For every winner at Cheltenham, there is always a hard luck story or a couple of horses that have come out of the festival perhaps slightly under the radar to keep onside for any potential races during the remainder of the season or to take into next season. I've decided to write this post so that I can list some of those that I have taken away from the festival and will be keeping at the forefront of my mind as we move forward.
American Mike - Champion bumper
I felt that there was a fair bit of depth to this years bumper. Coming into the race Facile Vega was the talking horse and for obvious reasons. Despite the heavy rainfall and heavy ground he still made a slog in the mud look classy on his way to victory but American Mike lost nothing in defeat in 2nd place. It's no secret how highly thought of he is by connections, not least Jamie Codd if his preview night commendations were to go by. The son of Mahler had to settle for a run on the outside in midfield the whole way around before hitting the front on the turn for home and being headed, but stayed on well under Jamie Codd to finish second. The ground probably did him no favours but the winner wasn't going to be caught. However, American Mike does look like a horse that will be finely suited by more of a trip and he strikes me as Ballymore type for next season but looking further ahead he is tailor made for jumping fences.
James's Gate - Champion Bumper
Sticking with the Champion Bumper, James's Gate turned in a very impressive performance finishing 3rd behind two very good horses, one of which could be one of the future stars of national hunt racing. What was most impressive of James's Gate was that he turned in a really professional performance for a horse on only his 2nd start. You would expect that there will be more improvement to come from the 5 year old and I just wonder how he will fare on better ground given his two runs have both come on heavy. James's gate certainly shapes like another Ballymore novices hurdle prospect for next season.
Seabank Bistro - Champion Bumper
I did say I thought there was some serious depth to the bumper.... Seabank Bistro is another who ran a solid race for his second career start. Having been hold up from the start of the race, he made headway on the outside from 5-6 furlongs out when tracking American Mike. He was a very close up 3rd when he was starting to be ridden from 2 furlongs out. He was rather one-paced from there but he stayed on very well to finish 4th.
If we then delve into he debut win at Naas he beat Gordon Elliot's Santonito by a comfortable 5 lengths after staying on well under pressure. Santonito was beaten just over 2 lengths by The Nice Guy on his debut, who won Friday's Albert Bartlett novices hurdle by 5 lengths from stablemate Minella Cocooner.
Seabank Bistro is a nice big horse and is sired by Walk in the Park who needs no introduction. Given the formlines and the manner of his 4th place finish in the Champion Bumper, I feel we're potentially looking at a horse who could possibly be campaigned over the longer trip over hurdles next season and be targetted at the Albert Bartlett.
I am not usually one to place antepost bets this far out, especially without confirmed targets, but at odds of 25/1 at the time of writing, I have certainly seen worse antepost wagers.
Il Etait Temps - Triumph Hurdle
I've mentioned this fella on twitter quite a few times and I think there is a seriously talented horse here. He pulled quadruple and ran green in the Triumph hurdle from the second they jumped off and kept that up pretty much until they just the penultimate flight before the turn for home. Il Etait Temps was still cruising when he and Icare Allen came up alongside Vauban, Fil Dor and Pied Piper, however, by they had kicked on Il Etait Temps clearly had ran out of gas and you could argue he would have finished closer has he not ploughed the final hurdle.
I was keen on this horse for the Triumph after watching him on his stable debut at Leopardstown when he finished 3rd to Vauban and Fil Dor. He was held up for most of that race and ran very green that day too. When he was eventually asked to lay down a challenge by Danny Mullins, he responded and he looked to show a pretty sharp turn of foot but it was over before he had even got going and I put that down to his overexcitement early-race added to the fact that he would have needed the run that day after a 261-day break.
I really do hope that connections opt to put the horse away now and campaign him in novice company next season. If they can get into his head and get him to settle then I feel Willie Mullins has another serious 2 mile novice hurdler to go war with.
Mrs Milner - Mares Hurdle
The 2021 pertemps handicap hurdle winner was arguably one of the biggest hard luck stories of the Cheltenham festival last week. Pre-festival, Mrs Milner returned this season to win a listed mares hurdle at Limerick before travelling over to Newbury in November to contest the grade 2 Long Walk hurdle where she travelled very well for the larger part of the race but just faded at the business end. I felt that going into Cheltenham, she was almost a bit of a forgotten horse.
During Tuesday's grade 1 mares hurdle, Mrs Milner travelled rather well throughout and jumped her hurdles as slick as ever. As the field started to free-wheel down the hill, it started a sequence of bad luck for Mrs Milner. As they made their down the hill, she found that a door has been closed as Danny Mullins made a move on Stormy Ireland, which meant hat Bryan Cooper had to steer Mrs Milner wide, at which point Indefatigable fell and brought down Telmesomethinggirl, badly hampering Mrs Milner. Just to top it off Mrs Milner then got a bit of a nudge from one of her rivals while trying to pick up pace.
The fact that Mrs Milner was able to even contend at this stage was impressive, but she stayed on and was flying up the hill finishing strongly, finishing only 3 and a half lengths behind the winner Marie's Rock. I think it's more than fair to say that there is a very good mare at Paul Nolan's disposal and I have no doubt that there will be another nice prize or two to add to their 2021 Pertemps final win.
Ballygrifincottage - Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
Ballygrifincottage was one of my long-term antepost fancies for the 2022 festival after his 3rd placed finished where he was 6 and a half lengths behind Charles Byrnes' short-priced antepost favourite for the Albert Bartlett- Blazing Khal - until he met with a setback. He raced in mid division that day before taking up the lead after jumping the penultimate fence before being headed just before the final flight by Blazing Khal, who cruised into the lead under patient ride and finding plenty for a bit of pressure after a poor jump at the last. This was a really encouraging debut by the son of Stowaway after 202 days off the track.
He then went on to on Lingfield and where he stayed on well and won with a fair bit in hand and it looked like a a smart prep run ahead of the Albert Bartlett.
Ballygrifincottage had a fairly smooth time of it in the Albert Bartlett. He had no trouble in running and as the back marker throughout most of the race he was simply passing by those who were falling away from the main group. At the business end as they turned for home, he began to look rather workmanlike and I just wonder whether lack of race experience in comparison to those who finished ahead of him could have played a part. Afterall, this was only his third start under rules.
It will be interesting to see what Skelton has up his sleeve for Ballygrifincottage between now and the end of the season but I suspect that a novice chasing campaign next season will be likely and I think he could be one to keep in the notebook.
I Am Maximus - Ballymore Novices Hurdle
Nicky Henderson's 6 year old finished 21 lengths behind Ser Gerhard in 4th place in the Grade 1 Ballymore novices hurdle on day 2 of the festival last week. I took a a chance an each way on him at a price based on his prior form which included a 2-length 2nd to Albert Bartlett favourite Hillcrest and victory over the smart My Drogo for Dan Skelton, albeit in a bumper.
While I had never expected the son of Authorized to win the Ballymore, he was always going to be in for a tough race. He was keen early on and made a couple of mistakes which meant he was being ridden fairly early on.
It's fair to say that I Am Maximus hasn't lived up to the expectations that followed his win over My Drogo on debut, but for a horse still rated 134 it's possible that he be somewhat underestimated if tried in handicap company, especially considering that there is clearly a horse with ability there, if it can be unlocked.
Champion Green - Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
Another antepost fancy of mine was Champion Green. Prior to the festival I thought this was a horse improving with every run and was visibly looking more professional for race experience. I do feel that Champion Green suffered touch of bad luck on his 3 outings over hurdles, but on his final outing before Cheltenahm - at Naas - he finally put it all together making all and going clear just over a furlong from home before staying on strongly. He was then given a mark of 125 by the British handicapper which, in my opinion, was really underestimating his ability and when I found out that Rachel Blackmore was booked to ride Champion Green I thought Christmas had come early. Unfortunately for Champion Green (and for me) he encountered some trouble in running. After the false start, Rachel Blackmore opted to take a position at the back of the field to negate the horses overexcitement and to encourage him to settle better than he had done in previous races but the uncharacteristic pace compared to what we would normally expect to see in the Juvenile handicap hurdle didn't help his cause. When it got to the business end of the race, Rachel Blackmore made her move to try and work negotiate her way through the field, but ran into the back of Doctor Brown Bear before then being held up by stablemate Prairie Dancer on the turn for home. For good measure, Champion Green then decided to run through the final hurdle as opposed to jumping which finally meant curtains for his race.
While I do not think he would have ended up placing in the race anyway prior to the error at the last hurdle, he certainly would have been a lot closer to the winner than the 16 and-a-half-length gap that it resulted in.
As a result, Champion Green remains a very well handicapped horse. As we know, on his day when he puts it together and gets a bit more luck he can be a very smart one and is definitely worth keeping on eye on going forwards. It will be interesting to see if he features in any juvenile handicaps between now and the end of the season.
Thanks for reading,
James
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