Starts cause frustration for all as BHA defend procedures

SEVERAL sets of connections and riders have been left frustrated by the starting procedures throughout the 2025 Festival, and it’s been a disappointing watch for punters too. Nobody wants to see the final moments before key contests scuppered by a mess at the tapes.

After finishing second aboard Sixandahalf in the opening Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in which Maughreen essentially lost all chance at the start, Keith Donoghue said: “I think the starters are trying to stay with the rules that they have when they have seven runners, but with 24 runners there, you’re not going to get them all to walk in in a line.

“I think they have to use their heads sometimes and just drop the flag and let them go when it looks reasonable enough.”

Nico de Boinville was also unhappy with Jonbon apparently being impacted by the tape ahead of his Champion Chase defeat.

British Horseracing Authority starter Robbie Supple defended existing procedures at the meeting, however.

“We want them to come in at a walk or a jig-jog if possible and wait until we drop the flag,” said Supple.

“We raise the flag to invite them to come forward and when everyone is where we’d like them to be, we’ll drop the flag for them to go. It’s the same year round, really.

“We’ve got to keep it fair to the ones who are obeying the rules.

“If we start to let them go when they’re cantering, they’re only going to get quicker, as it has done in the past.”

He added: “We’re trying to be fair to everybody and in our opinion, we’ve had fair starts.

“Okay maybe every horse hasn’t got the start they have wanted.

“It’s certainly fairer to have them standing in a straight line, rather than ones on the inside strung out a couple of lengths ahead of the others.

“That’s what we’re trying to establish and we’re just trying to be fair to everybody.”

Blackmore brilliance on the biggest stage

IT has been a tough, injury-hit winter for Rachael Blackmore but no place brings out the best in her like the Cheltenham Festival and she took day three by the scruff of the neck with a textbook double.

In the process, she joined Richard Dunwoody on the meeting’s all-time rider standings with 18 winners. What’s more, to complete the full set of the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle, Ryanair Chase and Gold Cup in just five years is absolutely remarkable, however.

Henry de Bromhead had already begun chipping away at the list in the years before, but to manage that haul - while also throwing in a Supreme, a Ballymore, an Albert Bartlett, a Champion Bumper, two Mares’ Hurdles, a Turners Novices’ Chase, so quickly is a mammoth achievement.

Healthy spread of winners

A WINNER for Paul Nolan in the Kim Muir meant that the first 21 races at the meeting had been split between 14 different trainers, including seven Irish handlers.

For all that Willie Mullins struck six times over the first three cards, the spread of winning connections entering the winner’s enclosure has felt pretty healthy.

It has been a most frustrating few days for Gordon Elliott’s team, with three seconds and four thirds, though it’s difficult to say there were bundles of hard-luck stories among them. His Grade 1 challengers, with the exception of Brighterdaysahead, seem to have run their races and just found a one or two too good.

Thursday saw some excellent efforts in defeat from other Irish connections too. Anyway posted a smashing showing behind Caldwell Potter to finish second in the Jack Richards at 125/1 for Ken Budds, Pertemps fourth Feet Of A Dancer ran a cracker to get as close as she did from off the pace, Gavin Cromwell’s Thecompanysergeant was unlucky to bump into a thrown-in Jagwar in the Plate - a race that also saw a massive finishing effort from 100/1 shot Mars Harper (Gordon Elliott) to reach fourth.

Crowd watch

THERE was a bounceback from Wednesday’s dismal 41,949 figure, which was the lowest attendance figure returned for any day of the meeting (excluding Covid) since 1993. Thursday saw a crowd of 53,366, slightly down on the 2024 figure of 53,918.

Fastest furlong

EVEN though he wasn’t on his favoured softer ground, Teahupoo managed to clock the joint-fastest individual furlong of the day, as per RaceiQ. The 12.68 seconds he recorded from three furlongs out to the two-furlong marker in the Stayers’ was matched by Henri The Second (finished 17th) in the Pertemps from five furlongs out to the half-mile point. As for the races over fences, 12th-placed Dee Capo registered the quickest individual furlong time - 12.69 seconds in the Jack Richards from the five-furlong pole to half a mile from home.

Longest stride

NO horse had a bigger maximum stride length on the whole card than Plate hero Jagwar’s 7.91 metres, according to RaceiQ. That was far superior to any of his other rivals in that race, with Shakem Up’arry next in those standings on 7.57 metres.

Elsewhere on the card, San Salvador’s 7.89 metres was the second longest, with Dee Capo close behind on 7.87 metres.