Paddy Flood on the Champion Chase: 'You can’t give away that many lengths jumping and be top class'

“Kopek Des Bordes was many people's idea of a Cheltenham banker last year and I suppose we were probably hoping he was going to be another banker this year. I don't think he is, after what I've seen at Naas.”

Lead race analyst and jockey coach Paddy Flood explains on the latest episode of The Jockey Angle why he believes the two-miler chaser is no longer one to be backing at the Cheltenham Festival.

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Paddy Flood's Analysis

He was a little bit buzzy going to the start and down at the start, but he actually jumped off perfectly fine.

Usually we see him at this stage in the race pulling and tearing, but he settled away quite well. Just watch his jump into the first. Good.

He gets in underneath it, which is perfectly fine. Paul would have wanted him to meet the first on a short stride so he can control the animal.

What I didn't like was that even when he was short, he was trying to jump high. To me, that suggests he hasn't a whole lot of confidence in himself jumping.

We watch him at the second here, and it's the same thing. He meets it short. Watch how much respect he gives it.

He gives it nearly too much respect. When two-mile chasers do that, they lose ground, because they start worrying about the fence and stop jumping.

I'm just going to show you the ditch.

Irish Panther is in front of him there. Irish Panther has been absolutely sensational all last year and this year as well, but he probably doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

As I said, we watched Paul pop the first two, which is ideal in most scenarios, but just watch the ditch here. Keep an eye on Paul's body language going to the ditch.

He's sitting third, with the horse hard on the bridle early in the race. He's after popping the first two and being a bit big, if we're being critical.

But what I didn't like about it here is that this is the first fence I've actually seen Paul Townend give this lad a signal to hurry up and say, “Right, go on there and take that on. I'm going to let you wing it and you can land running if you want.”

But just watch this fella in the air as Paul gives him the signal to go. He does quicken down to it, but in the air he panics and doesn't let himself fully go.

He freezes in the air, which makes him land awkwardly. See him? Midway in the air, he sees the fence, he lifts his feet, he panics, and you're losing ground all the time. The two in front of him are winging away.

As I said, Irish Panther is in his second season over fences. Look how well he's travelling.

That's another string to his bow, because he used to always have to lead, whereas now he was able to take a lead there yesterday. He doesn't spend any time in the air. He has the two-mile race craft down to a T. Again, Paul is big.

Watch The Jockey Angle in Full

But what I loved about Irish Panther was watching what happens when he makes a mistake compared to when Kopek makes a mistake.

Maybe all the settling with him has hindered him a bit. You see Irish Panther there; he took the birch and the whole lot with him and barely broke stride.

Whereas when Kopek gets in tight, he feels like he has to jump the fence massive. It's like the fence is on fire to him.

If you're on a two-mile chaser, that's not ideal, because a two-mile chaser should be bang, bang, bang, bang. They should be out and gone over a fence and not even think about it.

But again, look, Irish Panther is doing an absolute half-speed here, and Paul isn't really. See his back end?

Even when he was spot on at the second last, going fast, when he's landing he's holding everything together. He's panicking.

He's not landing, boom, hitting the ground running. As I said, if you do that over two miles, over six or seven fences, that's six, eight, ten lengths lost jumping-wise.

For me, maybe the engine isn't as big, either. You can't give away that many lengths jumping and be top class.

As for the step up in trip, I heard some people talking about going back over hurdles.

I don't think he'd be mad for the Champion Hurdle, myself. I think he's a bit too slow for a Champion.

It's a bit of a head-scratcher, because he was a favourite of mine, and I thought that because he missed time last year, he didn't gain all the experience he could have. But that race has put a real dent in him for me.

He lacks confidence over fences, and two-mile chasers, that's what makes them: good, slick, quick jumping. That's what makes a real star two-miler, and this fella doesn't have it.