This was Bertha first thing this morning - She had clearly had a good nights sleep. Still very snoozy...
I'm still getting over the thrill of Cheltenham - Such fabulous racing. The Irish horses were absolutely superb and trounced England in the Prestbury Cup 23 wins to Ireland and 5 to England. There has been a lot of angst about this in social media but it shouldn't come as any surprise that Ireland is so much better than England at anything to do with horses. Horse breeding and riding is in the Irish blood - There was a photo of Rachael Blackmore hunting as a five year old which is normal in Ireland. Most youngsters that go into the racing industry are proper horsemen and make fantastic work riders which is crucial to the success of the yard. English trainers really struggle to have the same quality of staff (and horses) and this must make a huge difference. There are twice as many brood mares in Ireland as there are in England and the Irish would be more knowledgeable about breeding than the 'hobby' breeders in the UK. The Irish government also support the racing industry and the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association are extremely proactive at encouraging sales of the Irish progeny. Very different from the rather tweedy English TBA who couldn't be less commercially minded if they tried.. Far too uncouth! They also seem to have better stallions in Ireland although this is more difficult to judge as the stallions in Ireland get a better quality of mares, but suffice to say we are sorry not to be visiting the Emerald Isles this year with any mares as Covid and Brexit has made it too complicated.
 |
| Jack Kennedy on Minella Indo winning the Gold Cup |
