Half time at Punchestown today. The third day of the five-day festival. In comparison, probably the weakest card but still stellar. Busselton, one festival too late for me, won the La Touche. Jeriko Du Reponet turned the tables on stablemate Doddiethegreat. Majborough shifted and shimmied left for 2 miles and still toyed with Grade 1 rivals. Teahupoo did what Teahupoo does in the Stayers.
None of those compares to Galopin Des Champs decimation job yesterday. One of the greats, the only anxious moment was when he jinked at the road crossing. Some height. Some horse.
And tomorrow brings the white knuckler of all white knucklers as Constitution Hill tries to make good decisions in the Boodles Champion Hurdle. As I’ve written earlier, the star hurdler just needs to make decisions. Long or short, go or wait, sit or send, just make a decision, there is no in between. Constitution Hill, 10/11, and State Man, 3/2, the two fallers in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham clash again. Golden Ace, the benefactor of those two miscues, goes again.
Turn off the phone at 1:40 Friday afternoon and get ready for 2 miles of cliff-hanging, knife-edge sport. As a flat-racing aficionado said to me at Cheltenham, “Jump racing is like having a finish line every furlong.” No horse has faced finish lines like Constitution Hill faces Friday afternoon. Just to add another shot to the drink, James Bowen replaces the injured Nico De Boinville, the only jockey Constitution has ever known.
Here’s hoping/rooting/praying/imploring for a clean round.
