Let’s talk about…cliff horses that you just backed and backed again

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Ben Linfoot – Htilominlo

There’s a bit of recency bias here as I’ve had many cliff horses over the years but I can tell you all about Htilominlo who cost me a fortune in 2019.

I first heard about this horse in the December of 2018 when I was over in Hong Kong working at the International Races for Sporting Life, during which myself and a few others from the English press bumped into trainer Sylvester Kirk on a night out.

Now, Sylvester is a bit of hero of mine, if only because of his successful obsession with the 1m2f handicap on Derby day, a race he has won three times including with Gawdawpalin who won me a few quid back in 2016.

So, instead of asking him about Salouen, who was in town for the Hong Kong Vase, all I wanted to know was who he had in mind for the Epsom handicap in six months’ time. He was gracious with his time, whispered me a horse and I put it in my phone.

Tiller Mean Low. Should be easy to find.

He wasn’t, for obvious reasons, but through the haze of a Hong Kong hangover I found this horse, Htilominlo, and not only was he owned by Gawdawpalin’s owner but their names interlinked with one being a temple and one being a temple builder.

This. Was. The. One.

I had enough restraint to wait for him to go handicapping and watched his final two runs in novice company with interest. They were encouraging, especially his third run at Kempton, so it was all systems go for his handicap debut at Salisbury. Bet one.

Goodness me he should’ve won that day. Sent off at 7/1, he was bumped and ran about a bit and paid for that greenness by losing by a short head in a frantic finish.

Still, he’d learn from that next time. Six days later, at Goodwood, he was sent off at 7/2. Bet two.

Again he couldn’t run straight, again he ran a blinder and again he ran into one. Beaten half a length, he’d shown he was well handicapped and I was convinced we’d get the money back and more at Epsom.

Before that, though, there was bet three. The London Gold Cup at Newbury, a mega hot race and the same contest Gawdawpalin prepped in before he landed Epsom glory. At a big price I had to back him but it was simply too hot and he was blown away.

No Epsom. This is where I should’ve turned around and walked away, but, what’s this? He’s entered at Nottingham, the day after Epsom, in first-time cheekpieces? This is the weekend he’s been trained for, I said to myself. This was the one.

Bet four. Beaten half a length in second again. It was about now I was starting to question his stomach for the game (as well as my own) but that didn’t prevent me from placing bets five (last of eight) and six (sixth of seven).

Bet seven he won! But he was disqualified. Interference. Betfair. No first past the post on there. That is where I dusted myself down at the bottom of the cliff and said ‘no more’. You can’t say I don’t learn from my mistakes…. eventually.

David Ord - Charli Parcs

What a great topic this is – and what a list I had to work through.

One time Classic hopes for John Gosden who were followed through three different silks, four different trainers and two different codes all to no avail.

Horses our Newmarket work watchers whispered into the ear which went into the trackers. The alarm bells didn’t even ring when they finally surfaced, aged seven, in a bumper in Ireland.

Mile handicappers for David O’Meara who seemingly never got the rub of the green, sprinters trained by anyone who seemingly never got the rub of the green.

But you have to choose one – that’s the name of the game and it boiled down to a clash of two former Nicky Henderson horses. West Wizard v Charli Parks. Charli won – which he rarely does.

West Wizard was a longer-term fling, I backed him for successive Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdles after all, but even it became abundantly clear his reputation far exceeded his ability, it was hard to say goodbye.

And so it was with Charli Parcs.

The word was out, long before his British debut at Kempton over Christmas in 2016 that he was smart, very smart. And my did he look it that day, thumping Mister Bluesky without ever threatening to come off the bridle.

He fell in the Adonis on his next start, and whisper it quietly but some of the non-believers felt he was beaten at the time. But we, the early disciples, knew otherwise. Henderson told the media ahead of Cheltenham he was a big player in the JCB Triumph. Again we knew that.

He finished sixth.

Clearly that wasn’t the real Charli Parks, nothing like it. Dust ourselves down and get ready to go again the following season. It started with the Gerry Feilden at Newbury when the fools allowed him to drift in the market only for the disciples to see how crucial a mistake at the last was in terms of a length-and-a-quarter defeat at the hooves of High Bridge.

No worries we’ll make amends in the Ladbroke at Ascot before Christmas. Scrap that. He finished 13th but that was down to the testing ground and wide route he took looking for some green grass.

Onwards and upwards we roared – to the Betfair Hurdle and…14th spot behind Kalashnikov. 43 lengths behind Kalashnikov.

Ok – alarm bells were starting to ring but hang on, they’re only running him in the Champion Hurdle. Can’t let him go off at 100/1 in any race can we? And it’s not like he’s in there as pacemaker for Buveur D’air..aahh.

Still – one more chance. Good ground and a bit of spring sunshine at Ayr. That’ll do the trick. And it nearly did. For all but the last 100 yards of the Scottish Champion Hurdle 14/1 redemption was in the wind.

In the end Midnight Shadow, Claimantakinforgan and Chesterfield all proved too strong and the love affair died.

It had taken us to some of England and Scotland’s finest jumps courses, on some of their biggest days, but after it all there was still only the debut win at Kempton to look back on.

By the time he reappeared to finish 11th in the 2018 Greatwood, stakes were reduced to a minimum. Shortly afterwards he seemed to exit stage left.

Like all the greats though there was one last hurrah. For in March this year, after an absence of 16 months and switched to Aidan Howard, he snuck under the radar at Leopardstown to bolt up at 7/1.

And dear reader. I had not a penny on.

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