Cheltenham Festival 2020 feedback

[The King Pimm]

Cheltenham Festival 2020 Feedback

Unless I’ve missed a thread there didn’t appear to be a general feedback thread for this seasons Festival. That maybe because many of these questions have been discussed in individual diary’s or the Coronavirus has sapped the enthusiasm out of many of us with the closure on racing and sport since the end of the festival. I look forward to reading your thoughts & opinions as so much happened and then it all went quiet.

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
Worst bet?
Favourite race of the Festival
Worst race of the Festival?
Best Performance?
Biggest disappointment?
Dark horse for next years Festival?
Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
Underdog performance of the Festival?
Biggest regret?
What would you do differently for next years Festival??

Please feel to add any questions you feel would benefit this thread

Cheltenham Festival 2020 Feedback

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
Chosen Mate in the Grand Annual, the biggest return I’ve had off a single bet for a long time. Used the cash out from a load of struggling multiples and what was left in my B365 account and piled on it after it had shortened but Davy and horse smashed the race.

Worst bet?
The Olly Murs pair of Brewinupastorm and Itchyfeet. I had them as perceived bankers in loads of multiples as well as big single bets and both horses fell. Very disappointing after a lot of hope and belief they would at least place.

Favourite race of the Festival
For me it was the Albert Bartlett. With a hundred yards to go I couldn’t call it. Gutted Latest Exhibition didn’t win as I had a lot riding on him but great finish and worthy winner.

Best Performance: Put The Kettle On in the Arkle. Very limited discussion and backing in the build up but in hindsight was more than capable of winning the Arkle and destroyed the boys. Went from the front and completely beat the field. I was genuinely surprised after not really giving her much of a chance but she won C&D in November and did it again next time out.

Worst race of the Festival? I thought The Champion Chase was dismal. It went from the best race on paper a week before to a 5 horse average race. Credit to Politilogue for winning but the rest of the field were rubbish especially Defi who massively bombed.

Biggest disappointment? For me a split decision between Defi and Sporting John. JP had a great festival but beforehand these two were considered some of his best chances but were rubbish.


Dark horse for next years Festival?
I think Easywork performed much better than expected in the Ballymore and could improve again.

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
The weather. We can’t control it and maybe the seasons have changed forever but it was really cold at the course the 2 days I attended and all the rain in the build up spoilt the enjoyment for me.

Underdog performance of the Festival?
Melon. To lose the Marsh Novice by a nose after being written off by many just goes to show what a great horse he is. He didn’t win but for the 4th festival on the bounce he put in a very impressive performance.

Biggest regret?
Not backing Shiskin again. I saw him drift and gave up on him. To think he won at 6/1 and I never topped up will frustrate me for the remainder of the year. Also not doing the Imperial Aura & Simply The Betts double. I had them both in a small stake Lucky 63 but a half point double was a whopping return if I had put it on when first mentioned by I think Kev Loaf.

What would you do differently for next years Festival??
I will definitely put most of my bets on NRNB after losing a lot of bets Antepost. When the big companies go NRNB will once again be a waiting game but I made a very good profit betting with Skybet again so hopefully will still have the same status with them for next years Festival.

Also a big lesson leaned is Less is More. If I had just backed the horses I thought would win or place and not all the other horses as a just incase I would have seen a profit much bigger than what I ended up with. I’ve got to learn to shoot like a sniper and not a muscle bound American action hero of the 80’s. I spent so much edging my bets this season which diluted my profits massively in some races.

Please feel to add any questions you feel would benefit this thread

[Faugheen_Machine]

Good thread TKP

What was your best bet?
An ante post Canadian returned a decent amount but it has to be Envoi Allen forming the backbone of loads of bets at 10/1

Worst bet?
Probably cashing out Shishkin for a small loss when I'd backed him at 33/1. The second year in a row that I've done this!

Favourite race of the Festival
Easy. Samcro beating Melon and Faugheen. Three old favourites battling all the way up the hill will live long in the memory.

Worst race of the Festival?
Champion Chase. Enough said.

Biggest disappointment?
Chacun Pour Soi being a non runner. I was already feeling under the weather after a heavy night Tuesday but I was sick as a dog after that announcement.

Dark horse for next years Festival?
Defi De Seuil for the Gold Cup

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
Paying £6 for some of the worst lager I've ever drank. It was so bad on the Tuesday that we moved to the Guinness Village on the Wednesday.

Underdog performance of the Festival?
Ferny Hollow. I thought he'd run a huge race when conditions suited and that's how it turned out.

Biggest regret?
Not including Al Boum Photo in the ante post Canadian.

What would you do differently for next years Festival?
Not much. I have a system that seems to work for me. After a decent festival I'm toying with the idea of increasing my stakes but plenty of time to decide on that though.

[Istabraq]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)

Pressing Envoi Allen when talk of the Supreme was rife.
A day one big price trixie with all placing.

Worst bet?

Plunges on Benie and Tiger Roll put a dent in the weeks profits

Favourite race of the Festival:

Despite backing the second and third I thought the RSA was probably the best for excitement

Worst race of the Festival?

As always, the horrific and needless mares novice hurdle

Biggest disappointment?

Champion Chase as a spectacle but watching Column of Fire hit the deck was probably the sickest feeling I’ve ever had in racing, I have refused to calculate exactly what that equated to but I was in a local pub with mates and went genuinely silent with sickness for a good while after that race

Dark horse for next years Festival?

Riders on the Storm would have gone close in the Ryanair, he’ll go under the radar for most of next season too

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?

Too many appearances at preview evenings by big names trainers sending out inconsistent messages.
That and the Chipping Campden restaurants who halve their portion sizes from Monday onwards

Underdog performance of the Festival?
Put the Kettle on probably

Biggest regret?
Having the same horses in multiple multi’s

What would you do differently for next years Festival??
Drink less on Tuesday, my celebrations when Envoi Allen won the Ballymore were far too restrained

[The King Pimm]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)

Pressing Envoi Allen when talk of the Supreme was rife.
A day one big price trixie with all placing.

Worst bet?

Plunges on Benie and Tiger Roll put a dent in the weeks profits

Favourite race of the Festival:

Despite backing the second and third I thought the RSA was probably the best for excitement

Worst race of the Festival?

As always, the horrific and needless mares novice hurdle

Biggest disappointment?

Champion Chase as a spectacle but watching Column of Fire hit the deck was probably the sickest feeling I’ve ever had in racing, I have refused to calculate exactly what that equated to but I was in a local pub with mates and went genuinely silent with sickness for a good while after that race

Dark horse for next years Festival?

Riders on the Storm would have gone close in the Ryanair, he’ll go under the radar for most of next season too

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?

Too many appearances at preview evenings by big names trainers sending out inconsistent messages.
That and the Chipping Campden restaurants who halve their portion sizes from Monday onwards

Underdog performance of the Festival?
Put the Kettle on probably

Biggest regret?
Having the same horses in multiple multi’s

What would you do differently for next years Festival??
Drink less on Tuesday, my celebrations when Envoi Allen won the Ballymore were far too restrained

I agree with the Festival Preview griped. There are too many of them, trainers like Elliot & Nicholls look bored and exhausted on many of them. I would prefer less of them next season, too many pundits and guests trying to force banter and wise cracks, I got irritated watching some. Plus don’t have Dicky Johnson as a guest, he’s so boring to listen too.

[taylorch1990]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
The Envoi Allen Samcro double was my biggest winner
Worst bet? BDD without having a saver on Honeysuckle
Favourite race of the Festival? Based on the finish and the horses involved has to the be the Marsh Chase
Worst race of the Festival? NH Chase
Biggest disappointment? Column of Fire falling at the last
Dark horse for next years Festival? Fakir in the ryanair
Biggest irritation of this years Festival? So many false starts, when the starter could have let them go
Underdog performance of the Festival? Politologue
Biggest regret? Not covering Shiskin at all with all the offers awarded on the supreme.
What would you do differently for next years Festival?? Stick to doubles until at least Xmas only multiples that came in were placed from January onwards.

[Middle_Of_March]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
Since I was like then only person who had a losing festival on here (at least it felt that way) in 2019, I’m putting two in for this question.

1) The 150/1 bet on Monkfish, Fury Road, Thyme Hill and Latest Exhibition to finish 1-4 in any order. My mate told me about it and we backed it in the Club enclosure up the top with seconds to go before the race and we were left celebrating as it was a winner with 100 yards still to run. What a feeling.

2) The Antepost Trixie I put up in the Skybet thread 6 months ago with 2 free bets ago of Champ (5/1), Envoi Allen (4/1) and Samcro (7/-). Limbs everywhere when Samcro was called the winner.

Two brilliant moments there in the Club enclosure I’ll remember for a long long time.

Worst bet?
Incredibly.. backing Tiger Roll a few minutes before the race in a distance bet. I wanted some money going onto Tiger Roll despite not feeling he was value at any point in the season and the double with Benie obviously fell so I had a couple of points on him on the distance bet. I already had Easyslands covered but I didn’t enjoy the race at all cos I knew I’d just backed Tiger roll despite it being against my betting principles as both a distance bet and on a horse I thought wasn’t actually value. I have to regret that bet and it’s my worst for that reason. I only did it cos it’s Tiger Roll I think. Heart ruled head. Another betting rule I broke.

Favourite race of the Festival
Never mind favourite race of the festival, the Ballymore was my favourite race of all time. Pure sporting drama as the upcoming superstar was backed from 10/11 into 4/7, only to cause a second of doubt as The Big Getaway got away from him, only for the boyo to start flying at him. The roar went up for Envoi before he’d even caught the leader as the writing was on the wall. The booming roar then went supersonic as he pinged the last. A star really was well and truly born.

Worst race of the Festival?
Ordinarily I’d say the Champion Chase because of the massive anticlimax it turned out to be but the place was on such a buzz from Envoi and Champ doing what he did that it actually didn’t feel like the worst race. I’m sure when I do my analysis of the race, it’ll show itself to be pretty disappointing.

Instead, I’ll answer the Mares Novice. Ok the winner liked the course and distance the year before and looked superb, but the idea of a maiden winning a race at the Festival... not my cup of tea. Looked piss poor beforehand and it’ll prove itself to be exactly that in a years time.

Best Performance?
Envoi for me. Thought he was absolutely devastating against very good horses.

Biggest disappointment?
Notebook went out like a light. Really disappointed with his effort. Defi never ran his race but it was a strange race as a whole tbh. Chacun and Altior missing it was tough to take, especially having had 9/1 the former. Benie losing was a tough one as I was in big in her. I do blame the slow race though for that in all honesty. But there’s only winner here for all of FatJockey and that’s Column of Fire. What a heartbreaker. Two years in a row I’ve had one come down at the last for huge money. Tough to take but the fact it was the last race and I was already up, helped. A lot.

Dark horse for next years Festival?
I think Simply The Betts is a very decent animal and can see him progressing into a Ryanair type. Reminds me of Riders OnThe Storm.

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
That bloody starter. Get a grip man.

Underdog performance of the Festival?
Harsh on Put The Kettle On here but I have to go for Easysland. Against Tiger Roll, he really was the underdog. I thought he was brilliant though. I think he only needs to turn up to win next year. Even if Tiger Roll turns up again. Both are top notch but now Easyslands will get the credit he deserves.

Biggest regret?
Probably cashing Ferny Hollow just because he won but I don’t really regret anything this year massively. Only that or backing Tiger Roll on the day as mentioned above. The Ferny Hollow cashout... I still think it was probably the right move at the time. The thought process was correct so I can’t massively regret that.

What would you do differently for next years Festival??
Genuinely.. not a thing. Loved it. From the betting side of it, to being on this place most of the year, to the forum yankees, to staying in the hotel we stay at, to it being my mates first full Cheltenham, to the winner, to the losers from the Supreme to the Martin Pipe, I absolutely loved every single second of it. Best place on earth.

[Eggs]

.....Best Bet: a few nice doubles, but would pick out Envoi/Samcro because it was an early SkyBet RaB selection @ 75-1.

Worst Bet: Tronador and Darasso in plenty of multiples.

Favourite Race; I’ll say the Supreme. Lovely to get Shishkin on side @ 33-1 in the first race, with Abacadabra and Chantry House each way.

Worst Race; From a personal perspective, the last one. I had a good Festival but it would’ve been ridiculously good had Column of Fire stayed on its feet.

Best Performance; Easyland. French trained, French ridden and beat a legend conclusively.

Biggest Disappointment; Kildisart getting touched off and Column of Fire falling at the last.

Dark Horse for next year; Saint Calvados.

Biggest Irritation; Nothing that matters in the scheme of things.

Underdog Performance: Melon, such a game loser again. Hope it’ll get its reward next time.

Biggest Regret: Maybe not having Monkfish on side, getting its head up cost me.

What would you differently next year: Had a great festival, but taking 10 seconds before pressing the ‘bet’ button would’ve stopped a few daft ones.

[Craigy14]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
Envoi Allen Samcro sky double 75/1.
Didn’t try many boosting priced bets (failed a couple with champ annoyingly now he won) but one that really paid off was Envoi Allen with 6 champs league games, made him a 55/1 winner.

Worst bet?
Had a few trebles for gold cup horses from long way out with the ‘bankers’ BDD paisley and tiger, all failed miserably.

Favourite race of the Festival
Thought there were some brilliant races, so many close finishes! I would have to say the RSA, after the elation of EA winning and then champ to come from nowhere to win was incredible even though he done me out a winner haha!

Worst race of the Festival?
Not even close, champion chase, one of my favourite races but was very poor. On paper to look the race of the festival to then turn into just 5 runners was disappointing. Add in the fact we would all have been hoping for a special performance from Defi he flopped majorly.

Best Performance?
Against my wallet and bets but I’ll go Honeysuckle/Rachel Blackmore. On reflection she rode a belter of a race to outdo the mullins runners. Yes they might have got their tactics wrong but she took full advantage. I was gutted BDD was beat I didn’t give the credit the ladies deserved.

Biggest disappointment?
In terms of race it is to be Champion Chase for 2 of the 3 big favs to withdraw.
Notebook the worst performing fav I would say.
Personally has to be to Column Of Fire in the last, would have been a great end to an already brilliant week.

Dark horse for next years Festival?
Allart, ran well in the supreme maybe just outpaced, I reckon a step up in trip will suit him perfectly.

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
Agree with MOM here, the starter, don’t even need to expand!

Underdog performance of the Festival?
Has to be Put The Kettle On, not fancied much for the Arkle but she ran a belter to win.

Biggest regret?
Although having Samcro EA sky double had a decent bet on Samcro I cashed, stupid in hindsight to cash but because I was being offered a decent profit I thought it best to reinvest elsewhere. Given his fall and then beating from Faugheen.

What would you do differently for next years Festival??
Not sure I would do too much different. Think I will stop the many trebles etc with the same short horses this far out. I did all my bets win only which paid off. I looked at some of the races the supreme, ballymore, Marsh where I had most of the first 4 home in all 3 races but I don’t think I would want to half my win bet to go each way or double it so will likely stick to what I did this year. If it fails next year maybe I need to look at it again. First proper antepost year and had a great result so see no need to change.

[JackieMoon33]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
Nothing of note really as I'm only really playing around with life changing multiples for a bit of fun. I was two last flight fallers (in separate bets) away from some nice returns but I won't grumble. I had actually made a tiny profit before the first race due to my partial cash-outs on certain multiples. That loop hole has now been removed by Bet365 as they have withdrawn my cash out option. The wife will have to takeover next year.

Worst bet?
Backing Shishkin after his Kempton bumper for the Ballymore and stubbornly not covering the Supreme. With my multiple strategy I can't cover all my fancies in multiple races as the stakes get too large.

Edit: It was a long time ago since I cashed him out but Getaway Trump for the Arkle was a shocker!

Favourite race of the Festival
I thought there were lots of cracking finishes this year but I think the AB was my pick. It's rare that all the market principles fight out the finish in that race.

Worst race of the Festival?
Champion Chase.

Best Performance?
Would have been Goshen but for his tumble. Of those that completed I'd have to say Shishkin as everything went wrong yet he still managed to prevail.

Biggest disappointment?
The form of the Tizzard yard. He has his critics but the performances of his horses were too bad to be true and I feel some of them at would have at least fought out some finishes.

Dark horse for next years Festival?
Aione for National Hunt Chase. Someone kindly added him to Bet365 after my diary post and at 66/1 its great value even just for cash out purposes. Aione is built for fences, is a galloping stayer, had a sighter of the course and connections have Monkfish for the RSA.

Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
Lots of favourites winning the handicaps. I posted about the strong trainers getting stronger and I think this could be an ongoing trend. They are able to line up horses for handicaps that most yards would be aiming higher with.

Underdog performance of the Festival?
When you look at the winning SPs there weren't too many underdog performances, especially among the winners. Samcro proved his doubters wrong and there was a big shock in the Foxhunters.

Biggest regret?
Stubbornness. But I could also argue that it is also discipline and taken as a positive.

What would you do differently for next years Festival??
Nothing. I'm playing at this and just enjoy NH racing. I don't have time or resources to build books on every race but I admire those that do.

[Faugheen_Machine]

Dark horse for next years Festival?
Aione for National Hunt Chase. Someone kindly added him to Bet365 after my diary post and at 66/1 its great value even just for cash out purposes. Aione is built for fences, is a galloping stayer, had a sighter of the course and connections have Monkfish for the RSA.

Joining you with this one Jackie. One concern with Aione is that 3m 6f won't be far enough. Lovely price though.

[Morley Street]

Best Bet: Hardly ever bet with PP these days due to restrictions but placed a very early Yankee on Envoi, Champ, Chacun & Ferny. Was jumping for joy on Wed when Ferny won but rueing Chacun being a non runner all the way home. Didn’t log into my account until the next morning to realise that PP voided bets on Chacun.

Worst bet: Politilogue w/o the fav... should have been bolder and at least covered the outright win.

Fav race: Supreme... high drama, great finish & perfect start.

Worst race: Foxhunters... never excites me.

Best Performance: Shishkin.... everything went wrong and he still managed to win.

Biggest disappointment: Goshen & CoF.... either / or would have put the cream on top of a fantastic week.

Dark horse: Skelton bumper horse... same passage as Ferny without quite getting there... think the form will work out again.

Biggest Irritation: unable to get excited about next year until this mess is over!

Underdog: Politilogue.... even tho Defi failed to perform, deserves credit for a foot perfect performance.

Biggest regret: not placing a Mullins multiple / acca on the Friday. Backed most of them singly and thought he’d have a good day.

Do differently: stick to core horses to build my book and cut out the wasteful bets on races I have no strong opinion in.

[JackieMoon33]

Joining you with this one Jackie. One concern with Aione is that 3m 6f won't be far enough. Lovely price though.

Me managed to win over 2 and a half but you're right, he'll need extremes.

[Big Chac]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please)
Had a max bet on Samcro at 16/1 early in the season. I bet him with bet365 and so I considered cashing him out after the defeat against for faugheen but kept the faith and so glad he won.


Worst bet?
Backing Asterion forlonge at around 5/1. I didn’t fancy him as I didn’t like his jumping and I had shish kin, chantry house and aba covered at good prices. As it got closer to the race the doubt set in and I pulled the trigger. I needed to put a lot on just to cover my stakes as it was a short price so it ate into my profits.


Favourite race of the Festival?
Probably the supreme, I love that race and this years looked a high quality renewal and what a finish to the race as well.


Worst race of the Festival?
Champion chase



Best Performance?
Really impressed with al boum photo again. To win back to back gold cups is some achievement and he managed to do it in a different way this year. It seemed slowly run with a fair few in with chances at the top of the hill but he still managed to get up. What a horse



Biggest disappointment?
Tizzards stable, I thought some of his would at least make the frame but I was quite disappointed with his runners.



Dark horse for next years Festival?
I quite liked allart’s run, in what I think will prove to be a really strong supreme. Not sure what the plans are for next season but il be excited to see him over a fence.



Biggest irritation of this years Festival?
The week before. It really took the sting out of the build up to the festival and was the longest week of my life.


Underdog performance of the Festival?
PTKO, I gave her no chance in the Arkle but she did it really well even though the race didn’t seem too strong of a renewal.



Biggest regret?
Having the 40/1 about epatnte to win the xmas and champion hurdle in my betslip but not committing. At that point I had klassical dream and saldier still in my book so I thought I had a good position. I then tried to get her in acca’s to compensate and didn’t manage that so wasted even more money by backing everything around her. Really messed that race up.



What would you do differently for next years Festival??
I’m going to stop putting on so many cover bets. I think we all tend to panic as we get nearer to the festival but I just need to trust my judgment as it’s worked for me instead of eating into profit. Looking through the bets I placed I don’t think any of my cover bets actually won but I suppose it gave me peace of mind at the time.

[BigChaang]

Joining you with this one Jackie. One concern with Aione is that 3m 6f won't be far enough. Lovely price though.

............. Plus one !! , I didn't pay too much attention to this race this year .
So will try harder for next year's race. and a Sucker for a 66-1 shot !.

[Old Vic]

What was your best bet? (No monetary figures please) Imperial Aura/ Simply the Betts double
Worst bet? Champagne Platinum
Favourite race of the Festival RSA
Worst race of the Festival? Novices Handicap Chase - dont see the point
Best Performance? Envoi Allen
Biggest disappointment? DDS
Dark horse for next years Festival? Can I say DDS - not his true running
Biggest irritation of this years Festival? Coronavirus
Underdog performance of the Festival? Lisnagar Oscar
Biggest regret? This year none
What would you do differently for next years Festival?? Make more handicap bets after NRNB and before the weights