Did you notice? An entire Cheltenham Festival day with no fallers or unseated riders over fences

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Here's a detail from last week's Cheltenham Festival that may have passed you by, there being so many things happening. On Thursday, there was not a single faller or unseated rider in any of the four races over fences, which had a total of 62 runners.

This would have to be pretty unusual, I think, given that Cheltenham is a serious test of an athlete at the best of times and even more so at the festival, when the level of competition is so high and everyone is straining to do their best. Big fields create an increased risk of fallers and on Thursday there were two handicap chases with 23 runners each, one of them confined to amateur riders.

That was the thing that really surprised me - no jockeys were parted from their mounts during the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup (sponsored by JRL Group). Amateur jockeys are very skillful these days but some of them lack the restraint that a professional would show, so the average level of aggression goes up a notch and you see some rides that could even be described as devil-may-care. Unsurprisingly, something generally goes wrong for someone at some point.

Or at least, that's been my impression. A quick trawl through the Racing Post's form database bears it out. There has been at least one faller or unseated rider in every Kim Muir since 1988, which is as far back as our database goes. I haven't checked through the paper form books to 1946, when the race was established, but if any of you feel like doing so I'd be interested to hear when was the last Kim Muir with no sundered partnerships.

I'd forgotten but back in the 90s there were some Kim Muirs that didn't have anything like as many runners as are now attracted by the race. In 1997, there were just 11 and still one of them fell.

Now, I don't want you thinking I'm the sort of person who notices whether there have been any fallers in each jump race and feels sad if there aren't any. None of us actually want to see fallers, let's take that as read. 

But the performance of Dinoblue in Wednesday's Grand Annual made me wonder about the stiffness of the fences. She bashed her way through both of the final two fences and still finished second. Thyme White, who fell at one of those fences, seemed to plough straight through it. 

Dinoblue: made jumping errors at the final two fences of the Grand AnnualCredit: Edward Whitaker

When I started following racing in the early 80s, the fences at top-class tracks were stiffer. Occasionally, there would be arguments about the fences at a certain track having been too densely packed. Horses that got as low as Dinoblue or Thyme White would have bounced off them rather than plunging through and would have fallen. 

On the other hand, it meant the fences had to be respected. Horses learn they can get away with going through the tops of the modern fences, so of course many of them do so because to do otherwise costs more energy. It means that horses can race faster over fences than in the past, leading to an increased risk of injury if a horse does fall. That, at least, is the line taken by those who preferred the harsher realities of 40 years ago.

I'm not sure there's much point in taking sides in this argument because there is next to no chance of any fences at any racecourse being made stiffer than in the recent past; at least, not on purpose.

I mentioned the subject to Cheltenham's clerk of the course, Jon Pullin. "The fences are constructed in exactly the same way as they have been for a number of years now," he said. The only change, he added, is the well-advertised switch from orange obstacle markings to white, a consequence of research into which colours horses can see most clearly.

"It's early stages, that was only introduced in October and we need to see more data on that before we make any conclusion," Pullin said when I asked if the change had reduced fallers. "On a very small sample size of our own data, something is making a difference. We need to wait and see and get more data on it."

Another official suggested that jockeys are more prepared to ride with some restraint these days, rather than going hell for leather from the outset as might have been the norm in the dim and distant. One thing that has been stressed to jockeys, including amateurs, is that they must pull up when out of contention late in a race. 

Obviously, there is an increased risk of falling as your horse gets tired, so stopping is greatly preferable to persevering if your chance of being placed has evaporated. Twelve of the 23 runners in the Kim Muir were pulled up and perhaps that spared us a faller or two. 

Monday's picks

Fresh from winning the Martin Pipe, Aidan Kelly has a good-looking ride in a staying handicap chase at Navan. He'll be back in the colours of JP McManus to ride Slip Of The Tongue (3.55), making his handicap debut after being brought along steadily by Padraig Roche.

A Listed winner over hurdles at Punchestown a year ago, he was already showing signs of needing further than two miles at that stage. He finally tried 2m4f at Gowran last time, producing his best effort over fences so far.

More is needed here but three miles looks likely to help and he's a horse with plenty more to offer. He's 5-1.

I fancied Doctor Ken (3.15) for a Leicester race that got abandoned in the week before Cheltenham and I'll stick with him at 11-8 for Taunton's staying handicap chase, in which his rivals include a couple of disappointing types.

His first two chase starts, back in November, were promising. He finished strongly to score at Aintree, then ran into a well-treated rival at Ayr three weeks later. Olly Murphy is among the winners as this one returns to action.

'She places her runners extremely well' - our Monday man with his selections after two winners last week   

Three things to look out for today . . .

1. A Willie Mullins horse called Paul Marvel, carrying the Rich Ricci colours, can only be named after Paul Townend, who rode such a cool race on Galopin Des Champs last week, surely? Probably not, in fact, as he's by Masked Marvel out of Paulmie but perhaps the thought was there as well. The grey was workmanlike in winning his debut race at Limerick in January but the extra three-quarters of a mile at Navan today should be a help and the marvellous Paul will be there to do the steering on this staying chaser in the making.

2. You thought it was going to be a quiet day but there's an authentic Grand National trial, the Webster Cup, on the Navan card and it features one of the unluckiest horses in Aintree history. Any Second Now is getting on a bit at the age of 11 but he was a very respectable fourth in the Irish Gold Cup. Two years ago, he hacked up in this on his way to being third in the National and he should win it again, having at least 10lb in hand over all four rivals on official ratings. Velvet Elvis is also entered at Aintree, while Busselton and Fire Attack are entered in the Irish National. 

3. This is already Sarah Humphrey's best month since 2021, thanks to three winners from five runners. Those include handicap chase successes by different horses at 14-1 and 15-2, so perhaps we can expect an improved showing from Jacks Touch, who represents the Cambridgeshire trainer at Southwell. The mare was 40-1 for her handicap debut at Huntingdon in January but ran a career best to be sixth of 17. Jay Tidball, a 7lb claimer who rode Humphrey's most recent winner, gets the leg-up on Jacks Touch for the first time.

Read these next:

What's on this week: ITV cameras head to Newbury and Kelso while Homeless Songs could return at the Curragh   

Festival-winning jockey Mark Walsh to see specialist next week after dramatic Albert Bartlett unseat   

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.