Missing Monkfish an early blow for jumps fans... but others can fill void

IT IS that time of the season where the Flat action starts to tail off and the jumps season gradually winds into gear.

Jumping holds more appeal than the Flat to most racing fans as horses tend to stay in training for longer and you can witness their development from bumpers to hurdles to fences.

While everyone will have scribbled numerous horses to follow over the upcoming winter, there has been some notable early absentees. The retirement of Altior and Min pulls down the curtain on a decent era for two-mile chasers, albeit the latter excelled over a bit further when consistently running second to the former. Trained by Nicky Henderson and Willie Mullins respectively, at least we have Shishkin and Energumene to immediately fill that void.

Topofthegame looked a Gold Cup type for Paul Nicholls but has suffered another injury setback. However, the big fish to lose in this season’s pond though is another Cheltenham Festival victor in Monkfish.

When the Mullins-trained horse won the Flogas Novices’ Chase at Leopardstown it was one of the most visually impressive novice chasing performances in recent memory. The Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle winner of 2020 jumped scruffily when winning the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Prestbury Park this year and was beaten in his final run of the season by Colreevy.

Mullins reported this week that Monkfish will be sidelined for the season. Joint-favourite for the Gold Cup, Monkfish was the most likely second-season novice to make serious waves in the Gold Cup division. An early disappointment but it may see dual Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo have a more rigorous campaign than usual for Mullins.

It would also be dangerous to discount a recovery mission for the highly-regarded Envoi Allen and Henderson’s Chantry House has done nothing but improve. Last year’s one-two Minella Indo and A Plus Tard set a high Gold Cup bar and in Monkfish, the horse most likely to raise it has unfortunately gone.