THIS weekend sees racing return to Cheltenham for the first time since March and the resumption of racing at this most hallowed of venues marks a further indication that the National Hunt season is in full swing.

Already the appearance of various high profile jumpers has led to contractions in their ante-post prices for their likely assignments back at Cheltenham in March despite the fact that several of these horses have done little more than confirm their wellbeing.

Over the coming months this apparent level of activity in the ante-post markets will continue before reaching its zenith in the new year. Another likely feature of the coming months will be the ongoing debate surrounding the introduction of a mares’ chase at Cheltenham in March.

The fact that this decision has been made and is now set in stone won’t curtail the level of debate after it was recently announced that this new contest will replace the novice handicap chase which enjoyed a 16-year run that concluded with the success of Kim Bailey’s Imperial Aura last March.

Over the last two decades the Cheltenham Festival has seen the introduction of various new races some of which don’t quite fit with the meeting’s status as the greatest stage of all in National Hunt racing.

Competitiveness

A case in point is the now defunct novice handicap chase which didn’t add to the meeting’s allure and instead served to dilute the competitiveness of other races over the course of the four days.

Such a charge is likely to be levelled at the mares’ chase as it was when the meeting brought in the mares’ novice hurdle and the mares’ hurdle. However, a mares’ chase definitely has its place at Cheltenham and it marks the culmination of a period that has witnessed a huge enhancement and expansion of the opportunities open to National Hunt mares.

The introduction of a mares’ chase needs to be viewed differently from other races created over the last 20 years. Some events such as the novices’ handicap chase or even the four-year-old handicap hurdle seemed to be created from a need to pad out the meeting as it stretched from three to four days.

However, the mares’ chase should be viewed through a different prism as it provides an outlet for the best chasers in this sphere to prove their worth at the biggest meeting of the season.

Perhaps more importantly though, this new race represents the latest addition to a fine programme for mares, with benefits that have trickled down to the grass roots level of the sport with the result that fillies at the major National Hunt store sales are now a much more sought after commodity than before.

By way of example it is worth examining how demand for fillies has changed at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale over the last 13 years. Back in 2007, the leading store sale saw 50 of the 74 fillies offered find buyers with a top price of €90,000 while returning an average of €36,610. The last figure represents a respectable return but it still saw the fillies’ average running some way behind that of the overall sale which came in at €43,119.

Given all that has taken place in recent months, this year’s edition of the Derby Sale mightn’t be as definitive as would usually be the case but it is still instructive to look at where the demand for fillies has moved on to.

Way ahead

At the Derby Sale 39 of the 53 fillies offered sold for an average of €47,436 which is a figure that was running way ahead of the overall sale average of €40,980. Admittedly this fillies’ average was boosted dramatically by the presence of a Walk In The Park half-sister to Altior who topped the sale at €300,000.

Even if that top price is removed and one considers the median figure, there is still plenty of cause for encouragement. This year’s Derby Sale median was €32,000 but the median for fillies was came in at €34,000 which offers a reasonable perspective that the demand for fillies has taken a notable upswing.

It is no accident that improved demand for fillies at store sales and the various boutique point-to-point sales that take place throughout the year has coincided with the considerable enhancement of blacktype opportunities available for fillies over jumps.

Thus such factors should be taken into account when questions arise as to merit of the creation of a mares’ chase at Cheltenham. Such a race offers tangible and long-term benefits that reach as far those who breed these future stars of the mares’ division which is something to be welcomed as previously the plight of those selling fillies at major National Hunt sales was a decidedly unenviable one.

At times Cheltenham has come in for criticism for introducing races whose presence hasn’t quite added to the overall profile and prestige of the meeting but there should be no doubt that the introduction of a mares’ chase is both a welcome one and one that should further aid the cause of fillies in the sales ring.