CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2018
Day 3 – Thursday 15 March
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Picture of the Day
The Fulke
Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Riders’ Handicap Chase: The winner – Missed Approach trained by Warren Greatrex and ridden by Mr N McParlan ... preventing an Irish clean-sweep
of winners today I was up at 06:00 today … and treated myself to a
mug of peppermint tea before breakfast.
The news was reporting concerns with micro-plastic molecules in
bottled water – probably time to give up the Evian then! I showered and washed and dried my hair before
heading to the main Hall at 07:10.
Breakfast was 3 bacon rashers, 2 hash browns, 1 tomato, scrambled
eggs, a sausage, two yoghurts (both yellow), and two cups of coffee. I returned to my room at 07:40, applied my
make-up and was ready to depart at 09:05.
It seems that the more time I have, the longer it takes for me to get
ready! The traffic queue into Witney was shorter than
the previous day; that’s because the Burford Road
was open to traffic this morning. I
got held up briefly by a skip lorry on my way out of town, but the journey to
Cheltenham went smoothly. I did end up
following a flat-bed lorry carrying building supplies, upon the Andoversford bypass; it even headed up Greenway Lane ahead
of me. It makes me cringe, when I see
large vehicles travelling that route.
No wonder the road surface is in such a state, although this
particular lorry turned right at the top, rather than head down Harp
Hill. I arrived at the racecourse at 10:20 today,
parking up in the same area yet again.
The turnstiles were open by the time I reached the north
entrance. Following a trip to the loo,
I went to stand at the top of the lower steppings
above the Winners’ Enclosure; it soon started to rain, so I moved to shelter
beneath the upper steppings. Whilst there, one of the EPDS members
walked by; he (Murray?) stopped for a chat.
He spotted his friend too, who also stopped to chat to us. I subsequently headed up to the upper steppings, where I would remain for the rest of the
afternoon. With Ruby Walsh now on the
injury sidelines, there were a number of jockey changes today. The favourite for the first race was the grey Terrefort, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Daryl
Jacob; price 3-1. He’s one of my
favourite horses. But the race was won by Shattered Love, trained
by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Jack Kennedy.
I know she won by 7 lengths, but she did have the mares’ allowance in
her favour! All bar Terrefort and Shattered Love carried 11-4. The former carried 11-3 because he was just
a 5-year-old and the mare carried 10-11.
The favourite for the Pertemps
Handicap Hurdle was the Gordon Elliott-trained Glenloe,
ridden by Barry Geraghty; price 9-2. The race was still won by Gordon Elliott, but
with Delta Work ridden by Davy Russell. I had one runner of specific interest in this
race, namely the Alan King-trained Who Dares Wins, ridden by Wayne
Hutchinson. He finished a very
creditable 5th.
This year, the feature race of Day 3 was the Ryanair Chase. The
favourite was Un De Sceaux, trained by Willie
Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend; price 8-11. Cue Card was also a runner today, this being his
final season before retirement; he was 12 years old. The race was won by the Henry de Bromhead-trained Balko Des Flos, ridden by Davy Russell; Un De Sceaux
just had no answer today, although he did complete as runner-up. It was the first time that Michael ‘Ryanair’
O’Leary had won his own race! Although having led to the fifth fence, Cue Card
was soon struggling and Paddy Brennan sensibly decided to pull him up. Held in high affection, Cue Card received a
very warm welcome as he was ridden back up the walkway to be unsaddled.
The favourite for the Stayers’
Hurdle was Sam Spinner, trained by Jedd O’Keeffe
and ridden by Joe Colliver; price 9-4. There was a specific runner of interest in this
race, namely Yanworth trained by Alan King and
ridden by Barry Geraghty. And the winning horse was last year’s Albert
Bartlett victor, the Willie Mullins-trained Penhill;
his first run this season. Winning
jockey, Paul Townend, claimed his first ‘senior’ graded Cheltenham Festival
triumph. He’d ridden Penhill to win the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’
Hurdle last year. Yanworth finished a
disappointing 6th and was described by his trainer as slightly distressed
after the race.
The favourite for the Plate was The Storyteller, trained
by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Davy Russell; price 5-1 ... and he duly
obliged. However, the star of the race for me was
bottom-weight Splash Of Ginge who certainly gave
the winner a run for his money!
The odds-on favourite for the next was the Willie
Mullins-trained Laurina, ridden by Paul Townend; price 4-7. There was a runner of interest in this race, the
Martin Keighley-trained Spice Girl, ridden by Richard Johnson. Laurina duly obliged ... by
18 lengths! Spice Girl finished in a
creditable 8th place.
With the Irish team 6-0 up on the day, this would
be the final chance for the GB team to prevent a clean-sweep. The race favourite was Mall Dini,
trained by Patrick G Kelly and ridden by Mr Patrick Mullins; price 4-1. However, the winner was Missed Approach, trained
by Warren Greatrex and ridden by Mr N McParlan. Phew,
they’d prevented the dreaded whitewash!
The popular Double Ross ran with his usual
determination and was rewarded with a 4th place finish.
Despite a final race win for Team GB, the Betbright Cup had been won by Ireland following the sixth
race of the day. The question was, could the
home Team salvage some dignity on Day 4?
To avoid the problems of the exit traffic jams of
the previous two days, I decided to stay to watch the Tattersalls
Ireland Festival Sale; it began at 18:15 in the Winners’ Enclosure and I
stayed until Lot 14 arrived in the sales ring. I also felt that I walked to the car park
too quickly this evening; bearing in mind my current pelvis issues, although
un-diagnosed at the time. It was approximately 19:00 when I drove out of
the car park and, having stayed later than usual, I was able to travel to the
exit gate with no delay. Prestbury high street was clear again today; I’m
convinced last year’s issues were caused by traffic police giving too much
priority to vehicles exiting from Tatchley Lane
onto the second mini-roundabout. I’m
also pleased to report that my car’s engine fan, which was replaced last
month at much expense, functioned well during my queuing delays; it was so
noisy last year, it was embarrassing! And just when I thought my journey back to my
hotel was going well, I encountered a road closed sign in Witney; the
Woodstock Road was blocked due to an accident. My only option was to take a right at the mini-roundabout
in order to head into the great unknown ... but there just had to be a
left-hand turn further along which would take me in the direction I
wanted. I arrived at a set of traffic
lights and, as hoped, there was a signpost indicating Bladon
(that’s where Winston Churchill is buried) and Bicester. It was in fact Jubilee Way, just the road I
needed. Further along Jubilee Way, the entrance to the
other end of Woodstock Road was closed too, with emergency vehicles parked
along it. I got back to my room, in
the Lodge, at 20:15. It was Pot Noodle
again tonight! |
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