Leading jockeys fear the run-up to the Cheltenham Festival will be littered with bans over new riding restrictions“As a collective of jockeys, we’re all together,” Nico de Boinville said after winning the first race on Friday, a clear sign that, despite general delight that the card had beaten the frost, there is a storm brewing ahead of the introduction of new whip rules by the British Horseracing Authority in the run-up to Cheltenham’s Festival meeting in March.De Boinville was echoing the view of Harry Cobden, the No 1 jockey to Paul Nicholls, the champion trainer, who described the new rules as “bloody ridiculous” after riding a winner at Taunton on Thursday. Under the new regime, riders will be banned from...
Claim that British trainers spend too much time ‘ducking and diving’ with their horses has dominated Tingle Creek build-upAs a response to Gordon Elliott’s claim earlier this week that British trainers spend too much time “ducking and diving” with their best horses in the first few months of the season, Saturday’s Tingle Creek at Sandown Park could hardly have been timed any better.With the sole exception of Nube Negra, the best two-milers that Britain can muster are due to go to post in front of a big pre-Christmas crowd on Saturday, including Shishkin, the winner of an epic Clarence House Chase at Ascot last February, and his successor as the top two-mile novice, Alan King’s Edwardstone. Continue reading...
The prospect of having a clash like this to sell to the public next year will have racing’s various PR squads gnawing at the bitForty-eight hours on from an apparently flawless performance like Constitution Hill’s 12-length success at Newcastle on Saturday, the adrenalin has worn off and it is generally possible to make a more objective assessment of the form. Perhaps the second-favourite ran well below form, went off too fast or made a mistake at a key stage. Maybe the winner was the only one that acted on the ground.This time, there’s nothing. Not even the faintest hint of a hole to niggle away at. Constitution Hill travelled supremely well from the first stride, settled easily into his unfamiliar...
Historic chase is the big betting race of the day as Constitution Hill returns in a clash with stablemate EpatanteThe first running of Newbury’s most historic handicap chase in its new guise as the Coral Gold Cup is one of the most competitive renewals this century, with no fewer than five horses top-priced as 8-1 co-favourites on Friday morning and four more a point behind on 9-1.Remastered, a faller four out when going like the winner 12 months ago, may prove to be the pick of the market leaders, but despite the strength and depth of the field, it is a surprise to find Our Power (3.05) at a double-figure price a little further down the list. Continue reading...
The meeting was a letdown but set against the failure to deal with potentially devastating global consequences it was trivialFergal O’Brien’s Twitter feed – @OBMRacing – reliably finds a lighter side amid the gloom and it was fast away from the traps again on Saturday afternoon, as racing Twitter reacted to the news that Constitution Hill had been scratched from his comeback race at Ascot. “Is Constitution Hill going to break Twitter,” it asked, “before Elon does?”Nicky Henderson’s decision to scratch last season’s brilliant Supreme Novice Hurdle winner a couple of hours before the Coral Hurdle provoked a predictably sour reception from many fans on social media. Accusations of undue caution, an obsession with the Festival in March above all...