Christie ponders Top Twig bid

Editorial Department • Published 11 Mar 2010 09:28 0 Comments

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The locally owned and trained Top Twig who has an entry for Cheltenham but trainer David Christie is still mulling over plans for his prolific Point to Pointer.

Next week racing fans welcome the return of the Cheltenham festival. Described as the greatest show on turf, the four day festival is the annual highlight of the National Hunt season, showcasing the crème de la crème of the horse racing industry, from trainers to jockeys and the highest quality racehorses in the world. The festival has become a race-goers Mecca and the pinnacle of the horse racing industry.

David Christie, a Derrylin based trainer has his own views on the festival and what it takes to become a successful trainer. "You need luck, and a fair bit of it."

With an impressive set-up established six years ago near the border, Christie has cemented his name among the best in Irish Point to Point trainers, racking up over one hundred wins in that time. Currently sitting third in the All Ireland table for this season, Christie reflects on what has been another successful campaign.

"The season has gone well. I race on the flat, the course and Point to Point and it is mostly Point to Point at this stage of the season. I'm sitting third at the moment and I've always been in the top five or so, so the season could be considered a success."

Christie knows becoming a successful trainer is no walk in the park and has experienced his own ups and downs in getting to where he is today. "You need the facilities and you need to able to train horses and get them fit. After that you need good owners and a bit of luck, and hope the right horse comes in to your yard. Many good trainers never get to where they should have because that good horse never came through their door."

The festival next week will involve some of the most astute trainers in the industry and Christie admits their methods of producing champions interest him. "It does intrigue me how the top boys like Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and David Pipe operate. I would like to spend a week or two in their yards and see how they do it. That said, you could not come back from Paul Nicholls' yard and replicate what he does. Every trainer does things differently because every set-up is different and you must work with your own facilities, but it would be certainly worth seeing."

Christie has mixed feelings about the festival itself admitting he is not fussed on going to race meetings unless he has an entry - "it is like a busman's holiday". However, this year the Christie trained Top Twig has been entered in to the Foxhunter Chase and the trainer has great praise for the horse.

"Of all the Irish horses entered in the race, I honestly think Top Twig is the best." Christie believes the horse is up there with the best in Ireland in Point to Point racing but is uncertain whether to run it in the Foxhunter Chase. "With Cheltenham, you're looking at a championship race where the runners are pushed to the limit and the risk of injury is high. If it does not run at Cheltenham, it may well run at the Down Royal meeting on March 17 or even the Punchestown festival in April. Whatever happens I thought the horse worthy of an entry at Cheltenham."

Christie recognises that winning at Cheltenham is difficult and very few can do it, but has some ideas on what he thinks may succeed next week. "I think Kauto Star will win the Gold Cup. I'm a Kauto Star fan. I think Masterminded will win the Champion Chase and Big Bucks will win the World Hurdle."

Christie is full of praise for Dunguib, running in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle. "Philip Fenton (trainer) is from a Point to Point background like me and has a horse which is just the best in Ireland. It's exceptional. The last day it ran at Leopardstown I was there, and I honestly came away thinking I had never seen anything like that before."

Christie also fancies the chances of Edward O'Grady trained Tranquil Sea in the Ryanair Chase, Sizing Europe in the Arkle and Garde Champetre in the Cross Country Chase.

Christie highlighted that this year has been a particularly difficult one for the bloodstock industry and has seen friends go out of business but maintains ambitions of winning the Irish Point to Point championships in the future and landing a winner at his favourite venue of Aintree. "Fermanagh, although not a horse racing county, it does have an excellent owner base. But you do need that good horse to come along, and if it does it can put you on the map."

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 11 Mar 10

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