Chin up: It was just hard luck

By Declan Rix

Cheltenham has now been and gone, along with the bulk of punters’ money. Six million, six million they took from the ordinary decent man, a staggering amount of cash. Festival banker this, festival banker that, they were all really and truly stuffed, except for the mighty Big Buck’s of course. He put on a master class as he and Ruby sauntered up the hill for an effortless victory, a true champion. Well, what about the others, Dunguib, Master Minded and Kauto? I think you could even throw Tell Massini into the above bracket. Can we feel aggrieved? I think so, well with three of the four anyway.

No better race for Dunguib to turn up and show off his lovely new spring coat, turn of foot and decent jumping, than the very first race of the meeting. Easy money we thought just as the Cheltenham roar went up. Wrong! Philip Fenton’s charge could only manage third, I’m sure you heard. The hearts of millions dropped as Brian O’Connell could get no closer than two lengths off the eventual winner, Menorah. There were Irish men seen leaving after the very first race of the Festival, cursing the name of Brian O’Connell. Should he have won, yes, was it a ‘bad’ ride, no. Not in the true sense of the word anyway. In my opinion it was an average ride but I’m sure O’Connell is willing to admit that himself. Truth be told the horse settled much better than he did in last year’s bumper romp. Ok, he had hurdles to jump this time round but he jumped fine, which is a credit to O’Connell, better than expected (not by me). Yes he was very wide on the course and much worse than mid div but the race wasn’t run to suit, they never went half as quick as they usually do, allowing those who laid up close to the pace to seize the initiative. On the day things just didn’t fall right for Dunguib’s supporters, we can count ourselves unlucky. If the first three home in the Supreme meet again, my money’s on Dunguib. Best of luck Mr. O’Connell.

The second hot pot to go belly up was the infallible Master Minded. The 2008 and 2009 winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase looked a shadow of his former self as he trailed in 10 lengths behind Big Zeb. Ok we haven’t seen the best Master Minded since 2008, Timeform ratings will tell you that, but surely he still should have beaten this field. It was written in the stars that he would go on to emulate Badsworth Boy and win three Champion Chases in a row, wasn’t it? Something must have been awry, right? Correct, the ex-champion returned home with sore knees, not shins, knees. That’s how quick the ground was at the Festival, the quickest I’ve seen it in recent years, by a country going stick. It was also the quickest ground Master Minded had ever encountered and the result and post-race findings confirmed this. Punters who lumped on Master Minded can feel a little hard done by; the elements and a man by the name of Claisse could have been kinder.

Tell Massini may not have been one of your list of bankers for the meeting, but many a shrewd and well-read punter had this lad high on their list, higher then a Dunguib or a Master Minded even. Again, like those who had fallen before him, he too was punted as if defeat was out of the question, but like the rest, he burned in Cheltenham’s fiery pit. Excuses? Most certainly, tests were carried out on Tom George’s stable star which returned with a positive result. How ironic, eh? Blood cultures showed that the son of Dr. Massini was struck down with a bacterial infection. Talk about timing, I was already counting my money after doubling him up with Coral Cup hero Spirit River. Oh well, there’s always next year folks and there will be one where this horse is concerned, next year’s RSA Chase is firmly on the cards.

The last leg of the so called “big four” fell, literally, at around 15:24 on the final day of the Festival. Kauto Star was lucky not to come down at the eighth fence as he made a shuddering mistake under Ruby. Actually, Ruby did very well to stay in the plate but he was always chasing the leaders thereafter. He never travelled like a winner afterwards, and worse was to follow. Ruby had coaxed Paul Nicholls’s star back into contention, only to come down four out in the rain-softened ground. He was still in contention at the time but his number was up. No one could envisage him turning over Imperial Commander after such a mishap. There was an air of calm after the race though, Kauto not winning felt different, different in a strange way. What was it? That feeling was one of no hard luck. Everybody knew Kauto had his chance but it just wasn’t his day. Three races later, it dawned on the punter: “it just wasn’t my week”.