The last and arguably best day of a terrific week's racing comes with a fascinating Gold Cup and the compelling sub-plot that will be Tony McCoy's final day's racing at the Festival.
The Antrim native has several chances, including Carlingford Lough in the big one,
1.30pm JCB Triumph Hurdle
Another huge novice hurdle gets the final day underway. Willie Mullins does not hold the key to this one though the race though the Carlow trainer does have two with Dicosimo and Kalkir set to race in the Rich Ricci colours.
With no strong word for either and given that Mullins has not won since 2002 (Scolardy), many punters will look elsewhere. In general, Irish trainers previously had a poor record in this race but they have taken the last two renewals and there is no doubt that the quality of bloodstock remaining in Ireland has increased.
The last and arguably best day of a terrific week's racing comes with a fascinating Gold Cup and the compelling sub-plot that will be Tony McCoy's final day's racing at the Festival.
The Antrim native has several chances, including Carlingford Lough in the big one,
1.30pm JCB Triumph Hurdle
Another huge novice hurdle gets the final day under way. Willie Mullins does not hold the key to this one though the race though the Carlow trainer does have two with Dicosimo and Kalkir set to race in the Rich Ricci colours.
With no strong word for either and given that Mullins has not won since 2002 (Scolardy), many punters will look elsewhere. In general, Irish trainers previously had a poor record in this race but they have taken the last two renewals and there is no doubt that the quality of bloodstock remaining in Ireland has increased.
No favourite has won since Detroit City (2006), but that trend has been bulldozed by the Mullins juggernaut in numerous Novice contests this week.
Course and distance winner Peace And Co, running for Nicky Henderson and strongly fancied by his jockey Barry Geraghty, may well do the same. Having opted for another runner instead of Call The Cops on Thursday, Geraghty will hope his decision to ride Peace And Co instead of Bivouac pays off.
Davy Russell (Jockey): “It’s a terrible race. To advise anyone to back anything in the Triumph Hurdle is like getting me to do brain surgery. They are ‘used’ horses. The only advice I would give is to get a horse that has very few runs on the flat or is unexposed. You couldn’t like Peace And Co as a favourite. He is very highly strung and runs with his head caught back on himself. He is more impressive around Doncaster than anywhere else and it is a flat track.”
Barry Geraghty (Jockey, Peace And Co): "I had a sit on him at home a while ago and schooled him and he was very good. He’s smart and quick at his hurdles. I thought he won really well at Doncaster a while back and he’s a very exciting juvenile. His work was very good before going to Doncaster and he won really impressively. I’ve won two already on Bivouac and I love him also, but Peace And Co looks very exciting.”
Tony McCoy (Jockey, Hargam): “ "Hargam is probably my best chance of riding a winner this week so I would like the weather to stay nice."
Gordon Elliott (Trainer): “For me I think the Irish are the worst bunch of juveniles in a long time. As long as I can remember.”
Liam Nash (Journalist): “At 6/1 I think Beltor is an each-way bet-to-nothing.”
2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle
Formerly the last race of the Festival and the traditional ‘get out’ stakes, this is another impossibly difficult handicap to figure out. JP McManus runs three, two of which are high in the betting, while favourite Quick Jack runs for a yard famed for its prowess in landing big gambles. Given his current price, much of the money may already be on.
Gordon Elliott (Trainer, The Game Changer): “There’s a horse called The Game Changer I’d have a few quid on him at 33/1 (he is now 9/1). There’ll be no horse travelling better than him going to the last. It’s a question of whether he gets up the hill or not. We’ll see.”
Graeme Smith (UK Handicapper): "Quick Jack's profile makes him one of the most intriguing horses at the Festival."
2.40pm Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
A staying hurdle for Novices and after yesterday’s victory for the front-running Cole Harden in the big one, tactics will be interesting.
Not many have been stopped by the Cheltenham hill so far at this Festival. The Mullins stable is again to the fore with favourite Black Hercules set to be steered by Ruby Walsh for owner Graham Wylie.
Gordon Elliott (Trainer, No More Heroes): “I’m looking forward to seeing him. He’s by Presenting and I think he’ll like the better ground. He looked very well two or three weeks ago. I worked him at Leopardstown and Shane McCann rode him. He is the best judge of a horse I have and if he says they are going well, then they are going well. He’s in good form.”
3.20pm The Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup
A fascinating clash of generations and form-lines. Last year’s winner Lord Windermere is 10/1 shot to repeat while Silviniaco Conti, which stalled at the exact wrong moment in the straight having run a great race under Noel Fehily 12 months ago, is the favourite.
Djakadam is perhaps the most interesting horse in the race given his short price and the fact that his key form has been in a handicap – the Thyestes – and will seek to win as a six-year-old. Coneygree is another fascinating representative of a younger generation.
Ted Walsh (Trainer): “I don’t know why Silviniaco Conti got beat last year. If he fell going to the last then, you would have said he would have won. I know Paul Nicholls says he has him in better shape and maybe he has. There is a hole in him when it comes to Cheltenham. Cheltenham is a place you have to operate around and for some reason he doesn’t seem to be as good. I like Many Clouds, he is a good, tough, hardy horse. He wouldn’t want the ground to quick is the only thing. Holywell is another one I’d give a chance to and is a bit of value at 10 or 12/1.”
Tony McCoy (Jockey, Carlingford Lough): “I think the three English horses Silviniaco Conti, Many Clouds and Coneygree may be a little ahead of the Irish and there’s not much between us, but the horse is in good form.”
Gordon Elliott (Trainer): “For me, 3/1 is too short for Silviniaco Conti. Paul Nicholls is full of confidence but he is always full of confidence. Road To Riches has been very good all year. It’s hard to say he’ll win a Gold Cup after winning a Galway Plate but he has done nothing wrong. I’d like to see him winning it or if he can’t I’d like to see AP (McCoy, Carlingford Lough) win it. I thought the race Djakadam won was the worst Thyestes run in a number of years. I don’t think Holywell jumps well enough.”
Davy Russell (Jockey, Lord Windermere): “Genuinely, I wouldn’t swap Lord Windermere for anything. He’s a proper horse. He loves Cheltenham. I know his form isn’t really there but he doesn’t really handle soft ground and he is not mad about Leopardstown as there is not enough jumping in the second half of the race. It is probably a more competitive race this year.”
Liam Nash (Journalist): “I’m mad about Many Clouds but I’m afraid the weather will conspire to upset those plans. I love the Hennessy Gold Cup as a guide to this race and he jumped brilliantly in that. He’s a smashing stayer and I’d love if they got a few showers before this race. Djakadam won a Thyestes off a mark of 145.....the improvement needed to an average Gold Cup winner is a long way.”
4pm Foxhunters Chase Challenge Cup
Salsify landed this race when favourite last year thanks to Oscar Delta’s decision to jink to the left and unseat Jane Mangan with the race at his mercy in the winning straight.
Colman Sweeney rides Salsify again in the ‘amateur Gold Cup’. Salsify needed no good fortune to win at Punchestown a few weeks later last year. There are plenty of other contenders in a race that tends towards the attritional with falls, rider errors and misjudgement of the pace that can result in sheer exhaustion contributing to a tricky contest to work out.
Liam Nash: “I have two naps at the meeting. Call The Cops in the Pertemps and Salsify in the Foxhunters. I think Salsify is coming back to form after being injured.”
4.40pm Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle
Named for Martin Pipe, who dominated racing in his time, the current top man in the training sphere holds a strong hand here: once again, this race is all about the Willie Mullins challenge with Roi Des Francs, McKinley and Kilultagh Vic among the leading contenders.
That trio have form in graded races and given the sheer dominance of his squad, have to be respected.
Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson also have fancied runners in the race. Roi Des Francs carries the same Gigginstown colours that Sir Des Champs and Don Poli delivered victories for in this contest in previous runnings.
Patrick Mullins (Trainer’s son): “"McKinley looks to have got a fantastic mark for a Grade 1 winner. We think Roi Des Francs is better than his mark. He is a horse I have a lot of time for."
Paul Nicholls (Trainer, Le Mercurey): “He ran OK in the Gerry Fielden at Newbury, but he wasn’t really tuned up that day and he couldn’t possibly win off 149 on his first run in England. He was dropped 5lb and then ran very nicely at Ascot next time, so he’s quite unexposed. He has to run off 144, almost certainly in the Martin Pipe race, and then he’ll go chasing in the autumn as a five-year-old, which is what we bought him for. He jumps fences beautifully and he’s the future for us.”
5.15pm Grand Annual Chase
This will be Tony McCoy’s last race at Cheltenham and there won’t be a begrudger in the house if he can land the odds on the favourite Ned Buntline, which was second in the race last year, in the JP McManus colours. The jockey had a choice of four so his decision to plump for Noel Meade’s charge in a race which is named for him this year is significant.
But when it comes down to it, Ruby Walsh won’t hesitate to burst his old friend’s bubble on Blood Cotil, again wearing the Rich Ricci colours, if he can.
Ted Veale, with Brian Cooper on board for handicap maestro Tony Martin, is another runner worthy of close inspection.
