The Cheltenham Festival regularly
provides the most competitive racing in the British National Hunt
calendar, so short-priced, even odds-on, losers are commonplace. Even
so, from time to time, the public latches on to a horse which, for
whatever reason, is backed as if defeat is out of the question. Of
course, it isn’t, but such horses are often forced in to short,
sometimes ludicrously short, prices. ‘Following the money’ can
pay dividends, but can, equally, be a total disaster.
The most obvious recent example of a Cheltenham Festival ‘flop’ was Douvan, trained by Willie Mullins, in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2017. In a race that has had more than its fair share of odds-on losers down the years, Douvan was sent off at prohibitive odds of 2/9 to continue his unbeaten run, which stretched back 14 races over hurdles and fences. Even so, there were still takers, including one anonymous punter who reportedly placed a bet of £100,000/£500,000 at odds of 1/5. In any event, Douvan jumped poorly, was soon outpaced and trailed in seventh of the nine finishers, beaten 11¾ lengths, behind the winner Special Tiara.
Kasbah Bliss, trained in France by
Francois Doumen, was a regular at the Cheltenham Festival in the
Noughties, but having been beaten in the Triumph Hurdle and twice in
the Stayers’ Hurdle – or the World Hurdle, as it was known at the
time – he was surprising made odds-on favourite, at 10/11, for the
latter race in 2009. The previous year, on the Old Course, he had
failed by just a length to overhaul Inglis Drever, but the year
before that, on the New Course, he had had his stamina limitations
exposed when beaten 17 lengths by the same horse. Back on the New
Course in 2008, he fared no better, weakening on the run-in to finish
fourth, beaten 21 lengths, behind Big Buck’s.
Another fine Irish steeplechaser, Beef
Or Salmon, trained by Michael Hourigan, had already been beaten three
times in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, before he lined up, as 4/1
favourite, for the 2006 renewal. On his previous attempts he had
fallen at the third fence in 2003, finished fourth, beaten 3½
lengths, behind Best Mate in 2004 and been tailed off when pulled up
two out behind Kicking King in 2005. However, in the absence of Best
Mate, who’d won for the previous years, he was suddenly considered
favourite material. He wasn’t, finishing eleventh of nineteen,
beaten 19 lengths behind War Of Attrition.
