Grounds for concern at Cheltenham
Cheltenham’s New Year’s Day card finally went ahead following a series of inspections that saw racing delayed in farcical scenes.
However, one race is set to be lost due to time constraints, although it is yet to be confirmed which contest will be cancelled.
Clerk of the course Simon Claisse said: “At the moment I can’t say for definite which race it will be.”
The controversial story began when Claisse was forced to call an initial precautionary check at 10am and when that showed the track to be unraceable, he opted to check again at 11.30am.
The meeting got the thumbs up at that second inspection and the first race, the Cheltenham And Three Counties Race Club ’National Hunt’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle, went off without incident, although there were six non-runners.
A number of jockeys and trainers expressed their concerns about the going after that race, forcing a further impromptu inspection.
A deputation of officials, trainers and jockeys, including the likes of Tony McCoy and Nicky Henderson, went out to check the track and after 40 minutes of deliberation, the meeting carried on with a half-hour delay on every race.
There were plenty of non-runners though, including the Henderson-trained Punchestowns who was pulled out of the Dipper due to the ground.
The Seven Barrows handler said: “They are all slightly different and Punchestowns is quite a big horse that’s had problems in his life.
“One wouldn’t want to say I’m not happy to run him but happy to run the others but you have to be sensible.”
Other leading hopes Knockara Beau and Bensalem were also taken out of the feature Grade Two event.
Despite pulling Punchestowns out, Henderson reported his stable jockey Barry Geraghty to be happy with conditions after their runner, Radium, won the opening contest.
Henderson added: “Barry was happy enough with the ground and he said Radium was travelling well throughout.”
Another trainer happy to run his horses was Keith Reveley, whose Jass finished unplaced in the second race.
He said: “I have every confidence in my jockey and in my horse and the fact is there’s plenty of moisture underneath the crisp top and I don’t see any problem.
“I walked every inch of the track and I can tell you we’ve raced in the north on worse than this without any problems at all.”
Another to add his support for the decision was Andrew Tinkler, who won the second on Sherwoods Folly.
He added: “I think they were right to have racing even though the ground was a bit patchy.
“At the end of the day, it’s up to the trainers and owners whether they want to run.”
