A LOT has been said about the standard of today’s Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury this week and it hasn’t all been positive.

The major qualm is the distinct lack of a burgeoning Gold Cup contender, the type of profile that year on year provided the most intriguing angle to this great three-mile-two-furlong steeplechase.

However, that is a glass half-empty kind-of attitude. A full field of 24, all able to race on suitably soft going, is not something that should be taken for granted after half that number lined up for this famous race last season.

With that, there are no shortage of stories and the biggest one is that of Cabaret Queen. Bought for just £13,000 at Doncaster at the end of last season, this seven-year-old mare will remarkably be second favourite for this contest this morning after a Munster National romp, reminiscent of her trainer Willie Mullins’s previous winner in this race, Total Recall.

She is owned by Jack Cantillon’s Syndicate.Racing syndicate, which is 69-people strong, and they are ready for a day they’ll never forget.

The favourite is Ok Corral. He is unexposed and potentially very good but he was pulled up when last seen and his market position looks defaulted, with punters scrambling to find the type of potential Grade 1 profile so prevalent in previous winners of this race.

Colin Tizzard has made huge strides in the last five years and this race is suitable evidence. The Dorset trainer is aiming for a third win in four years, and has all of four darts to fire – second-season chaser Mister Malarkey, the rejuvenated West Approach, the lightly-raced but talented Robinsfirth and the big burly Elegant Escape.

Gordon Elliott saddles his first runner in the race with Borice, the Galway Plate winner who looks to have gotten his act together while the Irish challenge is made up of another Mullins runner in the enigmatic Yorkhill, a source of eternal frustration and yet you simply couldn’t write him off.

That a horse with a name and a profile like De Rasher Counter is so short in the betting for this race perhaps is symbolic of where we’re at. That said connections paid more homage to this race than most by forgoing any spring festivals last term with this race in mind. Maybe he can bring them home the bacon.

Mares to the fore in Hatton’s Grace

WIN or lose tomorrow, Apple’s Jade has been a beacon for National Hunt mares. Eight of her 10 Grade 1 wins have come against geldings and that is significant as it shows that a quality mare, with a 7lb allowance, is a huge threat.

And, it is a hugely healthy situation that while she is taking on geldings again today, her main opposition comes from her own sex.

Prior to the daughter of Saddler Maker’s first win in this race, only two separate mares ran in this race in seven renewals. Tomorrow, despite the missing Benie Des Dieux, both Apple’s Jade and Honeysuckle will take up the majority of the market percentage.

Top-class mares staying in training was less common a decade ago but improvements made to the programme and initiatives like the ITBA Weatherbys National Hunt Fillies Bonus have contributed to a hugely healthy situation.

And yet most, including myself, will bemoan the fact that the winner of tomorrow’s Fairyhouse feature will likely have their main Cheltenham target as the Mares’ Hurdle.

Sport should always be amount the next big achievement, not hedging back, especially in National Hunt racing. The initiative of more opportunities for mares is an excellent development but we should encourage the best mares to continue to run in the best races, at the biggest meetings. Just like tomorrow.

Fighting Fifth highlights opportunities

SPARSITY. That’s a word. I actually had to look it up but it is a word. Thinly scattered or not evenly distributed. Not thick or dense, thin.

That’s the Champion Hurdle picture for you, a sparsity of credible contenders. Today’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle is a case and point. Buveur D’Air faces just four in his bid for a third win in the £110,000 race. He has 13lbs in hand of his nearest pursuer on ratings, Silver Streak. He’s long odds-on.

He’s been a brilliant two-mile hurdler Buveur D’Air. But he’s probably not getting any better and there isn’t much coming after him at the moment.

With regard to the Champion Hurdle market, beware the failed novice chaser coming back over hurdles or the mare too good for her own sex. Honeysuckle perhaps?

Compiled by Ronan Groome