A preview of March’s UK Horse Racing
The four-day Cheltenham Competition dominates the March programme, however there’s also a busy programme of racing throughout the month including the ever-in style Imperial Cup day at Sandown plus the thrills and spills of the Midlands Grand National day at Uttoxeter. Flat fans, meanwhile, can need no reminding {that the} new turf season kicks off with the William Hill Lincoln at Redcar on March 25.
March begins with the newly-established Vodafone Gold Cup at Newbury on the 4th over 2 and a [*fr1] miles. It’s one thing of a surprise to seek out such a valuable race staged therefore shut to the Cheltenham Competition, and several trainers face the dilemma of deciding whether or not to run here or in either the Ryanair Chase or Racing Post Plate over similar distances at the Cheltenham Festival.
Twelve months ago a solid handicapper in the shape of Supreme Prince survived to land the valuable prize while in its inaugural year, the classy Isio was a well-backed winner. Absent since that season, Nicky Henderson’s gelding could well reappear during this race and would be an fascinating contender.
On the same day Doncaster’s Grimthorpe Chase, a staying handicap over 3 and a quarter miles, has been transferred to Lingfield and may somewhat be the chosen target of A Glass In Thyne, who won the Skybet Chase that had additionally been switched from Doncaster to Southwell in January. Maybe the changing fixture pattern can repeat itself again for Ben Pollock’s improving young chaser.
Champion trainer Martin Pipe has endured a stop-begin season however masses of punters can still be scouring the list of runners for the Imperial Cup at Sandown on March eleven within the hope of unearthing another Pipe hotpot for one in every of the season’s most keenly-contested handicap hurdles.
Pipe has won the race five times overall and has landed the prize 3 times in recent seasons. His mass of entries ought to be studied with the utmost care and may well embody progressive types such as Buena Vista, Acambo and Desert Air.
The punishing combination of a fiercely-run race and a stamina-sapping finish up the demanding Sandown hill has usually meant that lightly-weighted horses have held a bonus over their higher-weighted rivals, while waiting tactics have conjointly proved successful for many of the recent winners. Creating all in an exceedingly race as competitive as this isn’t easy.
The Irish won this race with shock outsider Regency Rake, trained by Arthur Moore in 1999, and any runners from across the Irish Sea should be accorded the greatest respect. Jessica Harrington’s Studmaster, an simple winner of his last 2 races would possibly absorb this contest or stay up for the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
On the same day at Sandown make a note conjointly of the EBF Novices’ Hurdle Final, a race that always produces a star of the future. Lots of stylish young hurdlers will have this contest in their sights including the Lambourn-trained pair Mr Pointment, and Wogan while the NickGifford team intends to field Dusky Lord.
Lately the Irish have held the Champion Hurdle on March fourteen, the opening day of the Cheltenham Competition, in a vice-like grip, winning five of the last seven renewals and wanting at the somewhat weakened field for this year’s renewal it’s laborious not to envisage the hurdling crown being whisked away once additional across the Irish Sea.
Reigning title-holders boast a superb record in the Champion, but recent dual winner Hardy Eustace can must banish a bout of the blues on his latest and disappointing effort within the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle at Leopradstown. At the age of 9 several assume his time might have passed.
Lots of horses that have been placed in the race previously have put that beneficial experience to sensible use by returning once more the following year to run well. Eire’s formidable trio of Brave Inca, Macs Joy and Al Eile, who finished third, fifth and seventh respectively in last year’s race will all be fancying their possibilities of winning this race a second time around.
The house-based mostly challenge appearance poor and has been hit hard by a spate of cruel injuries furthermore as the loss of type of emerging contenders like Faasel and Penzance. Maybe the simplest of the British can be Arcalis, whose possibilities will be a lot of increased by quick ground at Cheltenham, and a return to make for his stable.
Wednesday sees the 2-mile heavyweights clash within the stirring championship that’s the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Predicting this year’s winner revolves around whether or not punters assume twin winner and reigning champion Moscow Flyer is simply a jaded member of the old guard ready to be hyped up by young pretenders such as the fashionable Kauto Star and therefore the improving Fota Island.
Disappointing on his 2 starts so way this season, the mighty Moscow Flyer is twelve years old and you have to go back almost thirty years (1977) to seek out the last winner from that age group.
Kauto Star, by contrast, has youth on his facet and hails from the Paul Nicholls stable that has the best recent record in this race with winners in 2004 and 1999, and four placed horses since 2000. Kauto Star may be a worthy favorite to feature to that auspicious tally.
Thursday’s championship race is the World Hurdle, formerly known as the Stayers’ Hurdle and rather like the Queen Mother Champion Chase, it features a past champion in Baracouda making an attempt to feature a third title at the age of eleven in what should rank a 1 of the most open renewals in living memory.
Except for the foot-and-mouth abandonment of 2001, Baracouda would have already got three Stayers’ titles to his name however his task this year is created even more durable by his advancing years and therefore the presence of a strong domestic and Irish challenge from Mighty Man, No Refuge, Asian Maze and Golden Cross.
Friday March 17 is Cheltenham Gold Cup day and once the sensible dominance of the chasing blue riband by 3 times victor Best Mate, this year’s renewal is one amongst the poorest and conjointly most open in years and likely to produce a surprise end in this greatly-anticipated championship event.
The loss through injury of Kicking King, last year’s easy winner, has left the race wide-open however many backers will be trying to Monkerhostin, runner-up to the imperious Kicking King within the 2005 King George VI Chase, as a possible winner. Seven of the last ten Gold Cup winners ran in the King George, making it a key trial for future Gold Cup heroes.
Cheltenham week closes with the Midlands Grand National day on March 18 and Ossmoses, a course winner last year, can be a leading fancy for the four-mile one-and-a-[*fr1] furlong prize given his preference for running over long-distances within the mud. On the identical card backers ought to watch out for Sue Smith’s robust mare Viciana in the EBF Mares’ Novices’ Chase Final.
March closes with the William Hill Lincoln run for the primary time at Redcar (due to assembling work at Doncaster) and therefore the draw is certain to possess a massive say in the end result of this one-mile handicap, and the primary big prize of the new turf Flat season.
Twelve months ago Newmarket trainer Sir Michael Stoute won this contest for the first time with Stream of Gold and bids to try and do the same once more with the progressive King’s Majesty while James Fanshawe can be wanting for simple ground if he’s to run Cesare, another young and improving horse.
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