Well, it’s that time of year again when regular followers of this  blog allow me to indulge myself in my former career as a racing broadcast journalist. The Cheltenham Festival is once again upon us and, as always,  promises to be a sensational four days of hurdles and steeplechase  action.  


Last year I suggested that the Jewish amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen would have the audacity to beat all the great professional British and Irish jockeys and actually win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and sure enough the  28-year-old rode a brilliant race aboard the mighty Long Run to beat former
champions Denman and Kauto Star in one of the best races seen at the hallowed home of the great sport for many a long year.

 
This year Long Run hasn’t quite been at his peak and was beaten in his first two racecourse outings by the evergreen legend that is Kauto Star before just lasting home at Newbury last month against the smart Burton Port. Even before Kauto Star’s recent injury scare though I had been more than convinced that Waley-Cohen would again find himself in the winners’ enclosure, and the amateur pilot/dental surgery chain owner/royal wedding matchmaker will, I believe, do the business once again on Friday March 16.

 
Long Run is much younger than his main rival and although he has lost twice to Kauto Star I am certain that Nicky Henderson (Long Run’s trainer),
has prepared his charge to be at the absolute peak of his powers for the mid-March showdown. He can currently be backed at odds of up to 7/4 – that’s  175% profit on your stake – and I reckon looks good value to retain his crown. 

 
Since last year’s race Waley-Cohen was an honoured guest at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, being a close friend of the couple and the man credited with getting them back together after they had separated a
couple of years earlier. Waley-Cohen himself walked down the aisle just six
weeks later when he married Bella Ballin, with the new Duchess of Cambridge amongst the guests having rushed from the Trooping of the Colour earlier in the day. Waley-Cohen and the Princess have been friends since their student days and Kate is a staunch supporter of the cancer charity the Waley-Cohen family run in memory of Sam’s brother Tom, who tragically passed away a few years ago at the age of just 20.

 
Last year I also suggested that a horse called Menorah might win the Champion Hurdle on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival. The horse named after the seven-stemmed symbol of the State of Israel ran a creditable race, but in the end was no march for the brilliant winner Hurricane Fly and came home fifth of the 11 runners. This year the Philip Hobbs-trained gelding has switched to the bigger challenge of steeplechase fences and has had his share of ups-and-downs (literally), managing to unseat his rider at the second last fence when clear of his rivals at Exeter in the autumn, before winning twice, only to fall at the third fence at Doncaster in January.

 
On the face of it he faces quite a task in the Racing Post Arkle Novice Chase, but the stronger pace and an intensive period of schooling over fences with a renowned expert, gives hope that the seven-year-old might spring a surprise at juicy odds. If you’re interested, Menorah is currently on offer at 10/1 to win the ‘Arkle’ and I reckon he might just run better than many people
anticipate at a track where he goes particularly well.

 
So last year’s Israeli/Jewish Cheltenham double returns as this year’s recommendation, and I hope that Sam Waley-Cohen and Long Run, and Richard Johnson and Menorah, go out there, do their very best, and return home safely. Aside of any Jewish/Israeli connections my other two horses to watch at the Cheltenham Festival are Boston Bob (7/2) in the Neptune Investment Management Novices Hurdle (March 14), and Smad Place (16/1) in the Coral Cup later the same day.

 
PS. Candida Baker, wife of racehorse trainer George Baker, (who looked after the Israeli-bred racehorses I managed that raced in Britain over  the last few years), is set to ride in the charity race at the Cheltenham Festival and word has it that connections are looking for the ‘perfect’ conveyance to carry her as near as possible to victory on the hallowed Gloucestershire turf. Don’t say you weren’t told!