Make the Paddy Power Gold Cup great again! We do it by binning those bloody graduation chases
Our deputy Ireland editor has his say on the recent trend of the Saturday showpiece at Cheltenham
Where does the time go, eh? We have somehow reached the 30th anniversary of Dublin Flyer's Mackeson masterclass, the day he defied a rating of 163 and edged out Egypt Mill Prince in a blockbuster ending to what was then jump racing's first big flick of the season.
You know the strangest thing of all about the race that year? The winner didn't even have top weight. Coulton did, carrying 12st off a mark of 169.
Two subsequent Grand National winners ran in the next race – the 3m3f handicap chase – and neither won it. Earth Summit was second off 151 and Rough Quest was cruising when he came down at the fourth-last. He was rated 149 at the time.
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Published on inDavid Jennings
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