Why I think Cheltenham Festival handicaps need to change
Writing exclusively for the Racing Post, the legendary jumps owner outlines Cheltenham changes he would like to see
JP McManusChampion jumps owner
JP McManus: champion jumps owner has concerns about the number of runners allowed to take part in Cheltenham Festival handicaps
I think people know I’m not someone who likes to express opinions in public but I’ve got some strongly held views on weights and races and I’m using this column to express them.
I have concerns about the number of runners allowed to take part in the Cheltenham Festival handicaps. I don’t want to raise the safety argument but it seems to me that 26 runners in the Coral Cup and County Hurdle and 24 in the Martin Pipe is just too many. In my opinion, it would be much better to have fewer runners; personally, I would allow only 18 horses in those races.
I think the festival would be improved for reducing some of the handicap maximum field sizes but I also think the months leading into the meeting would benefit. I believe racing needs more competition. We need people to show their hand more – and if people feel their horse is on the cusp of getting in, they will need to run the horse again in order to be sure of that happening.
Say, for example, I have a horse who I’m confident as far back as January or even Christmas is going to get into the Coral Cup. In that situation, my inclination is not to run the horse again before Cheltenham. The reason why is obvious – I want him to compete at the festival off the lowest possible mark.
JP McManus with Inothewayurthinkin and Derek O’Connor after winning the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival Credit: John Grossick (Browse & Buy Personalised Photo Gifts | Racing Post Photosales)
However, if there were eight fewer available places in the Coral Cup, there would also be greater competition to get into the race. I might well therefore need to run the horse again through the winter to be sure he gets a run at Cheltenham. With everyone else doing that as well, it would make the run-up to the festival more interesting because more horses would have to run. On top of that, by the time we got to Cheltenham, the public would be much more informed.
During the latest review of the festival, the Jockey Club increased the number of runs a horse has to have in order to qualify for the Cheltenham non-novice handicaps. In fairness, I was in favour of that. It is a decision that probably went against my own best interests, but I still thought it was a good idea for the sport. I’m also sure the handicappers would have been happy with the decision.
The problem is that at this season’s festival there are going to be three extra handicaps, with the Grade 1 two-and-a-half-mile novice chase, the National Hunt Chase and the cross-country chase all becoming handicaps. I know the field sizes in those races will be less than 26, but you might still have the same potential problem of owners and trainers not running horses in order to protect their marks.
I realise some people, and particularly some trainers, will say that by reducing the Coral Cup and County Hurdle maximum field size from 26 to 18 you would be depriving some owners of the chance to run at the festival. I understand that, but to have a final you need to have semi-finals, and at the moment the jumps season’s semi-finals lack competition. Maybe I’m off the mark, but doing something about that seems sensible.
The weights some horses have to carry in races concerns JP McManus – as does the lack of transparencyCredit: Patrick McCann (Browse & Buy Personalised Photo Gifts | Racing Post Photosales)
The other point I want to raise is about the weights that horses are carrying in races – or, should I say, the weights that horses are actually carrying in races.
Some people still might not realise that due to the jockeys’ safety allowance – which includes the back protector allowance – horses carry 4lb more than the weights published in racecards.
Anyone looking at the Grand National would think the topweight carries 11st 12lb. However, when you add in all the bells and whistles, the horse shoulders 12st 2lb. In itself that is surprising because it was decided many years ago that a top weight of 12st would be too much in the Grand National. In fact, for a number of seasons it was reduced to 11st 10lb.
A few years ago they reduced the weights colts and geldings have to carry in the Triumph Hurdle to 11st 2lb on the grounds that four-year-olds don’t need to be carrying any more than that. That’s fine; I have no problem with that. At the same time, though, the Fred Winter topweight, who is also a four-year-old, has to carry 11st 12b plus the extra 4lb. If the reason the Triumph weights were reduced was because it was felt 11st 12lb was unnecessarily onerous for a juvenile, it doesn’t make any sense to force the highest-rated horse in the Fred Winter to carry such a big burden.
I think asking the horses to carry so much weight is unnecessary and it contradicts the thinking that led to reducing the official topweight level. At the very least, the correct weights should be published, so that people know the truth. Why hide it?