Mindset drives performance

By Jack Davison

The dust has now settled on Cheltenham 2010 and the despairing media columns, fixated on shedding some comforting light on what was a dark festival (betting wise) for the vast majority of punters, are gradually disappearing. The time seems right to share one of my hard-learned lessons, as it is one that is applicable to the upcoming flat season, where young, maiden horses take to the track. First off, it must be said that I doubt that we have ever been as well informed or as well equipped to have had a ’good Cheltenham’, as us folk who reckon we know what we’re talking about like to put it, than we were at this year’s renewal. Never before have we been bombarded with such a myriad of trainers’, jockeys’ and experts’ views and opinions, like we were in the run up to the 2010 Festival. It was almost like I (and I’m sure that there were many others alike) felt as though I could not lose ahead of this much-anticipated betting expedition, and had good reason to be prematurely salivating at the thought of having a wallet stuffed with cash and scented with the sweet fragrance of bookmakers’ misery. Well how wrong I was! And isn’t it painfully ironic that with the insurmountable fund of knowledge that was at our disposal this Festival it did little to save us from flirting with bankruptcy by the end of the week?

I’m a Dunguib fan but was blinded by his excellence to the extent that I could not envisage any other horse being able to live with his speed. In the end it all happened too quickly for Dunguib and not quickly enough for the huge contingent of punters who subscribed to the view that Dunguib would have too much gas and class for the others. His form was unquestionably superior to the other contenders, but what I failed to consider was how the horse may react when asked to go faster than he ever had before, especially in a packed field of top novice hurdlers – lesson learned.

The psychological state of Shot From The Hip (another investment of mine) was also conducive to a poor performance in the Champion Bumper. I was filled with excitement while I saw his price crash prior to the race as my ante post bet looked nicer by the minute. However, it turned out that I wasn’t nearly as excited as the horse, who had a right go at dislocating J.P. Magnier’s arms, all the while expending vital energy in the early stages of the race and, well, you know the rest. While he looked a horse with unbelievable ability when winning a Leopardstown bumper emphatically, it seemed that maybe the energy created by the huge thronging crowds at Prestbury Park had also been conducted through his limbs. Horses are mentally delicate at the best of times and there are umpteen things associated with Prestbury Park and the raucous atmosphere that goes hand in hand with the Festival that have the capacity to strike fear into a young and inexperienced horse.

I am guilty of underestimating the mental traumas to which young horses are being subjected, especially on big days when the races are that bit more competitive, and this is something that I will be examining when looking at similar affairs in the future. From a betting perspective, in order to reduce the risk involved, the intricate nature of the racehorse must be examined along with the core variables, because it can play very much against you and ultimately cost you. This is most applicable in maiden races where most of the thoroughbred horses haven’t had a run on the racecourse before. Many of us have and will bet blindly on a well-bred two-year-old at very skimpy odds without having a clue of the temperament of the animal. This is something of which to be wary, especially in the coming months.