That reminded me a bit of Wicklow Brave’s win a good few years back. Very easy ground that day and Townend stayed out the back until the final bend and hosed up. Can’t believe before that race the TV folk were trying to make out the leading trainer was still in doubt between Willie and fiddling Dan. I suppose they have to fill the air time but give over
Ran a good race, leading and/or forcing the pace all the way. Outpaced at the finish, however, but plugged-on to take third. SP was 10/1. Prize money of £14,324 for third place made it all worthwhile for connections. There was no stopping Majborough though, for sure.
What a great winner well that will go down in history as the “loose horse” gold cup. Great ride by Townend
Thanks. so close…… Luckily I had a saver on the winner, and in good profit today anyway so I’m still smiling
Sick to death of all the superlatives paid to trainers, horses and jockeys over Cheltenham. Sure Mullins has trained 100+ winners at Cheltenham. But in the days of Winter, Rimell and Walwyn there were only 18 races at the festival, there are now 28. Since 2005 we've had 4 days. So at the very least there were 6 extra races that changed very soon to 10. So over 20 years we've had about 160 races there didn't used to be. That's equivalent to about 9 old festivals extra, a 45% increase over the last 20 years (Mullins' decades). It's ridiculous to think there are more good horses now. Let's say there are as many good horses today as there were in the '90s or earlier. That means they are spread more thinly over more races. Hardly a recipe for Champion races and competition. The debacle of Constitution Hill is similarly ridiculous. We are told he is the best hurdler in the World yet he has run once this year because he was saved for his big day at Cheltenham: which didn't come. The BHA must look at the Pattern and get big races with Cheltenham-type purses dotted through the year and not all squeezed into 5 days of Victory Precessions rather than Competitive Races. One man who will have enjoyed Friday's TV on the Gold Cup must be Sparkle. I have visions of him sitting there with a few lager cans and a toilet roll really enjoying himself.
I think I saw a poll on ITV yesterday for the best ever Gold Cup winner and there were four horses to choose from. The list did not include Denman, Jesus the furore that would have created on here a few years back.
Comparing across the ages has always been pointless (how I don’t miss the Arkle debates). Where one has to simply admire and applaud WP Mullins is the fact he is so far ahead of his competition. An outstanding individual who has brought excellence to everything his operation does - from scouting out new horses all the way through to having them primed for Cheltenham.
I purposefully didn't compare ability across the ages, though I have an opinion on that. I'm just talking numbers.
I can’t remember him ever moaning about the ground (like Fat Paul) or anything else for that matter. Just gets on with it. The guessing which races his runners are heading for is a bit tedious but I suppose from his point of view he wants to win s many races as possible.
