Well and truly passed over. To the National Hunt boys and girls…
The time of year for muddied three mile chasers to bravely battle through bottomless ground. Racecourse home straights that resemble ploughed fields. Mud spattered silks, and jockeys with three pairs of goggles as they navigate the flying mire. Crowds huddled against biting winds. Long scarves and longer coats. Whisky Macs and hot soup…
Not yet though…
Everywhere I go right now, it seems to be raining. But obviously not on several Jumps tracks judged by the small fields and the spate of “walkovers”. Great for those involved as prize money drops into accounts for nil effort – but not great for the bigger picture. There does seem to be an awful lot of uncompetitive National Hunt racing at present, but that will change, I’m sure, when those heavens open properly…
And already Racing Post headlines shouting out Cheltenham prices. A Nicky Henderson hurdler “backed” in from 33/1 to 20/1 for The Stayers Hurdle in March after winning well on Saturday. How much “backing” actually went on is open to conjecture. 33/1 to 20/1 seems a decent move – so maybe the “shrewdies” up and down the land have fired up their Festival ante post portfolios…
Whilst the National Hunt boys and girls take centre stage for several months, the betting shop fodder of all weather racing will tick along in the background…
We have a few to run over the Winter – and to be fair to Arena who I am prone to lambast through this medium, they have put on some decent prize money and some alluring monthly pots…
A ten day lull on the Flat front right now. So no runners even if we wanted to have runners…
Several jockeys headed to sunnier climes. Either for short term “R and R” or longer term midwinter stays. Very sensibly…
