I’m backing legendary footy boss Sir Alex Ferguson to have another huge winner at Cheltenham

1 month ago 8

AS a Tottenham fan I grew sick of big Saturday success for Sir Alex Ferguson – but I’m rooting for the old devil today!

As a racehorse owner, the former Manchester United supremo won back-to-back races at the Cheltenham Festival in March, thanks to Monmiral’s success in the Pertemps Network Final and Protektorat’s victory – a big one for this column – in the Grade 1 Ryanair.

a jockey is riding a horse in front of a toyota trade sign

Well, PROTEKTORAT (2.20) is back for Fergie in today’s feature Paddy Power Gold Cup, a race live on ITV in which the owner also challenges with Il Ridoto. And if that was not enough, 35 minutes earlier Sir Alex has the talented L’Eau Du Sud in the Grade 2 Paddy Power Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial.

I’ve enjoyed some terrific banter with Sir Alex over the years on telly but, if he is at Cheltenham today, I won’t be able to tease him as I’m at Uttoxeter.

One eye, though, will very much be on Cheltenham and while the Paddy Power might not be the deepest renewal of all time it’s certainly a puzzle.

Ginny’s Destiny, charged down by Grey Dawning in the Turners and by Il Etait Temps in the Manifesto, might be too good for the field off 155.

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Ga Law, who won this in 2022, is back on a good mark again and well fancied, while Imagine is an expensive buy for the Harry Derham yard.

Il Ridoto knows this track and race backwards, and Fugitif has the ability but not always the desire.

I’m happy to chance Protektorat once again. If he’s ready after a 218 day absence he should jump for fun and travel well which is just what you need to land this prize.

Obviously it’s not going to be easy under 12st and but, while he might prefer softer ground is not an issue. Indeed he was second in this on that surface in 2021 when rated 154.

His task is shown with a mark now of 167 but, on his day, he’s decent. I’ll have a few quid on each-way.

Happily, considering the current ‘good’ description, field sizes have held up pretty well at Cheltenham today.

That is despite some trainers saying anything faster than good to soft is a ‘welfare’ issue. Wow.

It makes you wonder the logic behind their words. As a racing fan, who am I to argue against them? Yet, it is a dangerous claim and many racing television presenters and print journalists are happy just to repeat without backing it up with any facts. Trainer speaks, easy copy.

The ground at Exeter recently was good. The times were slow. Yet horses were pulled out left, right and centre and ‘welfare’ was given as the reason for what ended up a desperate card.

The main issue here is if you say ‘welfare’ any trainer who runs their horse on ground quicker than on the easy side is presumably one who doesn’t care about their horses.

If your horse can’t operate on anything other than soft then just say that – but that’s not the same as a ‘welfare” issue.

It got me thinking about how soft we – or the horses – have become. It wasn’t always this way, folks. Many of the golden oldies were happy on quick ground and ran frequently on it.

Off the top of my head I’m thinking Mr Frisk, Desert Orchid, Viking Flagship, Deep Sensation. The word ‘welfare’ didn’t even exist back then – but they all survived and, indeed, thrived on fast ground.

Take Mr Frisk, the fastest Grand National winner of all time. Kim Bailey’s star won the Aintree showpiece in 1999 under excellent amateur Marcus Armytage. The race was run on firm ground and 20 horses happily finished.

After the National he banged in the Whitbread on good to firm. Now some of you will say that’s an extreme example. Always an exception, my boy.

But, just in case you think Mr Frisk was alone, let’s dig deeper. David Elsworth’s Desert Orchid is not an extreme example.

He won the Gold Cup in horrible mud and was one of the most popular horses of all time. ‘Dessie’ won many races on firm – and it was good to firm when he landed the 1988 Whitbread and King George.

Have we just created a weakened breed? Quite possibly. Did trainers back in the day have hardened horses used to galloping up fast turf gallops rather than artificial ones? Quite possibly.

Fast ground a welfare issue? History says not. Besides, watching jumpers in a finish on good ground is an improvement on a brutal slow-motion stuff we see at the end of a three-mile slog in the mud.