-
NH season starting to hit top gear says Rachael
-
Cheltenham is unique, every meeting there is special
-
No room for jumping errors on the Old Course
National Hunt season starting to roll again!
It's amazing how quickly the National Hunt season gets rolling again!
Cheltenham stage their first meeting of the new season this weekend, and it all goes on from there, both in Ireland and in Britain. These weekends, leading up to Christmas, are weekends of top-class National Hunt racing on both sides of the Irish Sea. The stable tours are appearing now, exciting times, you're reading about all the big horses in Ireland and in Britain, horses' targets and trainers' plans.
Cheltenham is a special place
It's great that Cheltenham is back this weekend. Cheltenham is so special, it's a unique place. Of course, the Festival in March is the highlight, but every meeting at Cheltenham is special. There's just something about the place, the setting, the backdrop, the racecourse itself.
They race on the Old Course at Cheltenham this weekend, and that is an important factor. The Old Course is totally different to the New Course. It's Cheltenham, of course, Old Course and New Course, and you still have the hill to climb at the end, regardless of which course you're on, but as racecourses go, they are very different courses with very distinct characteristics.
Of course, you have to ride your own horse, regardless of which course you're on. If your horse can race keenly and needs to be held up, you're going to hold him or her up, regardless of where the race is. But the Old Course is tighter, it's sharper, it's more of a speed test. Ideally, you want to be a little further forward on the Old Course than you do on the New Course. It can be difficult to make ground on the Old Course.
The two-mile hurdle course is of course, the Champion Hurdle course. You try to get your position you want from the start, but there is time between the first flight and the second flight, up towards the stands, so, if you don't have your position from the start, you still have a chance to get it after the first flight.
Racing... Only Bettor. Listen to Saturday's preview episode now.
Horses can detect the atmosphere
Horses can be keen, especially at the Festival when the crowd is buzzy and adrenaline is up. Slade Steel, for example, in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle last year, he wasn't a keen horse, but he was keen that day. Everyone is edgy, the starts are edgy, and horses obviously detect that.
You land over the second flight, the flight in front of the stands, and you get ready to turn sharply to your left. You need to be ready for that, ideally you want to jump that flight well because, if you don't, you can get pushed wide, or you can get shuffled back, and you're out of position, you are playing catch-up.
Then you turn and you turn again, into the back straight, and you race downhill. You're trying not to force them downhill. Horses will run downhill on their own and, if you are forcing them at that point, you're using up energy that you don't need to use. Ideally, you don't want to be making ground running uphill or running downhill. You want to make your ground on the flat parts of the track if you can, you're constantly trying to conserve energy for the final hill, and that's why it's so difficult to make ground on Cheltenham's Old Course.
The Old Course is a jumping test
The Old Course is a jumping course, both over hurdles and over fences. Over fences, there is a lot of jumping, and a lot of turning. There's not much room for error. There always seems to be room at the start of the two-mile chase track. The fences are in a line, four fences in a row, but they're not really in a line, you're turning all the time. The track moves, so the field will angle out. Different riders take different options, different lines, and maybe that's why you can find room.
I always thought that a tricky fence was the fence running away from the stands, the first fence on the final circuit. It just kind of comes at you, you don't want to be jumping it to the right anyway. Then you turn into the back straight and roll down the hill. You're trying to meet every fence in the back straight well. Jumping with a slight angle left.
The fourth last on the Old Course, the final open ditch, you love to jump to get a good jump at that. There's quite a stiff climb after the fourth last and, if you wing the fence, you can just sit and conserve energy. Miss it though, and you lose momentum, you have to use up energy, you're chasing up that climb, and that's energy that you're going to need for the final push up the hill.
Down the hill then to the third last, another tricky fence, and then turn. Face up to the final two fences. You're there with your chance, and you're hoping that you've conserved enough energy for that final push up the hill to the line.
The Irish are here
Lots of Irish trainers have runners there over the course of the weekend. Twelve different Irish trainers have runners declared, so it's going to be fascinating to see how they get on.
Henry [De Bromhead[ has a few going over, as usual. Henry's horses always seem to run well at Cheltenham as everyone knows, and they have been in excellent form in Ireland in the last few weeks, so I'm sure they can continue that good run at Cheltenham over the weekend.
It all starts from here!