Presenting Percy could do with a drop of rain© Photo Healy Racing
Cheltenham's overwhelming importance to National Hunt racing, and the sport in general, was underlined once again when Ladbrokes/Coral revealed the festival supplied 25 of their top 40 races in betting turnover during 2018. Six of the top ten were at Cheltenham. Only the Grand National topped the Gold Cup. All seven races on Gold Cup day were on the top 40 list. The festival's appeal continues to expand and emphasises just how much it is racing's greatest asset.
That doesn't ignore how there's a danger in putting so many eggs into one basket. Some people reckon the shadow Cheltenham casts over the entire season can be counter-productive, reducing focus on other superb meetings and big races. It's a valid point too, just as is the one about so much attention focussed on one event being fine so long as that focus isn't negative. The fraught nature of the Aintree National's coverage in terms of animal welfare is a reflection of how variable that can be.
But even believing the expansion of the festival to four days dilutes it too much, or worrying that other worthwhile dates get overwhelmed by the hype devoted to Cheltenham, can't budge anyone from acknowledging its pivotal importance to racing's overall profile. In fact any negative perception only requires a little twist to become a positive.
A lot of other action does get presented through the Cheltenham prism, even from months beforehand. But that prism also provides a framework, and a continuing narrative, that helps define so much of the winter in particular. And since every narrative needs a climax, jump racing should thank its lucky stars it has such a superb seasonal crescendo, especially since it has developed organically from decades of tradition. Flat racing's recent attempts to create a similar denouement appear starkly contrived and unconvincing in contrast.
In fact the betting turnover list from Ladbrokes/Coral must be sobering for the flat game. Sixteen of the top 20 betting races are over jumps. The Derby was the only one in the top ten. That must be a concern in terms of public appeal. But if there's reassurance overall in the figures it is that quality wins out. Apart from the National there are just two handicaps in the top twenty, the Welsh National at 20 and the County Hurdle (16) at - where else - Cheltenham.
The whip debate continues down its tedious road. If someone has ever turned around and rejected their previous staunchly held opinion having been convinced by the counter argument, please raise your hands because I've never seen it: we could have you stuffed, as Basil Fawlty said when faced with a rare satisfied customer.
At heart so much of this is about perception and that does get on a lot of people's nerves. Believing the cosmetic is a solution to perception though is wishful thinking. Yet such a belief continues to exist.
One of the most startling pieces of evidence for that is the view that everything would be fine if a new name could be found for the whip. The word itself conjures too much negative baggage, so the argument goes. It's too gruesomely Ben Hur. If a new name could be discovered everything would be fine. Then people on the backs of horses, hitting them with their 'pads,' would look OK.
Except if it cracks like a whip and looks like a whip, then it's a whip. How gullible do we think people are: even the most ignorant of the general public know when they're looking at an animal being struck, even if it is with an 'encourager,' a 'tickling stick' or a big old 'love crop.' Changing the name changes nothing. It still doesn't look good. Arguing otherwise is a cop out from properly acknowledging how racing's social contract with the public includes not treating them as morons.
In more practical everyday terms the whip problem continues to present contradictions that ultimately do the sport no good.
On Sunday Danny Mullins broke the whip rules on Double Portrait in a handicap chase at Thurles. Double Portrait beat Teacher's Pet by just a neck. Luke Dempsey on the runner up rode within the rules. Mullins got a four day suspension for breaking them. But Double Portrait kept the race. Every forecast of betting chaos should that inherent contradiction ever be properly addressed still can't disguise how fundamentally illogical the current situation is.
A lot of fingers will be kept tightly crossed this week that the Gold Cup favourite Presenting Percy finally gets to return to action at Gowran Park. If ground conditions allow he is due to line up for the Galmoy Hurdle and it reflects the curious nature of so much of this winter's action that a convincing performance over flights will probably be enough for him to put a convincing stamp on the Gold Cup picture.
As has been the case for weeks the vital element in whether Presenting Percy gets the chance to do that will be ground conditions. Gowran on Thyestes day is synonymous with deep winter going. This time it might wind up just on the easy side of good. Forget all those dire warnings about global warming; this is the sort of climate change that really hits home.
At any other time it might be enough to encourage the Presenting Percy camp to give Gowran a swerve. But with 50 days to Cheltenham time is running out to give him those two pre-festival outings they feel are necessary to have him at his best for the festival.
The excitement surrounding this horse is palpable though. Much of that is due to the potential he showed in that blistering RSA display last year, a race that time has hardly diminished in form terms. It's certainly clear from the levels of anticipation surrounding the horse that absence really has made the heart grow fonder. Few reappearances have been as eagerly anticipated in recent years. Let's hope the weather plays ball.
Finally, it was interesting to note last week how a protocol that will allow Irish Horseracing Regulatory Authority officials test on unlicensed premises when the 2019 foal crop is registered by the second half of the year still hasn't been actually finalised. This was a central element to the much-heralded and long-awaited Industry Wide Policy on Prohibited Substances & Doping Control.
Apparently no problems are envisaged in finding eventual agreement to introduce such a protocol. But considering the policy was approved by the board of Horse Racing Ireland six months ago, and especially considering the lengthy negotiations required to get to that stage in the first place, failure to get this sorted out quickly would be a blow.
