In one respect, history is very much against Grey Dawning winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup this afternoon.
Only one grey has ever worn jump racing’s “Blue Riband” since it was first run in its modern form more than 100 years ago and that was the legendary Desert Orchid in 1989. Strange but true.
But he has a sporting chance. The Jukebox Man, Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie have been the favourites since their thrilling set-to in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, the trio separated by just half a length.
The Jukebox Man, owned by former football manager Harry Redknapp, has been especially popular and will continue to be so at a packed Prestbury Park (around 70,000 expected), a name far more familiar to the occasional racegoer than any Gold Cup horse since Dessie.
Harry Redknapp (left) owns The Jukebox Man, who has a Gold Cup shot (Photo: PA)Good cases can be made for all three, but Cheltenham is a very different test to Kempton with stamina more at play, especially up the final punishing hill.
Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie have won here before, but over shorter distances, while The Jukebox Man was found out by the stiff finish when mugged in a three-mile hurdle two years ago.
Grey Dawning bypassed Kempton, his trainer Dan Skelton preferring to give him Christmas off after his Haydock victory in November. In truth, that wasn’t the toughest Grade One assignment, but he could not have won more easily.
He was less impressive when third behind Friday’s re-opposing Spillane’s Tower and L’Homme Presse on Cheltenham’s Trials Day, but connections weren’t too disappointed. This was a trial, after all, and the Skelton squad have become masters at getting things dead right on the day that really matters.
Cheltenham tips, Day 4
1.20pm: Minella Study 2pm: Secret Squirrel (Best Bet) 2.40pm: Dinoblue 3.20pm: The Passing Wife (Each Way) 4pm: Grey Dawning (Next Best) 4.40pm: Con’s Roc 5.20pm: Roc DinoLast year’s winner Inothewayurthinkin has shown nothing since, but the forecast rain would aid his cause. Ditto the stamina-laden Rebecca Curtis’s Haiti Couleurs, bidding to become the first Welsh-trained winner of the Gold Cup since the 100-1 shot Norton’s Coin sunk Dessie’s double bid in 1990.
That was a great story – Norton’s Coin was one of just three horses trained as a hobby by Carmarthenshire dairy farmer Sirrell Griffiths – the sort of story we sadly don’t hear much these days as the big yards dominate and the smaller stables struggle get a look-in.
But there might be something like it in the Triumph Hurdle.
Minella Study is trained by ex-jockey Adam Nicol up in Northumberland. He is one of 25 horses working daily on a beach recently voted the third best in the world to the backdrop of the stunning Bamburgh Castle, vying for the boss’s affection with around 150 of his beloved racing pigeons.
If he and his team were just fancying a nice day out, they could have just stayed at their idyllic home. But three wins out of three, most recently an impressive Cheltenham rehearsal, means Minella Study has more than earned his shot at the big time.
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