It's The RSA!

Well, the waiting is nearly over and the 2012 Cheltenham Festival is now less than 24 hours away.  One of the questions that has been on everyone’s lips, is which race does Grands Crus go for?  Well, I am pleased to announce that after weeks of careful deliberation and consultation with his owner, he will go for the RSA Novices’ Chase on the Wednesday.

Grands Crus runs in the RSA Chase on Wednesday (photo courtesy of Bill Selwyn)

It has been a difficult decision to make.  Such is the impression that he has created in his three starts since turning to fences, he most certainly would not have been out of place in the Gold Cup line-up regardless of whether Kauto Star participates or not.  That doesn’t mean that we consider the RSA to be a “penalty kick” – all races at the Festival are fiercely competitive and difficult to win, but at this stage in his career (remember, he has only had fourteen starts in his life) we felt that the best option for the horse was to keep him with novices’ for the time being.  I dare say that I won’t be getting much sleepl between now and then, but at least I won’t have to keep listening to people asking me “which race?” anymore!

We head into the Festival with the horses in good order.  Woodlark Island kept the scoreboard ticking over with victory at Wincanton on Thursday under Tom Scudamore and we have now enjoyed 80 successes so far this term.  He was being strongly challenged at the last when his nearest pursuer Fran’s Folly fell, but he is a tough little customer in the right grade and I thought that he had just about beaten off that rival anyway.

It is a quiet start to the Festival for us tomorrow (Tuesday) as we go into battle with three runners – Catch Tammy (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle), The Package (The JLT Speciality Handicap Chase) and Battle Group (The Cheltenham Novices’ Handicap Chase).  Remember The Package was only just touched off in this race in 2010 and now competes from a slightly lower mark.   He has an absence to overcome, but is in good form and I hope that he can go one better this time around.

We will be having plenty of runners as the meeting progresses and the bookies reckon that we have a number of good chances with Grands Crus a short-priced favourite for the RSA, Salut Flo favourite for the Byrne Group Chase, and Balgarry and Street Entertainer vying for favouritism in my father’s race, as well as a whole host of others who feature prominently in the markets…I just hope they are right!

As usual we will be welcoming our owners in the David Pipe Racing marquee and it will be great to catch up with some old friends during this incredible four days of top quality jump racing action.