The All-Weather Finals moved from Lingfield to Newcastle in 2022 and the Surrey track lost another of its significant draws over the weekend when it was confirmed that the two jumps cards in its Winter Million meeting will be staged at Windsor from 2025, either side of Clarence House Chase afternoon at nearby Ascot.
Lingfield’s locally based fans may grumble, but a long weekend in Berkshire could be a significant step forward for the pre-Cheltenham programme, and the degree of cooperation involved between Ascot, the country’s biggest independent track, and Arena Racing Company, which stages the Winter Million, is also encouraging.
Lingfield’s final act as the venue, meanwhile, was at least a highly positive one, as it salvaged an otherwise blank weekend for jumping in Britain and also showcased two very live contenders for the Festival meeting in March. L’Homme Presse, who returned from 391 days on the sidelines to beat Protektorat with something to spare in the Fleur De Lys Chase, is now around 10-1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, while Joe Tizzard’s JPR One managed to avoid the late mistakes that have afflicted him in the past and is a 16-1 shot for the Arkle Trophy.
Both horses are exactly what British jumping needs if it is restore at least a little parity to the balance of power at Cheltenham in March, where the Irish in general, and Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead in particular, have now dominated for the best part of a decade. And by the same measure, both are very similar to a long list of previous British-trained Festival contenders in recent years that have pitched up at Prestbury Park with high hopes, and been beaten pointless by the away team.
With those annual drubbings in mind, the current ante-post markets for the 28 Festival races in a little under two months’ time make for uncomfortable reading on the British side of the water. Much could change over the next few weeks as the cycle of trials continues at Cheltenham, Leopardstown, Newbury, Warwick and more, but as things stand, Ireland has six of the seven favourites on both the first and second afternoons, all seven on day three and five on the final day.
Lingfield Park: 12.40 Asgard’s Captain 1.10 Twilight Fun 1.45 Island Native 2.15 Monks Mead 2.50 Sassy Redhead 3.25 Different Breed 4.00 Destinado
Catterick Bridge: 12.50 Didero Vallis 1.20 Lavida Adiva 1.50 Sadler’s Bay 2.25 Hajey 3.00 Henry Gray 3.35 Milajess 4.10 Wilful
Chepstow: 12.55 Livin On Luco 1.30 Broughshane 2.00 Pulling Stumps 2.35 Kourosh 3.10 Minella Blueway (nap) 3.45 Moonlighter (nb) 4.20 Mumbles
Kempton Park: 5.30 Glen Heste 6.00 Green Power 6.30 Alhather 7.00 Stella Hogan 7.30 Miss Monte Carlo 8.00 The Bay Warrior 8.30 Thirtyfourstitches
Britain does, of course, field the shortest-priced favourite of all in Constitution Hill, who is around 1-3 to defend his title in the Champion Hurdle, but it feels slightly ominous too that some of the most interesting entries on Cheltenham’s Trials Day card this weekend are also trained in Ireland.
Willie Mullins has entered Lossiemouth and Gala Marceau, the current first and second favourites for the Mares’ Hurdle in March, in both the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle at Doncaster, while Emmet Mullins’s Noble Yeats, the 2022 Grand National winner, is among the entries for the Cleeve Hurdle ahead of a possible tilt at the Stayers’ Hurdle in March.
The idea that Ireland’s recent dominance at the Festival is part of a cycle which will turn once again at some point remains popular among British trainers and owners (or the British-based owners that do not send most of their horses to be trained in Ireland, at any rate).
The point at which their faith in the cycle might start to look more like clutching at straws is a matter of opinion, but a decade without a Festival when Britain’s much larger racing industry had the majority of the winners seems as good a choice as any. And as things stand, that seems almost certain to be next year’s meeting.
So recent history and trends are very much against L’Homme Presse as he seeks to end a run of five straight Cheltenham Gold Cup wins for Ireland, and seven of the last eight. But while the head says that Galopin Des Champs and Fastorslow, the big two from Ireland, will probably fight out the finish on 15 March, there was so much for the heart to latch on to in L’Homme Presse’s success on Sunday, not least the emotional response of the hugely likeble Andy Edwards, his owner, to his successful return to the fray.
Newbury 12.50 Arthurian Fable 1.25 Two To Tango 2.00 Kalif D’Airy 2.35 Invincible Nao 3.10 Kazontherazz (nb) 3.45 Issar D’Airy 4.20 The Expensive One
Leicester 1.00 Sindabella 1.35 Ballinoulart 2.10 Alcedo 2.45 Imperial Alex 3.20 O’Connell 3.55 The Famous Five
Southwell 4.30 Andaleep 5.00 Magna Vega 5.30 Rogue Raider 6.00 Counsel 6.30 Clipsham La Habana 7.00 Muscika 7.30 Moyola (nap) 8.00 Reigning Profit 8.30 King Viktor
It was a typically fine effort by Venetia Williams, L’Homme Presse’s trainer, to have him ready to beat a race-fit Protektorat after such a long spell on the sidelines, and his winning time was very commendable too in the circumstances.
“I’m sure he will improve a bit,” Williams said afterwards, “but don’t expect masses of improvement.” He might not need masses to give the Irish challengers something to think about, though, and with several bookies already going non-runner-no-bet, his current Gold Cup price of around 10-1 looks very fair.
