What is a stalls test?

The vast majority of Flat races in Britain and Ireland are started from starting stalls, so it is vital that racehorses remain tractable in and around the stalls. Horses that are difficult, or impossible, to load into the stalls, or become fractious and unruly once loaded, may need to be withdrawn on welfare grounds. Consequently, any horse that causes repeated problems at the start may be referred for a stalls test, which it must pass before it can race again.

As the name suggests, a stalls test is an official trial of a horse’s ability to start satifactorily from starting stalls. A stalls test may take place at a race meeting or elsewhere, subject to approval by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). In either case, the horse must demonstrate its willingness to be led into the stalls by a single stalls handler, with the assistance of no more than four stall handlers from behind, and remain in the stalls, quietly, for at least a minute.

A horse that fails a stalls test cannot take another for 14 days and, if it fails a second consecutive test, cannot take another, or race, for six months. If, at the end of that period, the horse fails a third consecutive stalls test, its future lies in the hands of the BHA Disciplinary Panel.

The Grand National was based on which previous race?

The Grand National, or at least a precursor to it, known as the ‘Grand Liverpool Steeplechase’, was founded by William Lynn, landlord of the Waterloo Inn in Liverpool, at Aintree Racecourse in 1836. Lynn was already a well-known sports promoter and had been staging race meetings, on the Flat, at Aintree since 1829. However, the inspiration for what would become the most famous steeplechase in the world did not come ‘out of the blue’ but, rather, from a pre-existing race, known as the ‘Great St. Albans Steeplechase’.

Inaugurated by another hotelier, Thomas Coleman of the Turf Hotel in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1830, the Great St. Albans Steeplechase was originally run in Bedfordshire, from Harlington to Wrest Park, near Silsoe, and back again, over a total distance of approximately four miles. The first race of its kind to be staged in England, the Great St. Albans Steeplechase proved a huge success, so much so that, by 1834, it was a major event, attracting runners from all over the country. Of course, it also attracted the attention of Lynn, who devised a similar race of his own, to start and finish near the grandstands at Aintree; the rest, as they say, is history.

What is a Roundabout bet?

In betting parlance, a ‘Roundabout’ is a type of multiple bet involving three selections. The bet consists of three single bets and three conditional, or ‘any-to-come’, doubles to twice the original stake. For example, a £1 Roundabout on three selections, A, B and C, consists of £1 win A, any-to-come £2 win double B and C, £1 win B, any-to-come £2 win double A and C, and £1 win C, any-to-come £2 win double A and B.

Of course, if one of your selections is odds-on, the win single will generate a return less than twice your original stake, in which case the full return will be staked on the any-to-come double on the other two selections. Consequently, if one of the other two selections loses, you will lose your whole stake, despite having backed a winner.

Nevertheless, proponents of the Roundabout argue, with some justification, that the possibility of losing your whole stake is a price worth paying for the ‘leverage’ the bet provides, if successful. In the above example, the amount staked is £3, for three £1 win singles, but the potential payout is for three £1 win singles, less £2 from the return on each one, plus three £2 win doubles. If you back three winners, all at even money, your return from three standard £1 win singles will be £6, but your return from a Roundabout, for the same unit stake, will be £24.

Did Willie Mullins ever ride a winner at the Cheltenham Festival?

Nowadays, Willie Mullins is best known as perennial Irish Champion National Hunt Trainer and, of course, the most successful handler in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, with 72 winners. However, in his earlier years, Mullins was a highly accomplished amateur jockey. In fact, he was Champion Amateur in his native land on six occasions and, in 1983, rode Atha Cliath, trained by his father, Paddy, to victory in the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase, over the Grand National fences, at Aintree.

Having worked for his father and Jim Bolger as assistant trainer, Mulllins took out a training licence in his own right, at his yard in Closutton, Co. Carlow, in 1988. However, he continued to ride, even after saddling his first Cheltenham Festival winner, Tourist Attraction, in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 1995. The following year, at the age of 40, he trained and rode Wither Or Which to win Grade One Champion Bumper, thereby recording his one and only success at the Festival as a jockey. As a trainer, though, Mullins was far from finished with the Champion Bumper, winning the race again in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2020, for a total of 10 wins in all.

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