Cheltenham - Cheltenham Betting Tips, Cheltenham Festival Tips 2012

Money back makes Grands Crus and Synchronised Gold Cup safe bets

January 12, 2012 By Will Hayler

• Outside chances will surely shorten by Cheltenham Festival
• Ladbrokes offering money back on non-runners

With the two best-known British steeplechasers in training taking on the most exciting staying novice chaser of the season, the betting market for the Betfred Gold Cup at Cheltenham is already well established.

There were predictably few surprises among the 34 entries revealed on Wednesday for the race and, in an attempt to drum up some business, Ladbrokes and the race sponsors are both offering prices on a non-runner, no bet basis.

That makes taking an ante-post position considerably more appealing and the two I would want to be with on that basis are Grands Crus (8-1 with Betfred) and Synchronised (12-1 with Ladbrokes) given that if either make it to the race, they will both surely be trading at shorter prices on the day.

David Pipe says he still has not made his mind up about the Gold Cup for Grands Crus but the fact that he is considering Cheltenham’s Argento Chase as the horse’s next race surely suggests he is, at the least, dipping his toe into the water against older rivals. Staged over the same course as the Gold Cup, but over a furlong shorter trip, it will give Pipe a good idea as to where Grands Crus stands, with the consistent Time For Rupert set to provide a useful benchmark in opposition.

I would expect Grands Crus to go off as favourite to beat Time For Rupert in that race and victory could both see his odds crash for the Gold Cup and effectively force Pipe and owner Roger Stanley to aim high instead of sticking to novice company in the RSA Chase. And if he does not run, then you get your money back.

As a punter, I find Jonjo O’Neill one of the most frustrating stables to follow, but he is a very hard man to dislike. Despite the times that I have cursed the betting market’s remarkable ability to prove a more accurate guide to his horse’s prospects than the formbook, I cannot pretend I was not pleased for him when Synchronised upset a few reputations in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.

Plenty of pundits have been ready to put down that form and Quito de la Roque almost certainly did not quite run up to form in third while runner-up Rubi Light may not have fully seen out the trip. But the Synchronised who won that race is simply not the same horse as the one who slogged round for third in the Midlands National last season, dragging his hind legs through most of the fences on his way round and looking like he would need six miles to reach top gear.

A promising return over hurdles at Aintree in October was followed by a really good run in the valuable brush hurdle race at Haydock on Betfair Chase day, where he came home with such a rattle that it looked like he had only joined in at the top of the straight.

Impressions that Synchronised had for some reason turned a corner in his form were confirmed when he attacked his fences on his way to a comprehensive Leopardstown victory that has left O’Neill in doubt that his horse has to be considered “a real Gold Cup contender”.

The trainer says that the choice now is whether they take Synchronised to run in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown on 12 February or wait for Cheltenham the following month, but that decision will have to be taken in conjunction with the horse’s owner, JP McManus.

“I couldn’t have been more pleased with him in the Lexus and he’s definitely right at the top of his game, but it was a hard race and when he came home he knew he’d been in a fight,” O’Neill told me on Wednesday.

“He’s not the biggest and he does like a bit of time between his races so we’re just waiting to see how long it takes him to come back to himself. He is quite an easy horse to read, thankfully, and we’ll hopefully know when he is right again.

“The question is whether the Hennessy is his ‘Gold Cup’ or whether we take on the big boys at Cheltenham. We’ll talk it through with JP and Frank [Berry, racing manager] and see how he is in a couple of weeks’ time.”

Testing conditions clearly are not essential to Synchronised as he won well enough without them last time, but if the ground were to come up soft at Cheltenham (far more likely since the course established a firm pro-watering policy for the Festival), he could end up at half his present odds given that none of Kauto Star, Long Run or Grands Crus would be guaranteed stayers in testing conditions. O’Neill says he cannot explain the horse’s improved form this season, but neither he nor we need to understand it to know at 12-1, with your money back if he does not run, he’s worth a bet.

Will Hayler

Filed Under: Blogposts, Cheltenham News, Features, guardian.co.uk, Horse racing, Horse racing tips, Sport Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival

Jockey Club chief faces big hurdles

December 23, 2011 By Simon Goodley

Simon Bazalgette, chief executive of British horse racing’s largest commercial body, is about to take a huge gamble on revamping the home of the famous Cheltenham Festival

Simon Bazalgette, the chief executive of the Jockey Club, is considering a multimillion pound punt. The person dubbed the “most powerful man in British horse racing” holds the reins of 14 British racing tracks and, despite all the woes of the credit crunch, he is now contemplating a grand and lavish project to revamp the famous course at Cheltenham.

“Obviously financing big projects is much harder now,” he admits. “Over the next three, four, five years [Cheltenham is] probably the major bit of capital investment that we would like to make across the Jockey Club. We are working through various feasibility plans at the moment. We have a reasonable amount of bank debt. At the height we probably had £130m to £140m of debt. We are now down to between £90m and £100m. And that’s reducing significantly this year. I’m sure debt will be a part of [the Cheltenham redevelopment].”

It is not clear just how much a revamp of Cheltenham would cost, although £30m has been spent at Epsom and £25m on Aintree. While raising debt may be challenging in these markets, the famous festival course is crucial to the club and the man running it.

Industry gossips reckon Cheltenham accounts for about half of its £18.3m operating profit (the Jockey Club says it is impossible to split out and that the course is a “key source”, but contributes less than half, of revenues).

Still, Cheltenham management believes a redevelopment is long overdue and racing rumours suggest it is about to use its sway to achieve what it wants. Some suggest building work could start immediately after the 2014 Cheltenham Festival, but Bazalgette is unmoved. “It is still at an early stage,” he blocks. He gives little further ground, which is what you might expect from a man of coming from such a successful bloodline. The great, great-grandson of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the designer of London’s sewers, he is also a cousin of media entrepreneur Peter Bazalgette, who brought Big Brother to British television audiences and promoted the format all around the world.

Bazalgette of the Jockey Club also made his name in the media business, having founded pay television channel Music Choice Europe, before, in 2004, joining Racing UK, the fledgling horse racing channel owned by a collection of courses, many from the Jockey Club’s own stable. He is now using the tricks he learned within the world of broadcasting in an attempt to rebrand racing, which can sometimes seem impenetrable to the outsider. His latest effort is the introduction of the British Champions Series, launched in April, which is an attempt to provide some coherence to the flat racing season in the wake of the aborted Sovereign Series.

It is basically a brand that wraps around the great flat meetings such as the Guineas, the Derby, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood, and culminates in the British Champions Day, the UK’s richest race day with more than £3m in prize money. It all got off to a decent start this year with the emergence of an equine superstar, Frankel, the 2000 Guineas and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner, but it is still not clear what the series is intended to be.

Bazalgette peppers the rationale behind the series with management-speak. It has been about “creating a vehicle” or it is “a platform to help create a larger [racing] economy”, he says, claims demonstrated by the “multi-million pound” sponsorship deal signed with Qatari investment firm Qipco.

Aficionado

However, the corporate waffle is more easily deciphered than the series’ actual structure, especially if you are not a racing aficionado. Horses do not accumulate points to qualify for Champions Day as you might expect. In fact, as long as the horse has a high enough rating, it can just turn up to the finale.

“It’s [a] simple [system] for racing but slightly more complicated than for any other sport,” admits Bazalgette, who is actually more of a football fan and supports Brentford. “We recognise part of the challenge is to start to bring in more formal mechanics, whether it’s a bonus prize, whether it’s league tables, whether it’s qualification, you can debate that. We recognise this is only the starting point”.

The other big issue on his desk goes back to his broadcasting roots and relates to which channel punters will be watching racing on from 2013. Budgets at BBC Sport, which broadcasts the Grand National, the Derby and Royal Ascot, have been cut by around 15%. With renegotiations on broadcast rights now under way, there is speculation that the BBC might prefer to spend its dwindling reserves on the big Aintree steeplechase rather than keep covering the other events.

Meanwhile, can the current Channel 4 deal, in which racing subsidises the broadcaster’s costs, continue? “My own view is that [the BBC will] want to keep the National and that they’ll fight to keep it,” Bazalgette says. “The environment for the last broadcast deal was very difficult, which came just as the advertising market was collapsing and ITV and Channel 4 were in complete crisis. That’s not the way now. The advertising market has come back and is doing very well. There’s a lot more money around from bookmaker advertising in way that wasn’t the case three or four years ago. My view is that Channel 4 and even ITV will be very interested now. The value to Channel 4 of racing is lot more than it was three to four years ago and I’d think that will be reflected in next round of discussions”.

Sluggish

Other media revenues from Racing UK – and its spin-off Turf TV – in which the Jockey Club is a shareholder will also increase from 2013, but until then Bazalgette admits that the club faces a “tough” 2012 as it operates in a sluggish economy and competes for corporate hospitality customers in Olympic year.

Jockey Club profits are recycled into racing, – not into shareholders’ pockets – so that perhaps explains why, despite having the technology ready, Bazalgette seems reluctant to invest in a high definition channel for Racing UK subscribers. It is also why Cheltenham and the Champions Series are such big deals. There is a lot riding on them.

Simon Goodley

Filed Under: Cheltenham Festival 2012, Cheltenham News, Features, Gambling, Grand National, Horse racing, Interviews, Media, Sport, Television industry, The Guardian, UK news Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham Festival hope Grands Crus makes impressive chasing debut

November 12, 2011 By Chris Cook

• Winner is 6-1 favourite for the RSA Chase in March
• Next target is Feltham Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day

The best was saved for last on this card here on Friday as Grands Crus made a chasing debut full of promise, galloping clear of tiring rivals as the fog and the night closed in on Prestbury Park. The atmosphere came as close to Festival standard as it had all day, the grey’s backers cheering thunderously as newspapers and racecards were sent flying into the air.

Grands Crus was not, in the end, as thoroughly tested as had been expected, his main rival, Cue Card, having unseated Joe Tizzard down the back stretch. But, as the winning jockey, Tom Scudamore noted: “It would have been very tough for him giving the weight to us, having seen a performance like that”.

David Pipe, Grands Crus’s trainer, even found a positive angle to the horse’s only jumping error, when he stood off too far from an open ditch at the top of the hill. “He could have bottled it after that but he jumped the last three as well as he jumped the early ones,” he said.

“From what I’ve seen at home, he’d been good. I was just a little bit worried that sometimes he can be too keen and he was very quick over his hurdles. He was quick over his fences today but he was sensible.

“I changed his bit slightly at home. Gerry Supple who rides him at home thought he was more settled in the bits he’s wearing now. He doesn’t switch off but he’s more settled.”

Pipe expects to aim the horse at the Feltham on Boxing Day at Kempton and the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, for which he is 6-1, though he would not rule out an entry in the Gold Cup. “It’s something to discuss with everyone and he’s got a long way to go before that.”

This completed a hat-trick of wins on the card for Pipe, whose father, Martin, often dominated this three-day meeting. “That was a golden era,” Pipe Jr said, “and it’s a different era now but to get three winners on this day is fantastic. We’ve got a good team of horses, not as many as years ago but we can still do it with the right ammo.”

Chris Cook

Filed Under: Cheltenham News, Horse racing, News, Sport, The Guardian Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival

Home of Cheltenham Festival in line for a facelift after 2014 meeting

October 4, 2011 By Will Hayler

• Racecourse outline plans for radical rebuilding
• Gillespie speaks of change to last a generation

Redevelopment plans for the home of jumps racing are finally set to become reality, if the board of Cheltenham racecourse’s owners, Jockey Club Racecourses, give the go-ahead later this year.

An ageing collection of racecourse buildings dating from as early as the 1920s are to be demolished and rebuilt, while the main grandstand, which was completed in 1979, is also set to receive a major facelift.

Plans for changes to the structures which directly overlook the racecourse and paddock areas have been appearing and disappearing from the agenda since the completion of the Centaur building at the track in 2004. But a feasibility study for the redevelopment work has now been completed and the business case will now go before the JCR board.

Twelve months after the managing director, Edward Gillespie, mentioned having to raise “£25m, £30m or £35m” for the project both the scale of the work to be completed – which could now include a new hotel – and the forecast costs appear to have escalated considerably.

Gillespie was unwilling to discuss the finances but said: “The Centaur cost over £20m and that was just one building.

“This is going to be a major redevelopment, a redevelopment that is more ambitious than what we might have been discussing 12 months ago and one that will make a big difference to racegoers at the Festival and all meetings here.

“We’re not thinking about figures, we’re aiming to create a change in the racing experience that will hold for 30, 40 years, to take that experience to a new level.”

Gillespie admitted that redevelopment work could now extend for two years or more in total but said he hoped it could all be tied up in one contract and that racegoers would experience minimal disruption. It is understood that work could start immediately after the 2014 Festival.

Discussions rumble on with Cheltenham Town FC over the possible siting of a new stadium on land adjacent to current racecourse buildings but the finances remain sticky.

Meanwhile the clerk of the course, Simon Claisse, confirmed that for the third year the siting of the final hurdle will be moved closer to the grandstand for the Festival, producing a shorter run-in.

“There were two reasons for doing it – one was to bring the action a little closer to the people and secondly that, if we reduced the length of the run-in, there was less opportunity for jockeys to be in breach of the then whip rules and the reduction of the number of breaches from Festival to Festival was down 71% the first year we did it.

“Under the new guidelines we will be compacting the distance in which a jockey can use his maximum permissible number of five hits after the last but what the effect of that will be I don’t know. We’ll consult with the British Horseracing Authority if we need to.”

Will Hayler

Filed Under: Cheltenham News, Horse racing, News, Sport, The Guardian Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival

Sam Waley-Cohen and jumping’s old guard combine to fire up Cheltenham

March 20, 2011 By Will Hayler

Four-day festival in the Cotswolds proves the allure and excitement of National Hunt racing is as great as ever

In the spectrum of sporting achievements by amateurs, Sam Waley-Cohen’s victory aboard Long Run in the Gold Cup is no rags-to-riches story. Asked in a recent interview if he was a millionaire, Waley-Cohen replied: “It depends how you count it.”

But despite having the advantages of a wealthy father to buy him a top-class horse to ride and a career that allows him to spend some of his time at the stables and plenty more in the gym, the 28-year-old’s performance in the saddle should not be underestimated and the race must go down as one of the great Gold Cups.

It was certainly a fitting finale for a Cheltenham Festival long on highlights to entertain the 223,748 who packed the stands over the four days, queued for the toilets and relished the drama.

Yes, Waley-Cohen is no CB Fry, the ultimate amateur sportsman, who represented England at football and cricket and equalled the world long jump record, but the level of skill, fitness and judgement required to win a Gold Cup does not come without hours, days, weeks, months and years of hard work.

Sport’s shift towards professionalism in recent years makes the achievement even worthier of celebration. Amateur golfers cannot wait to turn pro and start cashing cheques. Rugby players aren’t solicitors or army majors. Even the referees are not schoolteachers or dentists any more.

Waley-Cohen travelled on Saturday to see Long Run at Nicky Henderson’s stables, having been let off his one booked ride at Ffos Las. Victory came at the end of a difficult week for Henderson, for whom the win puts him in with a fine chance of a third trainers’ title and the opportunity to break the recent dominance of Paul Nicholls, particularly if Long Run goes on to run at Aintree next month.

The controversial withdrawal of Binocular from the Champion Hurdle, combined with the British Horseracing Authority’s decision to apply extra testing to his horses and not being able buy a winner for the first three days of the meeting, meant Henderson was pushed to the hilt.

As well as being one of the outstanding jumps trainers of the past three decades and more, Henderson is a highly likable and articulate character who gives generously of his time and always wears his heart on his sleeve. Perhaps that is why, when attempting to ask a legitimate if unsettling question about his stable medical procedures at the post-Gold-Cup press conference, our own Greg Wood was shouted down by another writer.

Racing must not be afraid of looking below its waterline for fear of finding a leak, or it may be too late to repair the damage.

Having already met censure from the BHA over the quality of his medical bookkeeping, and with the prospect of further action hanging over him, Long Run’s victory will hopefully mark a watershed for Henderson, who kept faith in the horse when others – myself included – still held doubts.

The appointment of a public relations advisor might help. Although Henderson probably did not see the harm in telling one and all after his first winner that he had backed himself at 16-1 to draw a blank at the meeting “as an insurance policy”, one wonders how England fans might have reacted had Wayne Rooney returned from last year’s World Cup to cash in a bet that he would fail to score a goal at the tournament.

Despite ultimately playing only supporting roles in the Gold Cup, for many it was the performance of the previous champions Denman and Kauto Star that made the race so special. Denman stays in training next season, to the delight of his owner, Paul Barber, who declared after the race: “I feel like pushing the wife to one side of the bed and having him in the middle.”

Decisions are still to be taken on Kauto Star, but the choice to go against the widely held belief that he would be ridden very conservatively and push him up to challenge for the lead at the halfway stage saw him spark back to life. He jumped as well as ever and thoroughly deserved to hold on for third place from What A Friend.

Not that Denman and Kauto Star were the only former champions to find that the unique Cheltenham challenge reignited the fire. Denman was running at the Festival for the sixth time, but it was a seventh consecutive visit for the David Pipe-trained Buena Vista, who landed the Pertemps Final under an inspired ride from Conor O’Farrell, and Big Buck’s, Quevega and Albertas Run all won at the meeting for the third time.

Albertas Run’s performance in the Ryanair Chase was reminiscent of Monty Python’s Black Knight. One by one, they came to him and tried to tear off a strip, but he responded to each challenge by pulling out more, mirroring the determination of Tony McCoy not to be passed.

In contrast, Quevega was serene in her third consecutive victory in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle, part of the record band of 13 Irish-trained winners over the course of the week.

Willie Mullins is thinking of the two-and-a-half-mile Aintree Hurdle for Thousand Stars, a game fourth in the Champion Hurdle behind hugely talented stablemate Hurricane Fly. Perhaps Nicholls and owner Andy Stewart could be persuaded to drop the outstanding Big Buck’s down in trip for the same race, rather than mopping up another race over three miles-plus. It would be a sporting challenge and, as we know, racing just loves them.

Will Hayler

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Filed Under: Cheltenham News, Features, Horse racing, Sport, The Observer Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival, Cheltenham Gold Cup

Cleeve Hill

March 20, 2011 By Sport: Cheltenham festival | guardian.co.uk

Henry Cecil’s charity win is popular in all quarters, but legendary Irish gambler JP McManus is out of luck

Rub of the green for Cecil

One of the biggest cheers of the week at Cheltenham came when the well-backed Plato, trained by Henry Cecil, won Thursday’s charity race. The horse’s owner, the Greek shipping heiress Maria Niarchos, could barely disguise her joy. Sporting green shamrock glasses to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, she said: ‘That was excellent. I’ve never thought of having a winner at Cheltenham, but I’d follow Henry anywhere.’ The winner was expertly partnered by freelance broadcaster Lorna Fowler, but eyebrows were raised by the whip action of another of the riders who appeared to strike their horse at least 10 times in the last furlong and a half.

Flat spot

Jockey Phillip Makin was one of a number of Flat jockeys to attend the Festival, but he perhaps went to greater lengths than most. Makin, the stable jockey to Kevin Ryan, attended Cheltenham on Wednesday afternoon but managed to make it across country to Kempton to ride a winner in the final race at 8.50. He was back in Gloucestershire on Thursday for the rest of the week though, while among his colleagues seen enjoying the action were Tom Queally, Ryan Moore, Paul Hanagan and Hayley Turner.

Get Me Out Of Here

Irish raiders bagged an unprecedented 13 successes at the Festival but the country’s best-known owner was a conspicuous absentee from the scoreboard. JP McManus, whose name is synonymous with success at jumping’s biggest meeting, had a blank Festival for the first year since 1993. McManus has had nearly 300 different horses running for him this season and was dealt a blow when the Champion Hurdle favourite Binocular had to be withdrawn from the race last weekend. McManus was at least knocking on the door through the week, notably when his handicap hurdler Get Me Out Here, who had a special preparation for the Festival, figured in a tense photo-finish after being the subject of a monster gamble in Friday’s County Handicap Hurdle. The horse, ridden by Tony McCoy, looked certain to win until caught in the final stride and lost out by a nose,

More memories for Lester

Lester Piggott was another legendary Flat racing figure spotted at Cheltenham. Piggott was among the entourage in the winner’s enclosure following the County Handicap Hurdle run in memory of the trainer he was most famously associated with, Vincent O’Brien.

Lily of the Valley

Singer-turned shopkeeper Lily Allen has been seduced by the charms of Fulham FC and the England cricket team already, but perhaps it will now be racing’s turn after she spent Friday at Cheltenham. PR man Johnno Spence, Allen’s host for the afternoon, tweeted: ‘Had a great day’s racing with Lily Allen and her fiance, Sam – she backed 4 winners and really enjoyed her day, what an awesome 4 days.’

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Filed Under: Cheltenham News Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival

The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup – in pictures

March 18, 2011 By Tom Jenkins

The best images from the main event at this year’s Cheltenham Festival where previous winners Kauto Star, Denman and Imperial Commander are looking to claim the prize once more

Tom Jenkins

Filed Under: Cheltenham News, Editorial, guardian.co.uk, Horse racing, Sport Tagged With: Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham Gold Cup day – as it happened

March 18, 2011 By Tony Paley, Chris Cook, Greg Wood, Barry Glendenning, Steve Busfield, Paul Hayward, Owen Gibson, Will Hayler

Day four at the Cheltenham Festival featuring the Gold Cup. Follow all the action here!
See all the runners and riders here
Catch up with the St Patrick’s Day action

5.23pm:

Goodbye to All That

That is it for another year. Britain win 14-13 but still a record week for Irish winners. A great Gold Cup rounded off a superb meeting. Thank you all for reading and getting on board. The results of the tipping competition will be published on this blog later and for those of you new to Talking Horses we’re here every day.

5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase: The Result

1 Oiseau de Nuit (S Clements) 40-1
2 Askthemaster (P T Enright) 50-1
3 Leo’s Lucky Star (Danny Cook) 20-1
4 De Boitron (G Lee) 8-1

5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase: The Race

We’re off for the last time at the 2011 Festival: Channinbar left at the start . . . Tanks For That blunders at the first . . . Pepe Simo hit the third fence hard . . . Pigeon Island is struggling very badly . . . Shoreacres dropping back . . . Tanks For That leads for Nicky Henderson . . . Anquetta also there for Henderson . . . But Oiseau De Nuit takes it up and goes clear to win well.

5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase: The Preview

Chris Cook:

Alas, the end is near. The last race at the Festival is the Grand Annual, a handicap chase over two miles. In recent years, it has been named after Johnny Henderson, father of Nicky, making it a particular target for the Lambourn trainer, who has already won it once with Greenhope in 2006.

Here’s an odd thing. The favourite is I’msingingtheblues, who hasn’t won a race for more than two years. It was 8-1 this morning but is now half that. It would have to be admitted that David Pipe’s yard are in form but there is little enough encouragement in this horse’s recent form and he is pretty high in the weights.

Shoreacres has a nice profile for this race, being a novice chaser who won last time out and surely has a bit in hand of the handicapper. He has Tony McCoy on board.

Oh Crick won this race two years ago but is a stone higher in the weights now and not in quite the same form.

De Boitron is a fascinating runner from the yard of Ferdy Murphy, who had a handicap chase win with Divers on Tuesday. This one won at the course last April and showed promise when second last time. As we have said already in the context of other races, Murphy can really get his horses ready for this week.

Henderson runs Anquetta and Tanks For That, both of which look the right type for this and they are possibly being underestimated by the betting market.

Betting
I’msingingtheblues 9-2
Shoreacres 7-1
Oh Crick 9-1
De Boitron 10-1
Anquetta 10-1
Tanks For That 12-1

4.52pm: Britain and Ireland 13-13 with one race to go

It could not be any tighter in the battle for racing supremacy at this year’s Cheltenham Festival as we go into the last heat with Britain and Ireland on 13 winners apiece.

Frank Keogh, BBC sports journalist, tweets here: Emmet Mullins wins on Sir des Champs for Willie Mullins to give Irish 13th win of 2011 #Cheltenham Festival. Ire 13 Eng 13 going to last.

4.48pm:

4.40 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle: The Result

1 Sir Des Champs (Emmet Mullins) 9-2 Fav
2 Son Of Flicka (Henry Brooke) 28-1
3 First Point (David Bass) 20-1
4 Indian Daudaie (James Cowley) 25-1

4.41pm:

4.40 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle: The Race

We’re off: Barazan leads . . . Mister Hyde has gone . . . Astracad has been up there . . . Shoegazer just behind . . . Indian Daudie is going very well . . . Sir Des Champs runs on strongly . . . Shalone fell on the flat . . . Son Of Flicka leads after the last but Sir Des Champs gets up close home to win for trainer Willie Mullins.

4.36pm: The punters’ pal gives Henderson helping hand

As you are no doubt aware trainer Nicky Henderson, who has just won the Gold Cup, has been in the news all week over the controversial issue of the vets’ handling of his horses back at his stables. You can read all about that here.

Our man Greg Wood went to the post-Gold Cup press conference and Claude Duval, the self-styled Punters’ Pal at The Sun where he is racing correspondent, was not keen for Wood to ask a question about that issue.

Greg Wood tweets here: Tried to ask a question re Henderson’s medication procedures in post race conf & got shouted down – by the man from the Sun.#funnyoldworld

4.29pm: Rebekah Wade has arrived at Cheltenham

News International executive Rebekah Wade is at the races with husband Charlie Brooks. He was a trainer once don’t you know.

He backed a winner.

4.25pm:

4.40 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle: The Preview

Chris Cook:

The Martin Pipe Hurdle has an illustrious three-year history. Named after a former champion trainer who would have loved exactly this kind of race, it’s a handicap hurdle over two and a half miles for conditional riders. A conditional is jump racing’s equivalent of the apprentice jockeys on the Flat. It’s a handicap but the difference in weights carried is less than a stone from top to bottom.

Willie Mullins is trying to follow up his success in the County earlier with Sir Des Champs, an unexposed young hurdler from France who must surely be ahead of the handicapper.

Shoegazer is the interesting runner from the David Pipe yard that had a double here yesterday, ridden by the same enterprising rider, Conor O’Farrell, who was aboard Buena Vista.

Qaspal hacked up in the Imperial Cup at Sandown last year and must still be ahead of the handicapper, even though he’s a stone higher now. He hasn’t been seen since because of various leg problems, but is said to be ready to run his race.

Betting
Sire Des Champs 9-2
Shoegazer 8-1
Qaspal 10-1
King Of The Night 10-1

4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Chase: Result

1 Zemsky 33-1
2 Mid Div and Creep 100-1
3 Oscar Delta 25-1
4 On the Fringe 3-1 JF

4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Chase: The Race

We’re off: All safely over the first two fences in this 3m race…Baby Run leads from Herons Well….Just Amazing third…Baby Run still leads….Theatre Diva unseats rider….Baby Run, Herons Well, Just Amazing still leading as a group of five pulls away from the pack as they pass the stand…Herons Well unseats rider, who nearly clung on….Baby Run and Dante’s Storm are the clear leaders….Zemsky making good progress behind….Zemsky cutting back Baby Run’s lead….Baby Run unseats rider two from home….Zemsky wins (33-1)….

3.57pm:

4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Chase

Chris Cook writes:

Ahem. The next race defines ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’. It is the Foxhunter Chase, over the same course and distance as the Gold Cup but with less talented horses and amateur riders. The families of those riders are the people who care most about this race. Many of the rest in the grandstand will be in the bar, chewing over what just happened.

But this is a big deal for the Twiston-Davies family, who field Baby Run, trained by Nigel and ridden by Willie. Last year, this horse won this race when ridden by Sam, also a Twiston-Davies, and he appears to be in similarly good shape this time.

There has been a lot of support for the Irish raider On The Fringe, trying to give some consolation to his owner J P McManus, whose Get Me Out Of Here narrowly failed in the County Hurdle earlier. This unexposed six-year-old must be a major threat and is trained by Enda Bolger, who does so well in the cross-country races (this isn’t one).

Gone To Lunch was beaten just half a length in the Scottish National a couple of years ago. Jaunty Flight has some good form to her name and represents shrewd connections.

Betting
On The Fringe 7-2
Baby Run 7-2
Dantes Storm 10-1
Gone To Lunch 10-1

3.52pm: Chris Cook reveals why Imperial Commander may have missed out on the big finish: “Racing UK report Paddy Brennan says Imperial Commander finished lame.”

3.48pm: The Gold Cup has been collected and the trainer speaks:

Paul Nicholls on Denman and Kauto:

“They were awesome in defeat. Long Run had a few years on them but they really put it up to him.”

3.43pm: The superlatives for that race are flooding in.
Greg Wood says:

What a spectacle. Kauto Star and Denman leading them down the hill was very special even before their young heir swept past

Clare Balding echoes those sentiments:

What a heroic run from Denman & Kauto Star but Long Run is the new king. A terrific Gold Cup

Timeform’s Simon Rowlands tweets:

That will go down as one of the greatest ever jumps races. Wish I could freeze that moment going to 3 out “a who’s who of Gold Cup history”

Donald McRae adds:

Long Run wins the Gold Cup. Sam Waley-Cohen does it for amateurs & dentists alike. Mighty Denman 2nd. Twiston-Davies & Imperial gob-smacked

3.35pm: And here is the reaction from the 11-year-old runner-up: “Bollocks.”

3.34pm: Long Run is Nicky Henderson’s first Gold Cup winner

3.20 Totesport Gold Cup: The Result

1 Long Run (Mr S Waley-Cohen) 7-2 Fav
2 Denman (S Thomas) 8-1
3 Kauto Star (R Walsh) 5-1

3.18pm:

3.20 Totesport Gold Cup: The Race

Imperial Commander and Long Run are joint-favourites at 4-1 with just a couple of minutes to go the start of a hugely anticipated Gold Cup.

We’re off: Long Run back in to clear favourite at 7-2 at the off . . . Midnight Chase goes off fast and Neptune Collonges is already being bustled along at fence two . . . Kauto Star is prominent in third and Carruthers is held up . . . Long Run hits the fence . . . China Rock jumps up into second . . . Weird Al has dropped back and Tidal Bay is pushed along for a stride . . . Long Run is pulling hard and makes an error . . . Imperial Commander is well placed . . . Kauto Star is in the lead now and going well . . . Denman just behind the leaders . . . China Rock up there too . . . Denman just being niggled to keep in touch . . . Kauto Star and Imperial Commander go clear with Long Run just behind . . . Denman coming up now . . . Denman and Kauto Star could fight it out .. Long Run comes up and takes the lead to go past Denman and Kauto Star who weakened into third with What A Friend a close fourth.

3.15pm: Greg Wood live from the paddock for the Gold Cup

Greg Wood sends us his paddock report via Twitter here: “In the paddock for the Gold Cup, imperial commander looking well, Kauto Star too. Long Run has a real gleaming about him. What a Friend looks full of himself, wonder if Sir Alex will be too in 20 minutes time.”

3.13pm: The real Denman is out there – TheRealDenman is on twitter

Denman, who trainer Paul Nicholls says he has never had looking better, is going out there to win back the Gold Cup he last won in 2008. He has been placed the last two years and is one of the most popular horses of recent years. If you have a yen for Denman you must follow @TheRealDenman on Twitter here. Great fun.

3.05pm: Long Run the new favourite as money pours on Henderson horse

Tony Paley: Long Run is the new favourite for trainer Nicky Henderson at 7-2 having taken over from Imperial Comander (4-1). There is support for Kauto Star (6-1). Tony McCoy’s mount Kempes has been well supported all day (7-1) while Denman is very weak (9-1). Pandorama is going out in the betting and Sir Alex Ferguson’s What A Friend is 25-1.

If Henderson does win it will be more relief today at the end of a troubled week. Read Paul, Hayward here on the trainer’s travails.

(Father) Ted Walsh (Ruby’s dad) on the TV does not the look of Carruthers. Not many do – he is 66-1. John Francome said: “Bloody hell – Denman looks magnificent.” That is important. Denman runs well when he looks well. Pity the rain has not arrived for him.

2.57pm:

Sir Alex Ferguson has arrived at Cheltenham

Sir Alex Ferguson is here in order to see his horse What A Friend run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Because of the touchline ban he will be watching from the top of the stands.

His runner is currently on offer at around 25-1.

3.20 Totesport Gold Cup: The Preview

Chris Cook:

It’s the Cheltenham Gold Cup! The greatest horse race in the world, according to the Daily Racing Form! And the rest of us.

For the first time in more than 50 years, we have three previous winners in the field: Imperial Commander, Denman and Kauto Star. And the opposition to those three is strong. We’re in for a race to remember.

Imperial Commander powered away from Denman to win last year and was a comfortable winner of the Betfair Chase on his first run this season. That has also turned out to be his only run this season, thanks to an infected cut in his leg that kept him out of the King George, but he goes well fresh and has won five of his six starts over fences at Cheltenham.

Kauto Star is trying to win his third Gold Cup and the roof would come off if he managed it. But at 11 years, he is older than any Gold Cup winner since 1969 and has not shown his best form since the end of 2009, when he won his fourth King George. He fell in last year’s Gold Cup when it already looked as though he was beginning to struggle and he was beaten into third place in the latest King George.

Denman has won just one of his last eight races and is also 11, which makes him look too old for this. He put in an epic performance to beat Kauto Star in the 2008 Gold Cup but it took its toll. He had heart problems later that year and has not been quite the same horse since. He was a very respectable third in the Hennessy in November on his only run this season.

Long Run is the youthful challenger, having hacked up in the King George with Kauto Star trailing behind. He’s been beaten in both previous visits to Cheltenham, so the question is whether he is one of the many horses who is just not suited by this track. To my mind, he has legitimate excuses for those efforts and remains a six-year-old who is still improving. A heavy defeat today, however, would leave little room for doubt. He’s trained by Nicky Henderson, who has only ever had six runners in the Gold Cup in a 30-year career and who breathed a huge sigh of relief when getting a 1-2 in the Albert Bartlett just now.

Kempes, winner of the Irish Gold Cup, is another young improver who may have the quality to push his elders aside. He comes from the Willie Mullins yard that has had three winners this week.

Midnight Chase goes well here but is probably going to be outclassed. Pandorama has the necessary class but probably won’t be suited by the fast racing surface. Tidal Bay would be a lively outsider if he could keep himself in touch through the first half of the race, but he has a bit of an attitude problem and his jumping is not always clean.

Weird Al impressed in winning a couple of novice chases here last season. He flopped in the Hennessy but could get involved if over whatever was affecting him that day.

What A Friend, running in the colours of Sir Alex Ferguson, has won a couple of Grade Ones but looks a bit of a softie in the very toughest races.

Betting
Imperial Commander 4-1
Long Run 9-2
Kauto Star 13-2
Kempes 8-1
Denman 10-1
Midnight Chase 12-1
Pandorama 14-1
Tidal Bay 20-1
Weird Al 20-1
What A Friend 28-1
China Rock 33-1
Neptune Collonges 33-1
Carruthers 66-1

2.50pm: Get Me Out Of Here controversy rumbles on

Tony Paley: The controversy surrounding Get Me Out Of Here’s run at Ascot earlier this season when many thought he was not given the best of rides rumbles on.

Here is Chris Cook on the background to the affair.

On Racing UK the two sides were summed up.

Jonathan Neesom said: “This is the first time [this season] he has given it the proper works. The jockey didn’t give him a hard race when the chance was there.”

Nick Luck said: “He was mindful not to give him a hard race once his chance had gone.”

2.40 Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle: The Result

Cheltenham 2.40
1 Bobs Worth (B J Geraghty) 15-8 Fav
2 Mossley (A P McCoy) 12-1
3 Court In Motion (Jack Doyle) 9-1

2.40 Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle: The Race

We’re off: Quick start and off very fast . . . No Secrets and Radetsky March are off like hounds out of hell . . . Bobs Worth makes a minor error at the 4th hurdle . . . Court In Motion makes ground . . . and then makes an error as does Gagewell Flyer . . . No Secrets leads with a circuit to go . . . Start Me Up is towards the rear and Jetnova not going all that well . . . Our Island struggling and Bobs Worth makes a move . . . Join Together struggling badly . . . Bobs Worth makes a mistake 3 out . . . No Secrets still leads but Bobs Worth is back in with a chance . . . Bobs Worth going very well on home turn . . . Mossley challenges from the same yard but Bobs Worth holds on to beat Mossley and give trainer Nicky Henderson a one-two in the race.

2.30pm: Tommo loses his job to Katie Price

Tony Paley: Channel 4 presenter Derek Thompson, true professional that he is, managed to get a few words from her on the box just now.

Katie said she had backed the first two winners. “I backed the one in the first [Zakandar] because he had a pink shirt. I bet on Final Approach because that’s me, I’m always on the Final Approach.”

She then gave us her idea of the winner of the next: “I’m going for Champion Court because I’m due in court next month. I think I’m going to win in court . . . so Champion Court.”

Thompson then gave her the microphone and she looked at him and announced: “Welcome to Channel 4 – he’s just lost his job.”

Tommo proceeed to kiss her twice.

2.21pm:

2.40 Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle: The Preview

Chris Cook:

Backed by a company that calls itself “Britain’s leading grower and packer of potatoes”, the Albert Bartlett is a three-mile race for novice hurdlers that is now in its seventh year. You would think that novices who can see out three miles at Cheltenham would be few and far between, which should help us, though last year’s race was won by a 33-1 shot.

Bobs Worth is the latest beast to be saddled with the diminishing hopes and expectations of Nicky Henderson’s yard. Unbeaten over hurdles, including two wins here, he has a strong chance if he sees out the extra three furlongs. He was bought by Barry Geraghty, who sold him on to Henderson and now rides him today.

Join Together runs for Paul Nicholls, who has been the man to follow in novice hurdles this week. He won the Supreme (Al Ferof) and the Triumph (Zarkandar) and was beaten a short-head in the Neptune (Rock On Ruby). Join Together was impressive last time at Chepstow but had previously been beaten by both Mossley and Court In Motion, who are available at bigger odds today.

Mossley flopped on heavy ground at Warwick when last seen but will be more at home on this faster surface.

Betting
Bobs Worth 11-4
Jojn Together 15-2
Kilcrea Kim 8-1
Court In Motion 9-1
Gagewell Flyer 9-1

2.17pm:

Katie Price has arrived at Cheltenham

Racing For Change eat your heart out. Katie Price has come racing . . . with some Argentinian bloke.

Has he backed a winner?

2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle: The Result

1 Final Approach (R Walsh) 10-1
2 Get Me Out Of Here (A P McCoy) 7-1
3 Nearby (C J Davies) 66-1
4 Cockney Trucker (R Johnson) 33-1

2.05pm:

2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle: The Race

We’re off: Ellerslie Tom, Hunterview and Ski Sunday at the front . . . Alarazi was towards the rear . . . Salden Licht made a mistake at 2nd . . . Zanir and Grey Soldier untidy at the next . . . At flight five Cockney Truck mistake and ridden along . . . Alaiavan is going well . . . Inventor being pushed along . . . Dirar moving well . . . Alaivan moves up strongly . . . Get Me Out Of Here in it . . . and he and Final Approach go past together . . . Photo finish and the winner is . . . Final Approach, who nabs the victory on the line under Ruby Walsh from Tony McCoy on Get Me Out Of Here.

2.02pm: Daryl Jacob breaks his duck at Cheltenham Festival

Greg Wood reports here on Twitter after the opening race: “Jacob was riding his first Festival winner, on Ruby Walsh’s castoff. It’s a big relief to get one on the board, every jockey’s dream.

Jacob added: “he was travelling great all the way, it was a quick-run race and we just picked them off when we wanted to pick them off.

Jacob again: “He’s well-related [1/2-brother to Zarkava], he’s got class and stamina.” Is 16-1 for 2012 Champion Hurdle with Hills

1.56pm:

Lily Allen has arrived at Cheltenham

Lily Allen does cricket. Now she does racing.

She is not the only celeb at the races this afternoon. Watch this space.

1.49pm:

2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle: The Preview

Chris Cook:

The County Hurdle is probably my favourite handicap of the year, even though it’s a few years since it did me any financial good. It’s a thrilling two-mile race which doesn’t often throw up ridiculous, unpredictable results, though the last two winners have been a healthy 20-1.

Dirar, the favourite, won the Ebor, a major handicap on the Flat, at York in August and it would be pretty remarkable if he could add this. But he’s trained by that noted shrewdie Gordon Elliott, who’s already had two winners this week, and I’d bet this one is ahead of his handicap mark. He is also, alas, owned by Marcus Reeder, who has twice been warned off by the British Horseracing Authority for gambling-related corruption. When Reeder asked to be re-registered as an owner after the end of his latest ban, he was refused, but the Irish authorities still welcome him, so he is allowed to own the Irish-trained Dirar.

Alarazi won the Imperial Cup at Sandown on Saturday and will earn his connections a £75,000 bonus from Paddy Power if he can add this. It’s tough to recover from that race in time to run well at the Festival but he’s the right type for a big-field handicap.

It was only a two-horse race that Alaivan won last time but the horse he beat, Carlito Brigante, won the Coral Cup at Cheltenham a couple of days ago.

Get Me Out Of Here, the mount of Tony McCoy, was narrowly and unluckily beaten in the Supreme Novice Hurdle at last year’s Festival, splitting Menorah and Dunguib, who both tried their luck in the Champion Hurdle this year. They were unplaced but you would think Get Me Out Of Here has enough quality for this race if recovering his form, which he has not shown all season.

Betting
Dirar 13-2
Alarazi 15-2
Alaivan 10-1
Final Approach 12-1
Get Me Out Of Here 12-1
Ski Sunday 14-1

1.47pm: Zarkandar very impressive in the Triumph

Greg Wood is very impressed with the winner of the first and has tweeted here: “Quite a performance by #Zarkandar. Travelled like a monster behind the pace and smooth as you like when Daryl Jacob let him go. #cheltenham”

1.43pm: Shambolic start to the Triumph

One of the features of the jumps season has been some poor starts to races and the Triumph was another poor example. Barry Glendenning tweets here: “Shambolic start to first at #cheltfest. About 15 lengths between first and last as they set off.”

1.40pm: Gary Neville is grumpy shock

Colleague Owen Gibson has spotted Mr Gary Neville and he doesn’t look happy apparently. He tweets thus: “Gary Neville just bustled past. He already looks vaguely annoyed about something.”

1.36pm:

1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle: The Result

1 Zarkandar (D Jacob) 13-2
2 Unaccompanied (P Townend) 11-2
3 Grandouet (B J Geraghty) 13-2

1.31pm:

1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle: The Race

A Media Luz pulling hard . . . Architrave is prominent . . . Brampour and Zarkandar are handy . . . Houblon Des Obeaux is leading . . . Smad Place not travelling and Sam Winner going back fast . . . Sailors Warn now takes up the running . . . Brampour getting closer . . . Mister Carter fell and Grandouet goes very well . . . Zarkandar at the last in the lead and is kicked out to go clear with Unaccompanied second.

1.18pm:

Here’s today’s line-up at Cheltenham and our tipsters’ selections:

1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle
Will Hayler: Zarkandar; Top Form: Zarkandar (nap)
2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle
Will Hayler: Alarazi; Top Form: Ski Sunday
2.40 Albert Barlett Novice Hurdle
Will Hayler: Moonlight Drive: Top Form: Bobs Worth
3.20 Totesport Gold Cup
Will Hayler: Imperial Comander (nap); Top Form: Imperial Commander
4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Chase
Will Hayler: Baby Run; Top Form: Baby Run
4.40 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
Will Hayler: Rose Of The Moon (nb); Top Form: Sir Des Champs
5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase
Will Hayler: Shoreacres Top Form: Shoreacres (nb)

We want your tips and thoughts and views on Gold Cup day

The first race is off in 15 minutes. Share your thoughts and tips in our competition on Gold Cup day below the line. Or if you wish you can email me at tony.paley@guardian.co.uk, or tweet me @tonypaley if that’s your preferred means of communication.

1.04pm: Celebs and costumes
Stand by for some celeb pictures this afternoon, for Gold Cup day brings them flocking: from Katie Price (and new boyfriend) to Sir Alex Ferguson. Word is that there are quite a few Old Trafford alumni at the Festival.

There’s also plenty for fashion experts to decode/deride. How about these chaps?

1.01pm: Paul Nicholl on the Gold Cup, Kauto Star and Alex Ferguson
Barry Glendenning reports:

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls, who saddles Denman, Kauto Star, What A Friend and Neptune Collonges in today’s Gold Cup, has been talking in the parade ring. He was happy to concede that 11-year-olds Denman and Kauto Star aren’t getting any younger or faster, but defended the latter’s poor run in the King George at Kempton in January, saying “it wasn’t as bad as some people made out”. He added that he thinks Kauto was feeling poorly at the time and may have been suffering from an infection.

Nicholls went on to describe Sir Alex Ferguson’s Gold Cup contender What A Friend as “an enigma” (translation: an unpredictable, cantankerous and contrary old bugger, not unlike its owner) saying “the ground will definitely suit him and he could run a great race.” So if you fancy an each-way on a long-priced outsider, Fergie’s horse could be the one to go for, but be warned. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see him finish in the first three,” said Nicholls. “But by the same token, he could also finish last.”

12.54pm: Another weather update from the course: racing blogger Paul Ostermeyer tweets:

The spits and spots have stopped now, white cloud, with some patches of blue . . . still a chill wind, behind in home straight

12.50pm:

1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle: Preview

Chris Cook writes:

The Triumph Hurdle kicks off our final card of the week. A race for fast, precocious four-year-old hurdlers, it has been won by a clutch of quality types in recent years in Detroit City, Katchit, Celestial Halo and Zaynar. That development may be connected to the invention of 2005 of the Fred Winter, which absorbs a number of horses who might otherwise have tried their luck in the Triumph. Fields for this race have tended to be smaller, making it a less intimidating test for a young horse and encouraging trainers to run their quality animals rather than save them for the future.

That’s the theory, anyway, but we’ve got 23 runners today and the favourite is as big as 6-1. We’ve got little form to go on but the last six winners have all been returned at single-figure odds, suggesting the market is adept at judging quality here.

Sam Winner would be a stronger favourite, but for getting bogged down in the Chepstow mud last time. You would think he could do better on faster ground today, back at a course where he has already won twice.

Grandouet trailed him by 15 lengths in November. Nicky Henderson’s runner has won twice since but at Newbury and Ascot in races which didn’t tell us much more about him. He’ll have to have improved a lot to turn round the Sam Winner form.

His stablemate A Media Luz was well beaten by Grandouet at Newbury in December and, again, it would be a bit surprising if she could turn that round. Henderson wanted to run her in the Fred Winter but she was going to have too much weight in that race.

Zarkandar is a fascinating contender, having made his hurdling debut last month when he won well at Kempton. That race has proved a good trial for the Triumph and Zarkandar is bred to be good, as a half-brother to the unbeaten Arc winner Zarkava.

Ruby Walsh has chosen to ride Sam Winner over Zarkava but that may mean little in the context of this race. His choice was reportedly made because he thinks Sam Winner will be a fine chaser for next year.

Betting
Sam Winner 6-1
Unaccompanied 6-1
Zarkandar 7-1
Grandouet 8-1
A Media Luz 10-1
Smad Place 10-1

12.38pm: Barry Glendenning adds: Raining here at #cheltfest Think any juice in the ground will suit Denman in Gold Cup

12.34pm: So what is the atmosphere like on Gold Cup Day?

Barry Glendenning reports that there’s been music:

“Hey #cheltfest, are you ready to rock? We were in Chepstow last night and they said you were pussies!” http://t.co/FS2TRK

And dancing:

Look. At. That. Samba at the #cheltfest It’s bloody cold too twitpic.com/4amyzb

And more funny costumes:

More or less dignified than yesterdays ireland cozzy? A kick in the classifieds can’t be far away http://t.co/8myNUr

And:

Who wouldn’t want to win a trophy like this? #cheltfest http://t.co/BHIMPw

12.00pm: “There’s nothing wrong with a Brazilian Dave”

Here’s a quick trawl through twitterland from our correspondents at the track:

It may not be hot but our man Barry Glendenning has found them warming up with a samba at the track via his twitpic here. As Racing UK viewers will be aware “There’s nothing wrong with a Brazilian, Dave.” And here is another for good measure via Barry’s lens.

He has found the hottest band at the track here: “Hey #cheltfest, are you ready to rock? We were in Chepstow last night and they said you were pussies!” twitpic.com/4amt4g

He has also found the trophy you don’t want to win today here: “Who wouldn’t want to win a trophy like this? #cheltfest http://t.co/BHIMPwI

Barry also caught up with charity race winner here: “Lorna Fowler, winner of yesterday’s Charity Race, goes back to her day job http://t.co/LnDOL6T

Greg Wood has walked the course and tweets thus: “Walked the Gold Cup course this am,shame public can’t do the same these days. In excellent condition & good, good to soft in places exactly right.”

11.53am:

British Horseracing Authority turn up heat on Henderson

Tony Paley: If you’ve been following the travails of Nicky Henderson of late you will be interested in today’s article from Daily Mail diarist Charles Sale here who continues to keep up the pressure on the Lambourn trainer.

11.31am:

Whether the weather be hot . . .

Will Hayler:

Nobody’s perfect but, once again, John Kettley seem to have hit the post – and that’s putting it politely – with his weather forecasting for Cheltenham this week.

Having done enough to assure clerk of the course Simon Claisse that there were “strong signals” for 4-5mm of rain overnight or this morning, so far a grand total of 0.2mm has arrived. That’s about a drop, isn’t it?

Claisse and Mr Ketley still reckon a further 1-3mm might arrive before racing, but I wouldn’t be so certain. I have no meteorology experience whatsoever, but it just doesn’t feel like a rainy day.

In the meantime, the ground has predictably dried out to good on the chase course, with the hurdle track remaining good, good to soft in places.

Meanwhile, I’ve had about the third or fourth-biggest bet of my life on Imperial Commander at 9-2.

I might be wrong. The odds suggest that there’s about a 4 in 5 chance that I am. But everything just feels right for another top-drawer performance today.

If I’m right, I shall be hurtling up the M6 to watch the Levellers in Manchester with a celebratory ale or two. If I’m wrong, I’ll probably be curled up in a corner, rocking slowly with a bottle of cooking sherry.

11.25am: Big Mac hard at work on his stats ahead of Gold Cup afternoon

Our man Barry Glendenning has been busy in the press room at Cheltenham watching the other press slaving away. Here is Barry’s twitpic of Channel 4′s Big Mac hard at work and his tweet on the subject: John McCririck, genuinely the hardest working man in the press room #cheltfest http://t.co/12QCeu3

11.19am:

If the Guardian bought a racehorse . . .

Barry Glendenning:

While out for a bit of grub with a few proper racing reporters the other night, there was a discussion about a racehorse one tabloid had bought so they could raffle it off in a competition for their readers. While the newspaper in question paid the training fees and vet bills, whichever lucky reader won the horse for the year got VIP treatment at the races any time it ran, as well as any prize-money it won.

It didn’t win any.

Talk soon turned to what would happen if the Guardian decided to follow suit and it was quickly decided that any racehorse raffled off by this left-leaning publication would have to be fed on organically grown, ethically sourced hay and ridden by a female jockey wearing silks fashioned from hemp. She would not be allowed to hit the horse, or even carry a whip. Our steed would only have to go on the gallops if it wanted to and would be encouraged to take occasional sabbaticals, in order to find opportunities and sample other ways of life – working for the police or a rag-and-bone man, perhaps – before deciding it definitely wanted to be a racehorse. Any money it won would go to charity.

Have we missed anything obvious? What kind of racehorse would other newspapers give away? What would we call ours? Feel free to post your suggestions below the line.

11.12am:

Paddy Power’s tipping competition

You could win a £50 bet from Paddy Power by proving your tipping prowess on today’s races. All you have to do is give us your selections for all of today’s races at Cheltenham.

As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price. Non-runners count as losers.

Please post all your tips in a single posting, using the comment facility below, before the first race at 1.30pm. There are seven races at Cheltenham today and you must post a single selection for each race.

Our usual terms and conditions, which you can read here will apply, except that this will be a strictly one-day thing. If we get a tie after all the races have been run, the winner will be the one who posted their tips earliest out of those with the highest score.

If you don’t win today . . . despair! Because the Festival ends today and there is no tomorrow.

There will, of course, be a next week and the usual Talking Horses tipping competition will return on Monday, regular as sunrise.

Congratulations to chiefhk, winner of yesterday’s competition. He was the only one to pick Buena Vista (he slightly mis-spelled it but the intention was clear) and nobody had Holmwood Legend (25-1). We have sent you an email, sir, regarding your prize.

10.53am: What is the world’s greatest race?

Tony Paley: The answer to the question will have many different answers depending on your predilection for Flat racing or jumps, what part of the world you hail from and if you have regularly backed the winner no doubt.

The Arc de Triomphe, the Grand National, the Melbourne Cup, the Kentucky Derby, THE Derby, the Dubai World Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Classic must all be in the mix. Respected American racing writer Alan Shuback has attempted to answer the conundrum and he is firmly of the opinion that it is the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Here is his reasoning in a very readable article in America’s equivalent of the Racing Post, the Daily Racing Form.

10.45am:

The Festival Song – day four

Tony Paley: On Gold Cup day it only seems right to tip our hats to Himself, the greatest chaser ever who won three successive Gold Cups from 1964 and who is so central to the myths and iconography associated with the great race.

Dominic Behan, the youngest of the four famous Behan brothers, of whom the most notable, and the most notorious, was the oldest brother Brendan, as fabled for his drinking exploits as for his very popular plays.

Dominic was a notable writer of folk music as well as drama and here is his tribute to Arkle.

It certainly beats that mournful dirge that used to accompany Best Mate after his three successes.

10.25am:

Gold Cup rich with possibilities

Greg Wood reports from the track on a day that promises so much:

It’s standard practice before a big race like the Gold Cup to spend a little time working out which potential winners are proper “story” horses and which might be, well, a little less spectacular from a reporter’s point of view.

On that basis, it’s difficult to remember a Gold Cup that is quite as rich with possibilities as this afternoon’s renewal. A third victory for Kauto Star would, of course, be a moment to rank with some of the most famous in Festival history, while a second success for Denman, for many the epitome of what a steeplechaser should be and do, would also be wildly popular.

Imperial Commander, another grand Cheltenham type, will have an army of supporters too. Midnight Chase would be a bittersweet winner as Dougie Costello, his regular rider, broke his leg on the eve of the Festival, while Kempes could add a first Gold Cup to the JP McManus trophy list after his first Grand National 11 months ago.

And then there is Long Run, with amateur rider Sam Waley-Cohen on his back and, perhaps, the status of favourite by off-time. He too would achieve a Gold Cup first, in this case both for his rider and for trainer Nicky Henderson, and after that week that Henderson has had, it is starting to feel pre-ordained.

The sudden exit of Binocular from the Champion Hurdle due to a medication problem was one of the lowest moments of Henderson’s career, and the horses from his yard that have actually made it to the track this week have done little to lift his spirits. Tuesday brought a series of near-misses, while Wednesday and Thursday little but thumping defeats and another cruel setback with Lush Life, who had to be put down after pulling up.

Henderson’s lack of a series of credible contenders in the Gold Cup, never mind an actual winner, has long been one of National Hunt’s great puzzles. Every horse in his yard is bought with chasing in mind. When you see them trotting out to exercise in the morning, it would be difficult to say for sure which of them are already running over fences, and which are still biding their time over hurdles.

But Long Run, the King George winner, is very credible indeed, and his momentum in the market could well carry him to clear favouritism by 3.20pm today.

10.12am:

Gold Cup day preview

Welcome to day four of the Cheltenham Festival. Today is Gold Cup day and the highlight of the week.

Barry Glendenning will be reporting live on the action off the track in the bars and amongs the crowd. Here is his Diary from yesterday with a report on Henry Cecil’s triumph in the charity race.

Our tipster Will Hayler guides you through today’s races with his best bets from this afternoon’s TV coverage here.

Ever been to Cheltenham Festival? Here is a Comment is free piece from colleague Julian Glover which will ensure you get there as soon as possible.

Nicky Henderson will be hoping to land the Gold Cup for the first time today with Long Run. Paul Hayward looks here at the trainer’s troubles as his horse prepares to line up for the race.

Here is Paul’s profile of Long Run’s amateur rider Sam Waley-Cohen.

Don McRae went to see Imperial Commander’s trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies and here is his feature on the trainer of the Gold Cup favourite.

Greg Wood reports here from yesterday’s races on the Big Buck’s triumph and the near-disaster in the Ryanair Chase.

Here’s today’s line-up at Cheltenham and our tipsters’ selections:

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Cheltenham Festival must tighten security admits Edward Gillespie

March 18, 2011 By Owen Gibson

• Ryanair Chase protest caught track by surprise
• No decision yet on adding Saturday card to meeting

The managing director of the Cheltenham Festival has called on the rest of racing to learn from its success, which he said had held up this week despite the broader economic backdrop.

But he admitted to being caught out by the protester who invaded the track on Thursday and promised to look at ways of tightening security without destroying the “anything goes” atmosphere.

“You’ve got to take it on the chin. Let’s make sure if it did happen again that we’re a bit quicker off the mark. We were completely caught out,” he said of the protester who ran on to the course waving a placard during the Ryanair Chase on Thursday.

“But equally it’s a risk of running the way we do without lines and lines of people telling you how to behave. I genuinely see more of Glastonbury at Cheltenham than I do Twickenham or Wimbledon. People can do exactly what they like here.”

Edward Gillespie said that the Festival would hit its target of 220,000 visitors over the four days, with 64,000 attending on Gold Cup day, and that income from hospitality and sponsorship had gone up on last year.

“Very few people pay to come on all four days, so we’re promoting this as four individual experiences. We don’t have to do much at this place, because it is the horses, the jockeys and the trainers who talk it up. We don’t need gimmicks or fun fairs.”

But he said racing must use the strength of Cheltenham, this year celebrating its centenary, to increase the value of the rest of the sport.

“We mustn’t look at this event and mistake it for the sport in general. The sport is challenged every Saturday of the winter by other sports, it is losing market share in the betting shops. Don’t mistake what happens here and at Aintree for what is happening elsewhere in our sport.”

Gillespie said it was the egalitarian nature of the Festival and the relatively cheap ticket prices that helped to maintain its popularity.

“Value is very important. You can get in today for £30. The breadth of the support is very important, getting people close to the action is essential.”

He added that the number of Irish visitors had also held up on last year, despite the collapse of the country’s economy: “I’m genuinely proud that we’ll send £1m back across the Irish Sea, all of which will go back into horse racing.

The Jockey Club, which owns Cheltenham and 13 other courses, has yet to take a definitive decision on whether to extend the Festival into the weekend. Earlier this month, Gillespie revealed plans for a £30m makeover for the course, which he admitted projected an image of “faded glory” when it wasn’t full.

“As and when we’re ready we’ll decide how to move forward. The people here today are pretty happy with a Friday. The question is whether there’s an even greater audience for us out there, so you keep this and somehow develop it into a weekend,” he said.

“It’s about the sport. I’m reminded every day as other sports become so professional and so well regimented and highly programmed and stylised. What sets this event apart is the proximity. It’s very joyous, coming off the back of a very difficult winter for the sport. The mood of the country is not that positive and this is a real shot in the arm for people.”

Gillespie said Sam Waley-Cohen’s victory on Long Run in the Gold Cup was a fitting climax to the Festival. “It’s fantastic that in our centenary year you’ve got an absolute throwback to amateurism. It’s like a Grand Prix being won by a guy who drives part time. It says so much for this extraordinary and unpredictable sport of ours.”

Owen Gibson

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Long Run triumphs for amateur Sam Waley-Cohen in Cheltenham Gold Cup

March 18, 2011 By Will Hayler

• Nicky Henderson celebrates at last on day to remember
• Denman and Kauto Star finish second and third

Corinthian spirit brought the Cheltenham Festival to an incredible high as the amateur rider Sam Waley-Cohen captured an unforgettable Totesport Gold Cup run in a record time aboard the 7-2 favourite Long Run.

In a sensational conclusion to a race which will go down as one of the all-time classics, Long Run galloped to the final fence alongside former champions Denman and Kauto Star. If a weakness was to be found in either jockey or horse, it would come now.

But instead, Long Run winged the final fence and stretched clear to beat Denman (8-1) by seven lengths with Kauto Star (5-1) just holding off the late challenge of What A Friend for third as champion trainer Paul Nicholls saddled second, third and fourth.

Next week it will be back to the day job for Waley-Cohen, the manager of a dental practice business, but what a story he will have to tell for the rest of his life.

“It’s a surreal moment,” he said. “At some of the fences he jumped so big that as you went through the air, you thought ‘I just hope he manages to land’. It was unbelievable.”

His father, Robert Waley-Cohen, who bought Long Run from France specifically in the hope of an achievement such as this, was left in tears. “I’m so elated I can’t describe how I am feeling,” he said. “I thought the chance had gone coming down the hill but he rallied and met the last flying. This is why you get into racing. I’m so proud of Sam. He was spectacular.”

The winning trainer Nicky Henderson was also wearing his heart on his sleeve afterwards. “It was a proper race,” he said. “All the big boys were there and Sam has given him a beautiful ride. For an amateur, a jockey who doesn’t get to go and ride on the gallops every morning like the others, to go and do this is amazing.

“He was never going to be allowed any quarter by the professionals but he’s got a cool head and that was a big help for him. Apart from a couple of messy jumps, he really got him jumping. It was magnificent.”

Nicholls also paid tribute to the winner, saying: “I’m not in any way disappointed that we didn’t win, they were absolutely awesome. Denman, Kauto Star and What A Friend have all run their hearts out, but there’s a changing of the guard now and Long Run is the champion.”

Last year’s winner Imperial Commander was disputing the lead when making a mistake at the third-last fence. The jockey Paddy Brennan subsequently reported that the horse had pulled up lame.

Henderson and his stable jockey Barry Geraghty had earlier ended a frustrating week of near-misses when the well-backed Bobs Worth (15-8) took the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle from stablemate Mossley.

“I’ve got to feel sorry for Michael Buckley, the owner of the runner-up, as he has been with me all week and we’ve kept just missing out, but this is a welcome result,” said Henderson.

Geraghty played a major part in the horse’s early career, buying him from the breeder before subsequently selling him to syndicate made up of the trainer and a group of friends. “They’ll know how to celebrate tonight,” said Henderson. Bobs Worth was quoted at 10-1 by William Hill for both the World Hurdle and the RSA Chase next season.

A half-brother to champion mare Zarkava, few horses running at this week’s Festival will have as immaculate a pedigree as Zarkandar and the 13-2 chance upheld the family name when taking the Triumph Hurdle by 2¼ lengths from Unaccompanied.

Zarkandar’s success also provided jockey Daryl Jacob with a first Festival victory. “I’m so grateful for the owners for letting me keep the ride after I was on board when he won first time out,” he said. “He took me into the race at the right time and I am so impressed with him.”

Final Approach set a new record when becoming the 11th Irish-trained winner of the week as he edged out Get Me Out Of Here in a photo-finish for the County Hurdle. Victory left Ruby Walsh clear in the top jockey standings for the Festival with five winners.

Will Hayler

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