MAJOR THREAT TO CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL It could happen. The unthinkable! December wouldn`t be the same without Christmas but next month without Cheltenham, well, yes I can feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck too!The frightening possibility is staring us in the face. The outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Britain has ground farming to a halt with no movement of livestock permitted for the next week. Horses don`t suffer from this highly contagious disease but (like us humans) can pass it on, and racing can`t take place within Government appointed exclusion zones.There have been seven separate cases detected throughout Britain, and Monday`s meeting at Newcastle is the first fixture to be lost. If the disease continues to spread, it could spell disaster for National Hunt racing`s showpiece. Let`s just keep our fingers crossed, and clutch onto those ante-post vouchers that have kept winter dreams alive.Speaking of anti-post betting, the loss of Alexander Banquet for the remainder of this season has robbed the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup of a live contender. Willie Mullins` charge ran a cracker behind stablemate Florida Pearl in the `Hennessy` but has failed to recover from a slight injury incurred in that Leopardstown event.On a brighter note, Commanche Court boosted his `Gold Cup` prospects when just failing to defy topweight in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton on Saturday.The Elite Racing Club Triumph Hurdle is a race I take particular interest in as a result of compiling Irish juvenile hurdle ratings. This is a personal task I`ve undertaken for the past few seasons, and below is listed my top ten for this campaign:Golden Storm 115Pittsburgh Phil 112Lisaan 108Billy Bonnie 106Francies Fancy 105Hill Port 104Albatros 104Benovia 102Softly Softly 101Neutron 100To give the figures some relevance, I rated General Cloney`s third in the `Triumph` last year at 118.However Golden Storm is not even entered in the `Triumph`. The Frances Crowley-trained gelding earned his rating with a runaway debut win at Listowel but has failed to come near that figure in four outings since. `Denny` winner Pittsburgh Phil finished lame last time at Leopardstown, so it is difficult to be enthusiastic about an Irish win.The fly in the ointment could be Goldstreet. He had a best figure of 99 before what appeared a much improved display when spliting Youlneverwalkalone and Dorans Pride at Gowran Park recently. A literal translation of that form would give him an official rating of about 128. But surely the talented winner didn`t show his best, and obviously Dorans Pride needs a lot farther than that two mile trip to be fully effective. Who would want to be a handicapper?My parting shot on Cheltenham prospects is take the 3/1 about Sheltering for the Christie`s Foxhunter Chase. Edward O`Grady`s charge has progressed with each season, and looks better than ever this term judged on impressive victories atLeopardstown and Fairyhouse.He ran inexplicably in the `Foxhunters` last year - slowly away and jumped poorly before falling at the fifth. But that run was too bad to be true. The son of Strong Gale is normally a great jumper, and he`s my idea of our BANKER.The Irish Horseracing Authority (IHA) announced this week that Flat prizemoney is to be boosted by five million this season. The minimum value for any race is an impressive 7,000 pounds but there appears to be a disproportional increase at the highest level. The doubling of the `pot` for the Tattersalls Gold Cup to 200,000 is difficult to understand as last year it still attracted the reigning `Arc` winner Montjeu. I was delighted to hear this week that Richard Dunwoody has embarked on a four-month worldwide holiday. The Ulsterman, undoubtedly one of the greatest National Hunt riders of any era, let his personal life suffer for his craft as detailed in his autobiography (Obsessed).Hopefully the old cliche that `travel broadens the mind` will ring true, and a real hero of mine can realise there is more to life than racing. By the way Richard, as someone who is still counting the cost of holiday`s this winter, I`m particularly interested in how you expect to finance the trip at just 75 quid a day?
