Cheltenham Festival 2011 Review - Long Run wins epic Gold Cup race

THE centenary year of the Cheltenham Festival certainly didn’t disappoint and it produced one of the greatest Gold Cups ever.  The 7-2 favourite Long Run took the honours, after a belting finish, which saw the young horse see off determined challengers from the old guard, in the form of Denman and Kauto Star.

FORM: Favourite Long Run lived upto expectations in the Gold Cup

     Long Run has improved massively in recent months, and showed his potential by winning the King George VI at Kempton in January.  Nevertheless, despite his favourite tag, he had lost on each of his three previous meetings at Cheltenham.  For much of the race, Kauto Star made the running.  The Paul Nicholls trained horse had won this event in 2007 and 2009 and was determined to make up for his bad fall last year.  Ruby Walsh put in a mega effort as ever, but he was caught by his stablemate and long-time rival Denman.  Sam Thomas guided Denman into the lead, but in the end, the youth of Long Run was too strong, as he overtook the pair on the outside of the penultimate fence and stormed clear to win from Denman and Kauto Star.

     Long Run becomes the youngest horse to win the steeplechase classic since Mill House in 1963 and it is also a brilliant success for amateur jockey Sam Wahey-Cohen.  It also gives trainer Nicky Henderson his first Cheltenham Gold Cup success, his 39^th festival winner.  Last year’s winner and second favourite with the punters Imperial Commander dropped out of contention in the latter stages and jockey Paddy Brennan pulled him up towards the end.  Later, it was revealed that he had suffered a burst blood vessel.

DOMINANT: Big Buck's and Ruby Walsh won their third World Hurdle

     Despite defeat in the prestigious race, Ruby Walsh once again emerged as top jockey at the festival with five wins.  Three of those came on the first day of the meeting, including the Champion Hurdle on 11-4F Hurricane Fly.  Two days later, he also triumphed on another favourite as Big Buck's won his third Ladbrokes World Hurdle.  This is made all the more staggering by the fact that only three weeks ago, Walsh was still fighting to recover in time for the festival after a horrific broken leg at the start of the year.  The only surprising winner was Sizing Europe, who saw off Big Zeb and MasterMinded to win Wednesday’s main event; the Queen Mother Champion Chase.  Even then, Jason Maguire’s horse was a 10-1 shot.  This completed a nightmare week for the bookmakers.  After their resounding success last year, they were trounced this year by the punters and admittingly, it is nice to see the smirk wiped off their faces this time around. 

     It was an incredible four days, and a fitting way to mark a cracking centenary.  There will be many more great Cheltenham Festivals for years to come, but they will do well to match the quality and excitement of 2011.  On the evidence of this, a torch has been past in steeplechase racing and Long Run now has the potential to dominate the key jump meetings for many years to come.  This was the day when Denman and Kauto Star moved aside to allow the new breed of generation to take control of horse racing.  

Cheltenham Festival Preview 2011

THE 2011 Cheltenham Festival starts tomorrow and it is set to be the most open meeting for many years.  Kicking off the week’s prestigious events will be the Supreme Novices Hurdle at 1.30pm tomorrow.  Of course, the main event is the Gold Cup itself on Friday afternoon, and after last year’s surprises – who knows what will happen.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup – Friday: 3.20pm

Imperial Commander was the shock winner of last year’s Gold Cup, but he isn’t the favourite this year.  Yet again, that honour falls to Kauto Star.  Trained by Paul Nicholls, he won in 2007 and 2009, but fell last year whilst in the midfield.  Ruby Walsh will once again take the reins, and Kauto’s form isn’t great coming here.  He was surprisingly beaten in the King George VI at Kempton in January, so he will be looking for a return to form here.  2008 winner Denman and Imperial Commander are likely to be in the race and other leading runners will be Ireland’s best hope Kempes, ridden by Tony McCoy and Long Run, who was the King George VI winner.  Can Kauto Star win the Gold Cup for a third time and cement his place as one of the greatest steeplechase horses of all time, or is another shock in store for the favourite?  My tip is for Kauto to defy his bad form and make it a third win.

HAPPYDUDE’S GOLD CUP TIP: Kauto Star

The Champion Hurdle – Tomorrow

McCoy might be the leading jump jockey of all-time, but the BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner in 2010 will not have a show ride in tomorrow’s feature race.  Binocular, who won the Champion Hurdle last year had to pull out yesterday from this year’s running list, after trainer Nicky Henderson was told that medication given for an allergy would not clear up in time for the horse to pass a standardised drugs test.  It means the field for this race is thrown wide open, with Welsh Champion Hurdle winner Oscar Whisky and Hurricane Fly among the leading contenders.  However, my tip is Peddlers Cross, who is trained by Donald McCain and arrives in Cheltenham with an unbeaten record.  I think that formidable form will be good enough to turn the tables.

HAPPYDUDE’S CHAMPION HURDLE TIP: Peddlers Cross

Queen Mother’s Champion Chase – Wednesday

 Wednesday’s big race is the Queen Mother’s Champion Chase and it is set to be a blockbuster, with one of the most eagerly awaited battles of the four-day event.  MasterMinded is the king of this race, following dominant wins in 2008 and 2009.  However, he was usurped last year by Big Zeb.  Ruby Walsh is back on MasterMinded, and although he is lacking fitness, his stunning Cheltenham record is enough for to convince me that MasterMinded will return to glory in this race this year.

HAPPYDUDE’S CHAMPION CHASE TIP: MasterMinded

Ladbrokes World Hurdle – Thursday

Walsh will also ride the favourite in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle on Thursday, as he strides to succeed on Big Bucks for the third successive year.  However, he has a much more talented field to deal with this year and I reckon this could be the surprise of the week.  I’m backing Fiveforthree to end Big Bucks ten race winning streak.  Plus, there is always an upset at Cheltenham every year in one of the feature races.

HAPPYDUDE’S WORLD HURDLE TIP: Fiveforthree

The festival reaches its centenary this year and I predict the racing to be as close as ever, the pints of Guinness to flow and the Irish to rule the roost on St. Patrick’s Day.  This is set to be a cracking Cheltenham Festival in 2011 and it starts at 12.20pm tomorrow, LIVE ON CHANNEL 4.

John Smith's Grand National - Sheer Delight For McCoy

On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Aintree, there was proof in horse racing that shows good things come to those who wait.  At his 15^th attempt, Tony McCoy finally won the Grand National, steering the 10-1 joint favourite, Don’t Push It around to an emotional Aintree success. 

The 35-year old has over 3,000 winners in his career, but success in the greatest horse race in the world had always eluded him.  A pair of third places on Blowing Wind at the start of the 20^th century was the closest that he came to achieving his ultimate aim.  It was clear when he crossed the line yesterday, how much pressure he was under and how must have been feeling, to end such a bitter and painful jinx.  Trained by Jonjo O’Neill, he held off a race-long challenge from the 14-1 charge, Black Apalachi, who was infront for most of the 4 and half miles.  State of Play finished third, with the other joint-favourite, Big Fella Thanks ending up fourth, fading badly in the closing stages. 

For Paul Nicholls, it has been a painful couple of weeks.  After seeing the Kauto Star vs Denman battle in the Cheltenham Gold Cup turn into an unexpected defeat at the hands of Imperial Commander.  Now, his trusted jockey Ruby Walsh missed the National, after a nasty fall in a warm-up race less than an hour before the 4.15pm start-time.  Walsh, twice a winner of the greatest steeplechase was rushed to hospital with a broken arm.  In-form jockey Barry Geraghty switched rides at the last moment to head up Big Fella Thanks, but with it being at such short notice, it was always going to be a tough task to achieve the top honours.

Following a false start and echoes of that 1993 farce, JP McManus horse, King Johns Castle refused to start, no matter what it took.  It left his jockey, the 1999 winner Paul Carberry feeling embarrassed and dismayed at his non-participation.  For much of the race, McCoy was always in contention, but was still only fourth with two fences to run.  However, Can’t Buy Time was strong right at the end, holding off the strong challenge from Black Apalachi, who at 14-1 was well-backed on the day.  Only fourteen finished this year, with last year’s winner, Mon Mome amongst one of the casualties.  Thankfully, unlike in recent years, all the jockeys and horses that took part on this gruelling course managed to get around safely, without any injuries or fatalities. 

He may have had over 3,000 winners, plus a deserved MBE from the Queen, but the final box off his CV has finally been ticked off.  On Saturday 10^th April 2010, Tony McCoy finally became a Grand National winning jockey.  Good things come to those who wait….