DIARY – KEMPTON PARK
Saturday 17 March 2012
- St Patrick’s Afternoon of Jump Racing
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In the Parade Ring, Choc aboard Hindon Road I
had pencilled this fixture in my diary, just in case Choc had any riding
engagements. Although, it had to be
said, I would probably be exhausted following four days at the Cheltenham
Festival! It’s not easy to drive
around 800 miles in four days and still remain sane! 2010
was my low point for post-Cheltenham exhaustion; last year and this I’ve not
felt quite so tired. Therefore upon
arriving home at 21:30 on the final day of the Festival, I logged onto my
laptop to update my blog and to discover where Choc would be riding the next
day ... 6 rides at Kempton Park. Unfortunately
Choc had drawn a blank at this year’s Festival, although he had ridden a
number of third placed horses – Medermit (Ryanair Chase), Smad Place
(World Hurdle), Vendor (Fred Winter), Grumeti
(Triumph Hurdle), Kumbeshwar (Grand Annual) and
fourth places too – Montbazon (Supreme Novices’
Hurdle) and Lovcen (Albert Bartlett), plus a fifth
aboard Walkon (RSA Chase). It
felt a little like Aintree last season when, because Choc hadn’t ridden a
winner at that 3-day meeting, I decided to go to Ascot the following day, in
the hope of seeing him victorious. On
that occasion I’d been lucky, as he’d won the first race aboard Invictus. So I was
hoping that perhaps, at Kempton, Choc’s fortune
might change. Besides, as Willie Mullins would say, “it would be rude not
to”, with Choc having so many rides during the afternoon and Kempton Park
being my nearest racecourse. So,
off to the races I went ... Gate
opening time was 11:45, so this permitted me to have a little bit of a
lie-in, although I did set my alarm for 07:00; in fact I ate breakfast in bed
whilst watching the Morning Line before showering, washing and drying my hair
and getting ready to go. Rain was
forecast, so I chose to wear my purple anorak, two thermal vests, cerise frill-edge
cardigan, tweed skirt, purple fleece, heavy-duty fleece, black woolley tights, and black wedges. I
left home at 10:35, my route taking me around the M25; there was a little
congestion near the M4 junction, and again just after the M3 junction, but I
missed that as I’d turned off onto the latter motorway. As on the majority of my trips to Kempton
Park, I parked in the free of charge area and walked around the perimeter
fence to reach the main entrance to purchase a ticket; £16 today, plus £2.50
for a race-card. It had already started
to rain, so I wore my hat. I
stood in the shelter of the main grandstand, overlooking the Parade Ring,
hoping to catch a glimpse of Choc as he arrived; but no luck today. Being St Patrick’s Day, small paper cups
filled with Guinness were being handed out to punters as they walked along
the concourse. No, I didn’t partake; I
rarely drink alcohol. I then went to stand on the steppings
out the front, overlooking the betting ring, as it was a little more
sheltered from the prevailing wind. As
the first race approached, I returned to the Parade Ring. Choc was due to ride a French import Ulys Du Charmil in this event,
the horse making its debut for Alan King.
Luckily the rain had now stopped.
I
went down to the course-side rails to watch each of today’s races. However, I did feel a little out of place,
as there appeared to be an amateur photography club outing taking place. My Olympus digital camera, with a mere x7
magnification looked pathetic beside the numerous Digital SLR cameras with
enormous zoom lenses. I was extremely
jealous! I could take thousands of
close up shots of the beautiful Chocolate if I owned one of those ... Race 1: Novices’ Hurdle – 12 runners
– 2 miles The
starting gate for this race was at the far end of the home straight, with the
horses cantering down past the stands to reach it. The
Alain ‘Squeak’ Cawley ridden Tweedledrum
led from the off until after the last, when the Alan Jarvis trained, Tom
O’Brien ridden, Right Step caught her and won by 1¼ lengths. Ulys Du Charmil was in touch, but ridden approaching two out and
weakened before the last; he finished 6th. Race 2: Novices’ Chase – 4 runners –
3 miles The
starting gate for this race was at the beginning of the ‘side’ straight, with
two complete circuits of the course to travel. The horses cantered down past the stands to
take a look at the final fence before returning to the start area. No
ride in this event for Choc. Quentin Collonges led from the off but was headed at the last by Problema Tic, who went on to win by 3½ lengths. Following
a very successful Cheltenham Festival, this was another winner for Nicky
Henderson and Barry Geraghty. Only three finished, as Leg Iron fell at
the 12th, but he was fine. Race 3: Novices’ Hurdle – 8 runners –
2 miles 5 furlongs The
starting gate for this race was in the far corner of the track, the horses
cantering down past the stands before turning and travelling up past the
winning post to reach it. Orsm led for most of the race, until the
Choc ridden Hindon Road took over 3 out. However, Captain Sunshine caught him
approaching the last and went on to win by 2¼ lengths. A winner for Emma Lavelle and Dominic Elsworth. Alan
King’s other runner, Forresters Folly finished 7th. Race 4: Handicap Hurdle (feature race)
– 16 runners – 2 miles 5 furlongs The
starting gate for this race was in the far corner of the track, the horses
cantering down past the stands before turning and travelling up past the
winning post to reach it. King’s
Realm initially led the field; Shuil Royale fell at
the first flight. Oscar Prairie then
briefly led until Synthe Davis took over and held
the advantage until 2 out. Bear’s
Affair was then ridden to lead and went on to win by 5 lengths. Choc’s mount, Pantxoa, who was always prominent, stayed on to finish
2nd. Another win for Nicky Henderson
and Barry Geraghty.
Pantxoa’s stable mate, Balzaccio,
finished 11th. Race 5: Novices’ Handicap Chase – 5
runners – 2 miles. The
starting gate for this race was at the far end of the home straight with the
horses cantering down past the stands to reach it. Choc’s mount in this
event was Unforgettable, trained by Robin Dickin. The horse was sporting orange blinkers;
first time blinkers in fact. Tatispout, who had refused to race last time out at
Kempton Park, when competing in a Bumper for Jumpers event during the bad
weather, again decided that it was not for her. Choc sent his mount into the lead from the
off and had his rivals at full stretch from 4 out. However, he came under pressure after two
out, made mistake at the last and was headed soon after by the winner, Park
Lane, ridden by Jack Quinlan, trained by Noel Quinlan. Race 6: Handicap Chase – 9 runners –
3 miles Choc’s mount, the
highly strung Suburban Bay, was very much on his toes. As the horses began to leave the Parade
Ring, his lad had to turn his charge in a circle a couple of times, trying to
keep a lid on the horse’s enthusiasm.
Choc and Alan King set off down the walkway prior to the horse leaving
the paddock, his jockey being legged up closer to the course exit point, the
last to leave and canter directly to the start. The race was run over two full circuits of
the track. As
the horses circled at the start, it began to rain once more. The
Philip Hobbs trained, Tom O’Brien ridden, Reach For The Top jumped well and
made all to win by 4½ lengths.
Suburban Bay was held up in last position, made a mistake at the 3rd
fence, but made steady progress from the 10th to join the chasing group at
the 13th fence. However, he was ridden
3 out, but went into second place after 2 out; unable to close of the
winner. Sadly,
Canni Thinkar was pulled
up after 3 out, fatally injured. Race 7: Maiden Open NH Flat Race – 10
runners – 2 miles The
starting gate for this race was at the far end of the home straight, the
horses cantering past the stands to reach it. The
field was led by High Ville until headed 2 furlongs out by the Nicky
Henderson trained, Barry Geraghty ridden, Minella Forfitness, who went on
to win by 12 lengths. Choc had tracked
the leaders aboard Soixante Six until ridden 3
furlongs out, he weakened to finish 4th.
The Martin Keighley trained runner, Indiana Oscar, finished 8th. A
treble for trainer Nicky Henderson and Barry Geraghty;
a double for jockey Tom O’Brien. Unfortunately Choc had ‘seconditis’ having finished 2nd aboard
4 of his rides; he also rode a 4th place and a 6th place. I
confess that I ‘accidently on purpose’
headed for the main entrance at the same time as Choc was heading back to the
Weighing Room following his final ride of the afternoon ... I wanted to
commiserate with him following his disappointing Cheltenham Festival. But our paths didn’t quite cross; I could
have called after him, but I suddenly had an attack of shyness ... and didn’t
quite know what to say. Never mind,
there will be another time. I
believe there was a poor attendance today; everyone probably had a
metaphorical ‘hangover’ following
the Festival. There being few cars in
the racecourse precinct, it took little time for me to exit the racecourse;
although traffic was queued from the main entrance all the way to Junction 1
of the M3. It was mainly passing
traffic, rather than race-day traffic.
It
was not a very exciting drive home; but one driver very nearly took the
slip-road onto the M25 by mistake and had to drive across the hatching lines
to remain on the M3. I
arrived home at 18:30; the evening was spent selecting photographs for my
website, from today’s meeting and from those I’d taken at the Cheltenham
Festival. I
like to regularly check out Choc’s tweets; this
evening he was holding a ‘conversation’
with Mark Ball of Lets Live Racing.
Mark suggested that Choc might like to watch a boxing match on TV that
evening involving Matthew Hatton (younger brother of Ricky). Choc wasn’t impressed by Hatton and
suggested he’d be willing to fight him in place of his proposed
opponent. Mark asked Choc what his
professional boxing nickname would be ... ‘Choc
The Rock’ came the reply! |
