle, though I do like the Mares’ Hurdle as a race and the extended programme for mares more generally. I can’t speak for Britain, but it has enhanced National Hunt racing in Ireland, and we have gone from a point in the 2014-15 season (during which it first became a Grade 1) where 26.5% of all runners were female, up to 32.3% last season.
Justifications
I do not like the fact that it can take a top three or four hurdler away from the Champion Hurdle, however, and while connections have given all their justifications about wanting a winner after a bad season, Paul Townend not opting to ride and Lossiemouth not working as well as she might, all these concerns fade away when put against the overall health of the sport.
The best horses need to race against each other and, if connections can’t make the right call in that regard, then the decision needs to be taken out of their hands, by hook or by crook.
As the Champion Hurdle went, there is every chance Lossiemouth would have won. Constitution Hill fell and so did State Man, Brighterdaysahead disappointed, looking ill-at-ease at various points and reported sore afterwards, and the way was left clear for Golden Ace, a mare rerouted to the race, to land a famous success.
Willie Mullins deserves credit for getting State Man back on song after a messy season, the first-time cheekpieces sparking a revival, and some combination rematch between him, Brighterdaysahead, Constitution Hill and/or Lossiemouth will hopefully take place before the end of the campaign.
THE ‘C’ word has dominated the racing world in the last week – or realistically, the last six months – but it will be replaced by another C this Sunday, as the Curragh opens the flat season with its traditional first fixture on turf.
Flat devotees may disagree, but for the casual fan, the early weeks of the flat turf campaign can feel disjointed as Aintree, Fairyhouse and Punchestown are yet to come and there are typically only about 12 turf meetings in March and April.
They often take place at the premier tracks, however, the Curragh with three fixtures between now and the end of April, Leopardstown with two, and there are winners to be found, though big field sizes and various degrees of fitness make finding them challenging.
Looking back at this period from 2020 to 2024 comprises 445 races and 58 meetings in Ireland, a relatively small sample size, but the trainer that does best in this early phase is Aidan O’Brien.
His horses might need the run, but they are often good enough to get away with it and he has had 57 winners from 230 for a level-stakes loss of 17.05 points. n terms of pure winners, Joseph O’Brien (37 winners from 217 runners, -31.43 points to level stakes) and Jessica Harrington (27 winners from 263 runners, -75.03 points to level stakes) are next best.
Profitable
A trio of smaller yards have been quite profitable to follow in this same early period.
Jack Davison has had seven winners and 17 places from 54 runners for a level stakes profit of 131.88 points (important caveat, he had a 125/1 winner) and has won good races like the Woodlands Stakes and the Madrid Handicap.
Adrian Murray is six winners and 16 places from 54 runners for a level-stakes profit of 61.75 points (again, he had a big-priced winner with Dallas Star at 50/1 in the Ballysax), while Natalia Lupini is six winners from 18 runners with eight places for a level-stakes profit of 45.75 points, all those winners coming since 2022. Another thing to consider is whether early year Dundalk form will carry through to the turf. Interestingly, both Lupini (three winners from 10 runners) and Murray (10 winners from 37 runners) have done well on the all-weather so far in 2025, so their turf runners may be ready to roll too.
All 10 of Murray’s winners were owned by Amo Racing and nor were all of them pure Polytrack types, the likes of Dallas Star and California Dreamer having plenty of form on the grass.
Starting strong
More broadly, Amo Racing are an operation that like to start the turf season strong. All-time, they are 31 winners from 153 runners in Ireland and Britain in March and April for a level-stakes profit of 110.72 points, with plenty of their good horses like Raadobarg, Go Bears Go and Bucanero Fuerte having been out early in years past. Another name to consider might be Stephen Thorne. He only had his first runners in the middle of last October, but has been in good form at Dundalk lately (seven winners from 30 runners in 2025) and has a couple of horses that might suit the early phases of the turf season.
Laugh A Minute has been a stalwart in straight track Curragh handicaps for a while now, while Gleneagle Bay shaped with distinct promise in a couple of starts for Shamrock Thoroughbreds towards the end of last season.