Tag: Europe

King Henry Rules With Gold Cup One-Two

The crowning moment in an extraordinary week for Henry de Bromhead was provided by not one but two horses when Minella Indo (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}) beat his stable-mate A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) in steeplechasing's greatest prize, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The victory of Barry Maloney's 8-year-old also wrote de Bromhead's name in the history books as the first person to train the winners of the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup in the same year. 

“This is crazy stuff, it's not reality,” said the trainer as his voice became increasingly hoarse in a week which his stable has provided six winners at Cheltenham, including the two champion mares Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) and Put The Kettle On (Ire) (Stowaway {Ire}) and one of the most exciting novice hurdlers in training, Bob Olinger (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}).

He continued, “It's massive. As we always say, it's the Olympics, the pinnacle, and it confirms why I sometimes get so frustrated at home when you go out and it's so competitive and you're getting beaten with good horses.”

The trainer's stable in Knockeen, Co Waterford now houses plenty of Ireland's leading jumpers and, though de Bromhead has tasted success as the Festival in the past, most notably with two previous Champion Chase winners, this is the first time he has finished the week at the head of the trainers' list, equal with Mullins on six wins. The latter may have been given the nod on countback for the number of second-place finishers but there was no doubting that it was de Bromhead who was the dominant force at Prestbury Park throughout the four days.

He has rightly had to vie for the headlines this week with the jockey who rides the majority of his horses, Rachael Blackmore, who also broke new ground as the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival. Her six winners, however, did not include the Gold Cup, as she stayed true to A Plus Tard, who gave Blackmore her first Cheltenham winner two years ago. Instead, 21-year-old Jack Kennedy added an important update to his own burgeoning CV with his surefooted victory on Minella Indo, by far the most significant of his four wins this week. 

With the King George VI Chase winner Frodon (Fr) (Nickname {Fr}) setting off in front in his customary fashion under Bryony Frost, Kennedy had Minella Indo handy throughout the course of the Gold Cup, never far off the leading pack which included Black Op (Ire) (Sandmason {GB}) and Kemboy (Fr) (Voix Du Nord {Fr}) for the first circuit. Going clear second behind Frodon six fences from home, Minella Indo made his challenge while freewheeling down the hill as A Plus Tard and Al Boum Photo (Fr) (Buck's Boum {Fr}), the Gold Cup winner of the last two years, crept closer. 

Kennedy made his decisive move on the turn, taking his mount to the lead into the straight with two to jump but being chased hard all the way by Blackmore on A Plus Tard. Just over a length separated the pair at the line, with another four lengths back to the defending champion Al Boum Photo.

“It's ridiculous but you know what, it's all down to the crew at home, they work so hard, and to all our clients,” de Bromhead said. “We couldn't do it without the horses. And you want to achieve it for them. They put their faith in us.”

He continued. “[Minella Indo] has always been a brilliant jumper and he was brilliant at Navan and then we went to Leopardstown first time out and he just made a silly mistake. The Irish Gold Cup was probably never really the plan but we needed a clear round after falling.

“A Plus Tard was amazing, he ran a cracker for the Thompsons and Cheveley Park; both jockeys were amazing, it's just brilliant. Rachael did have the choice of the two. I would always try to stay out of that as I would hate to put her the wrong way. I couldn't split them. I just let her do it and I don't like to interfere. She knew they were both training well.”

De Bromhead added, “Nothing seems to faze Jack but he actually looked emotional then when he came in, which was a surprise.”

Though only 21, Kennedy's career has been blighted by injuries, including breaking his leg four times. Declaring his Gold Cup win the “best day of my life”, he added, “You dream about winning these sorts of races when you're a child. I know I'm still young, but I suppose I have been in the position where I could have been winning them for a couple of years, so to get it done is brilliant.

“I missed last year's Festival because I broke [my leg] about two months beforehand, but thankfully I've had a year this year that I'll remember for a long time.”

Blackmore Triumphs—Again

Gold Cup day kicked off with a familiar ring to it: Rachael Blackmore winning in the Cheveley Park Stud colours for Henry de Bromhead.

Last month Quilixios (GB) became the first Grade 1 winner over jumps for Maxios (GB), the Niarchos-bred Monsun (Ger) half-brother to Arc winner Bago (Fr) (Nashwan) who was recruited by Coolmore's Castle Hyde Stud last year from Gestut Fahrhof. Quilixios has now added a Cheltenham Festival victory to his record after another attacking, front-running ride from Blackmore saw him claim glory in the G1 JCB Triumph Hurdle over the David Pipe-trained Adagio (Ger) (Wiener Walzer {Ger}).

The juvenile hurdler was one of eight horses moved from Gordon Elliott's stable a fortnight ago along with Wednesday's G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper winner Sir Gerhard (Ire) (Jeremy), who was switched to Willie Mullins.

Speaking after saddling his fifth winner of the Festival, Henry de Bromhead said, “Quilixios is a gorgeous horse: obviously we have just got him. We're delighted for the Thompsons of Cheveley Park, they are great supporters of ours.”

He continued, “Rachael was brilliant on him, and all credit to Gordon [Elliott] and his team; the horse looked amazing when he came down to us. We've done very little—it's down more to them than to us. Everyone was very helpful, we knew he jumped really well and obviously we've seen him a good bit, and he's been really impressive. He's just a lovely horse to do anything with, gorgeous-looking, lots of size and scope, and will be a lovely chaser in time, I'd say.”

Reflecting on Blackmore becoming the first female to be leading jockey at Cheltenham, he added, “We all know how good Rachael is; we've always said how lucky we feel to have her on our team. She's riding out of her skin. 

“It was Eddie O'Leary who recommended her to me nearly three years ago and we said we'd try it out. We were trying her on the Gigginstown horses, and within two or three months she was practically riding all of ours, she was so good. She's a great person and works very hard, is really good to work with and a brilliant rider.”

Cheveley Park Stud Jumping For Joy

With six runners at the Cheltenham Festival, the Thompson family's Cheveley Park Stud ended the week as leading owner, with a remarkable three winners and two seconds. The one blot on the week was the fall of the strongly fancied Envoi Allen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), a winner at the last two Festivals who was thankfully unscathed after his tumble in the G1 Marsh Novices' Chase. Ballyadam (Ire) (Fame And Glory {GB}) was second to the hugely impressive Appreciate It (Ire) (Jeremy) in the opening G1 Supreme Novices' Hurdle before Sir Gerhard (Ire) (Jeremy) and Allaho (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}) won their respective Grade 1 contests and A Plus Tard capped the week with a valiant runner-up finish in the Gold Cup.

The select string of jumpers owned by the Newmarket-based stud with a long history of breeding top-class Flat horses was accrued in recent years by the late David Thompson, who died in December.

Cheveley Park Stud's mangling director Chris Richardson said, “It's been absolutely amazing. I know Patricia Thompson and Richard and the whole family are so overwhelmed and obviously thrilled. They are saddened in that David wasn't here to see it all and to witness such a special occasion, but it is a great tribute to him and his memory.

He continued, “Ballyadam is as game as a pebble and if he hadn't misjudged that two out, he wouldn't have beaten the winner but he would have been a bit closer, and that was a great start for the Cheveley Park runners.

“To have 16 National Hunt horses in training and to have six running throughout the week in six Grade 1 races was a phenomenal feat really. Envoi Allen was obviously very sad but he made a mistake and thankfully he and Jack [Kennedy] were both okay afterwards. A lot of these young horses have plenty of miles in them hopefully. 

“A Plus Tard is a beautiful horse and we were thrilled when he won the Savills that he showed that he stayed, and [the Gold Cup] was always the plan. I am delighted for Henry de Bromhead that he had the first and the second, and obviously Racheal [Blackmore] has been fantastic in every way. She's a brilliant jockey and she reads races so well. She times everything to perfection and she's a great ambassador for the industry so we're thrilled for her.”

Richardson added, “The race of the week for us was obviously Allaho, who is a fine individual and once again he was ridden beautifully. He just ran them into the ground—all those Grade 1 winners behind him—it was just a phenomenal performance and he has certainly stepped up wonderfully on his progression through his racing to this point.

“Of course it was very sad that owners couldn't be there. It would have been lovely if Richard  Thompson and Patricia Thompson could have been there, especially having won the bumper for the third year in a row, which is a bit of a link to the Flat. But to be leading owner is a tribute to David Thompson. It's something he instigated three years ago, and he obviously committed a lot of money to it but he was well advised. I compliment Tom Malone and Alex Elliott, and obviously the trainers who guided us with the various purchases. It's a 'pinch yourself' moment really.”

Cromwell At The Double

Gavin Cromwell brought a team of five horses with him from his base in Co Meath and will return home with two Grade 1 winners on the lorry after Vanillier (Fr) (Martaline {GB}) landed the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle in the hands of Mark Walsh. This followed Thursday's Stayers' Hurdle victory of Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}), and on both occasions the horses should have been ridden by Jonathan Moore, who stood himself down from action on Thursday morning following a race fall on Sunday. 

“It's tough for Johnny but the good thing is he'll be back on these horses for the future,” said Cromwell.

He added of the 6-year-old Vanillier, who dominated the three-mile contest and bounded up the hill for a 11-length victory, “He's a proper staying chaser in the making. I wasn't sure how he was going to act on that better ground; he's been running on heavy ground in Ireland all year, and he's quite a slow horse, but Mark said he travelled with loads of enthusiasm today. He lined him up good and handy, because we thought he might struggle to travel early, but he showed an extra gear there that he hasn't shown before, and we know he stays really well.”

Ireland All The Way

With Willie Mullins winning the final two races of the Festival to oust Henry de Bromhead with six wins and seven seconds, he was crowned leading trainer at the Festival for a record eighth time.

But plenty of Irish trainers can take credit for their country's record-breaking haul throughout the week. The 23 victories for Ireland were spread between 10 different trainers, which included first Cheltenham wins for Denise Foster, Ian Ferguson, Paul Hennessy, Emmet Mullins and Peter Fahey. By contrast, four British trainers won just five of the week's 28 races.

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Rachael Reigns Over Cheltenham

“Out of this world,” was how Rachael Blackmore described her week at Cheltenham so far, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the top echelon of National Hunt racing is very much her world.

The 31-year-old now leads the jockeys' table with five Festival winners in the last three days, with Jack Kennedy her closest pursuer on three. Two of her triumphs have come on horses owned by Cheveley Park Stud, which has now celebrated two winners at each of the last three Cheltenham Festivals. Wednesday's victory of Sir Gerhard (Ire) (Jeremy) in the G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper was followed 24 hours later by the emphatic G1 Ryanair Chase triumph of Allaho (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}). The link between the two, apart from the owner and trainer Willie Mullins, was the brilliant, dominant riding of Blackmore, who on each horse dictated the race from the front, running her rivals ragged.

In the case of Allaho, his relentless pace started to force errors from those in pursuit of the 7-year-old, whose near-flawless jumping bought him lengths at each fence. Having dispatched his stable-mate and last year's Ryanair winner Min (Fr) (Walk In The Park {Ire}), who was eventually pulled up, he kicked into another gear for his final thrust up the hill, leaving the Joseph O'Brien-trained runner-up Fakir d'Oudairies (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) 12 lengths adrift as he sailed across the line.

Add the Cheveley Park Stud brace to Blackmore's historic Champion Hurdle success aboard Kenny Alexander's Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) on the opening day, the victory of Bob Olinger (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}) in the G1 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle on Wednesday and, later on Thursday the daring late run on Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) (Stowaway {Ire}) to clinch another victory for owner Alexander and trainer Henry de Bromhead in the G2 Parnell Properties Mares' Hurdle. With one day to go and some enticing rides on Friday which include another Cheveley Park Stud runner A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) in the G1 Well Child Cheltenham Gold Cup, it seems likely that Blackmore will end the week on top.

While she rightly dislikes references to her being a female jockey, the fact remains that her outstanding achievements will ease the way for other women following in her wake. It is not unthinkable that Blackmore will become champion jockey in Ireland—she is currently battling it out with Paul Townend—and the same goes for Hollie Doyle on the Flat in Britain this coming season. Such an idea, that two women would be so dominant in the jockey ranks, could not have been entertained even five years ago.

Typically, though, Blackmore deflects the praise to the horses who have carried her to her lofty position. Commenting on the 7-year-old Allaho, she said, “For a jockey, when you're getting legged-up on these kind of horses for Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead, they just know their job, it's fantastic.

“He was just jumping and travelling. He's just a real galloper and that's how I rode him. It was either going to work, or it wasn't, and look, it worked. It was only when I came back in and people were saying that we went some gallop, but he felt in his comfort zone everywhere. It was fantastic.”

The last few months have brought a mixture of sadness and angst for those connected to Cheveley Park Stud. On Dec. 29, the organisation lost its patriarch David Thompson, who acquired the historic stud with his wife Patricia back in 1975. Though more readily associated with the Flat over more than four decades, it was Thompson's particular love of jumpers that prompted a rash of high-profile purchases in recent seasons and, though expensively procured, they have also been incredibly well selected.

The horse that was perhaps the most widely expected to secure his third successive Cheltenham Festival victory coming into this week was Envoi Allen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), who was sent off as 4/9 on for the G1 Marsh Novices' Chase but fell at the fourth fence under Jack Kennedy. The 7-year-old was one of eight horses moved by Cheveley Park Stud in the wake of the publication of the controversial Gordon Elliott photograph, as was Sir Gerhard. Such a decision, with just two weeks to those horses' main targets of the season, would not have been an easy one to make and will undoubtedly have caused much consternation for the owners, who also have the unbeaten Quilixios (GB) (Maxios {GB}) as second-favourite for Friday's G1 JCB Triumph Hurdle.

Reflecting on her association with Cheveley Park Stud, Blackmore said, “It was a disappointing start to the day for [the Thompson family], but look Envoi Allen is up and he is okay, and so is Jack, and that's the main thing. They will live to fight another day. I'm very grateful to them for being so supportive of me and giving me the opportunities on their horses.”

Willie Mullins, who also trains last year's winner Min, added, “Allaho did everything right. The first thing I did when Rachael come back in was lift her number cloth to see if the lead bag was in there as it looked like Allaho was just carrying Rachael around there! He was just awesome. His galloping and his jumping, if you put it together I was hoping he could do that over three miles, but if he is only a two-and-a-half mile horse that will do me.”

He continued, “Watching him at home, all the time everyone has felt he is a galloper and a jumper and that you don't need to hold him up. I was sort of as gobsmacked as anyone else watching it as I fully expected the two horses in front to probably collapse coming to the third last and if they did you would have said they have gone too fast and took each other on, but that is their style of racing and that was the plan from the start and we just had to hope one of them would be good enough.”

Cromwell Floored By Success

While Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead been prominent this week with four winners apiece, the 17 victories for Irish-trained horses from 21 races have also been spread out among their compatriots. Gordon Elliott's stable, now under the care of Denise 'Sneezy' Foster, has had a winner each day, while Noel Meade, Paul Nolan and Paul Hennessy have also enjoyed winners. One of the most impressive performances, from another front-running ride, was that of Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}), who made all, jumping exuberantly, to land the G1 Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle.

The 6-year-old's trainer Gavin Cromwell first came to wider prominence when Espoir d'Allen (Fr) won the Champion Hurdle two years ago, the spring after his Princess Yaiza (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) provided him with a major Flat win on Arc weekend in the G2 Qatar Prix de Royallieu. Tragically, Espoir d'Allen died just months after Cheltenham following an injury to his shoulder during training. Deservedly, the softly spoken Cromwell, who started out in the racing business as a farrier, now has another exciting young hurdler on his hands.

Admitting that it was a “fairytale” to win another of the Festival's championship races, he said, “We won a Champion Hurdle a couple of years ago and it was massive. I didn't think I'd ever win a race in Cheltenham, and to come back and win a second one is fantastic.”

He added of Flooring Porter, who was unsold at €5,500 when offered for sale as a 3-year-old and is owned by a syndicate led by carpet shop owner Ned Hogarty, “We came across this fella by accident. He was a very cheap store and progressed right through the ranks. It's a bit of a fairytale, really, and just goes to show that it is possible with a cheap one. He wasn't bought expecting him to be a Grade 1 horse.”

There was a sting in the tale for jockey Jonathan Moore, who has partnered Flooring Porter in 11 of his 15 starts but stood himself down on Thursday morning having failed to recover sufficiently from a race fall on Sunday. Danny Mullins instead took the ride and recorded his first win at the Festival.

Cromwell added, “Danny gave him a smashing ride. It's very unfortunate for Johnny Moore that he couldn't ride him. Thankfully, and rightfully so, he stood himself down, and he suggested Danny would be well suited to the horse. Johnny has ridden him all along and brought him all the way to here, and it is very unfortunate for him. Hats off to Johnny, it was so unselfish and I'm very grateful to him.”

Flooring Porter completed a Grade 1 double on the day for the four-time Ascot Gold Cup winner and Castle Hyde Stud resident Yeats following the win of JP McManus's Chantry House (Ire) in the March Novices' Chase. Yeats has also been represented this week by two impressive handicap-winning mares, Heaven Help Us (Ire) and Mount Ida (Ire). 

The late Whytemount Stud resident Stowaway (Ire) has also had a good week, his four winners including the Grade 1 scorers Monkfish (Ire) and Put The Kettle On (Ire), as well as Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) and The Shunter (Ire), while Kilcruit was runner-up in the G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper and Fiddlerontheroof (Ire) was second to Monkfish.

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A Fresh Look with Ghislain Bozo

Continuing our series featuring feedback on the European stallion with first runners this year, bloodstock agent Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International shares his view with a particular focus on the French scene.

He said, “Generally speaking it is always tough to get a strong idea of the first-season sires at this stage but of course we are always keeping our ears open. I'm always a little but careful when the talk is too hot but this time there has been no strong word like we might have had in the past.

“I am involved in a couple of stallions myself so I am trying to be objective but I hear a lot about the 2-year-olds by Almanzor (Fr). People seem to like them and a lot of them are very nice looking but they are probably going to take a bit of time. 

“I like the stock of Ribchester (Ire) and obviously that is the same Iffraaj (GB) line, and again they may take a bit of time. We have some by Churchill (Ire) who are very nice but not early types.”

Bozo also highlighted a young son of Dark Angel (Ire) at stud in France. He added, “We also have some 2-year-olds by Birchwood (Ire). They look racy and I think the trainers like them, and they are going to be probably the most precocious ones. They seem consistent, very good in their heads and straightforward horses, which is a very good sign. 

“Another stallion I like is Al Shaqab's Al Wukair (Ire) and I think there is a positive word about his stock. The same can be said for Zarak (Fr). There have been a lot of good comments from trainers and breeders about his stock.

“I don't have a strong feeling for one horse in particular but I will be following these stallions with particular interest as the season progresses.”

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Kettle Brings Cheltenham To The Boil For De Bromhead

Henry de Bromhead's magical week continued at Cheltenham when Put The Kettle On (Ire) (Stowaway {Ire}) added victory in the G1 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase to the success of Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) and Rachael Blackmore in Tuesday's G1 Champion Hurdle. 

Both winners created a piece of National Hunt history, with Put The Kettle On becoming the first mare to win the Champion Chase, while Blackmore was the first woman to ride the winner of the Champion Hurdle. Notably, both mares had triumphed at the previous year's Festival, in the G1 Arkle Novices' Chase and G1 Close Brother Mares' Hurdle respectively.

Aidan Coleman was in the saddle for Put The kettle On's battling win, but Blackmore further embellished her own and de Bromhead's Cheltenham record with victory in the opening race of the day, the G1 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, on favourite Bob Olinger (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}). And in a dominant front-running ride which drew plenty of praise, she guided Sir Gerhard (Ire) (Jeremy) to victory in the G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the close of play. Remarkably, Sir Gerhard, who recently moved from the stable of Gordon Elliott to Willie Mullins, was the third consecutive winner of the bumper for Cheveley Park Stud following Envoi Allen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), who is odds-on favourite for Thursday's G1 Marsh Novices' Chase, and Ferny Hollow (Ire) (Westerner {GB}). What goes up usually comes down, however, and amid the glory of the day, Blackmore also took three falls from which she emerged thankfully unscathed.

Henry de Bromhead, who first won the Champion Chase a decade ago with Sizing Europe (Ire) and then again in 2017 with Special Tiara (GB), admitted that his latest winner of the race, who is owned by the One For Luck Racing Syndicate, has a touch of madness to match her tenacity.

He said, “She's an incredible mare. I'm delighted for the Dermodys and the syndicate. Mary Dermody is the matriarch of it and it's just brilliant. Stuff you dream about! She's so tough and Aidan was just brilliant on her. He really asked at the last three fences, and it was probably the winning of the race.”

De Bromhead added, “A couple of weeks ago she was a bit quiet and we freshened her up as much as we could, and she seemed much better, but she arrived here and was back to what we expected her to be doing; just crazy. She's mad. I have to say, everyone at home but especially Andrea, who looks after her and puts up with her antics every day, it will be very special for her. She's just a bit crackers the whole time, to be honest, she's just quite wild, but a real character.”

Now seven, Put The Kettle On, for all her high jinks, is also highly consistent. The winner of nine of her 16 races, and in the first three for another five, she has a particular liking for jump racing's HQ and has won on all four of her appearances at Cheltenham. 

In a performance that was as brave as it was bold, Put The Kettle On was prominent throughout the two-mile contest, with the only wobble coming at the third-last fence. Having lunged at it, she managed to stay on her feet and led a packed field turning into the straight, with the Willie Mullins-trained odds-on favourite Chacun Pour Soi (Fr) (Policy Maker {Ire}) edging up her inner on the rail to grab the lead towards the the last. His challenge was short-lived, however, as the mare fought back up the hill and Nube Negra (Spa) (Dink {Fr}), finally being able to get a clear run, battled home for an unlucky second as Chacun Pour Soi faded into third.

“How she improves for being here,” said de Bromhead. “[In] mid-February I was probably leaning towards the mares' chase, and then I spoke to the owners and we looked at the stats of the Arkle winners, which seemed ridiculous, and it's her trip and she loves the Old Course, so we thought we'd give it a lash and see.”

Aidan Coleman paid tribute to his mount, adding, “Her tenacity and attitude is something to behold. It is a privilege to be associated with her. I've ridden her in four races and when she came over in November I rode her out a couple of times.

“She doesn't give you anything easy but when you are on her side you couldn't have a more willing partner. I think if you put someone else on her, her guts would still be there and I think she would win without me but I'm going to stay on her.”

He continued, “These championship races are the ones you grow up watching. If you are lucky to ride in them it's fantastic and if you win one it's even better.”

Put The Kettle On's victory followed the extraordinary tape-to-post victory of 33/1 shot Heaven Help Us (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) for trainer/breeder Paul Hennessy in the G3 Coral Cup. The two mares provided some respite for the bookmakers following the victories of odds-on favourites in the first races of the day.

While Bob Olinger got the better of the Willie Mullins trainee Gaillard Du Mesnil (Fr) (Saint Des Saints {Fr}) in the opener, Mullins gained his revenge in the G1 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase with the 1/4 favourite Monkfish (Ire). The giant chestnut gelding provided the first half of a Grade 1 double for his late sire Stowaway (Ire) and, though not as imperious in victory as his fans may have expected, he extended his winning streak to seven races stretching back to December 2019, including last year's G1 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle. The 7-year-old Monkfish is now as short as 9/2 for next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Tiger Provides The Missing Roar

In a normal year, Tiger Roll (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) winning at the Cheltenham Festival for the fifth time should be the feelgood result of the week. On an equine level it is. Now 11, the little horse bred for the Flat first came to the Festival as a 4-year-old and won the G1 Triumph Hurdle for Gigginstown House Stud on only the third start of his life. In the intervening years he has also won the G2 National Hunt Chase as well as three Glefarclas Cross Country Chases in seven appearances at Cheltenham in March, not to mention clinching two Grand Nationals.

To widespread regret, two weeks ago his trainer Gordon Elliott was banned for six months for bringing the sport into disrepute when a photograph emerged on social media of him sitting astride the deceased horse Morgan (Ire), who won four races in the same colours as Tiger Roll.

Last year Tiger Roll was denied the chance to attempt to equal Red Rum's record of three Grand National wins when the Aintree meeting was lost in the Covid-enforced shutdown of racing in Britain for two months. In his three previous starts this season he has appeared lacklustre and, just days before Elliott's licence was suspended by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, Tiger Roll's owner Michael O'Leary announced that he would be withdrawn from this year's Grand National citing an unfair weight burden allocated by the British handicapper.

Back at Cheltenham which, as a number of results so far this week underline is a track where the saying 'horses for courses' applies like no other, Tiger Roll was back to his old self in the quirkiest race of the week. Over three miles and six furlongs, skipping over banks, and hopping a variety of 32 obstacles on the twisting course, he showed every bit of his old zest to post an 18-length victory over last year's winner and the sole French-trained runner of the week, Easysland (Fr) (Gentlewave {Ire}). 

Keith Donoghue, who has been aboard Tiger Roll for all three of his cross-country wins at the Festival, said, “He really came alive. We said we'd change the tactics with him today—we'd jump him out, take a lead, sit him second or third and make up his mind today. He came alive and he jumped brilliantly. I was in control of the race after halfway; he was just in his comfort zone, and when Tiger comes alive like that, you don't take him back.”

He added, “He's a very, very good horse, but is it the cross-country jumps that make the best of him? I'm not sure he'd be as good over park fences or hurdles. We don't know, but we think there's something about the cross-country fences that sparks him up, and obviously the National fences do the same. When Tiger Roll is on a going day, it takes a very good horse to beat him.”

What should have been one of the happiest days of Elliott's career, bringing this hugely popular jumper back to peak form for his fifth Festival victory, instead comes during a period of deep shame for the trainer. Tiger Roll's latest win will go down in the name of Denise Foster, who has temporarily taken over the licence at Elliott's Cullentra House stable, as did Tuesday's victory of Black Tears (GB) (Jeremy) in the G1 Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle. 

Tiger Roll, however, remains a horse for the people, and truly one for the ages. 

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