I DON'T normally get wound-up but, by god, has some of the stuff written about Altior jumping left at Ascot last weekend annoyed me.
I don’t want to go down the “jockeys know best, and no-one else can have an opinion” route, but I have read some rubbish this week.
I know I may not come across as the most approachable but no-one has asked me about what I thought happened before writing their articles or voicing their opinions, and I would have happily have talked them through it.
And that is that Altior simply mimicked Special Tiara from his earlier run in the Unibet Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton.
Special Tiara similarly jumped left when leading there and, being herd animals, Altior remembered that and did the same.
There was no physical problem, it was simply more of a boredom and concentration issue.
Altior didn’t really know he was ever racing at Ascot, and he virtually stood still when the tape went up.
Ideally, after that Kempton run, we would have schooled him at home to get him primed for Ascot.
But the ground has been so quick at home, we weren’t able to school him in between his races and I am sure that is a factor, too. The schooling ground is the place where you iron out any issues, and educate, from earlier outings.
I guarantee you he will jump straight as a die at Cheltenham, where he will get a lead, too. There won’t be any problem.
I know I am being punchier than normal here, and setting myself up for a fall if the issue does re-surface at the Festival, but it is something that I feel pretty strongly about.
As you may have noticed.
Rant over, I am off to creosote a shed this afternoon. That should chill me out a bit!
Nico
