WHERE to start?
A chat with former three-time Irish champion jumps jockey Davy Russell about Cheltenham and the tangents come at you quick and fast from every angle.
And they are gripping.
“If Paul Townend moves before four out, well, he’s in trouble, as simple as that,” Russell insists.
“The Storyteller. He got beat in the Pertemps but, without sounding too big about myself, I gave him a peach,” Russell continues.
“Oh, and on the New course, if you commit too soon you are goosed,” Russell interjects, before adding “but Matt, are you sure you want to talk about that or my dad riding his lawnmower to the course?”
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I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, if Dick Francis had wanted the perfect character for one of his novels then he could have penned one on Davy Russell.
Above all else, however, I wanted to explore the difference in speed and stamina requirements for Cheltenham’s Old and New courses.
In general terms, the Old (Tuesday and Wednesday) is tighter, shorter, and favours speedier horses, while the New (Thursday and Friday) is longer, more galloping, features a trickier downhill fence, and tests stamina, particularly over fences.
But how does it feel to a man who has ridden 25 Festival winners, including a Gold Cup on Lord Windermere in 2014?
“For me, there is a huge discrepancy,” Russell says, “and that’s over fences and hurdles.
What’s the difference between the two courses?
IT’S important punters are well aware of the differences between the two tracks – and crucially when each one will be used!
Here, we outline some of the discrepancies and how that can influence who you back.
Cheltenham is made up of two left-handed tracks – the new course and the old course – plus a special cross country course.
The Old course is undulating and testing with stiff fences.
It’s used for the first two days of the Festival, then the action switches to the New course, which is more galloping and stamina-sapping than the Old.
Your horse needs to be well-balanced, possess tactical speed and, most importantly, the ability to stay strongly.
“I’d say the Old course is pretty normal. But on the New course, if you commit too early you are goosed. So front-runners are very much favoured on the first two days. Ideally you don’t want to be too far out of your ground.
“But on the last two days you take your time. If you go hard early on the New course it’s very tough to see it out.
“You see at Cheltenham you are racing from flagfall. The jumps can be a hinderance. I know that sounds odd, as someone might feel the jumps are always a hinderance.
“But that’s not the case. Jockeys use jumps and bends to get a breather into their horses. That’s the moment you fill the lungs.
“On the New course at one point there are no jumps or turns for six furlongs. There’s no chance to fill your horse. It’s hard to explain, for a jockey it’s a feel thing.
“Take Lord Windermere. He was out the back by the tenth fence and had plenty to do three out. On the Old course, he would have struggled to win a Gold Cup.”
There’s one obstacle Russell “used”.
He told me: “The fourth-last is a tool. You meet that on a good stride, you don’t use any petrol to get up the hill. Positions are so hard to find and keep at that point. But you try not to use energy to keep your position.
“You need to keep energy to win the race but don’t want it going just to stay in the race. The landing side is key. Landing and sitting quiet.
“When a jockey isn’t moving, it’s often because he can’t afford to move. It’s not going well enough. For some riders, such as Sean Bowen, moving is a positive. You see Paul Townend moving before four out – even after the fourth-last – well, he’s in trouble, simple as that.”
Lord Windermere’s victory was extraordinary. But Russell was regularly sensational at Cheltenham.
“All the wins were special, but one ride I’d pick out is Presenting Percy in the (2017) Pertemps. We came from last to lead at the last.
“But you know what, The Storyteller was just as good and he got beat in the same race. Carlito Brigante was cool as well in the (2011) Coral Cup. I knew from the start we were going to win.”
Davy is in full flow, and it’s a conversation I don’t want to end.
You feel the love of the game oozing out of him with every sentence.
But of course I couldn’t let him go without finding out more about the lawnmower!
Russell’s late father, Jerry, caused a stir at the Festival in 1982 when he drove a ride-on lawnmower 27 miles to the track to satisfy his side of a bet struck the night before during a poker game in a house in the Cotswolds.
Russell remembers: “Dad worked out how far it was to Cheltenham. And what mileage the lawnmower could do, which was about 12 miles an hour.
“So he thought it would be handy money for three-and-a-bit hours driving.
“He put his coat and hat on, had a can of petrol tucked between his legs as he set off. After a few miles people alerted the media and soon he was being followed by reporters.
“When my mum found out she said something like, ‘He’d be better to come home and cut the grass here than cut the grass in Cheltenham!’”
Russell loved Jerry to bits. “I was an extra limb on him,” says Davy. “If he said he was going to the moon, I’d want to go.”
You know what. I’d be the same with Davy Russell.
Top man.
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