Ben Linfoot reflects on Stage Star's dramatic Paddy Power Gold Cup win from Cheltenham, where Paul Nicholls hit the target once again in brilliant fashion.
The last fence at Cheltenham. It’s becoming a thing, isn’t it? The scourge of Galopin Des Champs in what was to be his novice coronation, then JPR One just yesterday. They fell victim to Cheltenham’s final fence, but Stage Star defied his error at the final obstacle, picking himself up off the ground to go and win the Paddy Power Gold Cup by four lengths in tremendous style.
Such are the fine margins in sport. Harry Cobden could easily have been blasting his goggles to the floor, furious at a fate that saw this most prestigious handicap slip from his grasp when he had it in the bag. Instead he comes in all smiles, punching the air as a flurry of purple scarves are waved around in celebration in the Cheltenham winners’ enclosure.
The collective gasp as Stage Star made his error echoed around the arena – and then every time the replay was shown on the big screen again afterwards. Trainer Paul Nicholls winces as he watches it for a second time, fiddling with a small tin of Vaseline as he talks through the final stages of his horse’s performance.
“That’s just one of those things,” he says, watching the giant illuminated screen in the corner of the paddock with a huge sense of relief. “He still picked up and ran all the way up the hill afterwards. Wow, it was a hot race. He needed to take a step forward from last year and he’s obviously done that.
[Stage Star’s mistake is shown again].
“Oof. The thing is he jumps brilliant all the way round, bar that mistake at the last.”
That is a fair assessment and this was a brilliant performance from Stage Star from a handicap mark of 155, on his seasonal reappearance, against race-fit-rivals, and it was a superb training performance from Nicholls, who bemoaned the horse would ‘melt’ if he took him out of Ditcheat for an away day.
“You can’t take him away for a gallop. He’s done everything at home, he’s been nowhere. We’ve just got enough fitness into him to be ready first time out and he ran as well as he looked,” said Nicholls, winning the race for the third time after Al Ferof (2012) and Caid Du Berlais (2014).
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In the context of recent history in this race, this was some effort from Stage Star. Most Paddy Power winners are rated in the 130s or the 140s. Taquin Du Seuil, rated 156, beat Village Vic, rated 155, in 2016, but that was out of the ordinary in itself and the 160+ rated horses have really struggled; Nicholls’ own Frodon was second in this race off 161 and another Ditcheat regular in the contest was Poquelin, who was fifth, unseated rider and pulled up in this from three goes off ratings of 163-plus.
It's not easy to carry big weights to victory in a race like this – ask Fondmort and Finian’s Rainbow, plus previous winners who came back for more like Cyfor Malta and Our Vic who returned with added luggage to carry. All failed, but off 155 Stage Star carried 11-7 to a dominant victory against a posse of dangerous rivals lurking off lower marks.
Just look at The Real Whacker. He tried to give Stage Star 7lb but was pulled up three out after trying to go with the Nicholls horse throughout. He couldn’t, but there’s no shame in that. This was a special winner.
Betting without Constitution Hill, it would’ve been hard to find a favourite in a ‘Most Fancied British-Trained Horse At The Cheltenham Festival’ market before today, but now we have one.
A Festival winner already thanks to his success in the Turners Novices’ Chase in March, Nicholls has an A-star bullet to fire at the Ryanair Chase now next spring and revised quotes of 5/1 about him for that race are perfectly understandable. Now proven on both courses at Cheltenham, it will be back to the New for Stage Star in the Ryanair, but after Allaho’s lacklustre return to action recently (Willie Mullins’ horse remains the 3/1 favourite for the race) he is arguably the one to beat in the contest.
There’s no doubt about his destination. I counted seven mentions of ‘Ryanair’ from Nicholls in the media debrief and I’m not sure he needs the air miles.
“He’s got to be a Ryanair horse on that,” he says. “The Ryanair will be the aim now. Even with a mistake like that, he has to be in the mix for a Ryanair.”
He does, and while Nicholls continues to dominate the British jumps scene in the absence of the really big Mullins superstars, he’s got a genuine top notcher of his own to go out to battle come the Irish invasion in the spring.
Meanwhile, some of the many members of the Owners Group, the huge syndicate that own Stage Star, gather around the big screen to watch the closing stages once again. “I thought he had fallen, I thought he had gone,” says one. “He was almost on the floor, but he got up and won by four lengths,” says another.
The last fence at Cheltenham. No race is a gimme at this place. But Stage Star’s fate was to stay on all four hooves and land the first big handicap of the jumps season, flag planted in the ground by his brilliant trainer, pleased as punch that he’d prepared his horse to perfection in order for him to get the job done.
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