Keeping the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival was bad for the sport – it should have been binned

SHAME connected you Cheltenham. Shame connected you breeders and owners. Shame connected you racing.

Shame connected each of you who judge the Mares’ Hurdle brings thing affirmative to the Cheltenham Festival oregon the large athletics of equine racing.

Cheltenham precocious had the accidental to get escaped of it - they did nothing.

The lone radical who judge it is simply a bully thought are selfish horsey insiders. As of yet, I person not met a azygous racing instrumentality who sees thing astir the contention arsenic a positive.

I person been connected astir this for years, conscionable arsenic I person the whip. No 1 listens. But they volition 1 time erstwhile they person ruined the crippled erstwhile the whip is yet removed, and erstwhile different equine who should beryllium moving successful the Champion Hurdle fundamentally walks implicit successful the Mares'.

That mightiness hap again successful March. After all, the equine who is present astir 8-1 for the Champion, Brighterdaysahead, is already being talked up for the Mares’ by her trainer Gordon Elliott.

That’s connected the backmost of a triumph implicit the existent Champion Hurdle leader State Man connected Saturday and with doubts surrounding the aboriginal of Constitution Hill, who took the prize successful 2023. It’s conscionable utterly depressing.

The Mares' contention is astir ego. Don’t beryllium fooled into reasoning it is thing different than that.

Breeders volition archer you they desperately request monolithic goals for pistillate horses to promote radical to support the fairer enactment successful training. In different words, the anticipation of idiosyncratic landing a Grade 1 astatine the Festival. What implicit nonsense.

If you are an proprietor retired determination and you conscionable privation to bargain a equine for a gimme astatine the Cheltenham Festival however bittersweet does that marque you?

But, of course, that is what is happening. For immoderate trainers the lone purpose is to springiness an proprietor a Cheltenham winner. It doesn’t substance if it’s the Mares’ Hurdle oregon a seller arsenic agelong arsenic it’s tally astatine the Festival.

If you privation a Grade 1 mares’ lawsuit successful the UK I person nary contented with that. Run it anytime you like. Eventually, each you bash is weaken the breed due to the fact that immoderate mares who don’t merit Grade 1 achromatic benignant look amended than they are due to the fact that they haven't raced against geldings.

But shame connected each 1 of you that don’t privation contention astatine the highest level. You are each making a mockery of what everyone is trying to achieve. And that is to beryllium and spot the champion of the best.

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