In England, at this time of year, all roads they say lead to Cheltenham. Not literally of course – if you take the M1 north you’ll end up in Rotherham (and trust me, you don’t want to end up there). But all the proverbial roads in the world of British jump racing do lead to the Cheltenham festival: the four-day extravaganza that brings the jump season to a climax and bursts more bubbles than a naughty child in a balloon factory with a nail gun.
For Denman, however, this road is proving to be wrought with problems (like deciding to take the 10 down to Santa Monica at eight o’clock in the morning).
As arguably the only realistic challenger to Kauto Star for Gold Cup honors, his unseating of his jockey, Tony McCoy, three out in the Aon Chase at Newbury on Saturday (one of the last recognized trials for the Gold Cup), leaves him with more questions to answer than a contestant on Jeopardy!
Don’t get me wrong, when this horse is on song, he’s a monster, as demonstrated by his trouncing of Kauto Star (who’s form that year was admittedly slightly below his usual imperious standard), in the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 2008. However, events subsequent to that performance have taken the luster off a horse who looked to have the jumping world at his hooves.
It began at the start of last season when he was found to be suffering from a heart irregularity that meant it was beating slightly out of rhythm (if you’re curious to know what that sounds like, I suggest you listen to the Jonas Brothers). And while an operation to stop and restart the heart proved successful enough for him to return in the second half of the season, he looked far from the same horse that had garnered the nickname, the “Tank.”
On his first run back he was put squarely in his place by Madison Du Berlais (a horse Kauto Star destroyed by 36 lengths in this year’s King George), and after finishing behind Kauto in the Gold Cup itself, he took a heavy tumble at Aintree on his final outing when again looking relegated to a minor placing. What was so disappointing about that last effort was that he had made his reputation grinding and jumping his rivals into submission, and for a horse whose jumping had been so precise and thrilling to watch, to make such a tired, uncharacteristic blunder, I admit I thought that this horse’s very best days were sadly behind him.
Then, this season, in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, he proved me wrong with an impressive weight carrying performance to rival any of his previous best efforts. In lumping a hefty eleven stone, twelve pounds to a win in one of the most competitive handicap chases of the year, he proved that the “Tank” was back. (For those of you unfamiliar with the weight system in Britain, what he achieved would be comparable to running the Boston marathon carrying Pavarotti on your back).
However, it was the manner of his win that was most reassuring, for he proved that he still retained all the zest for racing and all the accuracy of jumping with which he had become so synonymous. But some of my doubts have resurfaced after seeing yesterday’s race.
Firstly, I know he didn’t fall, but he made such a hash of the third last, Tony McCoy would have had to perform a magic act of David Blaine proportions to stay on board. Secondly, that blunder was preceded by another untypical bad error at the fourth last fence. If Kauto Star is on form, and puts in a clear round on Gold Cup day, Denman cannot afford to make even one error, however small, let alone two, if he hopes to wrestle the crown from Kauto’s clutches.
I would love more than anything to see both horses line up for the Gold Cup at the top of their game, to see both horses put in a faultless round of jumping, and to see both horses battle it out, head-to-head up the Cheltenham hill. I believe both horses are capable of serving up such a feast, but I just cannot shake this nagging doubt that Denman might just “spill the soup.”
Anyway, while on the subject of the Gold Cup, I’m going to stick my beautiful and swan-like neck out and say that Michael Dickinson’s feat of training the first five home in the race will this year be equaled.
Paul Nichols has such tremendous strength in depth in the staying chaser division, he should be held to ransom by the monopolies commission, and if he runs all of the horses that I believe he will, I really do think he is supremely positioned to replicate the achievement of that staggeringly loony Englishman (Michael, if you’re reading this, I know that you’ll understand when I say I mean that in the nicest possible way!). So my prediction for the first five in the Gold Cup of 2010 are:
1 – Kauto Star
2- Denman
3- What A Friend
4- Taranis
5- Tricky Trickster
There! My neck’s stuck out, but will my head roll? They are all Trained By Paul Nichols!!!!
