It’s finally the week of the Cheltenham Festival, which is exciting for everyone, owners, trainers, jockeys, staff, and fans alike, so it’s very unfortunate that I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather over the past couple of days. Luckily it’s me and not the horses…!
Hopefully I’ll be on the mend in time for our runners’ races, but I’m sure I’ll find a way to enjoy myself, even if not 100%.
Gidleigh Park
You may have seen the news earlier about Gidleigh Park going into the Albert Bartlett, rather than the Gallagher. We weighed up the pros and cons of each race and, at the end of the day, the key factor was the weather forecast and the likely going.
After the last day, we felt that we were quite likely to step him up in trip, but we didn’t want to do that if the ground was to be very testing. Sometimes the Albert Bartlett can be quite a stamina test, but the forecast looks to be fairly settled, bar the odd shower early in the week, so it shouldn’t be too gruelling this time. Other factors came into it as well, for example the fact that it’s run on the New Course, which is the track on which he won on Trials Day. It’s a galloping track with an emphasis on stamina, which was another tick in the box for him.
Having discussed it amongst ourselves and with the owners and Jonathan Burke, we decided that Friday’s race was the one to go for.
Tuesday, Cheltenham
Love Envoi is set to make her final racecourse appearance in the Mares’ Hurdle (16:10) and we’re hoping that she will do us proud. She ran a great race in defeat when runner-up to Honeysuckle in this race 12 months ago and, while there is no Honeysuckle this time around, there’s now the small matter of Lossiemouth, who we weren’t a match for over two miles on Trials Day.
With the step up in trip, though, we know that this is more suitable for Love Envoi; it’s her optimum trip. Certainly, the ground should suit her very well, with some rain forecast which will likely make it soft going.
We’ve decided to put cheekpieces on for the first time as well and, while we’ve never felt that she wasn’t giving her all, we just want to keep her as sharp as possible this time, especially with her jumping. We’re hopeful that she can put up a big effort on her final racecourse appearance. While Lossiemouth is probably the one to beat on form, we think that our girl can be right there with the very best of the rest.
Best of luck,
Harry
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