There’s Group One flat action this week but a sure sign of the changing of the seasons is the return of jumps action at Cheltenham later this month, where the home of National Hunt racing’s upgraded drainage system will be put to the test.
Cheltenham’s two-day ‘Showcase’ fixture on October 23rd and 24th will be the first action at Prestbury Park since major drainage work at the track finished in August.
A trio of fixtures in April and May had to be abandoned to facilitate the project, which was needed after a hole appeared on the track at January’s Trials Day programme.
Remedial work allowed the four-day festival in March to go ahead but Cheltenham officials are happy the fundamental problems are solved. An upgrade of the 600-metre main drain began in April, and more than 1,000 metres of drainage has been replaced overall.
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Cheltenham’s clerk of the course, Jon Pullin, said: “We’re very happy with how the drainage upgrade and recovery has gone. We worked closely with specialists in turf management and drainage throughout the project to make the right decisions for the long-term management of the track.
“Starting the work in April was critical because it gave us the time to investigate the drainage system properly and take the opportunity to replace other areas that would benefit from an upgrade. For the first five weeks, our in-house team worked with our agronomists to understand exactly what was happening within the system.
“There are five main drains running down the track, with a network of other drains feeding into them before reaching the outlet at the bottom of the straight. We had to open up various stretches of the home straight as part of the investigation process and this gave us a much better understanding of what was happening beneath the surface.”
When the work finished, watering began immediately on the back of a dry summer that saw regular summer temperatures of 30 degrees.
“While there is more dry weather forecast over the next two weeks, we will continue watering to ensure we are able to provide safe ground for jump racing,” Pullin added.
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If that’s good news for jumps enthusiasts, attention on the flat is turning more to establishing a pecking order in the juvenile ranks ahead of the 2027 Classics.
Saturday’s Darley Dewhurst Stakes has a peerless pedigree for identifying Europe’s two-year-old champion and a heavyweight clash between Aidan O’Brien’s Darkness Falls and Godolphin’s unbeaten Desert Castle is on the cards.
“The Dewhurst has been on the agenda for him for some time. At the moment the plan is to go to Newmarket with him,” a Ballydoyle spokesman commented on Darkness Falls.
“What he did in his maiden win, he backed up in a Group One afterwards so he is in the ‘could be anything’ category. The Dewhurst is the logical step to see if he can then start off in the Guineas route next year,” he added.
Andrew Balding won last year’s Dewhurst with Gewan and has the sole non-Godolphin or Coolmore owned runner in Saturday’s race with Gentle Hurricane. Balding also has Forbidden Fire for Friday’s bet365 Fillies’ Mile, another Group One that could be important in his attempt to dethrone Aidan O’Brien as Britain’s champion trainer. O’Brien has topped the cross-channel table eight times.
Balding currently has a marginal lead over his Irish rival with over £8.2 million (€9.7 million) in prize money compared to O’Brien’s £8.1 million (€9.6 million).
“The Dewhurst, for as long as I’ve been alive, has been the number one two-year-old race in Europe. It really defines which is the best colt of each generation, and it’s historically always a very strong race,” Balding said.
Forbidden Fire is unbeaten in her two starts, including when scoring over seven furlongs in a Doncaster Listed race. She takes on the unbeaten Godolphin favourite Musical Times on Friday.
“The question mark is probably stepping up to a mile. Her siblings have deceived me in staying further than we ever thought they would. It’s probably worth a go, and she’s got the class. I’d hope to be very competitive,” Balding commented.
Wednesday’s Navan action could provide Darkness Falls fans with a form boost as Jesus Green bids to make it third time lucky in a mile maiden.
Joseph O’Brien’s runner was second on his debut but still got jumped straight into Group One company at the Irish Champions Festival and got closest to Darkness Falls in the Golden Fleece Stakes.
The Ballydoyle team run three against him, including a Sea The Stars newcomer in Choctaw Nation, who appears to be the stable number one. However, Jesus Green holds a Futurity entry later this month and should be up to scoring here.
Verified relished easier ground conditions when scoring at Cork last week and may be up to going in again under a 7lb penalty in a sprint handicap.
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