Buckle up! The Cheltenham Festival will be here. Trainers are preparing their horses for the prominent event in the brief period available. A shot at Cheltenham is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any European horse trainer, and a victory there would cement their place in horse racing history. But the festival isn’t only about speed or precision; it also comes with tactics that the trainer has to devise for their horse.

The Fairyhouse Easter Festival proved to be a challenging season debut for Corbetts Cross, trained by Emmett Mullins. The horse fell apart and handed the victory to its opponent, Velvet Elvis. Although the trainer was dejected, the gelding still had a limited future at the Cheltenham Festival.

A battle of fate going into the Cheltenham Festival

There are plenty of races hosted during the Cheltenham Festival. Due to the value of the competition, most trainers aim to target their full-throttle goals. Still, the horse’s pre-festival performance is a factor in whether any chances will be given. After the horse failed to finish at the Fairyhouse Racecourse during its 2024 season debut, Corbetts Cross’ form came into consideration. However, recently, an update was released on X by Road To Cheltenham, related to the horse, which stated the equine has been scratched from the G1 Turners Novices’ Chase and the G1 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.

These scratchings from the main G1 races weren’t, however, the only piece of information that was shared. The G2 National Hunt Chase is where Corbetts Cross’ Cheltenham star power will be put to the test. One more race that is part of the Cheltenham Festival is the G2 National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup. At Cheltenham’s Old Course, the horse will go up against other horses older than five years old in the event. As a part of the Cheltenham Festival, the 3m6f event will surely attract a full-capacity audience on race day. The course, which includes 23 jumps, will be prepared for the horses that are participating. The horse’s trainer had to make a hard choice based on its performance at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival.

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A bolt from the lightning blue!

Corbetts Cross reached the Fairyhouse Racecourse with much anticipation. This particular horse had two successful runs at the same track in 2023. All the horses in the 3m42y race were five years old or older. It was an excellent warmup for anyone planning to compete at Cheltenham, with fifteen hurdles to clear. The race showed that four horses were ready to compete in a fast-paced battle, and there were no horses that withdrew from the race.

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At the outset of the race, everyone looked to Corbetts Cross to lead the pack, but things turned out rather differently. Despite being close to the front, the horse dropped to last place after the second hurdle. While others breezed over the obstacles, the horse lacked speed and accuracy. The horse lost its balance and stumbled after a collision with Run With Fred with three hurdles remaining. Not only was it the gelding’s first loss at the Fairyhouse Racecourse, but it was also its catastrophic season opener.

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