EVER since the race that was best known as the Raymond Smith Hunter Chase was demoted from the Irish Gold Cup card at Leopardstown to make way for the inaugural Dublin Racing Festival cards, the race has struggled to find its new place in the schedule.

The 2018 renewal was held at Punchestown a week after the Dublin Racing Festival. However, the right-handed configuration of the course did not provide trainers with the same preparation for the Cheltenham Foxhunter which had previously been the case when it was run at the Dublin course.

In response, last season’s race was switched to the left-handed course at Navan but it’s February 17th date, two weeks after the Dublin Racing Festival, left just a four-week gap to the Cheltenham Festival which many hunter chase horses would have as their big season target.

With such a short turnaround, particularly for what typically are older horses, the date at Navan did not prove to be as popular with trainers as the old Leopardstown date on the first weekend in February had, with the race producing just six runners.

New course

For 2020, the race will have both a new home and a new date as it jumps forward three weeks in the calendar to the end of January when it will take place at Naas on their Woodlands Park Novice Chase card on the final Sunday in January.

Race planners will be hoping that the move to the earlier date will boost the race, and return the number of runners closer to the 11 that ran in the 2017 contest, the last renewal to take place on its traditional early February date at Leopardstown.

The move has been welcomed by Enda Bolger who used the Leopardstown race as the final preparation run for On The Fringe ahead of both his 2015 and 2016 Cheltenham successes.

“I am 100% behind it. In my time I don’t recall a hunter chase in Naas so it will be something new and exciting as well. It is a beautiful track at Naas, all in all, it is a brilliant idea,” said Bolger who already has the race in mind for last season’s Cheltenham Foxhunter sixth Stand Up And Fight.

The new Naas date has had a knock on effect for the hunter chase at Thurles, which had typically occupied a late January date. It will now move to February 20th, in order to make way for the Naas race.

Penalties

removed from hunter chases

FOLLOWING a proposal within the National Hunt Programme Committee Working Group, penalties will be removed from the nine main hunter chase races this season, which includes the new Naas race and the Champion Hunter Chase.

Last season, any horse who had won a steeplechase under rules since January 1st 2017 carried a 4lb penalty, with the winner of two steeplechases carrying a 7lb penalty.

However, as hunter chases were included in the calculations for these penalties, a number of connections expressed dissatisfaction with the rule, which often left them having to give weight to highly rated track recruits.

This was the case when Ucello Conti made his hunter chase debut at Thurles in January, a race he won by four and a half lengths. Despite a chase rating of 147 coming into the race, having chased home Anibale Fly in the valuable Paddy Power Chase a year earlier, as he had not won under rules in the preceding two years, he carried the base weight of 11st 7lb.

However three of his rivals, who were rated significantly inferior of him, and had only ever won under rules in hunter chase company, had to carry penalties.

Sidetracked and Chosen Dream both had a 4lb penalty after winning a Clonmel maiden hunter chase and Stratford hunter chase respectively, and Macs Legend had a 7lb penalty to overcome, after winning a pair of winner-one-one hunter chases at Downpatrick and Down Royal.

Disincentive

It was felt that by penalising these horses, many of whom were working their way up through the hunter chase ranks, it was acting as a disincentive to more maiden hunter chase winners taking the step up and competing in these open hunter races.

Gerry Kelleher, whose Macs Legend was chiefly penalised in that Thurles contest, expressed his satisfaction with the decision to remove the penalties.

“I think it is a great idea. It is very unfair to think that a horse coming back from the track, okay he might not have won for two years, but he could have been rated 150 or 160, and to then have to give him weight with a hunter chaser,” he said.

“I know for a fact that on a couple of occasions that 7lbs would have cost us when we were only beaten by two or three lengths.

“You could have a genuine hunter chaser giving a horse that ran in the Cheltenham Gold Cup 7lbs, which would not have seemed fair.

“The likes of Eugene (O’Sullivan) with It Came To Pass, he is after winning three hunter chases now with him and he would have been giving the likes of those 140 or 150-rated chasers 7lbs. This makes it more of a level playing field now for everyone.

“We would all like to progress onwards with horses and this might encourage people to keep a six-year-old if you could have a chance of winning a hunter chase two, and although you might be taking on these former track horses, you are taking them on at level weights.”

Next month’s hunter chase at Down Royal will be the first of these races to be run without penalties, with the Tetretema, Joseph O’Reilly Memorial, Jack Tyner Memorial and Punchestown Champion, joining the races at Naas, Thurles, Listowel and Killarney.

Handlers’ race takes centre stage in fun-filled day at Lingstown

ONCE in a while, there is an idea that comes along and captures the imagination of the public, and it is fair to say that last Sunday’s handlers’ race at Lingstown, which was run in association with ASK to raise funds for Pieta House, very much did that.

Unsurprisingly, a big crowd descended on the Killinick Harriers point-to-point, as some of the biggest names from the handler ranks, swapped places with their riders, for a two-mile flat race, which was won by J.D. Moore.

For anyone who was not there, the many photos and videos online give a flavour of the atmosphere it created and full credit must go to Johnny Berry, who came up with the idea.

“It was brilliant, the weather held up and we had a great turnout of riders. It was great craic and everyone really enjoyed it. Even when they were starting to leg lads up, the crowd around the parade ring were cheering,” said Berry reflecting on the day’s events.

“I thought it would be a bit more fun going around in the race, but they all got a bit serious at the start. Sean Doyle was the starter and they nearly galloped over him, he had to jump out of the way!

“It was great for the likes of Michael Murphy, he had never ridden in a race before. We were trying to work it out beforehand, I think Michael and Donnchadh Doyle were the only two that had never ridden in a race.

“Frank Staples from ASK said a few words in the weigh-room afterwards thanking everyone.

“Suicide affects so many people, so it was great that we could do it for such a worthy cause. There is still money coming in, it will probably take a couple weeks to get the final total but we are very grateful for everyone who contributed.”