Matt Chapman's Good, Bad and Ugly from this week's world of horse racing
There was some brilliant action on and off the track this weekend – Harry Redknapp was a star off it and Frodon lit up Cheltenham on it. But what did I make of it all?
GOOD
Before our special guest appeared on ITV there were one or two people on social media saying: "Why is Harry Redknapp on the Opening Show?" But I didn't read one person who was negative about Harry after the event. That's class.
Why was Harry on? Well firstly he's a celebrity, and celebs sell shows. Not only was he once 1-10 to manage England, but he won I'm a Celebrity.
But more importantly he's a punter, a horse owner, a horse breeder and a huge fan of the game we all love. So he was actually the perfect guest. Added to that, he's funny and has great stories to tell.
What you didn't see on Saturday was what Harry was like off camera.
While being taken here, there and everywhere for Cheltenham and ITV, Harry gave everyone he could his time, chatting, signing autographs and having selfies taken. He was a gent throughout and at times gave some a ridiculous amount of time.
Redknapp is a good egg. And I for one wish he had managed England. It might have been a disaster, but the Titanic would have sunk with people having had a good time, rather than screaming and shouting in despair.
THE BHA is almost single-handedly destroying British racing.
If it's not tampering with the whip rules in the hope of attracting a new audience to horse racing which simply does not exist, or telling trainers what shoes to put on horses, it has now fined trainer Henry Oliver £140 for waving his hands at his horse in the hope of making it run. AP McCoy and Nicky Henderson have voiced their anger at that decision.
The BHA response was this absolute rubbish: "We set a lot of store in our sport behind the fact that we do not force horses to race and that they do so of their own free will."
On that absolute bombshell, I can exclusively reveal stall handlers will be done away with for the 2019 Flat season.
In a move which is sure to bring more shame on BHA, horses will be presented to the stalls by the jockeys and can decide whether they want to race or not. After all, horses apparently race on their own free will.
UGLY
I may be shovelling some dirty stuff come March having gone head-to-head with former Champion trainer, Grand National hero, Gold Cup winner, Champion Chase victor and 10-time King George VI Chase-record-holder Paul Nicholls.
I don't think his Saturday Cotswold Chase winner Frodon has any chance in the Gold Cup and he should be in the Ryanair Chase. Nicholls disagrees.
If he is in the first four in the Gold Cup I will go down to Ditcheat and do all the worst jobs for a morning.
If he is out the first four – which he will be – I get a champagne breakfast at the yard and a morning on the gallops VIP style. Can't wait to be proven right. You hear me Paul? It could get ugly.
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