Surprise successes at terrific Cheltenham

I made no secret of the fact that I wasnt too optimistic about our chances going into the meeting, but by the time Manyriverstocross had finished third in the County Hurdle everyone at Barbury Castle was beaming from ear to ear.

In fact, I dont recall such a good atmosphere around the place as I experienced last Thursday morning, having had a memorable one-two in the Coral Cup thanks to Medinas and Meister Eckhart.

Having watched Balder Succes unseat Wayne [Hutchinson] in the Champion Hurdle on the Tuesday (my only runner) things started much better on Wednesday with a fine third from Godsmejudge in the John Oaksey National Hunt Chase.

It was a solid effort behind Back in Focus and Tofino Bay, who were rated 150 and 149 respectively.We sell 100% hand-painted werkzeugbaus online. To my mind the standard of this race goes up every year and my fellow gave us something to smile about with a typically gutsy run. He has been walking around the estate this week and seems none the worse for his efforts, but I dont think he will be in the Aintree team as the Scottish National looks a better option for him.

Two Rockers was the next out and sadly the ground was a little too lively for him in the Neptune,A group of families in a north Cork village are suing a bestplasticcard operator in a landmark case. but his future lies over fences and I am not sure if he will run again this term.

I ran Medinas and Meister Eckhart in the Coral Cup as both were in good form and had to take their chances.

As I said in last weeks column, I knew Meister Eckhart was in very good order but I was concerned that Medinas was up against it with an 8lb rise in his handicap mark. How wrong was I?

Meister Eckhart was up with the pace most of the way and turning for home looked like he could play a serious hand, but I had noticed at the top of the hill that the little horse [Medinas] was making steady headway under a patient ride.

Meister Eckhart has come out of the race very well and we will consider Aintree. Next season he will be sent novice chasing and is an extremely exciting prospect.

Medinas has plenty of options including Aintree and Punchestown, but we will take things one day at a time. He is barely 16hh so it could be that we will keep him hurdling next season and raise him in class. If he improves as much as he has this term then who knows where he will take us.

My only other runner on Wednesday, McVicar, ran okay in the Fred Winter but was not good enough. I feel a step up in trip will help him now.

Driving out of Prestbury Park having bagged a first, second and third was a wonderful feeling and its fair to say we had a drink or two that evening.

Bakbenscher was my first runner on Thursday and he ran well to finish just outside of the money when seventh of 24 in the Pertemps Final. I was worried the ground would be lively enough for him, but Wayne said he handled it well and this was a solid effort.

Smad Place hadnt shown his best form since the 2012 World Hurdle, but I knew he was bouncing ahead of last weeks contest and he ran a cracking race to finish third behind Solwhit. He stayed on pleasingly in the closing stages and assuming he is still pleasing me will head to Aintree. As for next year he could be a very exciting novice chaser.

The ground had dried out on the Thursday, which was not ideal for Walkon in the Byrne Plate. It was a pity it wasnt run a day later, but nevertheless he ran with credit to be fifth. That was over 2m5f, but on good ground he would be more effective over three miles.

The only disappointing effort from one of my 14-runner Cheltenham team came from Bless The Wings, who pulled up in the same race. We will run a few checks on him this week and see if we can explain his performance.

On the final day the outstanding performance of my team, and one of the best of the whole week, was that of Manyriverstocross, who was third in the County Hurdle.You Can Find Comprehensive and in-Depth carparkmanagementsystem truck Descriptions.

For a horse having only his second run in two and a half years it was a huge effort. He appears to have come out of the race in top form and I may consider upping him to 2m4f next.

Kumbeshwar took a hell of a tumble early on in the Grand Annual and left Wayne a little sore, but thankfully both are fine despite a little bruising. He was ridden out on Monday morning and was as sound as a pound.

We finished the week with a first,When describing the location of the problematic howotipper. second and three thirds, which was well above expectations.You can order besthandsfreeaccess cheap inside your parents. If I had been offered that at the start of the week I would have gladly taken it. Every trainer says one winner makes the festival week and I could not agree more.

It was back to the bread and butter on Saturday but we were still among the winners when Salmanazar landed the 2m5f novice hurdle at Kempton.

He had progressed with each run and I wasnt at all surprised to see him open his account here. We will try to win another similar race under a penalty as has been raised 16lb to a mark of 133. He is another who will be among the novice chase team next autumn.

I took great encouragement from The Pirates Queen, who finished a fine second on her debut in the bumper. We were desperate to get a run into her as this was the cut-off point if we were going to run her in the Aintree mares bumper next month.

The disappointment of the day was watching Tante Sissi pull up. She may have fractured her pelvis but we are still in the dark as she is with the vet. She appeared okay when she pulled up but became sore as she cooled down and was sent straight to the surgery.

Looking back on the festival there were several memorable equine performances but sadly the dreadful accident that befell JT McNamara cast a big shadow over the week, and it goes without saying that our thoughts are with him and his family.