SHISH SET TO REIGN
WE’VE reached a unique period in our history, a time when everyone in the country is either an expert in health or horse racing.
This year’s Festival is much like any other in that I go into it extremely confident of winning money, only with much cleaner hands than usual.
Coronavirus or no coronavirus there’s something very special about the famous ‘Cheltenham roar.’ It’s guaranteed to send shivers down your spine, especially if you get hit by a bit of someone else’s spittle.
The enormous amount of noise the crowd generates as the starter raises the tape for the first race of the Festival is special for one reason.
It’s the only point in the entire meeting where true equality exists, as in nobody at this stage has lost any money. But, as everyone knows, when people place their bets, equality goes out of the window.
That’s why I sometimes don’t have a bet in the first race, just so I can experience that incredible feeling of smugness over 80 per cent of the crowd, who are already chasing their dough.
That said, my main fancy of the meeting runs in the opening race in the shape of Nicky Henderson’s
SHISHKIN
in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
All the statistics scream stay away but I never attach too much importance to stats, unless I’m using them to strengthen my own argument.
Henderson has an absolutely abysmal record in this race, 32 runners in the last 20 years yielding just the one winner (Altior, 2016).
On top of that, the last 128 horses who had their final run at Huntingdon ahead of the Festival have all been beaten.
But to put that stat into some sort of perspective, only 17 of those horses had starting prices of 10-1 or under.
Take no notice of the statistics, after all, 83 per cent of people who play Russian roulette come out unscathed.
Henderson holds this horse in very high regard and based on his two wins at Newbury and Huntingdon he seems very difficult to oppose.
I’ll be surprised if Shishkin doesn’t get us off to a flier.