Cheltenham Ante-Post: 'The horses I'm removing from my Festival portfolio'

Niall Tierney discusses which horses he's removed from his Cheltenham ante-post portfolio.

Majborough

It’s never nice to make a starting point or a statement about horses you once thought the world of, but it must happen here. Majborough is where I’ll begin. When he came through to win the Triumph Hurdle with that gusty, brave performance, I thought the world was at his feet. He was a monster, and I genuinely believed he had the ability to match anyone.

I remember being in Willie Mullins’ gallop the morning of his beginners’ chase but leaving before he ran. I would have loved to have stayed to see Willie’s reaction - he was there, along with the staff, who must have thought, 'oh my word, this fella could be something else'.

The hype around Sir Gino and Majborough on social media was intense, and it was terrible to see Sir Gino ruled out with a serious problem. Suddenly, the Arkle looked like it was there for the taking.

Majborough’s breathtaking display of pace and power at the Arkle trial delighted the Leopardstown crowd, though it was not without a few scary moments. When he arrived at Cheltenham, swinging for home, I - and everyone - thought, you stay on your feet and it’s yours.

But his two hind legs couldn’t take the ferocity of the second last fence, and he sprawled. Mark Walsh somehow got him back up, but a mistake at the last effectively cursed his chances.

He rallied up the hill, but the damage was done. A collective sigh could be heard as Nico de Boinville crossed the line ahead, and the Arkle dream was over.

Majborough’s next start at Punchestown offered little reassurance. Though he won, his jumping was poor, and it was clear his confidence had been severely affected by his Cheltenham experience.

This season, he reappeared at Cork in the Hilly Way Chase, often a benchmark for Willie Mullins’ strongest 2-mile chasing candidates. He bounded out in front with his usual enthusiasm, but halfway through, the jumping errors began again.

Two out, he gave a fence no respect. I left Cork shaking my head, but I smiled knowing the 4/1 ante-post price I had for the 27th in Leopardstown was still intact. He lined up as the 13/8 favourite, and my job was done - but what I saw that day ruled him out for me.

A gap appeared, and this tough, hardy triumph winner didn’t go for it. Instead, he seemed content to sit in third.

Majborough is still a horse I believe has freakish ability, but his lack of respect for fences and his surprising lack of drive in that latest appearance has allowed me to look elsewhere for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The Yellow Clay

It’s hard to believe that The Yellow Clay, a horse who finished in front of Final Demand and just behind The New Lion, is now 33/1 for the Stayers’ Hurdle. I’ve been incredibly disappointed with him, and it’s a position I never expected to find myself in when discussing a horse I once held in such high regard.

Last season, he looked extremely exciting, winning different graded events and running a huge race in the Turners Novice Hurdle. He always struck me as a terribly hardy horse, one who loved a battle and relished the grind of forcing results out of sheer toughness rather than raw brilliance.

He looked like the type who would keep finding under pressure, the sort of horse you wanted on your side in a war. He then went down to Punchestown but fell near the final fence, and even before that moment, he didn’t look himself that day.

On his reappearance this season, he was beaten at very short odds, with Gordon Elliott suggesting afterward that maybe the ground wasn’t ideal. That explanation offered some hope, but it has faded quickly.

At Leopardstown recently, he put in another deeply disappointing performance, and it’s becoming harder to make excuses. He now looks like a horse who is regressing as he steps into open company rather than progressing, which is particularly painful given how much promise he once showed.

He was expected to relish the step up to 3 miles, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. Everything he does now looks laboured, as though the spark that once defined him has dulled.

For me, the race at Cheltenham appears to have had a terrible effect on him, both physically and mentally, and there’s a growing fear that we may never get to see his true potential realised. It’s a sobering thought for a horse who once looked destined for the very top.

As things stand, he is now a clear no for me. As sad as it is to say, The Yellow Clay will not be part of my ante-post selections.

Inothewayurthinkin

I don’t think the 2025 Gold Cup winner will do it again. I’ve been extremely disappointed with his performances this season.

For me, a Gold Cup winner should be like Ronaldo or Messi in football - someone who constantly turns up and performs at the highest level.

Galopin Des Champs is the Messi or the Ronaldo of racing for me; he is the flagbearer because he always turns up and runs his race. I thought Inothewayurthinkin would be that type of horse, but he hasn’t been, and that’s not what we’ve seen this season.

While he is a two-time Cheltenham Festival winner, this year he appears to have benefitted from a weaker Gold Cup field, where his main rivals failed to perform at their best. His jumping this season has been particularly disappointing for a horse of his calibre.

We knew the John Durkan would be a tough ask but the biggest disappointment took place. At Leopardstown on December 28 in the Savills Chase, he looked tense and hesitant at the first fence, especially when compared to the horse who beat him in the Gold Cup, who appeared far more relaxed. Watching the supposed flagbearer of National Hunt racing look so laboured was extremely difficult.

With new Gold Cup contenders emerging - Gaelic Warrior, The Jukebox Man, Jango Baie - and with Galopin Des Champs taking a different preparation route, there is little evidence to suggest the 2025 winner can rediscover his previous edge.

His usual stamina and staying power, which carried him last year, may be exposed if the race is run differently this time.

For me, he is not a quick ante-post selection. I don’t see where the improvement will come from, and the race dynamics could easily catch him out early. I think his victory in last season's Gold Cup has had a massive effect on him and I feel there is value elsewhere.

Salvator Mundi

Salvator Mundi is a horse with a tremendous amount of ability, as seen when he destroyed Romeo Coolio at Aintree in a novice Grade 1 hurdle, but life over fences has not been so easy.

He’s an extremely free-going horse who looks to have a no-nonsense way of doing things, the way you would think would suit him going over fences, but it has not translated to this.

He was sent off at incredibly short odds on his chase debut at Thurles and finished second, returning the 1/7 favourite. He was beaten by a horse named Kappa Jy Pyke, who has since franked the form, but my latest worry came at Leopardstown in the Grade 1 Racing Post Novice Chase on the 26th of December, where Salvator Mundi was seen finishing third last.

He finished behind He's Gorgeous, who was 80/1, and Shraheen, who was 125/1, which gives a fair example of how poor a run that was behind horses severely inferior to him rating-wise.

He didn’t make any major mistakes, but his usual buzzy run style and eagerness to go was not evident, and maybe life over the bigger obstacles isn’t one that is working for him.

I assume he’ll be going back over hurdles, but as seen with the likes of Ballyburn, this doesn’t always transition too well, and if he turns up at any race at the Cheltenham Festival, I won’t be following him with much attention.