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Wednesday, March 17th - Cheltenham. One of the most amusing sights of Cheltenham has been the faces of the executive who wake up every morning to gaze on the ten metre high HOLLYWOOD-style capitals which have made the name of bookmakers PADDY POWER the landmark of Cleeve Hill, writes Rolf Johnson.
The letters look down on the course like escapees from a giant game of Scrabble.
Apart from providing the last hurdle for the multitude of helicopters landing at the bottom of the course, the white erections must occupy Cheltenham’s nightmares in the same way as the flock of sheep which strayed onto the track in the 2001 foot and mouth crisis and caused abandonment.
More seriously they serve to remind racing in the UK that bookmakers dominate proceedings.
Six French-bred two milers, including Paul Nicholls’s champion Master Minded (Nikos), were overwhelmed by the two Irishmen, Big Zeb and Forpadydeplasterer, in Cheltenham’s Queen Mother Chase.
Normal service was resumed when Nicholls’s Sanctuaire (by Kendor) won the Fred Winter Juvenile by nearly ten lengths. Nearest to the former Cottin-trained four-year-old was the David Pipe-trained Notus de la Tour (Kutub), brought over after trotting up in an Auteuil claimer.
Sanctuaire will now go to Aintree where he is likely to meet another ex-French juvenile Super Kenny (also by Kendor) who won on his Stratford debut last week.
Ruby Walsh became the current winning-most Festival jockey when Sanctuaire gave him his 26th victory over the years.
Nicholls’s only explanation for Master Minded was that he had not acted on the faster ground – the master trainer could have added rough ground too, and may have less to complain about the condition of Auteuil in future.
Perhaps Master Minded’s phenomenal Queen Mother Chase victory two years ago was a once in a lifetime performance for though he has won since he has not run close to that form.
Long Run (Cadoudal), who appeared to have translated his French form across the Channel for Nicky Henderson could not contain the two years older Irish-trained Weapons Amnesty in the RSA Chase.
Owner Robert Waley-Cohen was inclined to attribute defeat to the discrepancy between weight for age in the UK – only 1lb – and that in Ireland, 9lb.
Waley-Cohen’s son Sam came in for uninspired criticism in some quarters but they were also beaten by the Henderson ‘third-string’ Burton Point and no blame could be laid at the young jockey’s door.
Perhaps too the son of Cadoudal would have preferred softer ground. Still Long Run has youth on his side as well as on his back.
Normal Henderson service was resumed in the Coral Cup when Spirit River (by Poliglote) an Auteuil winner last March for Guy Cherel, won very easily.
Spirit River will likely be back at Cheltenham next year to try to succeed where Long Run failed.
Mon Mome showed, in last year’s Grand National, the prejudice against French-breds as to their staying power (they had not won the marathon of marathons for 100 years) and Poker de Sivola (by Discover d’Auteuil) who began his career with Thomas Trapenard, outlasted a large field for the meeting’s longest event, the four-mile National Hunt Chase.
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Frogwatch, by Rolf Johnson 
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