Deserved success for Gavin Cromwell

THE Cheltenham Festival’s ability to deliver the excitement and drama that lie at the very core of racing were in evidence on an opening day that served up no end of compelling material.

Firstly a Champion Hurdle success for Gavin Cromwell was richly deserved. The trainer and farrier has come from the most humble of beginnings and having hit the big time with Jer’s Girl several seasons ago Cromwell has sustained his ascent up the ranks. He has developed a formidable dual-purpose operation and this success seals a memorable six months which began when the trainer’s Princess Yaiza become the only Irish-trained winner at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend.

The softly spoken Cromwell has deftly guided Espoir D’Allen through the notoriously tricky second season that confronts high-class juvenile hurdlers and was richly rewarded with the decision to eschew the lure of Grade 1 company until Cheltenham. The manner in which his charge turned up in the Champion Hurdle is a testament to Cromwell’s skill.

This was also a deserved second Cheltenham win for Mark Walsh who ended what must have seemed an interminable wait for a first victory at the meeting in last year’s Coral Cup.

Winter ground at last

THE mention of the word interminable also applies to the wait for soft ground this season. From November the hope was that the onset of traditional National Hunt conditions would bring about the appearance of some prodigious talents.

The ground never came in time for horses to show their true worth before Cheltenham but Willie Mullins’ long held belief that Klassical Dream would step forward markedly for the switch to soft ground was borne out in some style in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

It made one wonder what price the 6/1 chance might have gone off had he encountered soft ground on either of previous outings since coming to Ireland.

That victory was followed by a tremendous display from Duc Des Genievres in the Arkle. The race might have lacked the star quality of previous years but it was rewarded with an utterly dominant winner whose wide margin success over the previously dual Grade 1-placed Us And Them was striking to say the least.

The fall of Benie Des Dieux robbed Willie Mullins of an opening day treble and yet another win in the Mares’ Hurdle but happily both she and Ruby Walsh emerged unscathed which transcends everything else.

Blackmore and de Bromhead winning allies

IT was only a matter of time before Rachael Blackmore made her mark on the greatest stage of all and when a cherished first Cheltenham winner arrived it did so in a style befitting the jockey’s stunning season. Most appropriately of all, A Plus Tard was trained by the rider’s tremendous ally Henry de Bromhead. Together the pair have been an irresistible combination on the domestic front all season long and have combined 215 times this season for 47 victories.

False starts

THE day featured a series of false starts which began in the Supreme Novices’ and drew reproving murmurs from the packed stands. There is something about starting procedures in Britain which makes them cumbersome.

Hardline flops

HARDLINE was reported never to have travelled when seventh in the Arkle.

Maguire injury

AMATEUR rider Finny Maguire suffered six broken ribs and a punctured lung after his fall of Whisperinthebreeze in the National Hunt Chase. He was comfortable in Southmead hospital in Bristol.

Russell’s behaviour

IN the Arkle, Davy Russell was suspended for two days after disobeying instructions given to him by a veterinary surgeon and acting in an improper way towards a racecourse employee in the pull up area after the race.

Record crowd

THE crowd was 67,934, a new record for the opening day. Last year’s Tuesday attendance came in 66,632.

One to watch

WHEN Klassical Dream won at the Dublin Racing Festival, owner Joanne Coleman was due to have a second runner that day – the mare Lamarckise in the Grade 1 Spring Hurdle but was withdrawn due to the ground. Sure to be kept as a novice for next season, the daughter of Martaline is said to be very good. Remember the name.

Boost for British

BEWARE The Bear’s success was a boost for British pointing. He was trained by Oliver Greenall to finish second in two points at Bangor-on-Dee and Garthorpe before joining Nicky Henderson.

Huge placepot

TUESDAY produced the second-biggest Totepool Placepot dividend of all time as one on-course customer took home a £182,567.80 for a £2 straight line bet, in which they selected only one horse in each race. The net pool of £958,481.10 was shared by just 10.50 winning units, producing a dividend of £91,283.10.

Amateurs hit with severe penalties

A SERIES of stewards’ enquiries after the National Hunt Chase yielded some eye watering bans for several Irish amateurs with three jockeys being hit with 37 days of bans.

All three jockeys were banned after the stewards deemed that they had continued in the race when it appeared contrary to their horses’ welfare. The decision to hand out bans of such magnitude is likely to reverberate for quite some time. What sort of precedent does this for the future? Of the 18 runners that set out in the National Hunt Chase eight fell, one unseated and five pulled up in an attritional edition of the race.

Rob James, who rode Just Your Type, was suspended for seven days for using his whip when his horse was showing no response from approaching the home bend. James was then banned for 12 days after the stewards deemed that he had continued in the race when it appeared to be contrary to the horse’s welfare.

Noel McParlan, who rode Mulcahys Hill (a faller at the second last fence), was given an eight-day ban after the stewards enquired as to whether he had continued in the race when it appeared to be contrary to the horse’s welfare. Declan Lavery was another casualty of the National Hunt Chase and after partnering Jerrysback into third the rider was suspended for 10 days for continuing in the race when it appeared to be contrary to the horse’s welfare after tired jumping errors at the final two fences.