Weekend Review - Triumph Hurdle Trials

This weekend saw a number of different Triumph Hurdle hopefuls testing their credentials. While there were some notable disappointments, Paul Nicholls, Alan King and Willie Mullins will be extremely satisfied with their horses and will look to March full of confidence.

On Cheltenham’s ‘Trials Day’, Grumeti and Pearl Swan laid down their festival markers in the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial. In a desperate finish Pearl Swan came out on top by a short head but after a lengthy stewards’ enquiry the result was amended, the placings were reversed and Grumeti was given the race.  This was the right decision as there had been discernible interference on the run-in and Ruby Walsh was given a controversial three day ban for careless riding. Before the race he was largely unconsidered for the Triumph Hurdle, available at 33/1 with Skybet for example, yet afterwards many felt that Pearl Swan was the horse who ran the best trial and with him being at a best price of 10/1 (as short as 5/1 with one firm) the layers are not taking any chances with him.

Pearl Swan at Taunton

Pearl Swan had first come to the attention of jump racing followers after an authoritative display on his debut for Paul Nicholls at Taunton, just 9 days before his run at Cheltenham on Saturday. He had been a fair flat performer for John Hammond in France and, with his new connections, was sent off a relatively well backed 3/1 second favourite. At Taunton he jumped well, on the whole, and moved through the race like a good horse before quickening powerfully to beat the consistent Ifyouletmefinish four lengths. He evidently had plenty in hand that day and Nicholls wanted to see whether he had a Triumph or Fred Winter horse on his hands by running him on Saturday. Sitting well off the pace throughout, Ruby Walsh, on Pearl Swan, made his move after two out and then at the last he was upsides the leaders before battling with Grumeti all the way up the Cheltenham hill. This run proved to his trainer that he is a Triumph Hurdle horse and he will now head straight for that race without another run. Paul Nicholls is convinced he can improve this son of Gentlewave with his jumping the priority, which looked deliberate at times. He may well find significant improvement in Pearl Swan, in which case he would be a formidable opponent come March but I am still keener on the horse who was awarded the Triumph Hurdle trial, Grumeti.

Grumeti was a useful on the flat for Michael Bell and was seen as a good jumping prospect by his current connections. At the Newmarket sales current connections went to £100,000 to buy this son of Sakhee and on the face of it, this looks good business.

Much like Pearl Swan, Grumeti won his hurdling debut at Taunton. He was even more impressive, pulling fourteen lengths clear of, another formerly talented flat horse and subsequent clear-cut handicap hurdle winner, Ted Spread. In third, a further length back, was Ifyouletmefinish who Pearl Swan had only beaten by six lengths. Grumeti jumped smoothly at Taunton and did much the same at Newbury on his next start where he was all set to demolish his field on the bridle. Unfortunately, at the second last he stumbled on landing and came down. This scuppered, his trainer, Alan King's plan to win comfortably at Newbury before a tilt at the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton. With a worry over the weather turning and a cold snap forcing Grumeti to head straight to festival, after a fall, it was decided a quick run back at Cheltenham was the best course of action. For me, his performance in the trial enhanced his claims for the Triumph Hurdle itself. This run was almost certainly too soon after his fall at Newbury and he started the race like he had fallen recently, jumping slowly at the first few flights. He failed to show the burst of acceleration he displayed at Taunton as a result of him probably not having enough time to recover from his last run. Grumeti was also hindered by the slightly sticky, tacky ground and by the fact that he chased the pace from an early stage unlike his adversary Pearl Swan who had been dropped out. This combined with the interference suffered all the way up the run-in makes his victory all the more meritorious and I am convinced there is significantly more to come.

Alan King has stated that his Triumph hopeful will likely go to the Adonis next for one last bit of crucial experience before the big one. Unless another Zarkandar appears I fully expect him to win that as well as the juvenile hurdlers likely to turn up there have not impressed me to the same extent as Grumeti, and that includes current antepost favourite for the Triumph Saddlers Risk. At this stage Grumeti is right at the top of my Triumph Hurdle list with six weeks still to go and is certainly one to consider antepost.

In third behind Pearl Swan and Grumeti was Hollow Tree who ran his usual good race. He seems to lack the necessary ability for the Triumph Hurdle even though he won the Grade 1 Finale at Chepstow. That is a race that tends to have little bearing on the Triumph itself and it seems clear that Hollow Tree is at his best on soft ground. He may have chance off a big weight in the Fred Winter but I would be quite happy to leave him out of any Triumph Hurdle calculations. Further down the field at Cheltenham was the major disappointment of the race, Baby Mix. The Tom George trained grey finished last of six but he was sent off a 7/4 joint-favourite and was clearly expected to do far better. On his first start for Tom George, also at Cheltenham, Baby Mix ran out an impressive seven length winner and defeated the highly regarded, heavily odds on, Hinterland in the process. On that occasion he travelled strongly and jumped noticeably well before pulling away from Nicholls’ charge. More of the same was expected this weekend but while he travelled strongly for much of the way Baby Mix’s jumping failed to stand up to the test and he made a number of errors. In terms of his Triumph prospects I’m not willing to forgive Baby Mix this run. I’m not convinced his defeat of Hinterland was all that it looked at the time. Hinterland had to force the pace from the front, was keen throughout and, most importantly, was giving the Al Namix Gelding 7lbs. Also, Baby Mix appeared to have a strange head carriage and looked like he was thinking about it on the run-in. He does not look the most straightforward and I cannot envisage circumstances where I would back him for the Triumph.

One further negative for Baby Mix was the run of Hinterland in the handicap hurdle on the same card as the Triumph trial. Hinterland was still in the mix for the Triumph Hurdle going into his run on Saturday and as a result was a well backed favourite. He could only manage third under an interesting ride from Ruby Walsh. While it was not bad run by any means, it looked more of a trial for the Fred Winter than for the Triumph especially as Paul Nicholls has at least two other strong candidates for the race.

Over in Ireland there was hugely eye-catching Triumph Hurdle trial run by the Willie Mullins trained Darroun. He was an expensive purchase for connections at the July Arqana sales in France, costing the princely sum of €140,000. Trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre on the level he managed to win once from three starts and was seen as the perfect type for juvenile hurdling.

It was inexperience that cost him first time up over hurdles at Punchestown where he finished a close second to Shadow Catcher. At Leopardstown on Saturday better was expected and he was sent out in front by Paul Townend, often a sign of confidence behind a Mullins novice hurdler. This grey son of Dalakhani jumped impeccably and he held off the favourite, Hisaabaat, by one and a quarter lengths. Hisaabaat had previously finished second to two Irish hopes for the Triumph, Sportsmaster and, Darroun’s stablemate, Ut De Sivola. Dermot Weld’s juvenile is a good yardstick in these Irish events and he looked the winner approaching the last as he was still on the bridle, but Willie Mullin’s charge outbattled him and in the end the margin of victory failed to do his superiority justice. It is worth noting that rounding the home turn Darroun appeared to lose his action and his jockey had to stop riding for a few strides giving significant ground to the second and third in the process. He is a strapping gelding and still showed signs of greenness at Leopardstown but in overcoming this and his loss of action, Darroun showed that is a talented horse with tremendous scope for improvement.

As a Triumph Hurdle prospect, Darroun could not have come from a better source with the Aga Khan Studs producing recent winners Zaynar and Zarkandar. He looks to be improving fast and with further progression expected on the quicker festival ground he is surely value at 20/1. There is always the problem with Willie Mullins trained horses that he has another prospect for the same race and this is the case here as he trains Ut De Sivola who is appreciably shorter in the market. He beat Hisaabaat further than Darroun last time but Hisaabaat made a dreadful mistake at the last when travelling strongly and there is every chance he was flattered. I was not overly impressed by this son of Robins Des Champs and I would be confident that in six weeks time Darroun will be Mullins’ first string for the Triumph. This being the case he will be much shorter than the 20/1 available at this stage and I suggest taking that price for the Triumph now. Of course, the last two years have shown there is always the possibility that the best juvenile has yet to be unleashed over hurdles; hence backing Darroun each way is advisable.