Diarmuid Nolan: Elite Racing Can Cure All Ailments

Pablo Hernandez peculiarly popped into my mind as I watched a tremendous weekend of racing unfold. When Pablo arrived in 2017 Leeds United were really at a low ebb. 

It had been 10 years of absolute drudgery for all involved and the club's continuous scandals from a plethora of roguish owners was a constant source of annoyance. 

The little Spanish magician turned up and as he mesmerised our fanbase with his deft touches and superb ability, we all temporarily forgot the problems off the pitch at Elland Road.

Elite sport can do that - for a short period of time you just enjoy the splendour of what is unfolding in front of you and all issues off the pitch can temporarily slip from your mind. The weekend racing did this also.

Are there still major issues facing horse racing? Of course there are, but when the ravenous public can feast on some enthralling races those issues fade somewhat.

Elite racing can cure all our ailments and the authorities need to realise this now. 

Let’s completely change the calendar, remove races thus forcing horses to take each on more often meaning most weekends are full of top-class clashes. 

At its best, there is no sport quite like National Hunt racing.

Champion Hurdle Wide Open  

One such division which boasted a superb clash is the two milers. 

The all-conquering State Man had his flag lowered by the brilliantly-brave Brighterdaysahead in the Grade 1 Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown. 

State Man should come on plenty for the outing, but I wouldn’t be chronically confident that he will overturn this result.

What Brighterdaysahead did was exceptional, especially when you consider that her jumping was erratic, and she went left at times also. 

She will naturally be a much better proposition going left-handed and could well improve again, as this was her first time taking on horses of this ilk.

I would also hold a small concern about what State Man finds under pressure on slower ground. 

At the Cheltenham Festival he never went away from Irish Point after initially cruising past, and he did the same again here. 

His ability is unquestioned, but on two occasions, tough horses have managed to eyeball him and he hasn’t stamped his authority after travelling much the best. 

Brighterdaysahead’s trainer Gordon Elliott, seemed to be saying after the race that the Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham is probably her target which would be very disappointing. 

Let’s hope she can perform like this again and twist his arm to aim for the very top. Sometimes you only get one crack at a race like this and we need a competitive and deep Champion Hurdle.

Lossiemouth is now favourite on horse racing betting sites, despite not leaving her box and she showed plenty of ability last season, obviously. 

It will be interesting to see where they might go with her next, but fingers crossed, Lossiemouth also stays in the division as she adds a lot of class and depth here.

Constitution Hill is having more problems than Manchester United at the moment, so it's impossible to decide where he stands overall in this division. 

His well-advertised woes and State Man’s stuttering performance at the weekend, should lead to the brilliant Sir Gino taking his chance in the division starting with the Fighting Fifth this coming weekend. 

Four-year-olds have made positive starts to this season and with a line through Burdett Road, it is fair to think Sir Gino could also be something special.

Mystical Power at 10/1 with Unibet is the one in this market I think could be overpriced on betting apps. He just kept improving last season and finished his campaign with aplomb. 

He’s a beautiful hurdler and probably still has a decent amount of improvement to come.

I would also wonder with the main two in this division showing some frailties, could Henry De Bromhead's team be tempted to float Slade Steel back into this division after a somewhat flat start to life over fences?

Odds of 33/1 with BetVictor could be a decent price to find out, but I haven’t pulled the trigger in this division at all.

A Burgeoning Gold Cup Picture

The Gold Cup division has looked an exciting prospect for some time now and this was more than confirmed with one of the best renewals of the John Durkan I can ever remember.

Galopin Des Champs and Fastorslow showed plenty of spark and ran huge races and while you obviously cannot rule either out over the next few months, this did have the feel of a changing of the guard as Fact To File and Spillane’s Tower went by them. Both horses are serious Gold Cup contenders.

Fact To File does look something freakish and in his short career to date, he has taken everything in his stride. 

This was only his fifth start after finishing up in bumpers and that is quite frankly ridiculous. He is the Gold Cup favourite and more than deserves to be.

Spillanes Tower drifted like he would need the run and the talk beforehand was that he was behind on his work due to the lack of rain, so to offer up what he did was sensational. 

There is plenty more to come from him too. The majority of these should face off again at Leopardstown over Christmas and we should be in for another cracker!

Monty’s Star was another to be boosted at the weekend despite not running. His form ties in closely with the front two and 20/1 with BoyleSports is interesting. 

He is the kind of horse who will massively benefit to an extreme test of stamina with a decent pace, something he hasn’t got yet. 

This might not unfold for him until March, so he could end up a bigger price on the day.

In England, there was a gruelling renewal of the Betfair Chase which showed two realities to my untrained eye. One is that Royale Pagaille has the heart of a lion and deserves huge praise. 

The second realisation is that the Gold Cup will be heading back to Ireland this year after Grey Dawning showed that while he has plenty of heart, he just isn’t quite good enough.

Coral Gold Cup Fancy

The weekend just gone was a call back to better times in racing when every weekend was packed with enthralling affairs, but sadly the Coral Gold Cup, formerly the Hennessey, just isn’t the race it once was. 

At one point in time this was a Gold Cup trial, and that probably ended with Bobs Worth back in 2012 or maybe even Native River in 2016.

This year is an interesting betting market though, but I quite like the look of Grandero Bello for Eddie Harty, owned by Robert Caddick and Josie Reed who are local to Newbury so you would be thinking this horse should take his chance and he was confirmed today.

He was a horse I thought at one time was set for the very top, but injuries have slowed him down markedly, and he has only made the track twice since April 2023. 

Last time however, he showed all his class and won a very competitive handicap at Galway nicely. That form is strong with the third Stuzzikini coming out afterwards to win the Troytown at Navan. 

He also meets the trends of this race well with 11 of the previous 12 winners aged between six and eight, 10 of the last 12 winners raced in the preceding 57 days and 10 of the last 12 winners carried 11st 4lbs or less. He matches all these trends well.

He races prominently which suits this race, he jumps a fence beautifully and at 16/1 on the leading betting sites he has a live chance in an intriguing renewal.