THE APR I L MEET 13-14 APRIL 2022
The Cheltenham Festival may be over but the season is still very much alive at the April Meeting – Nick Seddon takes a look at what we can expect… RAC I NG TO THE F I NAL E
B y the time the April Meeting arrives the first classic of the at Cheltenham and Sandown Park’s Jump Finale looming there is plenty of life left in the season. It is, after all, in this final stretch that titles are won and lost. As jockeys focus on winners, trainers go in pursuit of valuable prize money and there are few better opportunities at this end of term than the three Listed and two Graded races of the April Meeting. Uniquely, day two dedicated to races exclusively for mares and is the culmination of the expanded mares’ programme of recent seasons. There are no guarantees, but the weather does tend to improve by this meet and the resulting quicker ground can level the playing field for horses not ideally suited to winter conditions, in races which would not look out of place on any card. season on the flat will be just a few weeks away. However, with action
yet more ebb and flow to a race eventually won by Skelton. The April Meeting also offers a rare opportunity for real competition between northern and southern yards who clash infrequently. The ongoing title race between the northern-based Hughes and Midlands rider Skelton created a perfect storm in the Listed Citipost Mares’ Handicap Hurdle as the former produced a masterstroke of a ride from the front on board the Donald McCain- trained Bannixtown Glory. It was a moment which thrilled McCain, who relishes the idea of being the David from the less fashionable northern circuit taking on the Goliaths of the south, like Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson. He said: “We’re always the underdog, maybe we’ve been punching above our weight all season but we’ll see what we can do. We’re only big daft northerners!” With this kind of action, no wonder this is popular among regular racegoers.
That certainly proved to be the case for the talented Manofthemountain, who is lightly raced for his age but was placed to perfection by Emma Lavelle in the feature race of last season’s meeting, the Grade Two Ballymore Silver Trophy Handicap Chase. The eight-year-old looked at home on the Cotswolds track and is one to note in the dryer months of the year, as Lavelle pointed out. Meanwhile, it has been all change in the jockeys’ weighing room in recent years and four-time champion jockey, Richard Johnson, followed the legendary Ruby Walsh and AP McCoy in hanging up his boots last season. That resulted in one of the most competitive jockeys’ title battles for two decades taking centre stage at the 2021 April Meeting, as reigning champion Brian Hughes went toe to toe with challenger Harry Skelton. Both would add extra spice to the meeting with superbly judged rides and their success over the 48 hours provided
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