Cheltenham is a magical place but, when things go wrong, it can also be a miserable place.
Last year’s Festival was a tough one for Gordon Elliott, the Meath trainer having to wait until the very last race of the week to saddle a winner, Wodhooh landing the spoils in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.
It wasn’t that the horses were running badly. They weren’t. The Yellow Clay was second in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, Stellar Story was runner-up in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, Teahupoo found only Bob Olinger too good in the Stayers’ Hurdle, and Ndaawi was just touched off in the County Hurdle, finishing in front of a subsequent Breeders’ Cup winner in Ethical Diamond in the process.
The week had started with Firefox finishing third in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the same finishing position was occupied by Will Do in the National Hunt Chase, The Wallpark in the Stayers’, Shecouldbeanything in the Mares’ Chase, and Willitgoahead in the Hunters’ Chase.
But until Wodhooh, victory was tantalisingly out of reach.
“On another year we could have had three or four winners and you’d be going home saying you had a great week,” Elliott reflected at his Cullentra House base on Tuesday, exactly a month out from this year’s Festival.
“It was hard for me and it was harder for my staff but the horses ran brilliant, we had a number of seconds, we were placed in all the big races but we just didn’t get the bounce of the ball.
“In racing, soccer, rugby, tennis, that’s the way sport goes, you’ve got to keep your head up. This season everything is bouncing right for us, that’s sport, you just put the bad days behind you. It was a long tough week but that’s what makes it better when you win.”
One of the big disappointments last March was Brighterdaysahead who trailed in fourth of the five finishers in a bonkers renewal of the Champion Hurdle.
A year on, the Gigginstown House Stud-owned mare will bid to make it third time lucky at Cheltenham having also tasted defeat when sent off favourite for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in 2024.
“You’d love to be going there with her having a better record at Cheltenham but the first year, the mare didn’t do anything wrong, I think Paul (Townend, riding Jade De Grugy) and Jack (Kennedy) were looking at each other and Golden Ace came and nabbed both of them.
“Last year she just wasn’t right. After Punchestown (at the end of last season) we discovered something, an issue with her knee, and we rectified it. I’d put a line through last year, she was beaten after a hurdle.
“We might do something different with her this year and stable her outside Cheltenham.”
Explaining the thinking behind that potential change, Elliott said: “You’re always thinking of something different. It’s obvious that she has been to Cheltenham twice and hasn’t won and last year was very bad, she was beaten after a hurdle.
“If you don’t try to tweak and change things, you shouldn’t be training horses. That’s my job and something I do every day.”
The initial plan this season was for Brighterdaysahead to go over fences but a setback delayed her return, prompting Michael and Eddie O’Leary to decide to keep her over the smaller obstacles this season.
But even if she wins the Champion Hurdle next month Elliott expects her to tackle fences next season.
“She’s definitely going chasing next year. I’d be shocked if she doesn’t go chasing. Michael buys all those horses to go chasing and I’d imagine that’s the route she’ll go.”
Asked to assess the challenge facing Brighterdaysahead at Cheltenham, Elliott replied: “It’s an open Champion Hurdle, any of the two or three horses at the top of the betting could win it. She’s in very good form, I couldn’t be happier with her, but it’s a good race. The Skelton horse (The New Lion) is very good, Golden Ace keeps going underneath the radar and all eyes will be on Constitution Hill to see what he goes back over hurdles.”
Another leading Cheltenham contender for Cullentra House is Romeo Coolio, though whether he runs over two miles in the Arkle or steps up to three miles in the Brown Advisory remains an unanswered question.
“We’re going to keep everything up in the air at the moment, we’ve got the Arkle and the Brown Advisory. I don’t think three miles will be a problem at all, it’s just whether it’s the right thing to do at this stage of his career.
“The owners are from the UK and are very keen to have runners at Cheltenham. If the middle-distance race was still there we wouldn’t be having this conversation but maybe, for racing, it’s good that it’s not there and it’ll make either race better. But for Romeo, it’s not ideal.”
Elliott is set to fire two major bullets at the Stayers’ Hurdle, with former winner Teahupoo to be joined by stablemate Honesty Policy.
Teahupoo finished second to Bob Olinger when bidding for back-to-back wins last season, while Honesty Policy marked himself down as a serious contender by staying on to finish third in the Long Walk at Ascot on his sole start this season.
“Teahupoo probably sets the standard and for me Honesty Policy is the young gun coming behind,” Elliott said. “They’re two nice horses, but Teahupoo has the form and I wouldn’t swap him.
“I was impressed with Honesty Policy at Ascot, he was the horse to take out of it, he hit the line strong.” #
And what of last year’s Festival heroine Wodhooh, a mare who has won eight of her last nine starts. Her sole defeat in that sequence came against Lossiemouth at Aintree last season and the pair could be set to clash again in the Mares’ Hurdle.
“She’s in great form,” Elliott said of Wodhooh. “She’s a little bit like Golden Ace. She keeps winning but she doesn’t get the credit she probably deserves.”
That may come if she wins at Cheltenham again. But one suspects that, should she do so, she won’t be Elliott’s sole victor this time. There may well be brighter days ahead.
