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1 - BLACK BAMBOO – Trained by John Joseph Murphy

It was a relatively light season for this talented seven-year-old, with four runs from the middle of February. However, that doesn’t mask the fact that he ran at all three big spring festivals, making progress on each occasion. But for me, it was the big one that got away, the Coral Cup at Cheltenham.

Given exaggerated hold up tactics, the son of Fame and Glory made stealthy headway down the hill and was gaining on the leaders hand over fist when he totally missed out the second last. Back on an even keel, he still ran on well to finish 6th of the 21 runners, beaten 11 lengths. I reckon that mistake cost him at least half a dozen lengths, if not more.