Cheltenham Festival 2016 Day Three: Timeform Timing Debrief

It has been said that the Cheltenham Festival has something for everyone, and this year’s event seems to have set out to prove that point time and again.

Whether you are a fan of The Keystone Cops – in which case, you will have enjoyed the start of the opener, in which Zabana came a cropper and officialdom exonerated itself – or simply top-class racing performances, day three served up plenty.

It also served up some big performances on the clock, and that is not just an academic consideration. In the endless quest to evaluate horses in different races, and even in different eras, comparison using the unchanging measure of time is, or at least should be, important.

Two winning performances stand out, and they came in the day’s showcase contests.

Firstly, Vautour ran fast to land the Ryanair Chase in style. Then, Thistlecrack overcame a steady pace early to run an even quicker relative time in the Ryanair World Hurdle, dismissing his rivals with consummate ease.

It must be wondered what the former might have done in a good-ground Cheltenham Gold Cup: the opposition was not quite as strong here, but he looked every bit as good as he had done when all but winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton with a 175 time performance.

Thistlecrack not only had seven lengths to spare over Alpha des Obeaux but a massive margin over the rest, and the time looks right out of the top drawer. Stayers sometimes get a poor press, but Thistlecrack is anything but dull. It would be great to see him tackle the best at a slightly shorter distance.

The following are the headline numbers, with provisional timefigures for the winners, along with “race” sectionals from the third-last obstacles. Overall, the times imply very similar conditions on the New Course as had prevailed on the first two days on the Old Course: that is, good going.

Thistlecrack ran the near-three-mile trip 6.4s quicker (subject to confirmation) than Mall Dini had in what seemed a pretty solidly paced Pertemps Final earlier on the card, despite carrying 13 lb more.

Sectional comparisons between the two races have the Handicap four lengths quicker over the first four obstacles, but the Stayers Hurdle was ahead soon after that, and Thistlecrack really turned on the afterburners from three out.

His individual time from that stage was almost identical to that of Limini, running more than a mile less and quickening at the end of a steadier pace, when winning the newly-instituted Mares Novices’ Hurdle later on the card.

Direct comparisons between the Ryanair Chase and the Plate Handicap Chase won by Empire of Dirt are less meaningful, as the latter was clearly not run at much of a pace. Nonetheless, Vautour completed the near-21 furlong distance 7.2s (more than 30 lengths) quicker than did the 147-rated chaser, again carrying 13 lb more.  

The Ryanair was about 5.0s ahead after five fences, and 8.1s ahead four out, before the handicappers clawed back just a little of the deficit. If this is Vautour “at 90%” then imagine what he could do when feeling more himself!

The card opened with a thoroughly professional win from Black Hercules in the JLT Novices’ Chase. The time was nothing special for a horse who should be able to run into the 150s and who already had a 149 timefigure to his name as a novice.

But, if anything, that reflects well on him, for two and a half miles in a steadily-run race on good going was almost not enough of a test for him. He even managed to be slightly quicker than Vautour from three out.

The concluding Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase saw a sound pace tee things up for a closer, but it was still no mean effort for Cause of Causes to come from nearly a dozen lengths down three out to win by that very margin.

Cause of Causes was one of six Irish-trained winners on what was St Patrick’s Day. The Brits had to make do with just one: but a special one in Thistlecrack.      

More detailed horse-by-horse sectionals are available by subscription to Timeform’s Sectional Archive