'It baffles me' - Elliott questions handicapping system and names best hope

Gordon Elliott nominated Death Duty as his best-handicapped horse for this year's Cheltenham Festival, although the trainer argued that a flat approach to ratings was potentially a better way of dealing with those horses from different nations competing against each other.

Death Duty was dropped 1lb to a mark of 144 by the British handicapper for the opening day's Grade 3 Ultima Handicap Chase, the first handicap of the festival, and Elliott said: "Looking at it quickly, the best handicapped of mine is Death Duty in the Ultima. Everything else seems to have 4-6lb more, but I understand the handicapper has his job to do."

Death Duty was cut to a general 8-1 (from 12) for the Ultima, one of only two handicaps won by British-trained horses at last year's festival, after the weights were published.

Cheltenham Festival weights: 2021 cut-off points plus eyecatching entries

Elliott confirmed that Frontal Assault would head for the Kim Muir Handicap Chase and that he was "leaning towards" the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle for Sire Du Berlais. He added that Top Bandit "has a nice weight" in the McCoy Contractors County Hurdle.

The trainer said he "doesn't see a point in giving out" on the handicap marks given to Irish horses when racing in Britain, but felt it would potentially be more helpful if a flat figure were applied upwards or downwards to all horses when they travelled abroad.

"If they picked a number and we knew what the number was, I'd be happy with that," he said. "To be honest, it baffles me how a horse can have different ratings [in different jurisdictions].

"Why are we all not operating off the same ratings? Should all these handicappers not be working off the same level playing field? Maybe having a European rating, whether that be 5lb higher or lower, could apply to every horse."

Elliott added: "In fairness, all the British and Irish handicappers have been excellent in terms of being able to ring them and ask a question. They're very easy to deal with and we have a good relationship. If there was consistency the whole way, it would make a more level playing field."

State Man: a notable market mover after the handicap weights were revealedCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The Willie Mullins-trained pair Gaelic Warrior and State Man were other notable festival movers on Tuesday. Gaelic Warrior was cut to 5-2 (from 3) for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle after being allotted a handicap mark of 129, while State Man jumped to the head of the market for the County Hurdle, Coral Cup and Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle after being rated 141 by the assessor.

Owned by Joe and Marie Donnelly, State Man cruised to victory at Limerick last month on his third outing and was nominated as a potential runner in either the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, for which he is 10-1, or the County Hurdle, for which he is the clear 5-1 favourite (from 7) by Mullins last week.

2022 Cheltenham Festival: big-race entries and weights

Clerk hopes to start on soft or good to soft ground

The going at Cheltenham was described as soft, good to soft in places on Tuesday by clerk of the course Jon Pullin, after a "welcome" 8mm of rain fell at the start of the week.

Pullin is preparing to oversee his first festival as clerk of the course, and said: "We had a very dry winter. Thankfully, we had over two inches [c. 51mm] of rain in February, which has made a huge difference.

"The one thing I've learned about these tracks is how quickly they can dry. We've got a bit of rain around for the next few days. We'll review where we are at the end of the week, get some updated forecasts and if necessary we may water.

"If we were racing today, we'd be soft, good to soft in places. We had 8mm overnight, which was welcome. We could get another 5mm or 6mm tonight and the next day or two, we could get some showers, which should bring 1mm or 2mm. After that we look as if we're going to be dry, certainly over the weekend and into the middle of next week. It could get a little bit colder."

He added: "Any combination of soft and good to soft would be a great start, particularly if we can do that without resorting to any watering."

Full crowds are able to return to the festival this year for the first time since 2020 and Ian Renton, regional director of the Jockey Club, is forecasting a record crowd for the week, with the current record of 266,779 set in 2019.

"We sold out Gold Cup day in late January, three or four weeks earlier than we've ever done before," he said. "We sold out on the Thursday about ten days ago. That is a first and we're well ahead with sales on the Tuesday and the Wednesday."

Read more on the Cheltenham Festival weights reveal:

Chris Cook: Never mind winning a festival handicap, British runners may struggle to get in (Members' Club)

Cheltenham Festival weights: 2021 cut-off points plus eyecatching entries

2022 Cheltenham Festival handicaps: big-race weights plus a long-range shout

Handicap weights analysis: Britain or Ireland: who do the Cheltenham weights favour? (Members' Club)

Racing Post Ratings: Six Cheltenham contenders the handicapper may have let in lightly (Members' Club)

Which Irish-trained horses fared best and worst in handicaps weights reveal? (Members' Club)

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