John Ingles looks at the leading owners' Festival teams, with the J. P. McManus string looking especially strong.
JP McManus
The green and gold hoops of JP McManus have been carried to victory at the Cheltenham Festival for more than 40 years, with the owner’s first success at the meeting dating back to Mister Donovan’s win in the Sun Alliance Hurdle (now the Turners) in 1982. Only once this century (2011) has McManus failed to have at least one Festival winner, and he has been leading owner at four of the last six Festivals, taking the title again last year when another five successes took his record total to 78.
A formidable Festival squad this year is headed by Queen Mother Champion Chase favourite Jonbon who will not only be bidding to break his own duck at the meeting (runner-up in the Supreme and Arkle previously) but also provide his owner with a first victory in the one Festival championship race which has so far managed to elude him. Another with very strong claims is last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner Majborough, odds on for the Arkle which is another race McManus is yet to win.
McManus’ hand in the Gold Cup looks less strong now than it did at the start of the season when he appeared to have several possible contenders, but after a couple of defeats to stablemate and title holder Galopin des Champs, last season’s Brown Advisory winner Fact To File has a better winning opportunity in the Ryanair Chase for which Spillane’s Tower, runner-up to Fact To File at Punchestown earlier in the season, is also a leading contender. That’s likely to leave last year’s National Hunt Chase winner Corbetts Cross as his owner's Gold Cup representative.
There are a couple of notable recent additions to the McManus string as he's purchased Challow Novices’ Hurdle winner The New Lion, who has an unbeaten record to defend in the Turners, and Bumper contender Aqua Force who was a 28-length winner on her debut for Michael Gunn at Gowran Park and has since been moved to Willie Mullins' yard.
McManus-owned runners head the betting in many of the Festival’s handicaps in which he is sure to be strongly represented again. Over hurdles, the likes of Kopeck de Mee, a French import who will be making his debut for Willie Mullins, and McLaurey, winner of his last two starts for Emmet Mullins, will be ones to note in their chosen races. Jeriko du Reponet, The Wallpark and Win Some Lose Some are all leading players in the Pertemps Final, while likely types for the handicap chases include Timeform Novices’ Handicap winner Jagwar and last year’s Plate runner-up Crebilly.
In the Mares’ Chase, which McManus has won for the last three years, last year’s runner-up Dinoblue looks the pick of her owner’s possibles this time.
Joe & Marie Donnelly
After some near-misses with Melon, four times a runner-up at the Festival, the black and yellow check colours of Marie Donnelly and husband Joe were successful for the first time at the meeting in 2019 and in the biggest race of all, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Al Boum Photo who repeated the feat twelve months later. The couple have now celebrated winners at each of the last six Festivals, with their latest success coming in last year’s Champion Hurdle with State Man, a former County Hurdle winner who had chased home Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle two years ago.
While State Man won his fourth Irish Champion Hurdle recently, he may well have to settle for place money at best again at Cheltenham with his nemesis back on the scene. Instead, the Donnellys’ best chance of a winner may be Lulamba in the Triumph Hurdle, the winner of both his starts over hurdles, including on his British debut at Ascot. That’s in the absence of the luckless Sir Gino who had been ante-post favourite for last year’s Triumph and misses the Festival again having headed the Arkle market earlier in the season. Salvator Mundi, who began his career finishing second to Sir Gino at Auteuil, had a stiff task on his debut for Willie Mullins in last year’s Triumph but has won both his races this term and could make more of an impact in the Supreme.
Dancing City’s only defeat in his last seven races came when third in last year’s Albert Bartlett and he has taken well to fences this season which makes him one of the chief rivals to stablemate Ballyburn in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
Rich & Susannah Ricci
The now familiar colours of Rich & Susannah Ricci were first carried to success at the Festival in 2009 when Mikael d’Haguenet won the Ballymore (now the Turners) Novices’ Hurdle. Since 2012, the Riccis have had success at every Festival bar that of 2019, including victories for Faugheen and Annie Power in the Champion Hurdle and opening day wins last year for Gaelic Warrior in the Arkle and Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle.
The latter pair head their team again this March, though neither faces an easy task. Gaelic Warrior, beaten at short odds in his three runs since the Arkle, is up against Jonbon in the Champion Chase and the Champion Hurdle-bound Lossiemouth needs to bounce back from a fall last time after failing to trouble Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle.
Allegorie de Vassy is another Festival veteran, second and fourth in the last two runnings of the Mares’ Chase, and is entitled to be thereabouts in the same contest again. As for younger blood, Willy de Houelle hasn’t lived up to expectations as a Triumph prospect but could yet have a say in the Fred Winter.
Ronnie Bartlett
Albert Bartlett sponsor Ronnie Bartlett had a surprise first success at the Festival in 2011 when 33/1-shot Zemsky was left well clear to win the Hunters Chase. Simonsig’s wins in the Baring Bingham and then the Arkle at the next couple of Festivals were much more expected, however, and since then Bartlett has won three editions of the National Hunt Chase (including with Galvin in 2021) along with the Martin Pipe with Banbridge in 2022 and last year’s Baring Bingham with Ballyburn.
The same trio of former Festival winners form the core of Bartlett’s select team this year, with Ballyburn having the strongest claims in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase where the step up to three miles looks sure to suit him. Whether the same can be said of Banbridge trying a new trip in the Gold Cup is another matter, despite looking better than ever when winning the King George VI Chase last time. Soft ground was all against him when a leading contender for last year’s Ryanair Chase.
The genuine Galvin no doubt has another Aintree bid as his main aim this spring but there’s no reason to think he won’t give a good account again first in the Cross Country Chase in which he was runner-up two years ago, even though he’ll be conceding weight to most in the new handicap format.
Professor Caroline Tisdall
Professor Caroline Tisdall enjoyed Festival success three years running thanks to the David Pipe-trained Moon Racer in the 2015 Champion Bumper and stablemate Un Temps Pour Tout who won the Ultima in the following two seasons, both owned in partnership with Bryan Drew. It’s in the latter’s colours for the same pair of owners that Final Demand has looked a hugely exciting prospect in winning both his starts for Willie Mullins, notably when storming clear in Grade 1 company at the Dublin Racing Festival. He is a short-price favourite for the Turners Novices' Hurdle.
Windbeneathmywings routed his field in a listed contest at Ascot just before Christmas on his first start for Tisdall and Pipe which was the best bumper performance of the season so far on either side of the Irish Sea. However, he has recently been relegated to second spot in the Champion Bumper betting by the same owner’s Gameofinches who made a big impression when successful on his bumper debut at Punchestown for Mullins last week.
There were mixed fortunes for Tisdall’s French-trained Festival entries at Cheltenham earlier this season. Jet Blue was successful over three miles in a Grade 2 novice in December for David Cottin, while stablemate Iceo Madrik unseated early on over the cross-country course at the same meeting to add to some discouraging form figures from his runs in Britain, but he has since put up a useful effort in defeat at Auteuil.
WATCH: Windbeneathmywings wins by 14 lengths at Ascot
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