NICKY Henderson must have been quite happy on Saturday, despite the defeat of Jonbon, after a week of debates on the non-appearance of Constitution Hill, he had the heat taken off by the performance of Lossiemouth.

Her impressive reappearance win at Cheltenham was greeted by calls for her to take on the Henderson star in the Champion Hurdle.

But Rich Ricci’s post-race comments are very valid: “I’m wouldn’t run scared of anything, but I want to win races. Just what we learned from Vauban last year and four-year-olds taking on open company, it’s hard to win those races as five-year-olds. We’ll see how we go next year and maybe have a go at the Champion Hurdle then with a bit more maturity under her belt.”

Yes, there was a bit of ‘previous’, a ‘yes he is, no he isn’t’, with Vautour in his time avoiding going for the Gold Cup, but in any normal year, we would all be citing stats on why you should not run a five-year-old in the Champion Hurdle.

The existence of the Mares’ Hurdle on the Festival card became a topic of debate again. It’s the ‘ante-post is dull, pre-Cheltenham lull, need to look for some traction debate’ season.

There will be a four-day 28-race meeting for many years to come. Why should the mares’ race suffer if there is a dearth at the top?

Why tinker and tamper after it has been years in the making and serves the purpose it was created for?

The Grade 1 Mares’ Hurdle has many times justified itself for inclusion on what we call the greatest four days in jump racing.

In 2014, when Quevega was going for her then-sixth Grade 2 Mares’ Hurdle, 16 mares ran in the race. Over the rest of the 27 Festival races that year, 11 mares were in action, ranging from Annie Power in the Stayers’ to 150/1 shot Lucette Annie in the Foxhunters.

Last year, we had nine in the Mares’ Hurdle, nine in the Mares’ Chase and 21 in the Mares’ Novice Hurdle. And over the rest of the meeting, 23 mares were in action in open company, with Maskada (beating another mare Dinoblue), Angels Dawn, and Lossiemouth, leading home a mare one-two-three in the Triumph. This only happened because mares’ races have been placed front and centre on the big Festival cards.

Annie Power, Epatante, Apple’s Jade, Honeysuckle were top class mares. They ran in the Mares’ Hurdle and when they were established as much better than the general mares’ crop, they ran in the Champion Hurdle, three of them winning.

It’s a race that has had drama, great battles, emotional winners – and served the purpose of helping develop a better group of mares racing, what more do we want? There has only been one odds-on winning favourite since Quevega.

Moving the race

Suggestions have been made on moving the race but why should the championship race for mares be dumped back into the depths of winter as suggested, at the New Year’s Day Cheltenham meeting, on heavy ground or running the risk of being lost to the weather, or tagged on to some other meeting if the weather caused cancellations? And if we are to have an Ireland/England championship, the April Cheltenham meeting takes away from the Punchestown Grade 1.

Now, I was unsure in the beginning if the Mares’ Chase addition was warranted as there may be fewer good mares risked by going chasing but it has thrown up good winners. Colreevy retired and Impervious is injured so it was not the fault of the race that they did not go to open company afterwards. Put The Kettle On still contested the open Grade 1s.

We even don’t know if Lossiemouth is the best female hurdler in the Mullins yard and Ashroe Diamond is no pushover.

It’s dangerous playing the long game in National Hunt racing. We lose many decent horses each year. But play out this likely scenario.

This year, the calls for Lossiemouth to take on Constitution Hill are suddenly realised and the five-year-old mare lines up against the champion hurdler. She is a gallant second, beaten an easy six lengths. Next season, inevitably she goes back to the Mares’ Hurdle and wins easily. Constitution Hill, in pursuit of his three Champion Hurdles in a row, does likewise, romping home unchallenged in the Champion. Bit boring?

Or… Lossiemouth runs in the Mares’ Hurdle next month, she wins easily. Constitution Hill wins his second Champion Hurdle on the bridle.

Next year, he is going for three in a row…but there is a six-year-old in his way, an unbeaten Lossiemouth. Would that narrative not be the build-up National Hunt racing could thrive on?

Saddle up for some tactical battles

IT’s not just the horses that are on trial this weekend, if we remember last year’s DRF threw up a bit of negative comments directed at Paul Townend when beaten on Lossiemouth, and following on from Facile Vega’s eclipse in the Grade 1 novice the previous day. Jonbon’s temporary rider didn’t emerge unscathed from the partnership in last week’s Clarence House defeat.

With smaller fields, the emphasis can be more on jockeyship. We are robbed of the intriguing Paul Townend/Michael O’Sullivan head-to-head with Gaelic Warrior avoiding Marine Nationale and going for the longer race but he still has three Mullins jockeys, Townend, Mullins and Hayes, to contend with.

J.J. Slevin must deal with a smaller field in the Paddy Power Gold Cup to overcome Galopin Des Champs again. Though only five ran in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup, he was able to wait and be pulled into the race. It remains to be seen how far Conflated can take the two Gold Cup contenders.

Then we have Gaelic Warrior to be tested left-handed by Fact To File, Found A Fifty and Grangeclare West.

State Man looks well ahead of the Irish hurdlers but could Rachael Blackmore cajole a career-best out of Bob Olinger?

For all that we have some disappointing small fields, there is a fair bit of thought going to go into some of those Grade 1s.

AND remember…in the frenzied offerings of bookmaker prices after this weekend. Last year, only three DRF winners went on to win at the Cheltenham Festival, Galopin Des Champs, El Fabiolo and A Dream To Share. Three horses who finished in the placings this weekend in 2023, Gaillard Du Mesnil, Lossiemouth and Honeysuckle also won at the Festival but nothing else that finished in the first three got on the scoreboard at Cheltenham a few weeks later.