Focus on Cheltenham turns too much of the season into ‘Phoney War’

Jump racing’s phoney war doesn’t last as long as the original. But it’s not just flat enthusiasts struggling with seasonal adjustment who feel like it does sometimes. As countdowns to the real thing go, this one can really drag.

The real thing is Cheltenham in March. It’s overwhelming status in the National Hunt calendar means the annual countdown begins again pretty much as soon as the last horse is past the post in the Martin Pipe Hurdle.

The festival is jump-racing’s greatest plus, providing a focal point that most other sports can only dream about in terms of public profile. For four days every year the eyes of the sporting world are on Cheltenham. But for large parts of the rest of the year, that plus results in considerable minuses too.

It isn’t manifest immediately after Cheltenham. Shortly afterwards comes Aintree and Fairyhouse with Punchestown bringing the season to an end. Crammed into this packed Spring festival calendar are other prestige festivals such as Ayr’s Scottish National and British racing’s climax at Sandown.

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Concentrating so much excellence into little more than six weeks makes for a heady prospect. But it also begs the question as to whether or not such a time frame makes for the most productive use of such attractions.

No more than at this time of year, such a lopsided calendar means Cheltenham’s overarching influence produces what often seems little more than shadowboxing.

It doesn’t mean there aren’t tear-ups. But too many of them are confined to valuable handicaps such as next week’s Coral Gold Cup at Newbury. And even handicaps are no guarantee of competition as Gordon Elliott’s record dominance of last Sunday’s Troytown at Navan underlined.

When it comes to top-flight competition, even an upcoming glut of Grade One contests on both sides of the Irish Sea can’t shake a pervasive sense of before the Lord Mayor’s Ball. On the flat it might get labelled under classic trials; but three months of trials are too much for any sport’s good.

This weekend’s action at Punchestown is the latest in Horse Racing Ireland’s pre-Christmas initiative to introduce a thread of dates under a ‘festival’ narrative. Saturday’s highlight is the Morgiana Hurdle followed 24 hours later by a John Durkan Chase brought forward in the calendar.

The Durkan has prize money of €100,000. The Morgiana is worth another €20,000 on top of that. Each has a likely headline act with the Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs and State Man on track to try to repeat their 2022 race victories. One is a 1-4 favourite. The other is 1-2. It’s not only bookmakers expecting lucrative solo shows for both Willie Mullins stars.

It’s symptomatic of a programme that allows connections of top-class horses to slalom their way down as uncompetitive a route as possible towards Cheltenham in March.

A Morgiana clash between State Man and his stable companion Impaire Et Passe would have been fascinating. But why would the latter do that when he can simply wait for the following week’s Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse.

Shishkin up against Prokekorat and Bravemansgame in tomorrow’s Betfair Chase at Haydock would be a mouthwatering prospect and help to establish the cross-channel pecking order of Gold Cup contenders. But to no one’s surprise, Nicky Henderson has opted for an easier task at Ascot instead.

After the Durkan, Galopin Des Champs will, in all likelihood, do what he did last year, and wait for the Dublin Racing Festival. Ireland’s other main Gold Cup hope, Gerri Colombe, can then run at Leoaprdstown over Christmas before going under wraps until Cheltenham.

One can’t blame Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott or anyone else for deploying their resources to their own ends. But tie so many options to an increased reluctance for testing the best horses early in the season – part of a self-fulfilling prophecy that less is more when it comes festival preparations – and its little wonder so much of it gets reduced to a risk-averse game of dodge and weave.

Earlier this week Gordon Elliott was invited to dutifully ‘big up’ the upcoming domestic action but couldn’t help truthfully acknowledging that Cheltenham is the “be all and end all”. That is both the reality and the supreme measure of Irish racing success. But it makes for a long and hollow prelude.

So much so that when a genuine pre-Cheltenham heavyweight clash occurs, the sport almost falls over itself with excitement, such as with the memorable Ascot clash between Shishkin and Energumene in 2022. What’s rare really did feel wonderful.

Similar caution on the flat would be derided as commercial cynicism. But while the summer game can only dream of a draw to compare with Cheltenham, its season does contain a series of fluctuating championship peaks that maintain public interest, from Guineas to Derby, Royal Ascot, Arc, and on to an international stage. Over jumps, even Grade One races can get reduced to little more than trial status.

Contests like the King George VI Chase on St Stephen’s Day deserve much more than that. In a healthy programme it would serve as an ideal midseason goal in its own right. But like so many others, it’s already shaping as being more notable for what won’t be there than will.

There is a payoff down the line: but for the moment too much of the action feels like sabre-rattling.

Something for the Weekend

Papa Barns (2.40) has twice run well at Fairyhouse over shorter distances and the step up to three miles on Friday could see him supply a local success in an ordinary race. Saturday’s Grade Two novice chase at Punchestown actually looks competitive and Affordable Fury (1.23) should relish three miles on testing ground.