2011 John Smith's Grand National - The McCain legacy continues

THE McCain legacy at Aintree continued at the weekend, as Donald McCain, song of Ginger trained the winning horse to victory at the John Smith’s Grand National.  The 14-1 shot Ballabriggs, ridden by Jason Maguire continues the happy tradition of winners in their stable.  Ginger McCain was the figurehead behind Red Rum’s three successes in the 1970s and came back to win again with Amberleigh House in 2004.

CLEARED: Ballabriggs overcomes the last hurdle on his way to victory

     For Maguire, it was a sweet moment too, as he won the race for the first time; having narrowly missed out on riding Silver Birch to glory in 2008.  Oscar Time came second, also at 14-1, whilst Tony McCoy steered last year’s winner Don’t Push It to third place, despite being the heaviest horse in the field.  The pre-race favourite, the Midnight Club finished in sixth after a bad mistake in the early stages.  He went off as the 15-2 favourite and was jockeyed by winner of the national twice, Ruby Walsh.  In one of the closest national finishes in recent years, it looked like Oscar Time might just edge Ballabriggs out, but Maguire found extra reserve to hold on and clinch victory.  It completes a wonderful year for Oscar Time’s jockey, Sam Waley-Cohen.  Cohen, who is still an amateur jockey, has already won the King George VI and the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Long Run this season, and came so close to pulling off an incredible hat-trick.

    The demands that the Grand National has on the horses were sadly evidently shown at the weekend.  Two nasty falls at the fourth fence and at Beacher’s Brook saw fatal injuries to horses Ornais and Dooneys Gate.  This meant for the first time ever in the history of the national, these fences were skipped by the jockeys second time around, meaning they only jumped 28 instead of the traditional 30.  For the trainers and jockeys of these horses, it is such a heartbreaking tale and reminds us not just how cruel sport is, but how irrelative it is in the face of such overwhelming tragedy. 

     Consequently, on such a hot and humid day in Liverpool, celebrations had to be kept at a minimum in respect.  However, many congratulations go out to Jason Maguire and Ballabriggs, who have kept the tradition of success going in the McCain family.  They are born winners; it is as simple as that.

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.