Weekend Racing Review - Hurdlers in a Hurry

Unlike last weekend, there was plenty of decent jumps racing action over the weekend, with some visually very impressive hurdling action at Cheltenham in particular. This blog will looks at whether time comparisons confirm the visuals as well as looking back at the hurdling action at Fairyhouse and Doncaster on Saturday.

Cheltenham 27th January - Hurdles

The first thing to note about the hurdle races ran on Saturday is that they all turned into sprints, highlighted by the fact the slowest winning finish was Noble Yeats, who still recorded a finishing speed of 109%. The International hurdle, won by Lossiemouth, was perhaps unsurprisingly the fastest finish. The chart below, which is adjusted for weight carried and race distance to allow for direct comparison, shows she gained 10 lengths on the average finishing efforts of the other winners from 2 out. Although the overall time didn't account for much, this finishing effort, and the ease at which it was achieved, puts her effort as the standout on the card. It was (almost) an equally impressive performance from Sir Gino, who was asked for a bit more of an effort after the last, where he was able to gain 5 lengths on the other winners. There was a bit of a drop off in pace between 3 out and 2 out in the race, which helped set-up the dash to the line, however the earlier pace was a lot strong than the International hurdle.

I would be quite positive on Gidleigh Park, who had the best (adjusted) overall time of the day and was still able to record a decent finishing time of 109.3%. He definitely would not have been suited to the sprint finish and remains a horse with a lot of potential. Official sectionals from the Cleeve hurdle actually suggest the horse to take out of race is Strong Leader, who came from furthest off the pace and recorded a finishing speed of 110.3%. It will be interesting to see how he performs in a strongly run 3 mile race.

Cheltenham 27th January - Chases

Perhaps surprisingly, time comparisons show the best performance from the chases at Cheltenham to be that of Ginny's Destiny. This may say more about the relative merits of the other 3 races, however. They went a fairly steady gallop early on, before the pace quickened from about halfway. It was another very well judged ride from Harry Cobden and he looks a worthy second favourite for the Turners at the festival. The Clarence House was run at a very quick early pace, which lead to a bit of a pace collapse from after the last, although this may also have been due to Jonbon's jumping errors. Based on overall times, it looks like a performance of around 145 from Elixir De Nutz, which is quite weak for a Grade 1. The first circuit of the Cotswold Chase won by Capodano was slowly run, bar a rather strange dash to the second fence made by The Real Whacker which probably hindered his chances. A finishing speed of 108.4% means the overall time of the winner can be upgraded and based on his time for the second circuit, it was probably a slightly better performance overall than that of GA Law.

Doncaster 27th January - Hurdles

At Doncaster, there was plenty of interest in Supreme second favourite and hype-horse Jeriko Du Reponet, who had looked good in his previous hurdle wins, despite not recording anything particularly impressive on the clock. As can be seen below, it was a race that turned into a bit of a sprint. It actually compared very similarly to Wodhooh and looks a long way short of what is required to go close in a Supreme. The standout performance was that of Ashroe Diamond and, although the overall time was not massively quicker than that of 125-rated Geromino, she is worthy of a decent upgrade due to a finishing effort of 106%. Geromino's race was actually very efficiently run throughout, with a finishing speed of 98%.

Fairyhouse 27th January - Hurdles

At Fairyhouse, Jade De Grugy did enough to propel herself to the head of the market for the mares novice hurdle at the Cheltenham festival. Time comparisons with the other hurdle winners on the card suggest this support is justified, with her showing an impressive turn of foot from 3 out which resulted in a finishing speed of 112.4%. Although the adjusted overall time was 14 lengths behind that of Western Diego, who ran an even pace throughout, the mare's performance can be considered the best on the card thanks to this finishing effort.