The turf
Festival tips
Robin Oakley
Ihave long felt that one of the most underestimated training performances of recent years was Noel Chance's victory with Mr Mulligan in the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 1997. True, he was given the Guinness Pure Genius award. But we couldn't be sure whether that was for training the hat- rack of a horse or for his contribution to their profits over the years. Mr Mulligan, a washy chestnut with a cream blaze who car- ried his head to one side having broken his neck as a novice, had legs as brittle as the ice-cream cones with which his owner had made his fortune. Having suffered a haematoma in a tumble at the last in the King George VI chase at Kempton on Box- ing Day and ligament trouble too, he did not run again before Cheltenham. It was always touch and go whether they got him there. As Noel says, risking double wash- ing-up duties, 'If I'd felt my wife's legs as often as I felt Mr Mulligan's she'd have been well pleased.' But just days before the race they galloped him at Newbury and were convinced he was ready. And in the event he strode on relentlessly up the hill to a comfortable victory.
The sad thing was that the Gold Cup success was the pinnacle for owner Michael Worcester, who owned Noel's stable too. He lost interest and cut back, and two years later Noel was down to a dozen hors- es and just four wins for the season. Only when he won the Sun Alliance Novices Chase last year with Looks Like Trouble did the world wake up to the fact that Mr Mulligan's success was no fluke. Since then the orders have been coming in nicely. Noel is doing well with decent horses, training 30-plus from the Saxon House yard in Lambourn. And though he has the fearsome See More Business and probably the exciting novice Gloria Victis to beat, I still see Looks Like Trouble at 7-1 as the best value on next week's Festival card.
I would not put anyone off See More Business, the defending champion, who is at his nippiest when really fit and well and is currently said to be biting anyone who comes near. Trained up the precipice behind Paul Nicholls's stable, he is a magnif- icent galloping machine with a real will to win. Gloria Victis is a great prospect for the future but will have to improve even on his exhilarating Kempton performance. And we should not ignore the claims of Mark Pit- man's ever-improving Hennessy winner Ever Blessed now they seem to have the measure of his shoulder problem. But I will still take Looks Like Trouble to beat them.
In all the fuss about the historical frolics which Tallulah Bankhead may or may not have had with Eton boys, I noticed that the formidable lady once declared that only good girls kept diaries: bad girls don't have the time. If the same applies to the mascu- line gender I must have led a better life than some politicians would surmise. I do keep a few running notes and before you read any further I would counsel that my records show a hefty three-figure loss for Cheltenham last year. I am inclined to overdo my betting at the Festival. But as Mark Twain said, 'A habit cannot be tossed out of the window. It must be coaxed downstairs one step at a time.' So here are a few other recommendations.
Mark Pitman should surely have his sec- ond Cheltenham victory with the formidable Monsignor, a bumper winner at last year's Festival and a future Gold Cup winner if ever I saw one, in his chosen hur- dle race this time. It is hard to oppose Paul Nicholls's Flagship Uberalles in the Queen Mother Champion Chase. To me Edredon Bleu has lost a little of his dash this season, last year's Cheltenham winner of the Mild- may of Flete, Majadou, is inconsistent and Direct Route has twice been beaten by Flagship Uberalles this season, although Howard Johnson says the ground has been against him both times. But neither of those two selections is going to make your fortune. If you want a value-for-money bet then the 10-1 available as I write about Charles Egerton's Teatraal for the Coral Cup looks the best to be had. Among the novices we should have a cracking race for the Arkle Trophy with a case to be made for Bellator, Cenkos, Blowing Wind and Decoupage. Venetia Williams's Bellator has the required high cruising speed and has taken well to the bigger obstacles. Cenkos has improved with each outing and could cheer up Oliver Sherwood's season for him. Blowing Wind though may be a better hope for Aintree on his recent Ascot showing and I row in with another Egerton-trained horse in Decoupage, whom I would hope to see rid- den by the in-form Dean Gallagher, who rode him to victory last season in the Tote Gold Trophy.
In the longer contest for the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase I would go for Nigel Twiston-Davies's Beau, providing that Glo- ria Victis runs in the Gold Cup rather than in this race. But you would want a look on the day at that tough battler Deano's Beano.
What we all dream of at Cheltenham, of course, is that really long-priced winner to pay the week's expenses. I have no special whisper as yet. But I do know that Mark Pitman's Ashley Park showed real bril- liance last season on his debut over hurdles and that the stable reckons him to be something special. He has been entered in the Champion Hurdle but his racecourse return has been several times delayed by injuries. Mark does not send horses to the races, though, if they are not fit, so if he runs he could be worth an each-way flutter at 33-1 in the Champion Hurdle that should be nothing but a stroll for the mighty Istabraq.
Robin Oakley is political editor of the BBC.
Previous page
