DIARY – KEMPTON PARK – WINTER FESTIVAL
BOXING DAY – WEDNESDAY 26 DECEMBER 2018
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The King George VI Chase winner, Clan Des Obeaux, in the winners’ enclosure This was my tenth visit to the Boxing Day fixture
at Kempton Park, having missed 2017 due to a bad head cold. Again this year, cold viruses had been
rampant at work in the days running up to the Christmas break, but I hadn’t
succumbed on this occasion. Phew! This year’s renewal of the King George would
feature the best ‘line-up’ in
years: Bristol
De Mai – winner of the 2017 and 2018 Betfair chases, in the latter of which he’d beaten four
of today’s rivals, namely Native River (2nd), Thistlecrack
(3rd), Clan Des Obeaux (4th) and Might Bite (5th
and last). Clan
Des Obeaux – the young pretender, trained by
Paul Nicholls; the trainer having won nine previous King George VI chases –
See More Business (1997 & 1999), Kauto Star
(2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011), Silviniaco Conti
(2013 & 2014). Coneygree
– winner of the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup as a novice, but plagued by injury
ever since. Thistlecrack
– the winner of this race in 2016, when a novice; also winner of the 2015
Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle, the 2015 Grade 2
Long Distance Hurdle and 2015 Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle, the 2016 Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle, the 2016 Grade 1 World Hurdle and 2016 Grade
1 Liverpool Stayers’ Hurdle. However, having gone down to Many Clouds at
Cheltenham in January 2017, in the latter’s final race, he’d been plagued by
set-backs; this would be just his 4th run since that race. Injury-prone as a youngster too, he was
already a 7-year-old by the time he won the Sefton
Novices’ Hurdle on only his 8th-ever career start. Thistlecrack was
now rising 11. Native
River – winner of the 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup, not to
mention the 2016 Hennessy Gold Cup and the Welsh Grand National too! Also dual winner of the Grade 2 Denman
Chase at Newbury (2017 & 2018), and the 2016 Grade 1 Mildmay
Novices’ Chase at Aintree. He is also
one of my very favourite horses in training ... I first noticed him in
January 2015, at Cheltenham on Trials Day ... before he was ‘famous’! Politologue
– winner of the 2017 Grade 2 Haldon Gold Cup, the
2017 Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase, the 2018 Grade 1 Melling
Chase at Aintree and the 2018 Grade 2 1965 Chase at Ascot; he was stepping up
in trip today. Double
Shuffle – runner-up to Might Bite in this race last year. Tea
For Two – winner of the Grade 1 Kauto
Star Novices’ Chase in 2015 and the 2017 Grade 1 Bowl Chase at Aintree. Might
Bite – winner of the 2017 Grade 1 RSA Novices’ Chase,
the 2017 Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase, the 2017
Grade 1 King George VI Chase, and the Grade 1 2018 Bowl Chase at Aintree;
also runner-up in the 2018 Gold Cup behind Native River. Waiting
Patiently – winner of the 2018 Grade 1 Ascot Chase, where
he beat Cue Card; also stepping up in trip today. Anyway, after spending Christmas Day with my
younger brother and his family, along with my mum and his in-laws too, I was
set fair for a day at the races on Boxing Day. It doesn’t take very long to reach Kempton Park,
around 50 minutes with no travel problems, so I set my alarm clock for
06:30. I showered, washed and dried my
hair and applied make-up too. In fact
I was ready to go by 08:40, but didn’t want or need to leave until
09:00. On this occasion it meant that
I had a 20-minute window of opportunity to search for my eye-drops! I didn’t find the eye-drop bottle, but decided to
wear my disposable contact lenses regardless!
I’d been floating the lenses out after recent ‘wearings’ but, having received
a refresher course from the optician during my last contact lenses
appointment, was hopeful I’d be able to remove them with or without the help
of eye-drops. Having loaded my car, I was ready to depart a
minute or two before 09:00. Today’s outfit was black jeggings,
with thermal tights underneath, grey with black birds design thermal t-shirt,
black thermal t-shirt, navy/cream thermal t-shirt with a brushed lining (it
didn’t complement my colour scheme but was warm and no-one would see anyway),
a red ribbed polo-neck sweater, poppy-coloured fleece, charcoal gilet, grey double-frill tweed M & S skirt, black
with white horses design socks, grey ladybird design fleece snood, Katia Paint brown/grey/red crocheted snood, black Hotter
‘Danville’ ankle boots, black BHS
£20 coat, brown M & S trilby with a gold thread running through the
fabric (I have two brown trilby hats, both M & S, and this was the
lighter brown of the two), my mauve Kipling ‘Defea’ handbag and, finally, a
pair of ‘shades of rusty red’
butterfly earrings. Having set off, I decided to travel via the ring-road,
before heading down London Road to the roundabout upon the A414. I subsequently headed down the London Colney bypass in order to join the M25 anti-clockwise
carriageway at Junction 22. Being quite early on Boxing Day morning, traffic
was flowing freely on the motorway and I’d soon reached Junction 12, where I
joined the M3 in order to head towards London. Having reached Junction 1, where the road transforms
into the A316, I followed the yellow temporary road-signs which indicated I
should continue to the next junction, before heading down the slip-road and
around a roundabout. I would then
re-join the A316, but in the opposite direction, before bearing off to the
left shortly afterwards in order to enter Park Road! From previous experience, I knew that the
stewards wouldn’t let me enter via Gate 1, before 10:00. So, having headed over the railway bridge,
I continued past this gate until I reached a T-junction with the A308 Staines
Road East. I turned left at this
point, before reaching the main gate shortly afterwards. I showed my parking pass and a steward
moved a traffic cone to allow me to enter the main car park. I followed the perimeter roadway until I encountered
a vehicle blocking my path; the driver was manoeuvring and seemed lost! Finally, once my route was clear, I was required
to show my pass yet again, before being allowed to enter the area adjacent to
the railway track where ordinary punters were permitted to park their
vehicles. The first two rows were
already full, which was fortuitous, so I parked on the third row, the front
of two; it’s not always easy to back out when the roadway behind is blocked
by vehicles queuing to exit! Having parked up just before 10:00, I waited in
my car for a while; I ate the two cheese rolls I’d bought with me too. Whilst sitting in my car, I saw a number of
unnamed horse boxes arrive, plus two named ones – both small – those of Harry
Fry and Philip Hobbs. Having changed
into my boots and put on my coat, snoods and hat too, I set off for the
Paddock entrance at around 10:25. I
flock of parakeets flew over as I set off; a common sight in the southwest
London area. Having reached the
turnstiles, I headed through an open gateway to the left-hand side thereof …
but upon presenting my ticket I was told I’d have to return outside in order
to have my bag checked! I did as I was instructed, before re-entering the
gate and having my ticket scanned. I
then headed across to where programmes were being sold; £5 today. The picture on the front cover was that of
a jockey sitting upon a throne made out of birch branches arranged to
resemble the Game of Thrones Iron Throne … until I discovered the very
talented ... and extremely attractive ... Richard Madden recently, who played
the role of the ill-fated Robb Stark, eldest son of Ned Stark, I would not
have had any notion about an Iron Throne!
The punch-line on the programme cover was ‘Only One will claim the Throne‘. I headed through one of the doors leading to the
ground floor of the main grandstand; I was on a mission to visit to ladies’
loo before too many people arrived!
Since my previous visit to Kempton Park, in December 2016, the ladies’
room had been refurbished; there was even a shelf along the wall behind each
loo … was that intended for one to place a glass of beer … although I
wouldn’t fancy drinking it after flushing a toilet in the vicinity, knowing
that water droplets from a toilet can travel many feet during a flush!!! Having spent a penny, I headed outside to the steppings beside the Parade Ring. The ITV Racing crew was assembling;
including Ed Chamberlin and AP McCoy.
The presenter on duty for Racing TV (formerly Racing UK) was the
lovely Tom Stanley; the racing pundit for the channel would be Steve Mellish. Hayley
Moore was Kempton Park’s race-day presenter today. Having waited a while, I headed to the
course-side rails to reserve my spot ahead of racing. Apart from security staff in yellow
jackets, I was the first person to arrive there. The grassed area was well maintained, if a
little damp, as my boots brushed through said grass. The railing itself was damp, so I didn’t
lean upon it, and I also noticed a number of tiny money spiders running up
and down it! The weather was dry but overcast today, with no
visibility issues apart from mistiness encountered around Rickmansworth area
during my inbound journey. The
temperature was around 8 or 9 degrees and I remained cosy having layered my
clothing. There seemed to be less going on, on track before
racing, this year than there usually is.
However, I did see Gavin Sheehan returning from a jog around the
course. At one point, having rummaged
for something in my bag, I finally located my eye-drops; they were in one of
the pockets!!! That was very strange,
as I’d done quite a thorough search of the bag earlier. I continued to watch the world go by whilst
waiting for the first race, off time 12:50.
I saw three helicopters arrive, at least one of which also departed
again. Numerous people posed beside
the final fence in order for photographs to be taken, or selfies. It seemed quieter than usual this year,
with fewer vehicles parked within the in-field area. Along with the cherry-picker camera
position, to the inside of the final fence, there was another TV camera
position situated just the other side of the hedge which separates the main
enclosure from the Silver Ring area. The favourite for the first race was the Olly Murphy-trained Thomas Darby, ridden by Richard
Johnson; price 5-2. The
starting gate for the first race of the day was at the far end of the home
straight, the horses cantering down past the grandstands to reach it.
And then they were off, with Rouge Vif leading the way from the keen Mister Fisher as the
runners headed towards the first flight; Fly To Mars jumped this
awkwardly. The six competitors
continued their journey up the home straight towards the next obstacle, with
Rouge Vif continuing to lead from Mister Fisher,
Fly To Mars, The Big Bite, Thomas Darby and Didtheyleaveuoutto. The runners cleared this one well, before
heading up past the winning post with one circuit now to travel. The runners crossed the all-weather strip as they
turned the top bend, followed by a stretch of turf and then the return strip
of all-weather surface. Rouge Vif remained at the head of affairs, from the improving
Fly To Mars, then Mister Fisher and The Big Bite, with Thomas Darby and Didtheyleaveuoutto continuing to bring up the rear; The
Big Bite made an error at the third. The six competitors cleared the next without
incident and they headed into the far turn still led by Rouge Vif; all were travelling okay as they did so. Having entered the back straight, the
runners had soon reached the fifth flight, where Fly To Mars landed awkwardly
once more. The Harry Whittington
representative continued to spearhead the field on the run to the next; the
field remained closely grouped. Both
Fly To Mars and The Big Bite were less fluent than the others as they cleared
it. Vif
Rouge held the advantage over Mister Fisher as they began the home turn, from
Thomas Darby, Fly To Mars Didtheyleaveuoutto and
The Big Bite; Fly To Mars and The Big Bite soon received slaps down their
shoulders. This galvanised the Tom
George runner but Fly To Mars dropped to the back of the field. Having entered the home straight, the
latter dropped away, as the others began to mount their challenges. To the near side, Mister Fisher came to join the
long-time leader as they jumped two out, with Thomas Darby a very close-up
third. However, the latter soon came
under pressure as the Nicky Henderson runner took the lead on the run to the
final obstacle. The leader jumped this
really well and landed running, leaving the others to follow in his wake as
he headed up to the line to win by 2¾ lengths. Rouge Vif stayed on
well to claim 2nd prize, from Thomas Darby and The Big Bite. The leading four were well clear of Didtheyleaveyououtto and the tailed off outsider of the
party Fly To Mars. Mister Fisher is by Jeremy, so the name is
fitting … as in Mr Jeremy Fisher!
I remained beside the course-side rails in order
to retain my position. The
favourite for the second race was Lough Derg
Spirit, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico
de Boinville; price 3-1. Surprisingly, the jockeys took their horses to look
at the last fence before heading to the 2 mile 4½ furlongs starting gate situated
upon the lake turn. This would be
expected ahead of the two Grade 1 chases, but maybe not ahead of this
particular race. Presumably they
wouldn’t have if it had been a run-of-the-mill weekday fixture.
And then they were off, with the sole grey
Warthog leading the way as the runners headed through the starting gate and
into the back straight. Twelve of the
thirteen competitors cleared the first well, the exception being Storm Home
who landed awkwardly and shot jockey Sean Bowen forward; the partnership
survived this early scare. The field headed on towards fence number two,
which they all negotiated in their stride.
The third obstacle was an open-ditch and Storm Home, having dropped to
the back of the field, made another jumping error here. Warthog continued to set the pace as the
runners continued towards and jumped over the final fence in the back
straight, from Glen Forsa, Carlos Du Fruitier, Lough Derg
Spirit, Envoye Special, Delire
D’Estruval, Lisdoonvarna
Lad, Awake At Midnight, Turtle Wars, Vivas, Dell
Oro, Glen Rocco and, finally, Storm Home.
With the first four fences negotiated
successfully, the thirteen runners headed around the bend and into the home
straight on the first occasion.
Warthog continued to lead as they jumped the next fence without
incident and headed on to the next; again this was cleared successfully, as
was the one closest to the grandstands.
Storm Home was now a number of lengths adrift of the others. Passing the winning post with one circuit to
travel, the grey led, from Glen Forsa, Carlos Du Fruitier, Envoye Special, Delire D’Estruval, Lough Derg Spirit,
Awake At Midnight, Turtle Wars, Lisdoonvarna Lad, Vivas, Dell Oro, Glen Rocco and Storm Home. The runners travelled across the
all-weather strip as they swung right-handed to begin the next leg of their
journey. As they crossed the second
strip of all-weather track, Sean Bowen decided to pull up Storm Home. The remaining twelve runners continued over the
next, where Envoye Special made an error. The following fence was an open-ditch,
which Glen Forsa jumped upsides Warthog.
All of the competitors jumped this one well, and the grey went on
again as they headed into the long sweeping turn which brought them into the
back straight. Travelling at the rear
of the field was the chestnut Glen Rocco, and he was three lengths adrift and
under pressure. Having entered the back straight, the runners had
soon reached the seventh fence from home; Warthog blundered here, allowing
the strong-travelling Glen Forsa to take the advantage. The grey began to weaken now, losing his
prominent position as the horses cleared the next; Dell Oro jumped awkwardly
and out to his left over this one. The following fence was the final open-ditch;
Glen Forsa held a clear advantage as he jumped this one, his nearest rivals
being Carlos Du Fruitier, Envoye Special and Awake
At Midnight. Warthog made a further
error here and Tom Scudamore decided to pull him up
before the next. Meanwhile the Mick Channon-trained runner continued to travel strongly and
held a four lengths lead as they headed over the final fence in the back
straight. Turtle Wars, travelling
towards the rear of the field, made an error here; he was subsequently bumped
along by jockey Noel Fehily. Glen Forsa continued to show his rivals a clean
pair of heels as he headed around the long swinging bend leading to the home
straight; staying on noticeably at this point was Dell Oro. His rivals were beginning to cut back the
deficit as they continued their journey to three out. Glen Forsa retained an advantage as they
jumped this one, with Carlos Du Fruitier his nearest pursuer, closely
followed by Dell Oro and Awake At Midnight; the latter jumped out badly to
his left over this one. Glen Rocco had
moved into fifth position now, with the tiring Envoye
Special blundering here. Having lost some of his advantage initially, Glen
Forsa was staying-on well as they approached two out and the leading four had
pulled well clear of the others as they jumped this and continued on their journey
to the final fence. Jonathan Burke’s
mount flew the last, with Carlos Du Fruitier now winning the battle with Dell
Oro for the runner-up spot; the latter made an error here. Glen Forsa then galloped on strongly all the way
to the line to win by 2¾ lengths from the fast finishing Glen Rocco who had
overtaken Carlos Du Fruitier on the run-in.
Dell Oro came home in 4th position, from the favourite Lough Derg Spirit, Envoye Special and
Awake At Midnight. The remaining three
came home in their own time. The trainer’s son Jack,
said the winner would hopefully be aimed at the Novices’ Handicap Chase run
on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival; Glen Forsa is owned by Tim
Radford, who owns last year’s winner of that race Mister Whitaker, also
trained by Mick Channon.
I
remained beside the course-side rails once more. The
favourite for the third race was Santini, trained
by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico de Boinville; price 11-10. The starting gate for this race is the same as
the one for the later King George, being at the beginning of the side
straight. The horses cantered down
past the grandstand to view the final fence before heading to the gate.
A member of the ground staff had to chase a
couple of wild geese off the track just prior to the race; large birds can be
a menace and have been known to bring down a horse – this happened to the later
ill-fated Dark Energy a few years ago. And then they were off, with a line of five across
the course as they headed towards the first fence; Bags Groove to the inside
of Santini, Topofthegame,
La Bague Au Roi and Red
Indian. Close behind travelled No
Hassle Hoff and The Worlds End. There were a number of errant jumps here, with Topofthegame jumping across in front of Santini and Daryl Jacob briefly letting go of his mount’s
reins as No Hassle Hoff over-jumped! Bags Groove and Red Indian went on as
they headed towards and over the second fence, which was the first
open-ditch; The Worlds End made an error here. Bags Groove and Red Indian continued to dispute
the lead as the runners headed around the far turn; they were pursued by Santini to the inside of Topofthegame,
then La Bague Au Roi, The
Worlds End and No Hassle Hoff. Having
entered the back straight, Red Indian held a narrow advantage as the runners
cleared the first fence therein. The
mare, travelling to the outside of the field, had improved into third
position. The horses continued to the fourth, which they
all cleared well; The Worlds End had been relegated to last position
now. The following fence was another
open-ditch; this was jumped without incident.
Having safely negotiated the next, which was the last in the back
straight, the seven-strong field entered the bend which led into the home
straight; at the rear of the field, The Worlds End was already being niggled
along. Bags Groove and Red Indian led the field over the
next, just ahead of La Bague Au Roi. Santini travelled
just behind this trio, from Topofthegame, No Hassle
Hoff and The Worlds End. The runners
continued their journey to the middle of the three fences in the home
straight and they all cleared this well. The leading five runners held clear daylight
over the remainder as they jumped the ninth fence, before heading up past the
winning post with one circuit still to travel. The runners subsequently swung right-handed,
heading across the all-weather track as they did so. This was followed by a stretch of turf and
the all-weather return, prior to reaching the next fence. Red Indian and La Bague
Au Roi, at the head of affairs, jumped this in
unison; No Hassle Hoff travelled at the rear of the field, although all seven
runners were quite closely grouped at this stage. The next fence was another open-ditch, which Bags
Groove jumped more slowly than Santini and Topofthegame who were travelling upsides him. The Worlds End had to be pushed along as
they entered the far turn and, as a result, he had soon closed the deficit;
the Tom George-trained runner was definitely running in snatches. Having entered the back straight, the runners
soon encountered their next obstacle.
However, No Hassle Hoff caught his hind-legs in the fence and, as a
result, catapulted Daryl Jacob over his off-side shoulder. It was recorded as unseated rider, because
the horse didn’t actually fall; it just briefly lost its hind-legs upon
landing and galloped away unharmed. Meanwhile the remaining runners continued their
journey to the next; six from the finish.
La Bague Au Roi
held the advantage as they jumped this one.
The following fence was the final open-ditch, with Nico
de Boinville steering Santini
towards the outer as they approached it.
Richard Johnson saw a good stride on the approach and sailed over
it. The field had soon reached four
out, where the leader jumped slightly out to her left. Red Indian had dropped to the back of the leading
group now, with Topofthegame and Santini travelling in second and third place respectively
as they headed around the final turn; however, the favourite was soon pushed
along. The runners entered the home
straight and the Paul Nicholls-trained runner had joined La Bague Au Roi as they cleared
three out; she landed a little awkwardly over this one. However, despite this, the mare continued to
battle against her larger rival as they galloped towards the second
last. Topofthegame
jumped this big and bold, too big and bold in fact, as he spent more time in
the air than his speedier opponent. This
meant that the leading two were fighting neck and neck as they headed towards
the final fence; they took off in unison. Once again, the mare was more quickly into her
stride than Topofthegame and she’d soon gone a
couple of lengths up; the chestnut stayed on well too, but he couldn’t peg back
La Bague Au Roi and she
won by 1½ lengths at the line. Having made no impression early in the home
straight, Santini stayed on after the last and
finished just two lengths further back in 3rd. Red Indian completed in 4th, with Bags Groove
5th and The Worlds End a disappointing 6th. Okay, so she was in receipt of 7lbs from her
rivals, but she was so game; this was her thirteenth victory from 18 runs. It just goes to prove that you cannot give
away weight to a very good mare! Winning jockey Richard Johnson said she produces
her best form on flatter tracks; so connections have found that Cheltenham
doesn’t suit her as much as Aintree does.
I
remained beside the course-side rails ahead of the next event. The favourite for the feature Christmas Hurdle
race was Buveur D’Air,
trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Barry Geraghty;
price 1-4 on! The
two mile starting gate is situated at the far end of the home straight, so
the runners cantered down past the stands to reach it.
And then they were off, with Global Citizen
taking the lead, from Boite, If The Cap Fits, Buveur D’Air and the mare
Verdana Blue. Global Citizen had made
all at Newbury on 01 December, to win the Listed Intermediate (Gerry Feilden) Hurdle, but this would be a totally different
kettle of fish! The dual Champion
Hurdle winner brushed through the top of the first flight. The five competitors continued their journey up
the home straight towards the next obstacle.
The leader hit this one and wobbled slightly on landing but remained a
number of lengths ahead of this rivals as they headed up past the winning
post with one circuit now to travel; Boite, in
turn, was clear of the other three. Having reached the top corner, the runners swung
right-handed; heading over the all-weather strip as they began their journey
down the side of the racecourse. They
subsequently traversed the all-weather return before reaching flight number
three; Boite had now closed upon the leader, but
the other three remained some distance behind this duo. The quintet cleared the obstacle in their
stride before continuing to the next, which Boite
hit. Global Citizen extended his lead over Boite as they travelled around the far turn, with If The
Cap Fits continuing to head the remainder of the field. Having entered the back straight, Buveur D’Air began to improve
his position; he jumped the first flight therein smoothly and was now up into
third position. The main group soon
reeled-in Boite, and they were also gaining ground
on the long-time leader. However, having moved into second position, Buveur D’Air misjudged his
take-off over the third last and galloped straight through it; the panel was
flattened. Fortunately the favourite
didn’t appear to lose too much impetus.
The runners headed into the final turn now, with Boite
relegated to last place and being pushed along. Global Citizen was just a couple of lengths clear
of the field as they entered the home straight. Barry Geraghty
pulled his mount out of the leader’s slipstream as they approached the
penultimate flight and was upsides Global Citizen as they jumped it; Verdana
Blue was stalking both of these and was just half a length behind them. Buveur
D’Air had assumed the lead as they galloped towards
the final flight, with the mare now a clear second; If The Cap fits was
disputing third position with Global Citizen, whilst Boite
was trailing the field. They all
jumped the last well and Buveur D’Air
set sail up the run-in, seemingly with the race in the bag. However Nico de Boinville had other ideas and, having given his mount a
couple of smacks with his whip, Verdana Blue ran on strongly and was gaining
upon the leader all the way up the run-in.
It was a photo finish as they flashed past the winning line together;
and she was definitely in front after the line. And the result of that photograph was that
Verdana Blue, receiving the 7lbs mares’ allowance and on ground that she
loved, had won by a short-head. If The
Cap Fits completed in 3rd, with Global Citizen 4th and Boite
last. The winning owner explained that the plan is to
go to the Melbourne Cup with this mare; they had run her in a Listed race on
the all-weather at Kempton just three weeks previously in order to get her
some black type. Verdana Blue doesn’t
like soft ground so, when it transpired the ground on Boxing Day was going to
be suitable and only a few runners were going to turn up, it was decided to
run her in the Christmas Hurdle! He
said she’d ‘done nothing’ for three
weeks, having sat in her box, and now come out and won! The plan moving forward, would be to run in the
Champion Hurdle, but only if the ground was okay. If not, she would head to Lingfield Park on Good Friday for a 2-mile flat race on
the all-weather, which is worth a lot of money. The owner jokingly said that Nicky Henderson was
‘bloody furious’ that his
second-string had beaten his first-string today; jockey Nico
de Boinville had even apologised to the trainer for
doing so!!! He said the mare was the
best National Hunt horse they’d ever had; they own Crimbourne
Stud. Verdana Blue had won Wincanton’s
Elite Hurdle earlier in the season too.
Topsham Bay and Seagram being former representatives for the owners.
I
remained beside the course-side rails ahead of the feature race. The favourite for the King George VI Chase was Might
Bite, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico
de Boinville; price 3-1. My favourite racehorse, Native River, was
also taking part. Politologue
led the pre-race parade; he was out of alphabetical order, the other nine
were not. The jockeys then took their mounts
to look at what would be the final fence before cantering back to the start
at the beginning of the side straight.
And then they were off, with Coneygree
bounding into the lead as they traversed the all-weather return on their way
to the first fence. Prominent were
Native River, Might Bite, Bristol De Mai, Thistlecrack
and Double Shuffle. Bristol De Mai
jumped this over-big and bumped into Thistlecrack
as a result; they both survived and continued. The second fence was the first of the
open-ditches; all ten jumped this one well, with Coneygree
holding a clear advantage over Might Bite, Thistlecrack
and Native River; the latter was pushed-along slightly in order to keep his
place as he travelled beside the inside rail. Mark Bradstock’s
representative continued to push the pace as they headed around the far turn
and into the back straight; Waiting Patiently was doing exactly that, at the
rear of the field. Native River wasn’t particularly fluent at the
third and Richard Johnston had to roust him along for a few strides. Kempton isn’t the horse’s type of course
and the ground wouldn’t have suited today either; but, what can you do? There’s a limited number of 3-mile plus
graded races for him to take part in during the season. The ten ‘heavyweights’ continued their journey along the back straight,
with Coneygree continuing to lead, from Might Bite,
Thistlecrack, Native River, Bristol De Mai, Double
Shuffle, Politologue, Clan Des Obeaux,
Tea For Two and Waiting Patiently. The
runners cleared the next safely. The fifth fence was another open-ditch and, once
again, there were no jumping errors; although Native River was displaying a
slight tendency to jump out to this left.
The runner then headed on towards the final fence in the back
straight, where Politologue made a slight
error. Subsequently, Coneygree led the field as they headed around the long
swinging turn into the home straight on the first occasion; he was a couple
of lengths clear of Might Bite who spearheaded the remainder of the field. All participants were travelling kindly as the
well-grouped field continued over the first fence in the home straight without
incident; and the same at the second therein too. However, this wasn’t the case at the fence
in front of the grandstands. Bristol
De Mai, who was travelling in sixth position at the time, hit the top of it
and fell. Clan Des Obeaux
was fortunate to be able to side-step the incident, but not so Waiting
Patiently; he was so badly hampered that Brian Hughes was unable to retain his
partnership with the latter. That was the 4-1 second favourite knocked out of
the race by the fall of the only horse who could have won the million pound
bonus! It just wasn’t Daryl Jacob’s
day. But, fortunately, both horses
were fine, as were the jockeys involved; they would both ride in the final
race of the day. Meanwhile the remaining eight runners continued
their journey up past the winning post, before swinging right-handed and
heading out into the country once more; one circuit now completed. Coneygree
remained at the head of affairs, from Might Bite, Thistlecrack
and Native River. They all jumped the
next obstacle well, before continuing to the penultimate open-ditch; the
back-marker was Tea For Two. It was another display of polished jumping as
they cleared this fence and Coneygree remained at
the head of affairs, from Might Bite, as they headed around the far turn with
all to play for in this compact field.
Politologue made an error at the first fence
in the back straight, and the long-time leader was just beginning to show
signs of distress as they headed towards six out. It was Might Bite’s turn to make an error
as they jumped this one. The 2016 winner, Thistlecrack,
came to join Coneygree at the head of affairs as
they continued to the final open-ditch; Clan Des Obeaux
had also made progress through the field, and jumped it in fourth
position. Politologue
had regained the ground he’d lost following his error, but Native River had
dropped back and was being pushed along by Richard Johnson. Having subsequently cleared four out and headed
into the final turn, a group of four had set up an advantage over the
others. Thistlecrack,
Coneygree and Might Bite were vying for the lead,
with Clan Des Obeaux tucked in behind them. However, as they entered the final
straight, it was Thistlecrack who struck for home
first, followed by Clan Des Obeaux; Coneygree was tiring now, but surprisingly, last year’s
winner Might Bite couldn’t go with them either. Clan Des Obeaux was
almost upsides Thistlecrack as they cleared three
out, and it was Politologue who now overtook Might
Bite in order to give chase to the leading duo. It soon became apparent that Clan Des Obeaux was travelling the best, as Thistlecrack
had to be shaken-up by Tom Scudamore. The latter jumped slightly better at two
out, but Harry Cobden was determined to hold onto his mount for as long as
possible, bearing in mind he’d been beaten earlier in the day aboard Topofthegame in a very similar situation. Harry saw a great stride at the last and flew
over the fence, giving Clan Des Obeaux the order to
quicken up on the run to the line.
Having quickly gained a clear advantage, he held on to that, and went
on to win by 1½ lengths. The first and second had drawn well clear
of their rivals, with Native River staying on to claim 3rd place 12 lengths further
back. Politologue
was 4th, Double Shuffle 5th, Tea For Two was 6th and
Might Bite 7th. Coneygree
had blundered and unseated Sean Bowen two out, when in 7th position at the
time. I understand Coneygree
had suffered another over-reach; and Might Bite bled from his nose and would
undergo a breathing operation subsequently.
Tom Scudamore and Harry
Cobden shook hands after the line. It
was Paul Nicholls’ 10th winner of this race, with Clan Des Obeaux being the youngest horse in the field; a
6-year-old. Paul had claimed first and
fourth, with Colin Tizzard’s horses 2nd and 3rd. Harry Cobden had the choice of mount, as
the stable jockey, so chose Clan Des Obeaux; his
4th-placed effort in Haydock’s Betfair
Chase had swayed his decision. Not surprisingly, the trainer said that his
winning charge would be aimed at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, come March; with
one more race in the interim. He said
Clan does have a tendency to jump slightly right-handed, but it shouldn’t
make much difference now that he’s maturing with experience. The winning owners included Paul Barber,
who had also been involved with the dual King George winner See More
Business, and Sir Alex Ferguson. Since 2006, the race has only been won by Paul
Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Colin Tizzard!!! In other words, the current ‘big 3’!
I
decided to head back to the Winners’ Enclosure area immediately following the
race. The placed horses arrived
therein shortly afterwards, followed a few minutes later by the winner; he
would have been delayed due to parading in front of the stands before
returning. Photos
taken, Clan Des Obeaux was led on two laps of
honour around the Parade Ring before being taken back to the stables. The trophy was presented to connections by
comedian Lee Mack! I headed back to the betting ring
area although, this time, there were no spaces directly beside the
rails. It wasn’t too important though
as, with the light fading fast, my camera wouldn’t be very effective at this
point; it had been struggling during the feature race too. There were three co-favourites for
the final race of the day; namely top-weight Ballyandy
trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by his
son Sam, plus Divin Bere
trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Harry Cobden, and one of the
bottom-weights, The Sweeney trained by Emma Lavelle and ridden by Brian
Hughes; price 6-1. The starting gate for the final race
of the day was situated at the lake bend.
I believe the horses cantered down past the grandstands on their way
to the start; although my memory doesn’t serve me well on this one, as I was quite
late arriving course-side!
And then they were off and heading towards the
first flight; prominent were Montalbano, Erick Le
Rouge and Penn Lane. They all cleared
this one well and journeyed on towards the next, which they all jumped okay
too. However, following the obstacle,
Stowaway Magic received a couple of reminders from jockey Daryl Jacob; he
just wasn’t travelling today. The fourteen-strong field subsequently headed
into the long sweeping bend which led into the home straight with Montalbano, Erick Le Rouge and Penn Lane continuing to
dispute the lead. They were followed
by Lord Of The Island, The Sweeney, Who’s My Jockey, Crystal Lad, Divin Bere, Big Chief Benny, Et
Moi Alors, Ballyandy, Mellow Ben, Stowaway Magic and Colonial
Dreams. Having entered the home straight the runners
continued over the third flight; there were no errors noticeable here. The field then travelled on to the next
obstacle where, again, there were no mistakes of note. Montalbano
remained at the head of affairs, pressed by Erick Le Rouge and Penn Lane, as
they galloped up in front of the stands, past the winning post and swung
right-handed to head out into the country once again. Their route had taken them across the all-weather
strip, followed by a stretch of turf, and the all-weather return, before they
reached the fifth flight. There was no
change at the head of affairs as they jumped it, apart from Lord Of The
Island having now joined the leading group.
Crystal Lad had to be urged along by his jockey Jonathan Burke
following the obstacle. Erick Le Rouge
came through to take the lead having jumped the sixth; bringing up the rear
was Stowaway Magic, having not travelled sweetly at any point today. The runners headed around the far turn
subsequently, with Montalbano losing his place as they
entered the back straight; Et Moi Alors blundered at the first flight therein and was being
pushed along as they travelled towards three out. Meanwhile, Erick Le Rouge, Lord Of The
Island and Penn Lane continued at the head of affairs; with The Sweeney, Ballyandy, Colonial Dreams and Mellow Ben travelling
behind these. However, Ballyandy made an error at this flight, flattening one of
the panels as a result. Erick Le Rouge spearheaded the runners
as they headed around the final bend.
Mellow Ben had made progress to dispute second position alongside Penn
Lane, with The Sweeney, Colonial Dreams, the pushed along Lord Of The Island,
Ballyandy and Big Chief Benny all members of the
leading group; Who’s My Jockey was endeavouring to get on terms with these as
he stayed on from further back. Having entered the home straight, Erick Le Rouge
continued to gallop on relentlessly as they approached two out; his nearest
challengers being Mellow Ben to the stand-side, The Sweeney to the far-side,
with Ballyandy between these. Having successfully cleared this flight,
Mellow Ben came to challenge the Jane Williams-trained leader as they
galloped towards the final obstacle. You
got the feeling that Erick Le Rouge still had something in hand as, for much
of the time, his ears were pricked! Anyway, he jumped the last more fluently than his
nearest rival and galloped on to win by a diminishing
three-quarters of a length from Mellow Ben at the line. Who’s My Jockey
had stayed on best of all in the home straight and completed a further
three-quarters of a length away in 3rd, with Ballyandy
in 4th. The Sweeney completed in 5th,
Colonial Dreams in 6th and Big Chief Benny 7th. Twelve completed, with Stowaway Magic being
the last of these; Montalbano and Crystal Lad
didn’t jump the final two obstacles, having been pulled up. Erick Le Rouge was now three out of three this
season!
Final race over, I headed back to the
Winners’ Enclosure to see the winner and placed horses arrive back. I always think it’s rude to depart without
going to see them at the end of the day!
To the connections, their horses are just as important as those
running in the feature races. Before I left, I had intended to pay a return
visit to the ladies’ room. However
when I got there, the queue was so long that I decided to leave without
spending a penny. It’s imperative to
depart the car park as soon as possible otherwise one might get trapped for
ages therein! As my car was parked on the railway station side
of the main car park, I left via the main entrance; this meant crossing over
the horse-walk and heading through the ticket hall. Although the main driveway wasn’t yet busy and
therefore easy to navigate as a pedestrian, there was an issue with vehicles
being driven through vacant parking spaces within the car park itself; this
included a ‘thoroughfare’ close to
my own vehicle. Having taken off my
hat, coat, fleecy snood and slightly muddy Hotter boots, replacing the latter
with my clean brown M & S footglove boots, I
was ready to depart too. I switched on my headlights and drove out of my
parking space, turning right as I did so.
In the time that it had taken me to prepare for my departure, a queue
of vehicles had formed upon the main driveway, all heading towards gate
number 1. Cars continued to join this,
having driven through the gaps created by empty parking spaces. Another queue had formed along the
thoroughfare at the far end of my row; this merged into the main queue
too. I waited my turn; I permitted one car to back-out
ahead of me, and fortunately this freed up space at the corner of the front rows,
enabling better manoeuvrability when I became part of the secondary
queue. I was also able to sneak out
into the main queue, just prior to the gate.
As always on Boxing Day, it was a right-turn only upon entering Park
Road; I drove over the railway bridge and around the corner before
encountering the back of the queue which tailed back from the roundabout
under Junction 1 of the M3. One or two vehicles joined from the left further
down, but it didn’t take long to reach the aforementioned roundabout, despite
the two current lines of traffic having to merge into one just prior to the
traffic lights. The lights turned to
green once more and, having negotiated the traffic island, I headed up the
slip-road onto the motorway. It was
16:05. Traffic was moving freely on the motorway and,
have travelled a number of miles, I took the slip-road which headed off to
the left, before bearing right in order to join the clockwise carriageway of
the M25. Traffic, for the most part,
was moving freely here too and I was soon able to move into the middle
carriageway, of 5; this would enable me to continue in this lane all the way
around to my exit point without being siphoned off down any of the junction slip-roads
along the way. I did, however, find myself travelling behind a car whose driver kept braking … that was annoying. It also re-confirmed to me that the motorway beyond junction 16 is no longer lit during hours of darkness … that’s also very annoying, as my eye-sight at night isn’t what it used to be! Further along, as I approached junction 22 and just before I transferred into the inside lane ready to leave the motorway, I found myself driving behind a very slow moving car. Soon after that, a large lorry began to tailgate said car because he/she was so slow; between 35 to 50 mph at various points! Having left the motorway, I drove up the London Colney bypass and into my home City, travelling via the
ring-road to my destination; I arrived home at 16:55. But that wasn’t the end of my outings for the
day, as at 17:25 I set off to Luton to visit my older brother and family and
to collect my mum who had spent the day in their company whilst I was at the
races. I also took the opportunity to
receive tuition on transferring photos from my new camera to my laptop; my
older brother is a keen photographer.
I have basic software on the PC, which came supplied when I bought it,
but not a specific application. I
either need to download the camera-specific one from the camera manufacturer’s
website, or download another free application from the web, or purchase an
application such as Photoshop Elements.
I finally arrived home again at 20:15. However, I didn’t get to sleep until gone
01:00 because I was waiting for the Racing TV highlights to be broadcast so
that I could record them ahead of writing my race notes for this diary; it
took ages today, due to the number of fixtures broadcast on the channel –
Kempton Park, Wetherby, Huntingdon, Market Rasen and Wincanton.
Once Irish racing joins Racing TV in 2019, it’s
going to be simply impossible to view racing on days like this. It’s already bad enough, having to
broadcast five races within each 30 to 35 minute time-slot without adding
Irish fixtures to that too; especially as I have absolutely no interest in
the latter! |
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Notes from the
Stewards’ Room: Race 1 - 12:50pm The performance of
DIDTHEYLEAVEUOUTTO (IRE), which finished fifth, was considered. Nick Gifford’s
explanation that the gelding was unsuited by the going on this occasion,
which was officially described as Good to Soft, Good in places, and would
prefer a faster surface was noted. Race 2 - 1:20pm CARLOS DU FRUITIER
(FR), trained by Ben Pauling, was late in the Parade Ring, due to Pauling
having two horses to saddle and experiencing difficulty in fitting the
blinkers of CARLOS DE FRUITIER (FR). Race 3 - 1:55pm SANTINI wore ear plugs
which were removed at the start. Race 4 - 2:30pm BUVEUR D'AIR (FR) wore
ear plugs. Race 5 - 3:05pm BRISTOL DE MAI (FR)
wore ear plugs. Permission was given for POLITOLOGUE (FR) to parade out of
order in that it would parade first. Race 6 - 3:40pm BALLYANDY wore ear
plugs which were removed at the start. |
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PHOTOS – Kempton Park Boxing Day (Index) |
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