The Gold Cup is a tough race, invariably run at an unrelentingly strong pace over a stiff and undulating three miles, two furlongs with 22 fences that take no prisoners, and an uphill climb of half a mile to the finishing post. It’s arduous enough for many a contestant’s forms to drop off subsequently.
It is a mighty feat, therefore, for Al Boum Photo’s trainer Willie Mullins to get a fragile racehorse back for the race for a fourth time (he was third last year). Yet, in an era when the leading jumps trainers tend to restrict the number of races their best horses run in, Al Boum Photo has been even more lightly campaigned than most. If he wins, he and his connections will deserve all the plaudits they get, not least because older horses seldom triumph (the last 10 year old to win was Cool Dawn in 1998). However, it must be said that it is hard for racegoers to take a horse to their hearts when they see it so rarely.
This story is from the March 09, 2022 edition of Country Life UK.
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This story is from the March 09, 2022 edition of Country Life UK.
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