The Monolulu Cup Result

Well, what can you do.

I let in a late entrant who looked harmless enough and he goes and wins it. My father hasn't ever backed a horse in his 89 years and then he turns up, picks three horses that all get placed and he scores a tidy +7.71 and nobody else got to him. It was a week with some surprises but not many as big as that.

The Professor showed a profit having either benefitted from or suffered a non-runner. Perhaps next time everyone can nominate a reserve, just in case, but had the replacement run and lost he'd have been -2.27, not +2.27 so who's to say.

The Monolulu Cup double was landed with, actually, the only two winners being those selected by two participants and for the most part the punditry was not of the highest standard but it made for a compelling game with Jagwar, Salver and Kabral du Mathan all looking in one way or another like near misses.

It could have been so different but it wasn't, so Congratulations to the Magpie and the first thing Notts County have won since the 1894 FA Cup. 

I don't think we need list the full result, the rest 'also ran'.  

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In several ways it wasn't a great week. I'd not be saying that if I'd landed the £250k ITV7. Little local difficulties wouldn't have ruined that for me. But I couldn't see it being a classic Cheltenham, one of the best for years, as A.P. tried to talk it up. A lot of the big races were wide open and it felt even more so as some short-priced favourites failed. But the ongoing problems at the start, resulting in the serious falling out of two jockeys, wasn't pretty. And neither did Willie Mullins's comments on the ground help much when it didn't quite suit his horse in one race. It seemed to suit plenty of the others of his.

Several big name horses weren't there for their different reasons and while Lossiemouth is a worthy champion hurdler there were three horses she really needed to beat who she didn't get the opportunity to. 

Perhaps we will have to have starting stalls and, by all means, if Willie wants to stay away that's entirely his decision if Good to Soft isn't what he wants. Other trainers will be glad of the chance of his prize money.