DIARY – CHELTENHAM
SHOWCASE MEETING – DAY 2 – PART II
SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER 2013
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Choc and Balder Succes head to the start of the Novices’ Chase It was raining ‘real proper’ as I headed down from the Parade Ring to the
course-side rails ahead of the next race, but not enough for me to seek
shelter apart from an umbrella. The starting gate for the next race was part way
down the home straight; the horses cantering up the all-weather strip in
front of the grandstand before returning down the turf and re-entering the
strip to travel to the start, which was just to the far side of the nearest
fence in the home straight. The Philip Hobbs trained, Richard Johnson ridden,
Balthazar King was the favourite for this race. Also in the line up was one of my favourite
‘non-Alan King’ horses Kian’s Delight, who is trained by Peter Bowen. He runs on the flat, over hurdles and,
today, over jumps – a good all rounder and ... very pretty too! He’s a dark bay with star and strip, plus
three white stockings.
Then
they were off. The runners were led away
by Balthazar King, greys Sire Collonges and Pickamus, these were closely followed by Ace High and
Tour Des Champs; one of the Irish raiders, Queiros
Bleu brought up the rear. Having
cleared the first fence and headed up the hill and jumped the second, the
field was already beginning to string out, Balthazar King now in a clear lead
and setting a good pace. The Henry De Bromhead runner blundered at the third fence, still in
rear. The
runners jumped the water and the first open ditch, Kian’s
Delight was sharing sixth position, alongside Connectivity and Bradley. Having negotiated the dogleg turn, they
jumped the second of the ditches; Richard Johnson’s mount standing off but
clearing it well; the other runners jumped it well too. They
turned the far corner and headed downhill for the first time. Balthazar King continued to led, from Tour
Des Champs, Sire Collonges, Pickamus,
the blinkered Connectivity, Ace High, Kian’s
Delight, Tullamore Dew, Bradley, Mister Grez, Vif Argent, Lost Glory,
Well Refreshed, Becauseicouldntsee, Life Of A Luso, and Queiros Bleu. AP McCoy, rider of Lost Glory, manoeuvred
his mount to the outside of the field as the decline began to level out. The
field turned into the home straight and cleared the next two obstacles; Becauseicouldntsee receiving a back hander having jumped
the first of these. Heading out in the
country again, with one circuit to go, Queiros Bleu
had now overtaken a couple of his rivals and was no longer at the back of the
field; however, he banked the uphill fence and dropped to the rear again. The
runners turned the top corner and headed down the back straight; having made
progress, the white face of Tullamore Dew was soon
visible in the front line on the outside of the field. Having blundered at the 12th fence and lost
ground, Connectivity was pulled up before the dogleg turn. There was no change at the head of affairs
over the final ditch, the Philip Hobbs runner still blazing the trail. Tour Des Champs was in second, from Sire Collonges, dark grey Mister Grez,
Ace High, Tullamore Dew, Vif
Argent and Kian’s Delight. Down
the hill they travelled, Balthazar King remaining a mere length up as they
cleared three out, from Tour Des Champs, Tullamore
Dew and Mister Grez; the latter blundered at this
fence. This group of four had clear
daylight over the pursuing group, with Queiros Bleu
now spearing-heading these. The first
of the leading group to show distress signals was Tour Des Champs and he
dropped back to fourth as they rounded the final bend. But
Balthazar King continued to gallop on relentlessly as they cleared the
penultimate fence, Mister Grez now his nearest
pursuer but, having cleared the last, the latter began to run out of fuel and
Richard Johnson’s mount pulled away to win by 7 lengths. Tour Des Champs rallied to claim 2nd, with Tullamore Dew in 3rd and Mister Grez
having hung to his right on the run-in finished 4th. Bradley stayed on to claim 5th.
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure hoping to see the placed horses arrive
back, and got a very good pitch too.
However, the weather conditions suddenly deteriorated and even I was
forced to head for shelter; fortunately there was just room for me under the
overhanging canopy of the Hurdlers Hall which is situated just across the way
from the Winners’ Enclosure. So,
when Balthazar King arrived back to what should have been a tumultuous
welcome, the steppings were almost deserted. It was a great shame, as the popular horse
had won this race for the third year in succession; he had also been
successful in a listed cross country chase in France the previous month. The
downpour included a clap of thunder; it was a proper storm. The winning connections sort shelter under
the Winner’s Podium, but it was a squeeze!
With the rain heading in from a south-westerly direction, the trophy,
which was waiting to be presented to the winning owners, filled with water;
Sarah Hobbs, wife of the winning trainer, tipped the water out of it! A
few people, I’m not sure whether they were daft or were already soaked so it
didn’t matter, crossed the concourse in front of the Hurdlers Hall. Whilst waiting for the rain to relent, I
did wonder if I’d need assistance to push my car out of the car park if it
had turned into a quagmire underfoot! The
horses arrived ahead of Race 5, in which Choc’s
mount was the Henry Daly trained grey mare Mickie;
an 8-1 shot. I remained under the
canopy until the horses began to leave the Parade Ring; the rain had left off
but it had not yet stopped. Also
running in this event was the Martin Keighley trained Court In Session
(stable name Judge). The favourite was
one of the other greys, Silver Eagle at 3-1; the third grey was mare Ixora. If
at all possible, I like to stand beside the course-side rails so I headed
down there, which meant walking across the now soggy grass in my wedge shoes. Perhaps I was now the daft one, as the
majority of spectators had sort shelter in the main grandstand! With
the mid-course chute not being used today (or yesterday), the starting gate
for this race was over on the far side of the track, with one flight to
negotiate before the dogleg turn, the horses cantering immediately across the
home straight and up around the top turn upon the all-weather track having
left the Parade Ring. The
David Pipe trained Bygones Sovereign was very late going to the start, the
remaining jockeys circling their mounts on the far side of the track, in the
rain, for an extended period.
Evidently the connections had forgotten to fit the declared
cheek-pieces on Tom Scudamore’s mount, hence the
delay!
Then
they were off, although the visibility wasn’t great due to the atrocious
weather conditions! The
runners were led away by Bygones Sovereign and Teak; the last quartet being
Mister Newby, Dragon’s Den, Church Field and the hard-pulling Phoenix Flight.
Having initially travelled a few horses wide, Choc was able to manoeuvre to
his preferred inside berth by the time they’d cleared the first two flights
and reached the far bend. Thus,
descending the hill, he was able to steer his mount along a less worn part of
the track where the inside rail was absent.
Bygones
Sovereign and Court In Session led the field over the third flight, from Red
Not Blue, Teak, Silver Eagle and Mickie; still
bringing up the rear was Phoenix Flight.
The runners cleared the next and headed into the home straight; a few
slightly skew-whiff panels now on show within the hurdle; work for the ground
staff team before the runners returned on the final circuit. Right,
time for a name check of the runners; Bygones Sovereign shared the lead with Court
In Session as they headed up the straight, from Teak, Red Not Blue, Ixora, Mickie, Silver Eagle,
Larks Lad, Princely Player, Get Home Now, Thomas Crapper, Dragon’s Den,
Mister Newby, Church Field and Phoenix Flight. The
horses then headed up the hill and began their journey down the back
straight; the leader landed a little awkwardly at the first flight
therein. Of the horses in the front
line of runners, Red Not Blue having made an error at the 7th flight was the first to show
signs of distress; by the time they’d reached the dogleg turn he’d begun to
drop back through the field. Of the
back markers, Larks Lad was struggling and beginning to tail off. At
the top of the hill, in mid-field, Get Home Now hit and flattened one of the
hurdles. Having reached the far corner
the runners began the descent. Those
still in contention were long-time leader Bygones Sovereign, Court In
Session, Thomas Crapper, Ixora and Silver Eagle; Mickie was still there too, not far behind these, also
Church Field and Phoenix Flight. Tiring,
Court In Session tipped the top of the third last hurdle; Silver Eagle
completed the job by knocking it flat.
Phoenix Flight didn’t live up to his name and trampled on the adjacent
panel with his hind-legs; the stragglers headed through the gaping hole which
had been created. To the inside, under
pressure, Choc’s mount continued to respond and
maintained her position in equal fifth as they jumped the second last and
approached the final turn. Thomas
Crapper now led, from Silver Eagle and Ixora as
they headed for the last; all the runners heading up the stand-side, apart
from Mickie who still raced along the inside. Having reached for the last narrowly
fourth, the tired mare stumbled after the flight, launching Choc into the
air; it was his first race riding departure since his return from injury.
Although making it impossible for her jockey to survive the error, she kept
her feet and continued loose to the finish. Meanwhile,
Thomas Crapper having cleared the last 3 lengths clear, gamely held off the
challenge of Silver Eagle and Princely Player respectively as the gap
continued to diminish on the run to the line.
The winning margins being ¾ of a length and a nose. Ixora completed
in 4th. Court
In Session, although running on softer ground than he prefers, enjoyed
himself for much of the race and completed in 10th place.
Having
hit the deck, I watched as Choc was helped to his feet. His whip retrieved from the turf, he walked
across the course to where a 4x4 was parked.
He was then given a lift back to the Weighing Room; dropped off beside
the Owners’ and Trainers’ marquee before walking along the pathway to enter
the glass-fronted building via the main door which faces the paddock. I had relocated to the steppings
above the Winners’ Enclosure whilst Choc was driven back. The
storm had now blown over, a rainbow now visible over in the Woodmancote/Southam
direction. From where I was standing I
could see the left-hand end of the rainbow in a field ... but no pot of gold.
It
was now time for Choc’s best chance of the day,
aboard Balder Succes who had won very convincingly
at Chepstow the previous Saturday.
He’d put in an almost exemplary round of jumping that day, on his
first racecourse appearance over the larger obstacles. He was 7-4 joint favourite with Dark Lover. The starting gate for the next race was at the
far end of the home straight; the horses cantering up the all-weather track
in front of the stands before heading down the turf and re-entering the track
to journey to the far end of the straight to reach it. The sun now shone brightly over Cheltenham
racecourse; an amazing transformation in the weather.
Then
they were off. Mr Watson sporting
first time blinkers, the mount of AP McCoy, was pulling hard and held a
narrow advantage as the runners cleared the first fence. In second position was Dark Lover, Balder Succes on the outside of the field was in third; then
came Irish raider Sizing Italy with The Cockney Mackem,
the latter in first time visor. And
bringing up the rear was the grey Gud Day. Mr
Watson, who is a bit of a head case, gradually extended his lead over the
other runners as they jumped the three remaining fences in the home
straight. He was over 10 lengths clear
as he headed out into the country for the one and only time. All six runners had jumped well up until
this point. However AP’s mount got in
close to the next and, with his momentum checked, the other runners soon
caught up with him. Balder
Succes jumped into the lead at the first in the
back straight, and continued at the head of affairs as they headed towards
the far turn. Mr Watson soon dropped back
into fourth place with slow leaps at every obstacle. Choc’s mount got
a little close to the second of the open-ditches, which checked his momentum
briefly, but he was still travelling well within himself. By
the time the runners had reached the far turn, it had developed into two
races; Balder Succes, Dark Lover and The Cockey Mackem going easily
within the leading group; Mr Watson, Sizing Italy and Gud
Day were now having their own private battle for 4th place. As they headed over three out, it appeared
that the second and third might throw down a challenge to Balder Succes, but he cleared the fence with more fluency and
the Twiston-Davies runner soon began to drop back;
Dark Lover also appeared unable to make inroads into his advantage. Upon
entering the home straight the only danger was the final two fences. With Choc appearing to have the race in his
pocket, I didn’t want to look, just in case he had a mishap; but I did. And, unfortunately, he did too. Damn. Balder
Succes, having jumped almost impeccably during last
Saturday’s victory and again today, took off too far away from the obstacle,
tipped the top and fell, throwing Choc clear.
The Cockey Mackem
also fell at the fence; although I’m not sure if this was an independent fall
or as a result of a loss of attention due to the loose horse running across
his path as he landed. Dark
Lover cleared the last fence and headed wearily to the line; a very lucky
winner today. Sizing Italy finished 28
lengths back in 2nd, with the erratic Mr Watson 3rd and 50-1 outsider Gud Day in 4th. The
uninjured Balder Succes cantered up the turf
alongside the grandstand rails; Travelling Head Lad, Matt Howell, and lad
Steve Ayres, waved their arms in an attempt to stop the horse as he passed
them by at the walkway entrance, but he evaded capture and continued up past
the winning post, fortunately appearing none the worse for his fall.
Choc,
gutted, lay on the turf for a while before getting to his feet. Unlike Balder Succes,
The Cockney Mackem was still down; ground staff
erected the green screens around him. Once
more Choc made the trek across the course to reach the 4x4 vehicle; and again
he was driven back to the area beside the Owners’ and Trainers’ marquee where
he was dropped off before heading back through the main entrance of the
Weighing Room. Many
of the spectators stayed in the area in front of the stands, watching
hopefully for the Twiston-Davies horse to
rise. Eventually they were rewarded;
The Cockney Mackem was okay. A few minutes earlier I’d seen his jockey,
Sam, walk back across the Parade Ring saddle in hand; father Nigel on hand to
offer support. Close
to the Weighing Room steps, Alan King and his Assistant, Oliver Wardle,
chatted to winning jockey Daryl Jacob.
It was later revealed that Daryl had experienced difficulty in seeing
the penultimate fence too, due to low sun.
Also AP McCoy had confirmed the same. At
this stage it did cross my mind as to whether I should set off for home. Despite being sunny now, as we know,
darkness would fall well before I reached home. But I was glad I stayed, because when the
jockeys walked down the steps and into the Parade Ring ahead of the final
race, it transpired that Choc was riding in this one too! I’d not noticed that one! He would be aboard the filly Innocent Girl,
trained by Lucinda Russell. My
pick of the paddock was Carningli, trained by
Rebecca Curtis and ridden by AP McCoy; a 7-1 shot. Also in this event was the Martin Keighley
trained The Kvilleken. It was a high class field, with many of the
runners having already won a bumper, or won or been placed in a
point-to-point. The starting gate for the next race was at the
far end of the home straight; the horses cantering up the all-weather track
in front of the stands before heading down the turf and re-entering the track
to journey to the far end of the straight to reach it. It was still bright sunshine but, as a bumper, no
worries about obstacles this time around!
Then
they were off. Spear-heading the runners was Carningli; also
prominent were Regal Diamond, Radharc Nahabhainn, and Werenearlyoutofit
ridden by Wayne Hutchinson. These were
followed by Trick Away, Innocent Girl, Muckle Roe, Vazaro Delafayette, Midnight
Thunder, My Wigwam Or Yours, Gentlemen John, The Govaness,
Chill Factor, The Kvilleken, Chase The Wind, Ma’ire Rua, Brother Brian and Craiganee. Turning
away from the stands, Muckle Roe had pulled himself
into the led, from Trickaway, Regal Diamond and Carningli. To find
unraced upon ground, the runners went wide around the top corner and
travelled along the back straight close to the outside fence. Sam Twiston-Davies’
mount continued to lead, with Craiganee still at
the rear of the field, although the latter had passed three or four rivals by
the time the field reached the dogleg.
Continuing
to dispute the lead heading for the far turn were Muckle
Roe, Regal Diamond and Carningli. At this stage, Choc’s
mount travelled on the outside of runners in around 8th position. Heading downhill, Muckle
Roe rapidly dropped out, leaving AP McCoy’s and Tom O’Brien’s mounts to
continue to set the pace. Midnight
Thunder was now at the rear of the field.
Innocent Girl soon lost her place too. Heading
around the home turn, a group of six had pulled away from the remainder; Carningli, Regal Diamond, Vazaro
Delafayette, My Wigwam Or Yours, The Govaness, and Chase The Wind. There was a bit of ‘argy bargy’ between The Govaness, Chase The Wind and Vazaro
Delafayette as they approached the wings of the
absent last hurdle. But just as it
appeared that AP’s mount might be swallowed up, he began to put distance
between himself and the others, running on the win by 3½ lengths at the line
from the staying on Chase The Wind. Vazao Delafayette finished a
close 3rd, with Barry Geraghty’s mount My Wigwam Or
Yours in 4th. The
Kvilleken finished in 11th, the ground not quick
enough for him now that the rain had affected it. Innocent Girl completed in 14th place.
I
waited for Choc to ride back down the walkway before beginning my walk back
to the Winners’ Enclosure area. I also
took a photograph of that darn second last fence, to see how the sunshine and
shadow was affecting the fence 30 or so minutes on from Balder Succes’ mishap. I
waited for the placed horses to arrive back.
I looked across to the Weighing Room and noticed young Freddie and
Harry Keighley ‘riding’ a finish
whilst sitting on the wall which surrounds the Weighing Room. When Barry Geraghty
arrived back from riding his mount, he spoke with Belinda Keighley and then
joined the boys on the wall to have their picture taken. An excellent jockey and a nice guy too
(he’s my favourite Irish jockey).
Belinda later tweeted the photo to all those
following her on twitter. Being
a long journey home – 100 miles taking at least two hours – I popped to the
loo before leaving; better safe than sorry.
Having exited the confines of the racecourse, I crossed the Evesham
Road and headed up the tarmac entrance to the upper car park before taking a
left turn through the large gap in the hedge where the gravel driveway enters
the lower field. I had to wait a few
moments while vehicles passed by, before crossing over the aforementioned
driveway to reach my car which was located upon the flat middle area. I was very pleased to see a tractor and
driver waiting on the slope above where the cars were parked ... I needn’t
have worried after all! Being
a bit soggy, when I reached my vehicle, I carefully laid my damp coat and
scarf on the back seat. And placed my
wet shoes, apparently inside and out (or at least the right one was), in a
Really Useful box which I put in the passenger foot well. I hadn’t noticed my foot was wet. There was a damp patch on my skirt caused
by water running off my handbag, so I took that off and put on the pair of
grey joggers which I keep in the car for just that purpose. I noticed that my race-card was damp too,
déjà vu Gold Cup Day in March. Having
eaten my two remaining cheese rolls, I set off at 18:00; there had been no
traction problem with the tyres! A
couple were walking through the field crossing my driving line as I moved
away; I think the man must have been a little drunk, as he was very vocal (in
a polite way that is) and waved me through towards the driveway. Outside
the gate I turned left onto Swindon Lane, soon crossing over the roundabout
and into New Barn Lane. I headed down
to the mini-roundabout at the far end, where a very shape right turn took me
into the Prestbury Road, followed by a left turn
into Priors Lane a short distance later.
After a hold-up at the traffic lights outside the nearby supermarket,
I reached the ‘longabout’,
turning left to head up Harp Hill.
Having driven up the steep incline, where the road bends left, I took
a right turn into Greenway Lane. There
were a couple of dog-walkers, the first of which was walking on the roadway
itself, facing the oncoming traffic.
Also, two youngsters riding their ponies, one of which was a piebald;
they were difficult to see in the fading light, with additional darkness
caused by the overhanging trees. I slowed down to pass them, taking a wide
berth; they didn’t thank me – both rude and foolish, riding at dusk when they
can barely be seen; and with no warning lights either. Having
arrived at the Six Ways junction, parked vehicles causing an obstruction
outside nearby residences, I had to wait for the lights to change before I
could turn left along the A40 and head up into the Cotswolds. I retraced my
route up past the Dowdeswell Reservoir and along
the Andoversford bypass, where I had to wait for
the lights to change at the junction with the A436; a vehicle in the outside
lane overtook me here. The
foliage being still damp from the rain, a mist lay across the fields as I
drove up towards the next set of traffic lights, they changed to red as I
approached. There were sheep in the
field to my left. There is a short
stretch of dual carriageway at this point, permitting slow moving vehicles to
be overtaken as they ascend the hill; today that was me! However, I was able to catch up with the
line of cars travelling ahead of me on the journey past the Puesdown Inn before arriving at the roundabout situated
at the junction with the Stow/Cirencester road. It was now dark. The
convoy travelled at a reasonable pace to Burford
and soon joined the Witney bypass; I wasn’t pushing my speed today, but still
overtook a number of vehicles as I headed east. It was a full moon, more or less, and it’s
not until you see it shining in the night’s sky that you realise the many
changes in direction which a seemingly straight road will take. Having
arrived on the western outskirts of Oxford, I took the ring-road, although I
was delayed by a slow moving bus approaching the Headington
roundabout; I wasn’t sure whether to overtake it and maybe get stuck in the
outside lane when I wished to bear left to continue on the A40 and onwards to
the M40. Approaching the latter, there were signs warning of road-works
affecting the motorway; something to do with a bridge I believe. As it transpired, the 50 mph limit in
operation on the M40 lasted only a short distance. My
route took me up through the Chilterns escarpment, past High Wycombe and
Beaconsfield to join the M25. Being mid-evening, traffic was following well
and I was able to remain in the inside lane until Junction 20, where that one
bears off to the A41 junction. These days, very rarely do I leave the
motorway at Junction 21A; instead continuing to Junction 22, situated beside
the London Colney retail park. My route then took me up the dual
carriageway to the roundabout upon the A414, and continued into London Road.
A right turn at the traffic lights and along the ring-road took me home. I
arrived back at 20:20 – I’d missed Strictly Come Dancing, but had recorded it
on the Sky hard drive. Tea was
spaghetti on toast and two-thirds of a tub of Alpro
plain yoghurt. My damp clothes were
consigned to the airing cupboard, my handbag too after I’d turned the
contents out on the dining room table.
I uploaded my photographs onto the
laptop and wrote my blog entry before turning in for the night. It would be
another day at the races tomorrow, when I’d undertake a trip to Kempton
Park’s first national hunt fixture of the season. And, you know what? I think I’ve remembered far too much about
my day at Cheltenham races, as this diary is 9,370 words long! |
