Cheltenham Festival - Over-hyped ?

[stewartd14]

An article by Steve Dennis in the RP on Wednesday got me thinking about this question .... and maybe, just maybe, I am beginning to cotton on to the idea. There is no doubt in my mind that its THE BEST 4 days racing in the whole calendar, but are our expectations too high ? Even in the aftermath of Cheltenham, we have people trying to give reasons why Imperial Commander won the Gold Cup, reasons why Dunguib got beat etc ..... can we not just accept that perhaps they themselves were over-hyped, and just got beat by better horses ? Here's the article, I thought it was an interesting read. Taken from www.racingpost.com

Hype machine sets our expectations too high What's that sound? It's the bookmakers laughing all the way to the bank. Yes, there have been worse results for punters at the festival - I remember one year no favourites won until the third and last day, and if I were a more diligent operator I'd find out which year - but this year is very one-sided so far. Perhaps it's because the hype is so relentless and begins such a long time before Cheltenham (April, generally), but it sometimes seems that a lot of these horses are overanalysed to such a degree that we turn ourselves inside out making watertight cases for them, and are then dismayed when they turn out to be, well, just horses. As part of the racing media circus I'm to blame as well (well, guv, I'm only doing my job, like), but I'm going to be more restrained in future. I'm not going to let every ten-length victory in a rubbish novice chase convince me that here is the next champion, or every string of formline 1s indicate that here is something special. It's time to be less dogmatic. I don't remember much about Tuesday's card (it wasn't the booze, I wasn't well) but Dunguib is a marvellous case in point. He's a very good horse indeed, but some sources would have had you believe he could write a sermon and cultivate a herb garden as well as thrash the best novices around by double-figure distance. In the end, everyone's feeling a little let-down by the fact that hefinished third in a championship race at Cheltenham, which seems a little wrong. Long Run, too. When they teach him to jump, he'll be something to watch, but he made more mistakes in the RSA Chase than any horse could hope to get awaywith. His jumping had been flagged as a concern beforehand, and boy were they right about that. But it was the air of perceived invincibility that sticks slightly in the throat. He was third in the staying novices' championship, but it feels like he's let us down. And whereas Long Run couldn't have jumped a comb without crashing through the teeth, Big Zeb turned in an immaculate round to lower Master Minded's colours. I thought Big Zeb didn't jump well enough to win a big race at a big track, but there I go overanalysing everything and adopting a pointless inflexibility about something eminently flexible. The only thing I feel safe about being inflexible about is the rule about odds-on shots at the festival - they don't win nearly often enough to be worth siding with. But, hang on, Big Buck's and Kauto Star can't get beat, can they? Yes they can. Whether they will or not . . . Anyway, I'm running 1-12 at the moment, with Quevega my only winning selection. Although both Dan Skelton and Anthony Bromley told me they really liked Sanctuaire when I interviewed them before Cheltenham. Did I listen? Yes. Did I do anything about it? Course not. Ainama might win on Thursday, as may Big Buck's, and don't ignore Martys Mission in the Byrne Group Plate. Hopefully I haven't overanalysed those . . .

Pretty certain he's not the only one who has felt a bit let down by Cheltenham this year .... did we hype it up too much and set ourselves up for a big fall ?

[billy the punter]

I don't think so, but perhaps that is because I have less interest in the Dunguibs and Master Mindeds etc. I never back over-hyped horses where the improvement/potential is usually factored into the price. I love Cheltenham for trying to find big priced winners. I'm not looking for a superstar, just money. Therefore, although I didn't win massively, the meeting did it's job and I hate it when it's over. I just think punters feel let down when they lose, and given a lot of punters struggled this week, disappointment seems the general opinion. It's human nature to look for excuses when things go wrong, we do it as football supporters and as punters (some more than others) - that doesn't meant there are never excuses, sometimes there are, but other times it is just a case of being beaten by better opponents. But for that to be admitted it means admitting you're wrong. :ok