Starts completely unsatisfactory

WORK has been done in the lead-up to the meeting by The Jockey Club and BHA to have altered starting positions, but, on the evidence of what we’ve seen over the opening two days, it’s hard to view them as a success.

Fair play to the authorities for trying to get on the front foot, but more looks to be required. Ruby Walsh has made the case for a form of a rolling start in terms of the mechanisms in place, and that would make sense if the correct system can be created with the tape.

What gets particularly damaging for the starts is when the riders lose faith in what the starter will do next. As Gavin Sheehan reportedly noted after a farcical beginning to the BetMGM Cup (formerly the Coral Cup): “When we say ‘no’, they say ‘go’.”

With other riders like Mark Walsh and Jack Kennedy speaking out strongly after the same event - and those are riders who aren’t known for being unnecessarily vocal - you know you have a problem to solve. It must be a top priority for next year’s meeting.

Willie gets top guns up off the canvas

WE’RE well used to Willie Mullins masterstrokes at this meeting by now, but what about winning two Grade 1 chases on the day with horses who had fallen or unseated on their previous start?

Both Kitzbuhel (unseated early in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown) and Il Etait Temps (fell in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot) had been odds-on for Grade 1 chases in Britain last time out, only to record an incompletion. What’s more, Il Etait Temps appeared particularly shaken after his heavy tumble, for which he needed attention in the immediate aftermath.

To turn the tables so dramatically here and collect on the biggest stage in racing takes some doing. Having to travel home after those incidents isn’t exactly ideal either.

“It probably took him 24 hours to recover when he came home from Ascot,” Mullins said of Il Etait Temps.

“You have to remember, he was a bit shaken and then he has to get on the ferry, which isn’t what you’d do really, but it was what we did, and once he got home he settled into his own routine and he recovered quite quickly.”

While it remains quite the statistic for a mixed jumper that Majborough has never fallen or unseated in his career, perhaps a similar resurrection will be required to get him to eventually win a Grade 1 chase at this meeting after defeats at 1/2 and 5/6 here during the last two years.

Keane etches name

in the history books

MULTIPLE Group 1-winning flat jockeys like Pat Smullen, Richard Hughes, Kieren Fallon, Johnny Murtagh, Joseph O’Brien, Donnacha O’Brien and Kevin Manning have tried and failed to visit the hallowed Cheltenham Festival winner’s enclosure, so it is quite the feather in Colin Keane’s cap to have achieved the feat on his first Festival ride.

A season ago, one of Keane’s great rivals, Billy Lee, conquered Cheltenham’s November meeting when winning a listed bumper on Seo Linn for Paddy Twomey, and Oisin Murphy has flirted with a spin over jumps in recent years.

After seeing how Keane managed to adapt so seamlessly to the demands of a pressure-cooker Grade 1, he might just inspire a wave of other top flat jockeys to tackle the same race going forward.

Matty goes down on his shield

CONSIDERING he was competing off a career-high mark of 143 and was 8lb higher than when winning the race last year, Jazzy Matty emerges from his second in the Grand Annual with great credit.

He was probably caught cold slightly by 66/1 outsider Martator flashing home down his inner, and Cian Collins’ stable flagbearer did appear to rally when headed. With another stride, he might well have won and would be three from three at the Cheltenham Festival.

Decent ground really seems to bring out the best in him and a possible tilt at the American Grand National, noted by connections in the aftermath, could be a smart fit.

In-running drama

Act Of Innocence (sent off at 10/1) hit a low of 6/4 in-running only to come up two and a half lengths short behind King Rasko Grey in the Turners.

Shortly after in the Brown Advisory, Final Demand (SP 7/2) traded as short as 1/2 in second behind Kitzbuhel. Third-placed Salver went under 11/10 (from a starting price of 25/1).

Favori De Champdou (2/1) touched 4/7 in the home straight when second to Final Orders, and Majborough (5/6) went as low as 1/2 before the wheels came off.

The biggest shift of the day came in the Grand Annual. Martator (SP 66/1 and Betfair SP of 228/1) hit a max of 329/1, while runner-up Jazzy Matty (8/1) traded at 4/11 and the third Break My Soul (20/1) hit 3/5.

Finally, in the Champion Bumper, runner-up Mets Ta Ceinture (14/1) matched at even money.

Crowd watch

2026: 46,317

2025: 41,919