The racing week in review
WINNERS ENCLOSURE
What’s been good in racing in the past week…
- Frodon and Bryony Frost putting on a swash-buckling performance and fending off a fast-finishing Elegant Escape to land the BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase in front of over 20,000 cheering Cheltenham spectators who could well be doing the same come Gold Cup day in March
- Paisley Park joining Big Bucks and Thistlecrack by winning the Cleve Hurdle and setting sail for the Festival’s Long Distance Hurdle as favourite after a 12-length victory under Aiden Coleman
- Joseph O’Brien training the first two home in the Triumph Hurdle Trial, with Fakir D’Oudairies, ridden by JJ Slevin who picked-up a two-day whip ban, taking the spoils by 13-lengths ahead of Fine Brunello and swapping places with stablemate Sir Erec to top the betting for the JCB Triumph Hurdle – it was O’Brien’s first “official” Cheltenham winner although he had a big hand in Ivanovich Gorbotov’s Triumph Hurdle victory in 2016
- Cracksman getting the vote as 2018 best thoroughbred, along with Winx, in the Longines World Racehorse rankings
- Altior making easy work of beating two rivals in the Matchbook Clarench House Chase, his twelfth consecutive win over fences, but jumping to his right at some of the obstacles, which was put down to “getting a bit a bored” by trainer Nicky Henderson
- Presenting Percy putting the Gold Cup in his sights and delighting the Gowran Park crowd with an effortless win in the Grade 2 Galmoy Hurdle, his first race since winning last year’s RSA Chase
- Barry Geraghty becoming the fourth most successful jockey in Britiain and Ireland, overtaking Richard Dunwoody, when Birchdale gave him his 1,875th winner at Cheltenham – Sir Anthony McCoy heads the list with 4,348 wins
- Leighton Aspell having his first winner at Ascot on Belargus after a long layoff due to fracturing his upper jaw and cheekbone
- Nicky Henderson racing to 100 winners for the season in record time and representing a 31% strike-rate – bookmakers are no longer taking bets on his being the champion trainer
- Sue Smith training her fourth winner of the Peter March Chase at Haydock with the 10yo Wakanda who was adding another big-race win to his cv
- Aidan Coleman riding a treble at Taunton
- Willie Mullins achieving a three-timer at Gowran Park
STEWARDS ROOM
…and what hasn’t been so good
- Average attendance at racecourses dropping for the third year running, down 3.5% at 3,924 last year from 4,067 in 2017
- Drones being operated over racecourses by those betting in-play and trying to gain an advantage over those watching on television
- Trainer Jon Scargill complaining of finding food pellets from a meeting held a week earlier at Kempton in the box assigned to his runner Cherbourg
- Haydock groundstaff encroaching on the racing line before the last horse had crossed the line – a report has been sent to the BHA
- Trainer Henry Oliver being £140 for waving his arms at Burrenbridge Hotel before the start of a race at Uttoxeter – a rule which looks in need of review
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I’m held together with some Meccano”
Dual Grand National winner Leighton Aspell on returning to race-riding after suffering facial injuries in a fall
RACE OF THE WEEK
Cyrname destroying the field in a £75,000 handicap chase at Ascot by taking up the lead from the start, with Harry Cobden aboard, and keeping clear daylight between himself and his rivals who never got a look-in – the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase next month is the target for the Paul Nicholls charge
