Racing
Nick Scholfield Blog: Altior, winning at Cheltenham and his weekend rides
Two time Cheltenham-winning jockey Nick Scholfield gives us the inside scoop on his weekend rides as well as delivering his views on Altior’s return and what it’s like to win at the Cheltenham Festival.
Nick Scholfield on Altior
The vibes are strong from Seven Barrows. The reports all seem to be positive. I think he probably took on Cyrname with conditions against him and was facing a horse who was firing at the time. However, on Saturday he’ll take on Sceau Royal, Bun Doran and Kalashnikov and, on last season’s form, he’s a good bit above them. I’d imagine it will be an exhibition for him.
Nick Scholfield on which races he looks forward to at Cheltenham
Which race do I look forward to the most at Cheltenham? Whichever one I’ve got a good ride in! If I wasn’t riding though, obviously you’d have to say the Gold Cup is the race. However, the Supreme Novices is another that I really enjoy. Year on year it produces so many top class horses that, along with the Gold Cup, it’s the one I always look forward to.
Nick Scholfield on what it feels like to win at Cheltenham
I’ve won at Cheltenham twice. It’s certainly a different feeling to winning anywhere else. In honesty it’s more a relief than anything else because Cheltenham heaps a lot of pressure on the shoulders of everyone involved. It’s our Olympics really. Grade 1s are always special but Cheltenham Festival could make or break your season. A win there can do so much for you and I was lucky enough to have it quite early on in my career but then had to wait another few years for another one. So I was able to enjoy the second one a little more but the first one is undoubtedly a day I’ll never forget.
Nick Scholfield on his weekend rides
Uttoxeter
1:58 – Darsi In The Park
I’m riding Darsi In The Park for Jonjo O’Neill which is a late booking. An Irish point winner who hasn’t done much to date and has been off the track for a while so it will be interesting to see how he gets on. It doesn’t look like much of a race and Jack Valentine could set the standard. Afterwards I’ll have a couple of hours to get from Uttoxeter to Warwick.
Warwick
15:50 – Urtheonethatiwant
We ride Urtheonethatiwant at Warwick in the 15:50. He’s won his last two races at Ludlow and Warwick and comes in very good form. He’s been put up 15lbs on the back of that but remains a horse in form. It’s a positive that he won round the track last time. I think he’s got a very good chance although it looks a competitive race with a few other in form horses like Mr Love and Buster Edwards. However, he won very well on that last run at Warwick so a repeat of that performance would put him in contention.
16:25 – Sizable Sam
A really nice horse of Jeremy Scott’s crop of horses. Ran a lovely debut at Wincanton last time, finishing 2nd of 18 and is sure to improve on that. He’s a horse I like a lot. There’s 16 runners in this race including a lot of unraced horses, so you won’t really know what you’re up against until the day. However, I’m positive he’ll improve from his debut and the long term aim will be the Sales Bumper at Newbury in March. A real nice horse anyway and can hopefully put up a big performance.
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