'His run the last day was too bad to be true' - Cheltenham entries and omissions

For the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the most notable talking point among the entries has been Fact To File not being entered, which surprised many given his profile, ownership and Willie Mullins’ usual approach of keeping options open.

His omission suggests connections may have accepted that he is not a Gold Cup horse, or that they are keeping open the possibility of supplementing later, but either way it stood out as an unusual decision.

Speaking on this week’s irishracing.com’s Irish Angle Emma Nagle talks of her surprise: "I was surprised, given Willie normally likes to keep his options fairly open with his horses, but he decided not to put Fact To File in the Gold Cup this year.

Paddy Flood added: "His run the last day was too bad to be true - that race should have suited him. It was slowly run and should have allowed him to quicken, but he was beaten a long way out.

"Maybe they’ve just come to the realisation and bitten the bullet that he’s not a Gold Cup horse. Or maybe JP has said, “Don’t bother entering him, we’ll supplement later and get a better price.” I don’t know. But you’d think he’d have had an entry anyway, just to keep the option open."

Break the rules!

In Ireland, National Hunt horses typically follow a structured progression from early development to top-level competition. Many start in point-to-point races, gaining experience over fences in an amateur setting, before moving into bumpers (National Hunt flat races) to learn racing without jumping.

Promising horses then progress to novice hurdles, where they develop jumping technique and stamina under competitive conditions, and later to novice chases to test their ability over fences.

Successful horses graduate to open company and graded races, often at tracks like Leopardstown or Punchestown, before targeting major festivals such as Cheltenham.

By their third or fourth season, horses usually specialise as hurdlers or chasers, with top performers aiming at Grade 1 events, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup or Champion Hurdle, though some trainers may occasionally fast-track exceptionally talented novices into senior races.

Johnny Ward added: "Romeo Coolio being left in the Ryanair I thought was quite interesting. In racing, people often do things just because that’s how they’ve always been done. You go point-to-pointing, then bumpers, then hurdling, then chasing - even if the horse is a chaser all along.

"Why not just go chasing and give the horse five good years over fences? You see Emmet Mullins breaking the rules in a good way - running novices against senior horses, thinking outside the box all the time.

"Running a novice in the Ryanair, if it cuts up into a small field, makes sense. Romeo Coolio wants a proper trip, and if he’s not going to beat something like L’Homme Presse or El Fabiolo, depending on what turns up, why not consider it?"

Emma Nagle agreed: "I wouldn’t be shocked to see Romeo Coolio line up in the Ryanair. He’s obviously a serious horse on his day."