Cheltenham - How Was It For You, Darling?

I had a great old time, despite the starts, the allegations of racism and the 'Willy-Waving'

Oh - and a couple of horses and trainers to note too

Twitter @RacingWhat

Transcript

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Hi folks and welcome to this latest episode of The Wrap, the What's Racing About podcast. Thanks for showing up as always. This is a Cheltenham follow-up. Because everyone else does it, why shouldn't we? How was it for you? Pretty damn good. I love the actual vibe, for want of a better term, the very sort of hippie word. It was fantastic. I had a really, really good time. Punting wise, I tend to go in five-year cycles by which I have one really sort of stellar year where my betting is paid for, my accommodation is paid for, my food is paid for by my on course punting. Three years of kind of just kicking along, one year where I absolutely blow it all together. This was one of the it was slightly less than break-even, I'll be absolutely honest with you. It was looking pretty lousy up until Friday when Gaelic Warrior did the business for us. I was on him after the King George. Pretty sort of tasty odds. So that was a bit of a rescue job, and there was a few each-way punts that kept me in the game, but punting-wise, it was it was a slight loss, and there's no sort of getting away from that. But but there was so much more to the festival this year, I thought, than just you know the on-course activities. I don't know whether that was because there was less odds on shots going into the big races, and therefore the races were more competitive. People could take more of an opinion on horses in a race. They have said, they, Cheltenham, have said that the crowd sizes were marginally up on 2025. I've no reason to dispute that. However, it certainly felt like the crowd sizes were slightly smaller than uh in previous years. And that's a good thing. I was able to sort of get about, do all the necessary. Bladder management, watching the horses, bit of food. Not that I do much in the way of eating on course at Cheltenham where there's still ripoff prices, watching the races, having a bet, you know, the the sort of circle that we indulge in before each race. It all seemed to work really, really well for me this year. There was not many people sort of getting in the way. And that goes on to the next point, which is I think that the crowd that turned up this year, it's almost gone full circle. We are back to a knowledgeable, clued up crowd that wants to be there. And yes, you get your people that want to just stick in the bars all day. Yes, you get your people, blokes usually that want to go into the toilets and do a bump of Peruvians finest. You're always going to get stories like that, and you're always gonna people are gonna think, well, that's the demographic that goes to Cheltenham. I don't agree. I think that certainly this year they seem to be people that wanted to be there, you know, riffing on that. I go back to the lower number of preview evenings, the less froth there were, certainly about the preview evenings. In previous years, we've had people almost all live streaming from preview evenings and blogs going up the moment that the microphones were put down on preview evenings. There seemed to be none of that, or certainly less of that this year, and that's a good thing. You know, the whole froth and hype, there seemed to be less. I feel like a kid at Christmas, there was lots less people rushing around at the last minute trying to find somewhere to stay. People had got their shit together, they got their accommodation booked, they were there to watch the racing, they were there to have a damn good time, and by and large we did, and and that was great. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this festival, probably more than any other that I've had in my 30 plus years of going to the festival. So that's me, named my colours to the mouse. Now, yes, there were issues, and Catherine Fry, more of her shortly, issued that open letter to Chelten Race Course, wherein she talked about overzealous staff and costs and personnel not being allowed in to get into the parade ring. And you can look at the rights and the wrongs of that, but that certainly raised a few issues. I've heard people talk about the screen size and not being able to see the screen. I didn't find that was an issue at all, but you know, some did, and some will still find the cost prohibitive, which certainly when you get on course, it is. I will not eat, I will drink in moderation when I get onto the course. I don't want to give Cheltenham race course any more of my hard earned than they've already got, and and certainly widen it out the good burgers of Cheltenham and Gloucestershire that own hostelries and accommodation. They can all go fuck themselves. They see us as cash cows to be milked, and their prices still go through the roof on that second week in March, and we are ripped off, we are nothing more than little economic units to be bled dry, seemingly by the people that provide car parks, people that provide food, drink, accommodation. Fuck the lot of them, and the cancer that they rode into town on. Anyway, that's the overall feeling regarding you know my thoughts on Cheltenham. What about you? Get back to me on X or after these particular sort of casts, whichever platform you're listening to it on. There's options for you to get back to me on there. Let us know your thoughts. Um, let's have a let's have a chat and let us know how your and your punting went certainly, but uh how your overall vibe of Cheltenham 2026 was. I know for some it wasn't great. Uh Willie Mullins, for example, had a go about the going, and obviously he and JP McManus withdrew Factor File from the Ryanair chase. Uh that was a bit of willy waving, ha ha ha, in terms of me and what I think of what Mullins was on about. And for him to sort of threaten to withdraw his horses if they don't get the ground that's perfect for them. Well, your terms are acceptable, Mr. Mullins. If you want to be that childish about it, then go take your horses away, take your bat and ball home, and leave the rest of us to have a big old party. You're the best trainer that's ever been in terms of jumps racing, you have the best horses, you have the best owners, and to come out with something like that was beneath you, I think. It's mealy mouthed, it's a spring festival on spring ground, and yeah, deal with it. It's as simple as that. So, you know, that's my thought on the going. I thought Chelten by and large got the going right. It can never please everybody. But for the biggest voice in National Hunt training to come out with statements like that and withdraw and factor file, nah, that that does not sit right with me. So come on, Willie, you're you're better than that. It didn't seem to go well for Nico Du Boyneville and Declan Queeley, certainly after that sort of contratance that they had on day one of the festival. Fairly sort of unedifying stuff. Now, the fact of the matter is none of us by the two protagonists and a few jockeys down at the start know exactly what was said, and there is a due process to go through, and that must be adhered to, and we don't want to jump to conclusions, although you know this is the age of social media, and plenty of people have done so. I will say that if DeBoyneville was found guilty of calling Queeley an Irish whatever, done in front of Queely's kids, then he needs the book thrown at him. We don't need we don't need racism at all. It's it's nationalism to it's such a fucking bore. It was a bore back in the day, it's a bore in 2026, and we should all have just evolved beyond racism. It's it's just so fucking corny in 2026, and and forget it, you know, just do not come to the festival, do not live your life waving flags metaphorically or literally, it's not necessary. And and that's kind of all I've got to say on that particular subject. Once the inquiry plays out, then we will know whether De Boynaville did say what he was accused of saying, or if if it was a storm in a teacup and um Queeny needed to take a bit more water with it. And I'm happy for us to go through that. Uh did you catch the handshake the next day? Ha ha! About as plausible as a as a prostitute's multiple orgasm. It couldn't have been less plausible if it had been AI generated. You know, come on, guys, you know that that was forget it, that was that was for the for the cameras, and um it was kind of funny, I thought, but um, there we go. And just a final word on this subject. I just thought the Presbury Cup, and I loathe the fucking Presbury Cup, the whole Britain versus Ireland friendly rivalry, ah ah, it can just go die. That seemed to be played down a lot more this year, and that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. So that's my kind of final thought with regard to bringing flags to a race course with regard to racism, with regard to De Boyneville and Quayley. But yeah, let's just see what comes out of that. The next big issue was the starts. I put out a little zinger, a little one-minute piece on the Limour platform, on the Raps Limo podcast. On on particularly after uh after Thursday, where it just got farcical, you know, the starts, big field race starts, were just ludicrous. And I'll come on to you know horses that I think were inconvenienced by that, and bets that I had on horses that were inconvenienced by that. But you know, I I was there with a with a group of mates who turn up and we have a good old time on the Thursday and the Friday. And they're not regular race guys, they enjoy a day at the races. The first thing out of their mouths when we talked about the start was why do they walk in from Somerset? Why do they have such a long walk-in, which turns into a canter in, which turned into a some cases a gallop in? And good question, you know. And if a once or twice or three times a year race goer can see that, why can't we? Why can't we in racing see that starting the horses off a furlong, a couple of furlongs behind the line does not work, it does not lead for make for a fair start. So don't walk them in from Somerset, don't start on a bend. I would say have a standing start. Every race is a standing start, 20 metres from the start line, and you have your horses lined up, and if you manage to get to the inside, fine. If you're on the outside, tough. We don't see this RG Bargy at any other race meeting uh in any other point during the year, so it just seems to be at Cheltenham where we are all revved up and wanting to make the best of it. If you're on the outside, your horse has been trained at the moment, so tough, you know, make the most of it. Use your brain as a jockey and get your horse placed in the best position. But a standing start 20 metres from the tapes and off we go. And if you can't do that, then you are fine. If you repeatedly do that, your horse is banned from racing for a couple of races. And I think given that you will have horses lining up facing the tapes at a standing start, which is a fair start, and this would probably go away within a couple of months. That is my feeling on that particular subject. I've seen plenty of people bemoaning the start, bemoaning the starter, and yes, there is issues I think with the starters having a bit of an ego and letting making it all about them basically. That's for another cast, another day. But I certainly think that the amount of hot air that's been talked about this, a lot of people have been bemoaning the starts. Very few have come up with solutions. That's my solutions. What do you think? For what it's worth, and final thought on this particular subject. I think that the Thursday, certainly the Friday, the Friday start, there was a lot of big fields on Friday. I think somebody had a word with the startup. I think that they were prepared to let the horses go. You know, apart from the final race, you know, the the the conditional jockeys, which was an absolute farce again, but they are conditional jockeys. This was their big moment in the sunshine. They were probably revved up and you know they need a stiff talking to. But I think somebody had a word with the starter by by Friday and said, let them go. Let them go. If it's not 100% perfect, it doesn't matter. This is racing's biggest week of media exposure, and we are fucking up royally in front of watching millions on TV. Just let the horses go if it's tolerably acceptable start. And I think that's what we saw on Friday. I think it worked, I think there was less hard luck stories on the Friday. Job done. So that is the background things that happened to me in terms of the the politics, in terms of sort of fun and games. I had a great old time. I met Ms. Fry, Catherine Fry, which was great. Big fan of the Bastiards, as you know from these listening to these casts, which you have been doing over the years. You'll know that I love the Bastiards, I think they're great guys. I've met the the the boys, I've met uh John Joe and Lee up at York. I got to met Ms. Fry at Cheltenham on the Thursday, which was a joy. Um had a very pleasant half hour with her, and very knowledgeable woman, very engaging company, so that was great. And I also met my old mate Wayward Ladd, who, if you remember or you've gone back to listen to the uh 2020-2021 rap podcast, you know that he was a made, gave a major sort of insight into a lot of the major races, jumps races in particular, that were happening around about that time, and it was great to meet up with him and his mate as well on the day. There was a group of mates which uh come down from Harpenden that I meet up with in Stow on the Wold, and we go out on in Stowe and uh then go to the races. It was fantastic socially and sociability-wise. You know, I met the usual gangs of Irish lads, gangs of fearsome race guys that were there that were really keyed up and interested, or taking a position on particular races, and it was great, and that that's what the racing should be about. So I just cannot could not get enough of Cheltenham 2026. In terms of the actual horses and things to sort of follow from the meeting, or little zingers that I was aware of from looking at, you know, watching the races and betting in the races. You will have read the racing posts, you will have read blogs, you will listen to podcasts that would have talked about unlucky horses, horses to look out for next time, well-handicapped horses. Now this is going out on the Wednesday after the festival. The new handicapped marks have been released, and it's quite interesting to see what some horses have got from their performances at Sheltenham. Soldier Reeves, he finished like a train, didn't he, in the Turner's novices hurdle on the Wednesday. He went into that race off a mark of 131. He's been uh raised 15 pounds to a mark of 146. Given the way that he finished in that race and he came fourth at 150 to 1. I would strongly suggest that he might be, and this is not any sort of great penetrating insight, I would think he was a horse for three miles. He's gonna go much, much better when upped to three miles. Could be at Aintree. I think he might have a little jog round in the Sefton novices hurdler Aintree just to see if he does stay three miles and to see how how he copes over that trip. If he does well in that, then obviously uh graded races are open to him, he'll go up again in the handicap. Handicaps are off the mark, uh you know, off the board for him in uh 2026-2027, and he will be probably a stairs hurdler type. If he doesn't do well in the Sefton Novic's hurdle, I would think the Skeltons are going to be working backwards from the per tempts of 2027. Their horse Supremely West won this year's per tempts off a mark of 135. Soldier Reeves is currently on 146. Watch out for him having a bunch of not-offs. You know, he will get qualified for the per tempts fairly early on in the year, and after that it'll be an exercise in getting his handicap mark down to 135 to 140. That will be a workable mark where the skeletons can go to war with him in the potemps of 2027. So that I think is a long-term plan for Soldier Reeves. The other horse was a bet that I had carried Mourna Spruce. That was in the Ryan A. Mayor's novices hurdle on um Thursday first race. The racing post uh comments say everything that needs to be said. Second in a mixed sex grade one company at Leopardstown over Christmas, hadn't finished outside the first three in nine starts, but this and here's the critical bit, but this didn't set up for her. There'll be other days. I'll say it didn't set up for her. That race was lost at the start, and that was me throwing my toys out the pram for a good half to three quarters of an hour after that first race on that Thursday morning because I'd had a thumping great bet great bet on Carrie Bourner Spruce. Knew my fate within the first two seconds of the start letting them go. She was right at the back, never stood a chance. There will be other days for her, she's a class act, and you can just put a complete line through that race at Cheltenham. So Carrie Bourner Spruce has a nasty taste in the mouth, but losses are only lent on her. Following points, couple of trainers to follow. Mouse Morris. He sent one horse over, it came second at 50 to 1, and he does this year after year after year. He is an Irish trainer that I love and I think does a cracking job with his horses. And if he sends one over, it's worth following. I'm trying to remember its name, it was the horse that came second to Ginko Blue in the whatever it is, the the Coral Cup, the MGM Cup as it is now. Forget its name. It was 50 to 1, it was ridden by a claimer, and each way bet on the one my Mouse Morris horse that he sent over would have seen you in Clover if that was your only bet of Cheltenham. Go look it up. I should have prepared. This is a crap preparation, I'll admit, but the the the horse is kind of irrelevant. It's the trainer that's important. When he sends a horse over to Cheltenham, it's not there for a day out, it's going to be trying, it'll be prime to the moment, and it will run well. So, Master Morris, James Owen, he's another one, a dual-purpose trainer, had a nice each-way bet on his horse, one big bang in the national hunt chase on the Tuesday. Chem third did particularly well. And you know, he's had another couple of horses that always seem to do well at Cheltenham. I think he's still awaiting his first winner, but he he always seems to get horses that do particularly well. He had a couple of winners on Saturday as well as Market Raisin and at Kempton. Look out for his horses when he sends one to the festival. So, James Owen, Mouse Morris, Soldier Reeves, Carrie Mortler Spruce, my takeaways from certainly what happened on the track at Cheltenham, Cheltenham 2026. That was all off the top of my head. I hope it makes sense. Hope you got a lot from it. As I say, you know, thanks very much indeed for showing up. It's great, you know, seeing the metrics from these casts. It's never going to be worldwide and live. I'm not going to get millions of followers, millions of hits. I kind of wouldn't ever really want that. But it's really gratifying to see the statistics and see people showing up in there, in their hundreds for this cast, not the thousands, but certainly more than the tens that I was getting on Limore. So thanks a lot for being here. Great to have your company. The next cast will probably go out next week, wherein I will have a look at the Brocklesby, possibly the Lincoln as well, which signifies the start of the flat season at Doncaster a week on Saturday, week this coming Saturday. Until then, be good, be lucky. Thanks, as I say, thanks very much indeed for showing up.