A vintage Cheltenham and a very successful one on the betting front. The absolute highlight was Brave Inca's performance in the Champion Hurdle. This was a win that went precisely according to forecast. We know this horse is indolent and talented in equal measure. Normally when a horse is being worked on by his jockey in the middle of a race you expect him not to figure in the finish. With Brave Inca you knew that McCoy (the greatest ever?) was only keeping his mind on the job. You also knew when he hit the front that nothing would pass him. You knew Macs Joy and Hardy Eustace would range up alongsides and you knew that as soon as they did he would find more and repel them. You also knew that the Cheltenham hill would suit his resolute nature. And all this came to pass exactly as you expected - if only all horse races were so predictable. Although he was a short priced favourite (7-4), I had backed him in December at 7-1 just before he won a trial race at Leopardstown. This horse has now won around 10 races and I've backed him in every one of them. He has never run a bad race.
My best betting day was Friday when I had Greenhope at 20-1 and Adamant Approach placed at 50-1. I also had place bets on Liberman at 20-1 and Strangely Brown at 28-1. So over all a good four figure profit.
My biggest disappointment was L'Ami in a sub-standard Gold Cup. He plainly wasn't good enough although the ground was against him also. I'm kicking myself for not backing War of Attrition. The doubts about which race he would run in put me off him.
