THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2019

The Festival™ 2019, seemed to break new ground for the number of heart-warming and captivating stories. It had thrilled fans of Jump racing, attracted record crowds on each day, received superb television and media coverage and delighted the Cheltenham team, headed by Ian Renton, The Jockey Club’s Regional Director, Cheltenham and South West Racecourses.

Renton said: “It has been a challenging Festival – in the lead-up we had equine flu, which caused a bit of a stop-start for a few days, and internally we were a little concerned about the weather forecast. In terms of stories surrounding the winners I cannot remember a better Festival. Tiger Roll’s win in the Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase, his fourth at the meeting, was wonderful, and Altior’s victory in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase was a great illustration of an outstanding steeplechaser. For Gavin Cromwell’s first Festival win to come in the Unibet Champion Hurdle [with Espoir D’Allen] was quite a rarity. We have all been waiting for Willie Mullins to win the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup, so the victory by Al Boum Photo, who he trains, was a delight for everyone who follows Jump racing.

WILLIE MULLINS REGAINS THE IRISH INDEPENDENT TRAINERS’ TITLE IN A CLOSE-RUN AFFAIR

Willie Mullins was crowned The Irish Independent Leading Trainer at The Festival for a sixth time after an absence of two years, but it went to countback on placings before the result was confirmed. This time it was Nicky Henderson, who last won the title in 2012, who gave him most to do, rather than Gordon Elliott, who took the title from Mullins in 2017 and won it again last year, and after both trainers ended on four winners it was Mullins’ five seconds against Henderson’s four that clinched it. Mullins had not been optimistic at the start of the week, so he was delighted to be proved wrong. He said: “It’s a big surprise. Looking at Nicky’s team at the start of the week I thought he was going to be hard to beat, so I’m delighted for the yard and delighted for all of our owners, who give us such support. It’s a testament to everyone who backs me that I’ve won it again. We got a great start, winning the first two races. We didn’t think we had a great team of novices but we ended with three novice winners, plus the Gold Cup, which was unbelievable after so many near misses. I thought I’d never win the Gold Cup, so that was a major surprise and a nice one.”

HOLLAND COOPER TOP JOCKEY AT THE FESTIVAL 2019 – NICO DE BOINVILLE

Nico de Boinville, the Holland Cooper Top Jockey at The Festival 2019 with three winners, reacted: “I am over the moon. You do not come into a week like this thinking you have any sort of a chance [of being top jockey]. You know you have good rides, but you know how hard it is to convert them here. You have to remember that I am riding for a genius of a trainer (Nicky Henderson) because we have been pushed this year. We haven’t had an easy build-up with all the snow and flu jabs so it has been a difficult prep for all these horses.
“I was saying earlier that I think one of the standout training performances was Santini, because we have had so many problems with him. For him to come and run like he did, we are really looking forward to next season. His three victories came through William Henry in the Coral Cup, Altior in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and Pentland Hills in the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

BOUM! MULLINS FINALLY WINS THE GOLD CUP

“I thought I might never win a Gold Cup,” admitted Willie Mullins after finally winning Jump racing’s top prize, the G1 £625,000 Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup with 12/1 chance Al Boum Photo. Mullins has now achieved a record 65 winners at The Festival™ presented by Magners. Including today’s quartet (Al Boum Photo, Belshill, Invitation Only and Kemboy), he has had 26 runners in the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup and has finished second six times. But seven-year-old French-bred Al Boum Photo, owned by Joe Donnelly and his wife Marie, rose to the occasion under Paul Townend – for whom it was also a first Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup success – and beat the Tony Martin-trained Anibale Fly (Barry Geraghty) by two and a half lengths.

“I’m delighted, and especially for my owners. Marie and Joe have put a big commitment into our yard, so it’s great to get one like that. And I’m absolutely delighted for Paul [Townend] – to me he had a very unlucky day in Punchestown [he elected to go past the final fence when in the lead in a G1 novices’ chase on Al Boum Photo in April 2018], and to do it on this horse would be special for Paul. I actually thought Bellshill would take a lot of beating but Ruby [Walsh] was never happy with him and pulled him up early. Al Boum Photo was probably third or fourth in my pecking order coming into the Gold Cup, and at the top of the hill first time round he was number one! It was extraordinary – the other three were gone by the time they came to the second-last first time round. That’s the luck of the game, but every time I looked at Paul, he and the horse seemed to be a rhythm, galloping away, looking so relaxed, and when he came to the top of the hill when he wanted a chop he gave it to him and I thought, this horse has got plenty left in the tank. I didn’t know how much but I said he’s got something there if he keeps jumping. Going to the second-last Paul said, ‘time to go’, and all he had to do was jump the last, which he did. We didn’t have any last-fence worries, and it was fantastic. After the last, I just looked at the winning line and what was coming behind us and thought that he will win unless he stops or runs out.

“I had probably resigned myself to never winning a Gold Cup, so I didn’t really obsess about it and get too disappointed about it. It is like certain jockeys have never won the Grand National and others guys have never won a Champion Hurdle. Racing has been very good to me, I have a fantastic life in racing and I resigned myself to thinking that if I never won it then so be it. Sometimes trainers train certain types of horses in a certain way and maybe it wasn’t a Gold Cup way, even though we were so close, so I thought maybe it’s not to be. You get one chance at it every year, and this year when three of them were gone, I thought it was another year like that. So I probably had all my disappointment out of me early in the race. I’m thrilled to win it. When Dawn Run won the Gold Cup [in 1986, trained by Mullins’ father Paddy] I didn’t get home for three or four days, and it might take a bit longer this time, but we’ll see. Between Ascot, here and Melbourne, we’ve been hitting the board the whole time, so I am very proud for the whole yard and all my owners who give huge commitments to our yard. It’s a victory for them as well.”

IMPORTANT FACTS ON THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain. The total prize money for the 2019 running is £625,000, with £351,687 to the winner and prize money down to the eighth home. Magners is the new sponsor in 2019, succeeding Timico (2016-2018). Betfred (2012-2015) inherited the sponsorship after taking over the Tote which backed the race from 1980. Piper Champagne was the first sponsor from 1975 to 1979.

The initial Cheltenham Gold Cup was a three-mile Flat race in 1819, won by Mr Bodenham’s Spectre. The chase, as we now know it, was introduced in 1924, with Red Splash successful. The winning prize money then was £700. The 1924 Gold Cup trophy, acquired by Cheltenham Racecourse in 2018 after being kept in a bank vault for years, will be presented to the winning connections of the 2019 Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup. The 2019 winning owner will receive a replica of the original Cheltenham Gold Cup to keep, with the 1924 Cheltenham Gold Cup, the new perpetual trophy, remaining on display at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Biggest Field
The joint biggest Cheltenham Gold Cup field ever was in 2006, when 22 runners went to post. Since the chase was first run in 1924, there has only been one other renewal with more than 18 runners – in 1982 when Silver Buck defeated 21 rivals. There are 16 declared runners this year.

Multiple Winners
In the Cheltenham Gold Cup’s history, seven horses have won the race more than once. Golden Miller holds the record for the most Gold Cup victories, with five consecutive wins from 1932-36. The other horses with two or more successes have been Kauto Star, who took the spoils in 2007 and 2009 and is the only horse to ever regain the Gold Cup, Best Mate (2002/03/04), L’Escargot (1970/71), Arkle (1964/65/66), Cottage Rake (1948/49/50) and Easter Hero (1929/30). The 2018 winner Native River runs again this year.

Most Successful Owner
Golden Miller’s owner, Dorothy Paget, has been the most successful owner in the race with an amazing seven victories, with Roman Hackle (1940) and Mont Tremblant (1952) adding to Golden Miller’s five wins.

Most Successful Trainer
The most successful trainer has been Tom Dreaper, who won five Gold Cups with three horses, namely Prince Regent (1946), Arkle (1964, 1965 and 1966) and Fort Leney (1968).

Paul Nicholls is the most successful current handler with four wins from three horses – See More Business (1999), Kauto Star (2007 & 2009) and Denman (2008). He saddles Clan Des Obeaux tomorrow.

Most Successful Jockey
The most successful jockey has been Pat Taaffe, who recorded four victories on – Arkle (1964, 1965 & 1966) and Fort Leney (1968).

The three most successful current jockeys with two wins each are Ruby Walsh (Kauto Star 2007 & 2009), Barry Geraghty (Kicking King 2005 & Bobs Worth 2013) and Richard Johnson (Looks Like Trouble 2000 & Native River 2018). Each can go one better this year, with Walsh riding Bellshill, Geraghty on Anibale Fly and Johnson hoping to win for the second year running on Native River.

Ridden & Trained Winner

Five winning jockeys went on to train the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

 Mares
A total of four mares have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup – Ballinode (1925), Kerstin (1958), Glencaraig Lady (1972) and Dawn Run (1986). Shattered Love, trained by Gordon Elliott, tries to add to that total this year.
Longest & Shortest-Priced Winners, Fate Of The Favourites
The longest-priced winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup has been 100/1 chance Norton’s Coin in 1990.

The shortest-priced winner was Arkle, the 1/10 favourite in 1966. In the 90 runnings, 30 favourites have won -just over 33 per cent.

Greys
The only grey Cheltenham Gold Cup winner was Desert Orchid in 1989. Bristol De Mai attempts to be the second in 2019.

Age
The breakdown of winners by age is as follows:

Overseas-Trained Winners
The winners of 25 Cheltenham Gold Cups have been trained overseas.

IRELAND (24): Ballinode (1925), Prince Regent (1946), Cottage Rake (1948, 1949, 1950), Knock Hard (1953), Roddy Owen (1959), Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966), Fort Leney (1968), L’Escargot (1970, 1971), Glencaraig Lady (1972), Captain Christy (1974), Ten Up (1975), Davy Lad (1977), Dawn Run (1986), Imperial Call (1996), Kicking King (2005), War Of Attrition (2006), Lord Windermere (2014), Don Cossack (2016) & Sizing John (2017). There are seven Irish runners this year.

FRANCE (1): The Fellow (1994)

Gold Cup/Champion Hurdle Double
Dawn Run is the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. She was successful in 1984 and 1986 respectively.

Fastest Time
The fastest winning time is 6 minutes 29.7 seconds, set by Long Run in 2011.

Did You Know?
A P McCoy’s Champion Hurdle/Cheltenham Gold Cup double in 1997 on Make A Stand and Mr Mulligan was the 11th time that the big-race double has been landed by one jockey in the same year. The other jockeys to have achieved the feat were Dick Rees (1929), Tom Cullinan (1930), Ted Leader (1932), Bill Stott (1933), Gerry Wilson (1935), Aubrey Brabazon (1949 and 1950), Tim Molony (1953), Fred Winter (1961) and Norman Williamson (1995).

Alderbrook and Master Oats in 1995 enabled Norman Williamson and Kim Bailey to join a very select group of jockey and trainer partnerships who have won both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup in the same year. The other successful partnerships were Tommy Cullinan and Jack Anthony in 1930, Ted Leader and Basil Briscoe in 1932, Bill Stott and Basil Briscoe in 1933, and Aubrey Brabazon and Vincent O’Brien in both 1949 and 1950.

Michael Dickinson saddled the first five horses home in the 11-runnner 1983 renewal – Bregawn (Graham Bradley – 100/30F), Captain John (David Goulding – 11/1), Wayward Lad (Jonjo O’Neill – 6/1), Silver Buck (Robert Earnshaw – 5/1) and Ashley House (Mr Dermot Browne – 12/1).

Willie Mullins has yet to win the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup, but has saddled the runner-up on six occasions – Florida Pearl (2000), Hedgehunter (2006), Sir Des Champs (2013), On His Own (2014) and Djakadam (2015 & 2016).

Three of the last five trainers to win the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup – Jim Culloty (Lord Windermere 2014), Gordon Elliott (Don Cossack 2016) and Jessica Harrington (Sizing John 2017) – did so with their first runner in the race.