SPARE rides can vary. There are the ones that jockeys would queue up for and those – usually with form that reads FFUR – that many would happily avoid on health grounds.
The ride offered to Tom Scudamore last April was not one to avoid and now there would be a long queue forming if he were to give it up. Thistlecrack, trained by Colin Tizzard, is the red-hot favourite for the Ryanair World Hurdle at Cheltenham this afternoon and Scudamore would not swap him for anything.
Scudamore first got the call to ride the horse in the Grade One Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree. He was a 25-1 shot, having finished fifth in the Imperial Cup at Sandown, and Scudamore’s agent, Dave Roberts, took the booking without telling him. “I just saw I was jocked up to ride him – it was just the way it worked out,” Scudamore said. “I used to ride against Thistlecrack’s mother – a mare called Ardstown – so I’d noticed him. I thought he’d improve for a step up in trip and to be fair to Joe and Colin [Tizzard], they said he was no 25-1 shot. And they were right.”
Right to the point that Thistlecrack won by 13 lengths and Scudamore is honest, perhaps too harshly so, when he blames himself for the pair being beaten at Punchestown next time out when they ended up in more pockets than one of Fagin’s thieves.
Watch the race and it is clear that Thistlecrack was three lengths down on Killultagh Vic jumping the last flight but beaten only half a length. “It wasn’t my finest moment – but we both learnt a lot from it. Ruby [Walsh] closed the door; but that was race riding. But, if I rode the race again we’d be winning it.”
There have been no such concerns this season with Thistlecrack winning the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury, the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot and the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham. That last win ticked the box marked “can win at Cheltenham ” after the horse had finished down the field there last season, although Scudamore said: “I was never worried about it – that poor run at Cheltenham had been more circumstances than the track – but it silenced the doubters if nothing else.
“I was very hopeful for him this season. It was just a case of things working out. But you couldn’t expect to do what’s he’s done so far.
“It sounds boring but he’s just very straightforward. He’s got enough pace to finish fifth in the Imperial Cup but he gets three miles on heavy ground around Newbury. Touch wood, his jumping is neat and tidy and he just takes everything in his stride. It’s very boring but he’s just very straightforward to ride. But that just makes my job a lot easier. It doesn’t matter if they’re going fast, going slow, you can ride the race accordingly.”
A win in the World Hurdle would complete a full set of the major Festival races for the Scudamore clan. Tom has already won the Ryanair Chase (Dynast, 2014) his father, Peter, won the Champion Hurdle (Celtic Shot 1988 and Granville Again 1993) and his late grandfather, Michael, won the Gold Cup (Linwell 1957).
That family background and 15 years in the saddle provide the perspective with which Scudamore approaches the day. Riding the favourite is the best place to be but, if anything goes wrong, there is no hiding place. “It’s a lot easier when you’ve got rides beforehand so you’re not spending all your time thinking about Thistlecrack,” he said. “I’m experienced enough to know it’s just another horserace and ride it accordingly. And I’ve got so much confidence in the horse, so that makes things a whole lot easier.
“You’ve got to respect Cole Harden – he won the race last year but he’s never run to that level before or since – and Alpha des Obeaux was giving us a bit of a race when he fell at the last at Aintree. You can look at dangers but the main hope is that everything goes right and he can do himself justice.”
If Scudamore’s confidence is justified, Thistlecrack should win with something to spare.
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