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Daily Mirror
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Galopin Des Champs rediscovers championship-winning form to break Punchestown jinx
Galopin Des Champs rediscovered his championship-winning form to break his Punchestown jinx on Wednesday. The outstanding chaser tried to make history at the Cheltenham Festival by clinching a rare Cheltenham Gold Cup hat-trick. Despite going off the 8-13 favourite, he was thwarted by rising star Inothewayurthinkin who defeated him by six lengths. Trainer Willie Mullins gave Galopin Des Champs a chance to redeem himself in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup on a track which had not been a happy hunting ground lately. Paul Townend produces 'feat of horsemanship' to win Grade 1 for Willie Mullins with no irons James Milner and Danny Welbeck's exciting racehorse to challenge for 2,000 Guineas He had been beaten on his last three visits to the course, twice by Fastorslow and once in a race won by stablemate Fact To File. Galopin Des Champs faced three rivals in the latest renewal, including the King George VI Chase winner Banbridge. Jockey Paul Townend took him straight to the front and Galopin Des Champs drew further and further away from his opponents, winning by 22 lengths to claim his 15 Grade 1 victory, producing the performance of a chasing great. 'We are very, very fortunate to have him,' said the winning jockey. 'Obviously we were very disappointed coming away from Cheltenham. 'The reception he gets his special and we are just lucky to be a part of it. He's a unique horse.' Galopin Des Champs gave Townend his only scare when jinking at the road crossing and producing a scruffy jump at the last. 'It wouldn't be like him at all but the fact he done it meant he was doing things easy enough,' Townend said. 'In fairness he gave me plenty of warning. After that he got in a good rhythm and enjoyed it. 'He was taking me today whereas I was trying to hang in there in Cheltenham. He wasn't right in Cheltenham and thankfully it didn't leave a huge mark on him which it could have with the effort he put in. 'He got me out of trouble at the last, there's no lying about it. He's all class."
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Five potential Grand National fairytale endings
The Grand National fences may have been modified but it retains its mantle of being the most famous steeplechase in the world (Oli SCARFF) The winner of the Grand National, the world's most famous steeplechase, has a habit of providing a fairytale storyline and Saturday's renewal has the potential to supply another one. Down the years there has been Rachael Blackmore becoming the first woman to ride the winner, Minella Times, in 2021, and Bob Champion riding Aldaniti to victory in 1981 after recovering from cancer. Advertisement Such is the National's appeal -- first run in 1839 and won appropriately given the unpredictability of the race by Lottery -- an estimated 600 million will watch around the world. AFP Sport picks out five horses from the 34 runners that could provide the fairytale ending to the 30-fence marathon and pick up the £500,000 ($650,000) winners cheque (horse, country trained in): Hewick (IRL) Trainer John 'Shark' Hanlon's stable star has bite as he showed in winning the 2023 King George VI Chase. Bought for just 800 euros ($865) a win for him would restore some of the lustre to Hanlon's reputation after he served a ban this season for "gross negligence" in the removal of a dead horse from his yard. Advertisement Hewick warmed up for the National with a victory in a hurdles race at Thurles, but Hanlon -- whose nickname comes from his days playing hurling -- says he is in prime form to take the first prize and have a knock on effect on his stables. "It was a tough time, but the public kept me going," said Hanlon after the win at Thurles. "We are back to half the numbers we had, but if we win the National we'll fill it back up!" Hewick was rewarded with a visit to his local pub -- where he drank a pint of Guinness -- when he won the 2022 US National, a Black Velvet (Guinness and champagne) surely on the cards if he wins on Saturday. Advertisement Nick Rockett (IRL) One of six runners for two-time winning trainer Willie Mullins, including last year's winner I Am Maximus, if it wins there won't be a dry eye on the racecourse. It is the last horse that Sadie, the Irish wife of owner Stewart Andrew, watched win five days before she died in 2022. "Out of such sadness, such joy has been born," said Andrew. Andrew was in floods of tears when Nick Rockett won The Thyestes Chase in late January at Sadie's former local track, Gowran Park in County Carlow. "It's such an inner feeling of consolement to me because it's what she always wanted," said Andrew. Advertisement Hyland (ENG) English training great Nicky Henderson has won all the great races but 43 runners in the National have yielded just two runners-up in Zongalero (1979) and The Tsarevich (1987). The 74-year-old Old Etonian -- who speaks with an endearing west country burr -- runs talented grey Hyland and the outsider Chantry Bay. There might be a good omen in the birthdate of one of the members of the Ten From Seven syndicate that own Hyland. "I was born on the same day as Red Rum (the three time winner), so if that's not an omen I don't know what is and it's been in the blood ever since a young age," said Paul Humphreys. Advertisement Hyland would be a rare grey to win -- only three have won it before, Neptune Collonges, whose trainer Paul Nicholls has a grey in this year's edition Kandoo Kid, in 2012 the last to do so. Minella Indo (IRL) The 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup champion is the last one still running of trainer Henry de Bromhead's remarkable quartet of winners inside a month that year. Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Grand National victors Honeysuckle, Put The Kettle On and Minella Times are lolling around in well deserved retirement. The understated 52-year-old Irishman has had a quieter season this term but Minella Indo, a fine third in the National last year, has had him purring saying he has been showing "lots of spark". Advertisement Perceval Legallois (IRL) Progressive type who won a prestigious race at Leopardstown last Christmas and represents this year's Cheltenham Gold Cup winning team of trainer Gavin Cromwell and owner JP McManus. He has not run since which is of no concern for his trainer. "He goes well fresh, so that is definitely a positive," said Cromwell. Poker-ace McManus -- who could become the most successful owner in National history with four winners -- opted not to run Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin, but has other runners with different trainers. Cromwell dominates the betting market -- Mullins and Gordon Elliott for once playing second fiddle in that battle -- with three of the top fancies, Vanillier runner-up two years ago and Cheltenham Cross Country Chase winner Stumptown. pi/nr
The Guardian
13-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cheltenham festival day four tips: Galopin Des Champs to make Gold Cup history
Four of the six odds-on favourites over the first two days of this year's festival were beaten, leaving many punters in a deep hole ahead of the last day of the meeting on Friday. It will be the most significant shock of all, however, if Galopin Des Champs (4.00) does not deliver for the backers in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and join the very select list of horses to have won the race three times. Having beaten double-figure fields in the last two runnings, Willie Mullins's chaser faces eight opponents this time around, and while the unexpected addition of Inothewayurthinkin, the favourite for next month's Grand National, to the lineup adds some intrigue, he was seven lengths behind Galopin Des Champs at Leopardstown. Unlike Banbridge, the King George VI Chase winner at Kempton in December, Inothewayurthinkin should improve for this return to further than three miles, but the same is undoubtedly true of the favourite and Galopin Des Champs' place in the pantheon appears to be there for the taking. Cheltenham 1.20 James Owen's East India Dock has already posted two outstanding performances for a juvenile at this track when successful at both the November and December meetings. Both wins were recorded in notably fast times and a repeat of either performance would probably be enough here, although further progress from this hugely promising four-year-old would be no great surprise either. Cheltenham 2.00 A fast pace looks certain even with a relatively small field of 16 for the County Hurdle, and that should play to the strengths of Willie Mullins's Kargese as the trainer looks for a sixth win in this race in the last 11 years. Cheltenham 2.40 Dinoblue looked a little unlucky to come up three-quarters of a length short of the re-opposing Limerick Lace in this race 12 months ago, when she was more patiently ridden than usual attempting the trip for the first time. A reversion to more aggressive tactics could see her turn around the form. Cheltenham 1.20 East India Dock (nap) 2.00 Kargese (nb) 2.40 Dinoblue 3.20 Wendigo 4.00 Galopin Des Champs 4.40 Angels Dawn 5.20 Kopeck De Mee Fakenham 1.35 Zafaan 2.14 Taxus Baccata 2.54 Jackpot Cash 3.34 Little Soiree 4.15 Bluegrass 4.55 Go Go Geronimo Doncaster 1.42 Our Lil 2.22 Reallyntruthfully 3.02 Burrows Hall 3.40 Diamond Dealer 4.25 Baby Chou 5.00 Jaffa Cake Southwell 4.20 Captain Parma 4.50 Fulford Cross 5.30 Romantic Opera 6.00 King Of York 6.30 Legal Reform 7.00 Feel The Need 7.30 Fivethousandtoone 8.00 Sax Appeal 8.30 Commander Of Life Wolverhampton 5.10 Hoodie Hoo 5.45 Atlantic Sunset 6.20 Tempus 6.50 Stroxx 7.20 Rogue Tornado 7.50 Mr Trick 8.20 Tuco Salamanca Cheltenham 3.20 The most unpredictable Grade One at the meeting, with just one winner at a single-figure price in the last 11 years, but it looks like the right spot for Jamie Snowden's Wendigo, the runner-up behind Wednesday's Turners Novice Hurdle winner, The New Lion, in the Challow at Newbury in December. Cheltenham 4.40 Angels Dawn has a decent record here, having won the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir in 2023, and was still travelling well when she fell five out in the same race last season. This looks an easier assignment and she gets a useful 7lb mares' allowance from her 23 rivals. Cheltenham 5.20 It must have been a thankless task for the handicapper to rate Kopeck De Mee, who was bought by JP McManus after a Listed win in France in May 2024, and he could well take this race apart on his handicap debut.
The Guardian
13-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cheltenham festival 2025 day three: Stayers' Hurdle and more
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Greg Wood's selections for Thursday, with full previews of each race to follow. While the Gold Cup on Friday revolves around the odds-on Galopin Des Champs and his bid for a third consecutive success, the Ryanair Chase over two and a half miles on Thursday is much more open, with live contenders from Britain, Ireland and France, and the prospect of seeing the bold front‑runner Il Est Francais tackling Cheltenham for the first time, with top-class opponents including Fact To File and Protektorat in hot pursuit, is one to savour. Il Est Francais (3.20) was a clear leader for much of the way in the King George VI Chase at Kempton at Christmas before Banbridge reeled him in on the run to the last, and his devastating front-running success in the Kauto Star Novices Chase at the same meeting in 2023 was one of the best performances by a novice in recent years. The fact that his best form outside France has come at a flat track is a slight concern, but the drop back on Thursday to an intermediate trip on decent ground should suit and Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm's seven-year-old has a big chance to become only the second French‑trained winner at the festival meeting since 2005. Share Further news, via PA Media: Gordon Elliott has issued a positive update on Galvin, who was taken away in a horse ambulance for assessment after being pulled up in the Cross Country Chase. Elliott said on ITV's Opening Show: 'Galvin had a haematomma on his knee but he was x-rayed and everything was good. He's on his way home now.' Share Weather report: sunny spells expected between 12pm and 5pm today's conditions should be ideal. Share Going news: good to soft ground, no longer soft in places. A dry night in Cheltenham, in one sense at least. Share Some news ahead of the third day. Langer Dan is out of the feature race, the Stayers' Hurdle. Dan Skelton took to X to announce the sad news the Cheltenham specialist will be out. Unfortunately it's not great news for Langer Dan this morning,' said Skelton on X. 'He had a slightly dirty nose and we've had the vet have a look at him. We did a tracheal wash and there's a bit of mucus and it was too much. I've made him a non-runner which is very disappointing. He's been a horse who has turned up there every year since he was a four-year-old. I'm absolutely gutted for Colm [Donlon] who owns him. We always trust him to come alive at this time of year. He will, however, go to Aintree with a bit of luck. It shouldn't take long to clear up, it's just bad timing. These things happen and I'm sure he'll be cheered on in the Aintree Hurdle, one of the great races of the meeting. Share Greg Wood Good morning from Cheltenham on day three of the 2025 festival meeting – effectively the day that was added to the schedule 20 years ago to expand it from three to four. It still feels a little uncertain of itself, with two Grade Ones in the middle of the card rather than a standout feature, but one or other of the Ryanair Chase or the Stayers' Hurdle generally throws up a decent yarn, and sometimes – as was the case on a memorable afternoon in 2019 – it is both. This year, perhaps – it is always risky to be too dogmatic at Cheltenham – it will be the Ryanair, which is a vanishingly rare meeting of top-class chasers trained in the three major jumping nations. The Irish team is led by Fact To File, who was quoted at fairly short odds for the Gold Cup after winning the three-mile novice here last year but is leaving that to his stable companion, Galopin Des Champs. The British challenge is headed by Protektorat, last year's winner, while France fields the hugely exciting Il Est Francais. He is, admittedly, trained in France by an Englishman and a Swede (Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm) but having had just a single winner at this meeting since 2005, the French will celebrate long and hard all the same if the front-running Il Est Francais can stamp his authority on Cheltenham at the first attempt. He announced himself as a major talent with a devastating display in the Grade One novice at Kempton's Boxing Day meeting in 2023, and put up a similarly spectacular display for much of the way in the King George VI Chase at Christmas. Something similar over this very different course this afternoon will be quite the sight to see. It is a bright, clear morning in the west country, with a chill in the air but no sign of any of yesterday's snow as the action switches to the New Course for the final two days of the meeting. The going is good-to-soft (from good-to-soft, soft in places), while the news from the weighing room is that Jack Kennedy, Gordon Elliott's number one, will have to pass the doctor to ride today after slightly aggravating the leg injury that ruled him out of much of the earlier part of the season. Since Sam Ewing, who had been filling very successfully for Kennedy earlier in the year, is also ruled out today, it could be a real headache for Elliott. My picks for the afternoon – full disclosure: currently showing a slight loss of £2.18 to level stakes – are here, and you can get the latest news on Kennedy, his potential replacements and much, much more here on the blog as the day unfolds. Share
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cheltenham festival day three tips: Il Est Francais can score for French
While Friday's Gold Cup revolves around the odds-on Galopin Des Champs and his bid for a third straight success, the Ryanair Chase over two-and-a-half miles on Thursday is much more open, with live contenders from Britain, Ireland and France, and the prospect of seeing the bold front-runner Il Est Francais tackling Cheltenham for the first time, with top-class opponents including Fact To File and Protektorat in hot pursuit, is one to savour. Il Est Francais (3.20) was a clear leader for much of the way in the King George VI Chase at Kempton at Christmas before Banbridge reeled him in on the run to the last, and his devastating front-running success in the Kauto Star Novice Chase at the same meeting in 2023 was one of the best performances by a novice of recent years. The fact that his best form outside France has come at a flat track is a slight concern, but Thursday's drop back to an intermediate trip on decent ground should suit and Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm's seven-year-old has a big chance to become only the second French-trained winner at the festival meeting since 2005. Cheltenham 1.20 A record field for the Mares' Novice Hurdle and deep reserves of untapped potential among the two-dozen runners, including Gavin Cromwell's Sixandahalf, making just her second start over hurdles. A decent stayer on the Flat, she made short work of her field on debut over hurdles at Fairyhouse in January, pulling 12 lengths clear in a fast time, and her big-field experience on the level should also stand her in good stead. Cheltenham 2.00 Answer to Kayf showed a liking for this track when fourth in the Martin Pipe over hurdles last year and took a big step forward over fences to win his handicap debut at Naas in January by a dozen lengths. That was a well-run race in the conditions and while his career wins have all come on heavy ground, he has form on good-to-soft going too. Cheltenham 2.40 Tom Cooper's D Art D Art has been kept fresh for this since finishing second in the qualifier at Carlisle in December and should have further room for improvement with just nine previous starts over hurdles in the book. Cheltenham 4.00 Last year's winner, Teahupoo, has had the same light prep for this as he did last season, with just a single outing in the Hatton's Grace at Fairyhouse in December. He was only second in the latest renewal but was less than four lengths behind Lossiemouth, Tuesday's Mares' Hurdle winner, and the return to three miles at Cheltenham should once again see him at his best. Hexham 1.05 Dickens 1.42 Benmore 2.22 Diamond Mix 3.02 Breeze Of Wind 3.42 Baratablet 4.22 I See The Sea 5.00 The Big Breac Cheltenham 1.20 Sixandahalf 2.00 Answer To Kayf 2.40 D Art D Art (nap) 3.20 Il Est Francais 4.00 Teahupoo 4.40 Masaccio (nb) 5.20 Johnnywho Newcastle 4.50 Dee's Dream 5.30 Spartan Times 6.00 Fallen Soldier 6.30 Moby Quick 7.00 Starliner 7.30 Castan 8.00 Mondammej 8.30 Odd Socks Havana Chelmsford 5.05 Amaysmont 5.45 Wonderbolt 6.15 Brunel Charm 6.45 Diomed Spirit 7.15 Penzance 7.45 Egoiste 8.15 Stella Hogan Cheltenham 4.40 Jagwar and Masaccio finished first and third in what is effectively a trial for this race over track and trip in January, and a 6lb swing in the weights and first-time cheekpieces could be enough for Alan King's eight-year-old to turn the tables. Cheltenham 5.20 Now one of only two races at the festival for amateur riders, and the booking of Derek O'Connor for Jonjo O'Neill's Johnnywho looks significant.
