Leaving the gas on can be risky

13 April 2012

It is getting rather warm in racing's kitchen just now, and trainers are busy turning off the gas to prevent their hot-pots from boiling over. Since the shock postponement of the annual Cheltenham feast of steeplechasing because of the foot-and-mouth crisis, handlers with the National Hunt Festival on the menu are trying to avoid overcooking their goose.

As top jumping trainer Paul Nicholls says: "It is better to be rare-to-medium at present than well-done."

With a string of hopes bound for Prestbury Park headed by Gold Cup fancy See More Business and Royal & Sun Alliance Chase livewire Shotgun Willy, Nicholls now has the added headache of stopping his stable stars peaking too soon.

He said: "This should sort the boys from the men in the art of training."

With the possible new date for Cheltenham likely to be at the end of April, it means that the star-studded meeting will leapfrog the Grand National programme of 5-7 April and Nicholls will probably aim See More Business at the Martell Cup at Aintree before his Gold Cup date.

Nicholls added: "Whatever happens, and that includes the state of the ground (he is better on soft), See More Business will definitely run in the Gold Cup.

"I will be backing off some of my horses while keeping others ticking over - each one is an individual and I will be constructing different programmes for them. The thing is that a lot of my horses have not been over-raced. That is the key. See More and Willie have both only had one run since Christmas.

"Another vital part of the equation is the racing weights of different horses, which means the weight at which they deliver their best. For instance, See More is at his best when he tips the scales at 512 kilos - he won the Pillar Property Chase at Cheltenham in January right on that button.

"After that victory we let him off for a while and he put on about another 15k. Last Wednesday, before we heard the postponement news, we gave him what we thought was his last bit of real work and there he was again on 512. If I give him an 'easy' for 10 days he could put on 10-15k.

"Shotgun Willy is the exact opposite. He is a light-framed horse and even if he walked for a week or worked for seven days, he would still be the same weight. Just a canter here and there would suit him."

Meanwhile, Henrietta Knight, over in Oxfordshire, faces similar problems. The diva of women handlers, she has what many consider the banker of the Cheltenham meeting in Best Mate, who is unbeaten this term and lines up for the Arkle Chase. But she will have to go steady with the gelding, who is ultra-fit at the moment.

She said: "He will have an 'easy' for about 10 days, but he is so full of himself at the moment.

"Unfortunately, he hasn't had a recent race, his last win was in early February at Sandown, and it is easier to let them down after an outing.

"Best Mate is too playful to go out in a field in his present fit and well state. I would be frightened that he might do something silly by galloping around and hurting himself.

"He is like a caged lion and we will have to get him out twice a day to occupy him so he is not getting bored in his stable.

"Nice long hacks around the Downs would have been ideal to keep him and others of mine settled, but we can't do that as the bridleways have all been shut because of the outbreaks.

"For the last three weeks we have been worried. We had to train them as if racing was going to be on, and they are supremely fit right now. With this happening we are going to have to take a pull."

Knight also has another two Cheltenham main fancies - Edredon Bleu and Lord Noelie. The former, who won the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Festival last year and goes for a repeat in the race, last appeared on Boxing Day in the King George VI at Kempton behind First Gold.

"Unlike Best Mate he can go out in the field and unwind and is a bigger horse altogether, which helps," said Knight.

Last season's Royal & Sun Alliance Chase hero Lord Noelie is entered in the Gold Cup, and there seems a lot to work on there as the Irish-bred disappointed when fourth on his reappearance at Wincanton in a limited handicap and then unseated at the seventh in a Grade 2 chase at Cheltenham in January.

Nicholls sums up the feelings of every trainer in the country as he says: "These past weeks have been an emotional roller-coaster."

One thing is certain, however. As usual, there will be some handlers feeling a bit sick after being shaken up on Cheltenham's big dipper - if it ever cranks into action.

Leaving the gas on can be risky

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