It did not have the sheer relentlessness of the parading talents at last weekend’s Dublin racing festival in Ireland, but the final afternoon here on Saturday of significant trials for the Cheltenham festival offered further cause for hope that the Irish will not have things all their own way next month.
Haiti Couleurs, the Denman Chase winner, is the latest British-trained contender at single-figure odds for the Gold Cup on 13 March, alongside The Jukebox Man and Jango Baie, first and fourth respectively in the King George VI Chase in December. The unbeaten five-year-old, Lulamba, is the near-certain favourite for the Arkle Trophy, after maintaining his unbeaten record over fences in the Game Spirit Chase.
In Tutti Quanti, who took the feature handicap apart under top weight of 12st, there is the possibility that a genuine contender for championship honours has emerged almost from nowhere.
Throughout its long history under a variety of sponsors, the race that is staged as the William Hill Hurdle has always been one of the most fiercely competitive events of its type all season. Rarely, if ever, has it been won as emphatically as it was on Saturday. The front-running Tutti Quanti was clearly going far better than his rivals on the turn for home and he shrugged off both his weight and the strength-sapping ground as he strode further clear all the way to the line.
Chelmsford
1.37 Thanh Nam (nap) 2.07 Shafdar 2.35 King David 3.07 Marinakis 3.37 My Awele 4.07 Little Miss Magic (nb) 4.37 Tuba
Tutti Quanti was a remarkable 15 lengths clear of the runner-up, prompting Paul Nicholls, his trainer, to suggest that a supplementary entry for the Champion Hurdle on 10 March could be a consideration.
“He’s just one of those big, backward horses who has been physically improving and getting better all the time,” he said. “I still think there is more to come from him. I was a little bit nervous, as the record books tell you off 12st it is hard to win a race like this, but he has annihilated them.
“We were thinking of putting him in the County [Handicap] Hurdle [at Cheltenham] and a few of those others but we might just have a rethink if the ground was right for him. We could supplement him for the Champion Hurdle if we wanted to. The great thing about supplementing is you only have to do it five or six days before the race and you will have a great idea about what the ground will be.”
Neither Haiti Couleurs nor Lulamba could be described as flawless in victory, as the Welsh Grand National winner was a little close to several fences while Lulamba’s inexperience showed mid-race before he picked up the leaders and then powered ahead halfway down the straight. But both did no more than necessary on deep, demanding ground, when it would have been easy to leave their festival chance behind.
Native River, in 2018, was the last British-trained winner of the Gold Cup, while Norton’s Coin, who shocked Desert Orchid at 100-1 in 1990, was the last (and only the second) to be trained in Wales. Haiti Couleurs, though, will go to Cheltenham with a decent chance to snap both streaks and add a landmark win for Sean Bowen, his jockey.
Bowen is the reigning champion jockey over jumps and is so far clear in this season’s race that if he retired tomorrow, he would still be long odds-on to retain his title when the season ends in April. While he is putting up Tony McCoy-like numbers in terms of winners, however, he has yet to enjoy a victory at the Cheltenham festival.
“He was careful at a few early on and warmed up nicely into it,” Bowen said, “and then actually showed a turn of foot when they came to him and I was surprised how well he quickened.
“He’s going to be a horse that three-miles-two around Cheltenham and then up the hill will really suit him. Whether he’s good enough after the back of the last we don’t know, but he’ll definitely be there pitching turning in.
“You want to be riding in Gold Cups and I have only ridden in one and finished fourth, so to finish a few places higher would be nice.”
Lulamba was trimmed to around 11-8 for the Arkle Trophy after extending his unbeaten record over fences to three, while Sam Thomas’s Steel Ally is around 10-1 (from 20-1) for the same race after a comfortable success in the Grade Two Kingmaker Novice Chase at Warwick.
Newcastle’s jumps meeting on Sunday has been abandoned meaning the only action in the UK will take place at Chelmsford.
