From a victory in a novice hurdle in January 2011, Bobs Worth has risen dramatically through England’s steeplechase rankings. Friday, he won the most prestigious chase in England, the $830,500 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Jockey J.T. McNamara was taken to a hospital in nearby Bristol, England, after suffering serious injuries in a fall at Cheltenham Racecourse on Thursday.
A year ago, Solwhit was sidelined with a tendon injury. Thursday, he won the richest three-mile hurdle race of the year in England in the $410,000 World Hurdle at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Little Mike will return to turf racing for the Dubai World Cup Card on March 30, according to Carlo Vaccarezza, who bred Little Mike and whose wife, Priscilla, owns the Breeders’ Cup Turf winner.
The lightly raced Bobs Worth was the 11-4 favorite in the future book on Wednesday to win Friday’s $820,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup over 3 5/16 miles, the richest race of the four-day meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Sprinter Sacre extended his unbeaten streak to eight races in steeplechases with a 19-length win in the $525,000 Queen Mother Champion Chase over two miles at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Hurricane Fly won the $596,000 Champion Hurdle for the second time in his career at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday, going past defending champion Rock On Ruby in the final three furlongs to win the two-mile race by 2 1/2 lengths.
Sprinter Sacre, a 7-year-old French-bred gelding, has been so dominant in two-mile steeplechases in England this year that he has been quoted at odds of just 2-5 for more than a month in the future book for Wednesday’s Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, Racecourse.
Super Cool, a Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old, won his second stakes of 2013 in Saturday’s $1,020,000 Australian Cup at Flemington Racecourse, earning a spot on the list of contenders for the Melbourne Cup at the same venue on Nov. 5.
In the early 1980s, the National Hunt festival for steeplechasers at Cheltenham Racecourse in western England was run over three days and drew combined crowds of 70,000. In the current age, the event covers four days and draws more than 240,000.
