I WAS delighted to see Gavin Cromwell’s Brides Hill win the Listed Lady Protectress Mares’ Chase at Huntingdon on Thursday, as I’d suggested her as being overpriced for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

In truth, her win over La Renommee required no improvement, but it was satisfying to hear that she is being seriously considered for the Grade 2 event in seven weeks’ time.

Cromwell is also represented in the likely entries for the Mares’ Chase by Limerick Lace, who is very prominent in the ante-post market behind hot favourite Dinoblue, but I doubt she’s a better performer than Brides Hill on balance (she also beat La Renommee with equal ease at Doncaster conceding the same 2lb), and the way she flashed her tail before finding little in the Directors’ Plate at Naas last March marks her down as one to be a little wary of in a battle.

She did the same after looming up in the Troytown at Navan two start back, and while clearly a smart performer, isn’t one I’d trust implicitly.

Brides Hill, on the other hand, has no such flaws, although it has been some erratic jumping which held her back last year, most notably when favourite to beat Pink Legend at Perth last spring.

On that occasion, she seemed to suddenly forget how to jump and merely launched herself vertically at the opening fence, and taking what was an inevitable fall. It was intriguing to hear Gavin Cromwell speak about that after her reappearance win at Listowel.

“Her jumping has been in and out,” he said after that contest. “But we did an awful lot of schooling with her. Sometimes she can go down to the first and balloon it and she gave herself a fright one day at Fairyhouse. She has done similar things at home, she can go down and bank a fence. Hopefully this will be a great confidence boost for her.”

It seems that a lot of schooling has been done to ensure that she has confidence in that area of her game and while she’s not a spectacular ‘lepper’, she’s now won her last four completed starts over fences and has jumped well on all three starts this season.

Career best

She prefers spring ground, and while her penultimate win in handicap company at Fairyhouse was a career best, she shaped even better than the result having got tired on the run-in having looked sure to win easily when taking the lead between the last two.

That was on deeper ground, and the combination of the yielding surface and the fact that she raced a bit too enthusiastically at Fairyhouse combined to see her just clinging on.

Even a repeat of that run would put her in the mix for a place at least in March, but she cruised to victory on Thursday and could have more improvement in her now her jumping is no longer a concern.

I find it particularly strange to hear some criticism of his jumping, as despite a minor mistake at the first and a slower jump than Protektorat four from home, he was excellent at his fences, and it was notable how he was able to reduce the gap between himself and the leader purely with the ground he made up in his jumping.

Again, he doesn’t stand outside of the wings, but he is fast and fluent at his obstacles and the ability to make ground jumping at Cheltenham is often undervalued.

Connections want to run him again in the Ascot Chase and I’m fully behind that decision, with two runs pretty much essential to ensure an older chaser is fully fit and ready for a championship contest.

The Ascot Chase is a race which has never really got the brilliant fields it deserves for a Grade 1 contest in the early spring, and it’s now become fashionable to argue that it comes too close to Cheltenham.

That may be true on heavy ground, and it may also be true of the Reynoldstown at the same track, which can be an arduous test for novices, but it’s disappointing when connections of horses already with a fitness edge want to swerve a winnable Grade 1 in order to run in a tougher contest; that has become the norm of late, however, so it’s great to see a Gold Cup candidate given a shot there.

Better luck

Venetia will hope for better luck with L’Homme Presse than she had with Teeton Mill, who started second favourite for the 1999 Gold Cup on the back of a victory in the Ascot Chase only to slip the tendon off a hock in the big race, dashing the dreams of all involved.

She’s waited a long time to put right that wrong, and L’Homme Presse could well be the horse to provide closure.

Protektorat himself has rebuilt his reputation after a slipshod effort in the Betfair Chase at Haydock and he emerged with credit in playing hare to L’Homme Presse’s hound at Lingfield and for battling back when headed.

He’s had his chance in the Gold Cup, however, and I’d like to see Dan Skelton keep him fresh for the Bowl at Aintree, which is very much in his wheelhouse.

I’M no royalist, but it has to be said that the participation of the British Royal family in horseracing is a major boon to the sport in the UK, with the late Queen and Queen Mother’s horses proving hugely popular with the racegoing public.

It was therefore intriguing to note that a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle entry has been made for Reach For The Moon, now in training with Jamie Snowden and owned by The Queen in partnership with Sir Chips Keswick.

That Royal connection will again guarantee that many more eyes will be on the Cheltenham opener (assuming he gets there) than would have been the case without him. Despite the fact that the start of the Cheltenham Festival absolutely captures the imagination of established racing fans, that is not at all the case for the general population and the extra emphasis makes for excellent advertising for the sport and provides a shop window if the sport chooses to utilise that opportunity.

Reach For The Moon won the Group 3 Solario Stakes for John Gosden as a two-year-old and was made favourite for the Derby as a result.

His career didn’t go to plan after that and he’s probably best remembered for getting turned over in the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot at odds of 2/5 when expected to provide Queen Elizabeth II with a landmark winner on the occasion of her 70th Jubilee.

He’s not exactly been a punters’ pal, then, but he could well do his bit for the benefit of the sport if lining up at Prestbury Park on the second Tuesday in March.