A - ZRunners Horse Racing Fixtures and Results

Ratings Update: Cheltenham and Navan

John Ingles provides the Timeform reaction to the significant performances at the main meetings this weekend.

No sooner had Taunton had to abandon its meeting on Thursday because the ground was too firm, the heavens opened at Cheltenham 24 hours later prompting an inspection before Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup card could go ahead. Conditions deteriorated on Friday, Timeform calling the ground heavy after the second race, but it was no worse than soft for the last two days of the meeting, though the second-last fence had to be omitted on the chase course on Saturday and Sunday because of false ground at the bottom of the hill.

Conditions almost certainly played a part in the defeat of Jonbon (170 from 171) at odds-on when going for a hat-trick of wins in the Shloer Chase on Friday. Returning from a breathing operation, he looked as if the race would bring him on, whereas chief rival L’Eau du Sud (165+ from 156+) was very much ready first time out and made his superior fitness tell in the testing conditions. He won impressively after going with zest but probably isn’t quite as good as his 15-length winning margin would suggest, Jonbon taking second on the run-in after a bad blunder from Matata at the last. The first two are set to meet again in the Tingle Creek where Jonbon should be more competitive chasing a hat-trick in that race too.

Friday’s other notable performance came from No Drama This End (130P) who was the only one making his debut over hurdles in the Albert Bartlett-sponsored Grade 2 novice. He had shaped well in the Champion Bumper when last seen and, looking to have thrived physically over the summer, he looked a good hurdling prospect, leading soon after the last and drawing clear for an impressive three-length win over favourite Heads Up (127p from 125p) who had been runner-up in the Champion Bumper. Paul Nicholls won this race in 2022 with Hermes Allen who followed up in the Challow Novices’ Hurdle and that looks the obvious target for No Drama This End who is open to plenty of improvement.