Talking Horses: Native River ruled out of Cheltenham Gold Cup

Some of the colour has drained from the jump season’s two biggest prizes with the news that Native River has suffered a tendon injury and will miss both the Gold Cup and the Grand National. Although he was not favourite to win either, the charismatic, front-running chestnut has built up a big following over the years and his presence would have added much at Cheltenham and Aintree.

“Unfortunately we’ve had to scratch Native River from the Gold Cup,” said Joe Tizzard, son of the horse’s trainer, Colin. “He’s picked up a suspensory tendon injury.”

Related: Tiger Roll would struggle in Gold Cup despite lofty rating, says Elliott

Richard Johnson was among those disappointed, as he had been using the prospect of riding Native River in the Gold Cup as the reason to work for a quick recovery from a broken arm he sustained last month. The champion jump jockey tweeted that he was “gutted” but added: “He’s in good hands and hopefully back for more again next season.”

Tizzard Jr later described the injury as “a little tear” from which the horse ought to recover by Christmas. Even that upbeat prognosis would leave little time for Native River to be prepared for next year’s Gold Cup, by which time he will be 11.

His injury, possibly sustained when he won at Newbury recently, is the more unfortunate because the horse had seemed back to his best, winning both his races this season. It means Al Boum Photo will be the only previous winner to line up in next month’s Gold Cup, as the 2017 hero, Sizing John, has already been sidelined for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Willie Mullins discussed plans for his Cheltenham horses and caused some surprise by committing Un De Sceaux to the Festival’s hottest race, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, rather than the Ryanair, his target for the last three years. The decision has been taken by his owners and Mullins seemed at a loss to explain their enthusiasm for taking on Defi Du Seuil, Altior and Mullins’s Chacun Pour Soi, from whom the trainer clearly expects a big run.

“This may well be his last hurrah at Cheltenham,” the trainer said of Un De Sceaux, now 12. “Better take the picture first time round …”

Mullins and the owner Rich Ricci have yet to discuss running plans for Faugheen and Benie Des Dieux, but the trainer hinted at a preference for the latter to be tried in the Mares Hurdle. “I’d like to go back and get a bit of unfinished business done,” he said, alluding to her late fall in that race last year. He spoke up in favour of mares-only races in general, saying the fact they are now taken seriously shows jump racing is growing up.

Power feels Lostintranslation is going under radar

Mere hours after Gordon Elliott referred to Delta Work as “a forgotten horse” it was the turn of Robbie Power to claim that Lostintranslation was not getting enough love in the Gold Cup conversation. Power compared him to Sizing John, who he rode to Cheltenham glory in the 2017 race in defiance of pre-race fears about unproven stamina.

“He’s coming in, a little like Sizing John, under the radar because people didn’t think Sizing John was going to stay,” Power told a gathering of racing media at Punchestown on Tuesday. “Now they’ve kind of written off Lostintranslation a bit as well. People have been watching Delta Work and other horses and we’re going to slip in nicely under the radar hopefully.”

We know from similar quotes in the past that “under the radar” is the ideal place to be if you are a professional athlete approaching a major competition. So acute is their knowledge of where the radar is that the secret services should really be looking to recruit from the ranks of sportsmen and women.

As it happens, Delta Work is third in betting on the Gold Cup while Lostintranslation is fourth, but there is no harm in Elliott and Power convincing themselves that external expectations are low for their horses. At least one of them is going to be disappointed on 13 March, after all, and perhaps this kind of thinking will make it easier to bear.

Meanwhile, Davy Russell evidently feels the public tends to overstate the chance of his Gold Cup mount, Presenting Percy, and is unsure the horse can improve on the level he showed when third in the Irish Gold Cup. “People say: ‘That’s a lovely run-up to Cheltenham,’ but he was fairly ready to rock and roll in Leopardstown,” Russell told reporters. “That’s his form. I don’t know if there was a whole load left in the locker.”

Ludlow 
1.55 Night Edition 2.26 Chilli Filli 3.00 Bean In Trouble 3.31 One Style 4.05 Southfield Harvest (nap) 4.40 Oxwich Bay 5.10 Treasure Dillon

Newcastle
2.05 Liva 2.35 Productive 3.10 Glen Shiel 3.40 Lord Of The Lodge 4.15 Merchant Of Venice 4.50 Tathmeen

Doncaster 
2.18 Danny Kirwan 2.50 Rath An Iuir 3.23 Allart 3.55 Potters Legend (nb) 4.30 Captain Cattistock 5.02 Adrimel

Kempton
5.30 A Step Too Far 6.00 Dartington 6.30 Claudius Secundus 7.00 Hindaam 7.30 Treacherous 8.00 King's Slipper 8.30 Agent Of Fortune

Cheltenham Festival stat of the day, by Paul Ferguson

Willie Mullins boasts an enviable record in the Mares Hurdle, especially with French-bred mares. Nine of the 12 winners were French-bred from just 20% representation, so they are clearly over-performing in this sphere (as they do in the Mares Novice Hurdle). This statistic pointed punters towards 2018 winner Benie Des Dieux, who would have won this race again last year but for a final-flight fall. She looks one of the more rock-solid favourites of the week, in trends terms, should this end up being her chosen target.

The Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide 2020, written by Paul Ferguson, is published this week and available through this link for £15.95.

A Cheltenham Festival stat of the day will appear here from Monday to Friday for the next three weeks.

Huntingdon: 1.41 Shall We Go Now 2.11 Mickey Buckman (nap) 2.41 Project Mars 3.11 Miss Honey Ryder 3.41 Massini Man 4.11 Miss Heritage 4.41 Ibleo (nb)

Sedgefield: 2.03 Sign Of War 2.33 Adicci 3.03 Miss Zip 3.33 Juge Et Parti 4.03 Costante Via 4.33 Into The Breach 5.03 Kauto D'Amour

Southwell: 2.20 Three C's 2.50 Old Harbour 3.20 Young Tiger 3.50 Sandridge Lad 4.20 Velvet Vision 4.50 Motahassen

Chelmsford: 5.30 Becker 6.00 Fen Breeze 6.30 Fighting Temeraire 7.00 Original Choice 7.30 Rulers Kingdom 8.00 Lord Tennyson 8.30 Grandee Daisy