Horse racing: Yahoo Sports UK columnist Emma Lavelle says 48-hour Cheltenham declarations are needed

Top trainer Emma Lavelle is Jumps Racing Ambassador for Bet4Causes and columnist for the Racing Plus newspaper. In her brand new column, she takes a look at the second day of the 2016 Cheltenham Festival.

ONE of the things that I hear regularly frustrates punters are inaccurate ground descriptions and the lack of 48-hour declarations for Jump racing.

The former has, on occasion, driven me crazy too. Without mentioning names, I have taken horses to run at certain tracks, only to find that the conditions are not as advertised. It drives trainers insane as well, you’ll be pleased to hear – although some would say you have to be half-way nuts to be a trainer in the first place.

You quickly learn that there are some clerks of course who produce ground that is completely different to the official description. For example, if they tell you it is good ground, it will invariably be good to soft. While it may be misleading, I actually don’t have a problem with that, providing they are consistently incorrect. You at least know what you are getting with them.

For some, I am sure, it is a way of trying to get more runners, but it certainly backfires on them on raceday. There are others, though, who are refreshingly honest and have used some very interesting expletives on the state of their ground this winter! On the plus side, I learned some new words.

On the other side of the coin, clerks of the course do not have it easy. They have to deal with long-range forecasts which are relatively inaccurate and juggle the needs of the equine, all the while being mindful of keeping the marketing team happy. The going is key for form study as well, so you can understand that punters want the most accurate going reports.

Fortunately, there are no such worries with Simon Claisse and his team at Cheltenham, who provided lovely ground yesterday. It was always going to be slightly tacky drying ground, but the course has never looked better.

Likewise, there are two sides to the 48-hour declarations argument. I think you would find many more non-runners if we moved from 24-hour decs for Jump racing’s standard meetings, but it can be frustrating for punters not knowing which race their fancy is going to run in.

There is no doubt that training can be a bit of a balancing act and trying to keep owners happy, punters happy and the horses running in the right races can sometimes feel like the impossible dream! I can quite understand the frustrations of punters seeing horses switched at the last moment to a different race but I promise it is not always as easy as it seems.

I am of the belief, though, that the big Festival meetings – Cheltenham and Aintree, certainly – would benefit from 48-hour declarations across the board, not just for the Grade One races.

Most trainers will know, two days in advance, which races they are going for and I think this is a chance for racing to try and keep everyone happy.

If there is sufficient groundswell of opinion, it would not be a surprise to see changes implemented next season.

My preference for the Queen Mother Champion Chase would have to be Un De Sceaux (Cheltenham 3.30), although it would bring the house down if Sprinter Sacre could regain his crown.

The Wednesday card at the Festival meeting is often the most difficult of the four to work out, but in an open RSA Chase, Blaklion (2.10) may well do the business.

I think it could well be a vintage festival for Nigel Twiston-Davies and Ballyandy (5.30) has an excellent chance in the bumper.

Yanworth (1.30) is the final one in the Lucky 15. He came up the hill well here last time and can get favourite backers off to a flyer in the Neptune.

Oscar bravo!

TIPPING is not an exact science. Far from it, as you can see from my efforts so far. Some will spend hours in form books, others will simply pick a name they like.

Looking at Monday’s results across three meetings at Plumpton, Taunton and Cork, the latter would most definitely have been useful, especially for anyone who has a penchant for the Academy Awards or those who know someone called Oscar.

For a tenner accumulator on Ozzie The Oscar (5/2), Oscar Jane (3/1), Molly Oscar (3/1) and Oscars Boss (33/1) would have netted an incredible £19,040.

Perhaps we’re doing this all wrong.

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