New report suggests Cheltenham Festival and Liverpool match ‘increased several-fold’ the number of Covid-19 casesNow we know. The much-maligned decisions to go ahead with the Cheltenham Festival and Liverpool’s Champions League match against Atlético Madrid in March “caused increased suffering and death”, according to the scientist leading the UK’s largest Covid-19 tracking project. Well, colour all those who foresaw that particular revelation coming down the pipe surprised.In much the same way that you don’t need to be an optician to appreciate that loading the family into the car for a 60-mile pre-journey journey is not the best way to test your eyesight, an intimate working knowledge of Bunsen burners, pipettes and Erlenmeyer flasks was never going to be a prerequisite...
Having waited so long for a first success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Willie Mullins is poised to make it two in a row, thanks to last year’s winnerHaving waited so long for a first success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Willie Mullins is poised to make it two in a row, thanks to Al Boum Photo (3.30). The rangy bay ground his way remorselessly to the prize a year ago and something similar will probably be good enough against a list of rivals with questions to answer.For years, Mullins used to joke that he had no idea what makes a Gold Cup winner but the formula he hit on with Al Boum Photo last year, having a quiet prep...
The selection can foil Paisley Park’s bid for a double in Thursday’s highlight at the Cheltenham FestivalPaisley Park seems set to be a hot favourite for a second consecutive success in the Stayers Hurdle, having kept his unbeaten record since then. So punters must ask themselves, is the eight-year-old as solid as Envoi Allen or fallible like Defi Du Seuil?He has looked more straightforward this year but this is his toughest test since last year’s Festival and it is disconcerting to see the strike-rate of Emma Lavelle’s yard has been declining since the heady days of November. With a fascinating cast of characters in opposition, it is very tempting to look elsewhere. Related: J P McManus rues one that got...
The absence of a previous winner makes this feel a low-quality contest but the mare can follow up her striking Kempton winThe absence of a previous winner makes this feel like a low-quality Champion Hurdle but, with plenty of youth in the line-up, it would be early to jump to that conclusion. Epatante (3.30) appears on a steep upward curve and can prove it by giving Nicky Henderson his eighth success in the race.Henderson did not seem enthused when it was suggested to him in late November that this mare would be a championship contender. But just a month later she quickened clear of the field in the Christmas Hurdle, which has been the best trial for this. Related: Talking...
A pair of Gallic chasers are aiming to dislodge Tiger Roll’s crown in the Cheltenham Festival Cross Country Chase On a windswept gallop in central France, Emmanuel Clayeux is looking a couple of weeks into the future – and also, he hopes, three or four years.Urgent De Gregaine and Diesel D’Allier, Clayeux’s main contenders for the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, were among the horses exercising here on Tuesday morning, and will be aiming for a repeat of their one-two finish over the unique obstacles in November when they return to Gloucestershire on 11 March. Only time will tell if there were also Festival contenders for 2022 or 2023 working alongside them, but the odds are that there...