You can’t say I didn’t warn you in last week’s column that we were in for a cracking three days of sport at Cheltenham and that the West Country certainly holds its own.
Where do I start?
Well, I suppose with the Friday and while Storm Claudia did her best to dampen proceedings, the racing was top-notch.
The admirable grey Eldorado Allen made all under Brendan Powell to secure his fifth chase win.
Previous successes include the Haldon Gold Cup and the Denman Chase.
It was the first winner of the meeting for Team Tizzard; if only they’d had a crystal ball for what was about to happen over the rest of the meeting.
Paul Nicholls then joined the party with No Drama This End, which would have been very pleasing as he is owned by the McNeill and Barber family, who will all be hoping he can take them right to the top of the game.
The final race of the day was run in near darkness but that didn’t stop the Nicky Martin trained, James Bowen ridden French Emperor from storming clear.
It was the first Cheltenham trained winner for connections and that makes the stable five winners from five runners this season — are you ’avin’ a laugh?
Next up, Saturday, and time for the Hobbs/White team to visit the winner’s spot with Kikijo, owned by the Richard Johnson Racing Syndicate.
He produced a dominant display and will surely give them plenty of fun days ahead.
Not sure the ‘syndicate manager’ can cope though; he confesses it was a lot less stressful riding them!
On to Sunday.
Anthony Honeyball continued his tremendous form with Kdeux Saint Fray taking the second.
He was looking at a one-two until Jordans Cross took an unlucky fall at the last, his day will come!
Now back to where I started and Team Tizzard.
They took the two-mile chase under an inspired ride from Brendan Powell with Triple Trade and then followed that up with Alexei (pictured) taking the feature Greatwood Hurdle for owners Brocade Racing.
The horse won the Keagan Kirkby Charity Race at Wincanton under bloodstock agent Tom Malone last October; the banter included, "That must be some horse, Tom, for you to win on it!"
How true those words were.
He went on to win his next two races at Taunton, picked up his first Class 1 race last Sunday and is now 40/1 for the Champion Hurdle.
The owners have already won a Gold Cup with Native River - dare they dream of completing the double... why not?
I promised you a couple to follow last week, so here you go:
Choice Runner – Dan Skelton.
He ran second at Uttoxeter on Saturday; a lovely type in the paddock.
He was up against a more experienced rival and will surely go one better very soon — follow for his next two runs.
Molly’s Lad – Fergal O’Brien.
He ran well on racecourse debut and looks sure to go one better — follow for his next two runs.
Closer to home, Taunton look set to open their season on Thursday, November 27.
The rain has helped considerably, and with seven races commencing at 12:35 it all looks set for a good day’s sport.
Tickets with early-bird discounts can be purchased at www.tauntonracecourse.co.uk and for those of you looking to attend, there is a courtesy coach service arranged for the day.
It will depart from outside Platform 5 of Taunton Railway Station 90 minutes before the first race and return half an hour after the start of the last.
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