DIARY – NEWBURY – HENNESSY GOLD CUP
SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2014
PART II
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The Alan
King-trained Medinas, ridden by Richard Johnson, is the
surprise winner of the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle Click here to read Part 1 of my diary There
was no Alan King runner in the fourth race of the day. The favourite for this event was the Nicky
Henderson representative, Hammersly Lake, priced at
5-2 and ridden by Barry Geraghty. The
starting gate for this race is located at the far end of the home straight,
with that and one full circuit to travel.
I recall that Exitas went to the start
early, with Home Run being led in at the start.
Then
they were off. Triumphant led over the
first flight, from the grey Albert Bridge to the outside, and Vice Et Vertu to the inside.
Meanwhile back in the field, Germany Calling was pulling for his
head. The runners continued up the
home straight with Jamie Moore’s mount disputing the lead with Albert Bridge;
Home Run travelled alongside Vice Et Vertu in
third, followed by Exitas and Silsol,
Hammersly Lake, Bordoni
and First Avenue, with Germany Calling at the rear. Having
passed the packed grandstands the runners headed up around the top bend and
out into the country for the one and only time; the pace was a modest
one. The field cleared the first
flight in the back straight and continued to the next; Bordoni
was now marginally the back marker.
The visored Triumphant travelled slightly
ahead of Albert Bridge, from Home Run, Vice Et Vertu
and Exitas matching strides a couple of lengths
behind them. The
runners continued their journey down the back straight, clearing three more
flights as they did so; there were no noticeable errors made by any of the
horses apart from Exitas at the final one of these
and around six lengths covered the field.
There was no change at the head of affairs as the runners headed into
the far turn. Conor
Shoemark administered a few slaps with his whip
down Exitas’ shoulder as they travelled around the
bend.
Upon
entering the home straight, Home Run began to lay down a challenge to the
leader and had drawn alongside him as they cleared three out. The favourite Hammersly
Lake, travelling in around fifth or sixth place, appeared to be
struggling. Exitas
began to fade as they approached the penultimate flight; meanwhile Silsol had made progress into third position, although he
was a little clumsy at this obstacle. Triumphant
began to fade as they headed towards the last, as did Albert Bridge. This left Home Run with a narrow lead, and Silsol continuing to close to the nearside; to the far
side Hammersly Lake was staying on. The Paul Nicholls runner had a couple of
lengths in hand as they jumped the final hurdle, with Home Run veering off to
his left as he attempted to retain runner-up position from the closing Hammersly Lake. Silsol continued to
stay on and was driven out by 7lb claimer Jack Sherwood, winning by 1¾
lengths at the line from Barry Geraghty’s
mount. Home Run finished 3rd, five
lengths back; Vice Et Vertu completed in 4th, a
further 10 lengths behind. It
was Jack’s second winner at this Festival; he is currently Paul Nicholls’ conditional
jockey. Jack is nephew of trainer
Oliver Sherwood and son of former jockey Simon Sherwood.
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure once more to see the horses arrive
back. It
was then time for the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle race. One Alan King runner in this event, the
diminutive Medinas ridden by Richard Johnson; he
had been the runner-up in last year’s race.
Alan’s aim was to pick up prize money, as the horse is too small to go
chasing and his rating was too high to compete in handicap races. The
favourite was the Jonjo O’Neill-trained More Of
That, winner of this year’s Cheltenham Festival World Hurdle and today priced
at 4-7. Lac Fontana was a non-runner
due to the ground. The
starting gate for this race was half way down the back straight with two
flights to jump before the far turn; thus it took place over one and three
quarters circuits of the track.
Then
they were off. The horses split into
two groups as they headed to the first flight; Cole Harden leading More Of
That, Medinas and Peckhamecho
to the inside and Shotgun Paddy ahead of American Spin to the outside. Having cleared the first two flights
without incident, the two groups merged as they headed into the far
turn. Cole Harden held a three or four
lengths advantage over More Of That and Shotgun Paddy; Medinas
was a further three lengths back, followed closely by American Spin and Peckhamecho. Having
entered the home straight on the first occasion, the runners split into their
respective groups once more. More Of
That was a definite second behind the leader.
There were no mishaps as the runners headed up towards the
grandstands, clearing the three flights therein in their strides. Little Medinas
was dwarfed by More Of That and Peckhamecho. By
the time Cole Harden had reached the winning post with one circuit to go, he
held a four lengths advantage over AP McCoy’s mount, with Medinas
ahead of the remainder, 8 lengths behind him.
Peckhamecho was in 4th, Shotgun Paddy in 5th
and American Spin brought up the rear.
The
Warren Greatrex runner continued to bowl along at
the head of affairs as they negotiated the top bend and began the journey
down the back straight. Peckhamecho had drawn almost alongside Medinas as they cleared the next flight. More Of That got a little close to the
following flight; resulting in a clumsy leap from the favourite. Peckhamecho was a
little awkward at the 8th. By this
stage, Shotgun Paddy was being pushed along and American Spin’s jockey was
resigned to tailing off in last position.
Cole
Harden made a slight error at the last flight in the back straight, and More
Of That landed almost on all fours over it too. Heading into the far turn, both Medinas and Peckhamecho had
closed upon the two leaders, Richard Johnson’s mount travelling in their
slipstream. Having entered the home
straight, Gavin Sheehan pressed on again aboard the leader. As
they approached three out, AP McCoy became animated aboard his mount. However, as Peckhamecho
began to lose touch with the leaders, Medinas kept
pace with them and it appeared that he might be travelling the best. Having cleared the penultimate flight, AP
hit his mount with his whip, followed by a backhander. However, Medinas stayed with them and had soon overtaken More Of
That. Having reached the final flight,
Alan King’s runner jumped it in unison with the long-time leader. Medinas then just flew
up the run-in, drawing away from his rivals to win by 7 lengths at the line
from Cole Harden. The very tired More
Of That was eased and finished 18 lengths away in 3rd, with Peckhamecho another 17 lengths away in 4th. A
triumph for the very good little horse over the very good big horses. Conditions had been in Medinas’
favour today, as he loves running on soft ground.
I
headed back to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the horses return. As Alan had two runners in the feature race
to follow, he went to collect their saddles from the Weighing Room. Alan’s wife Rachel and daughter Georgia
were at the races today, so Georgia went to the podium to accept the
trainer’s prize. Here
is an excerpt from the blog on Alan King’s website published the following
day: "Medinas is so
tough, and he has certainly postponed any thoughts of retirement now. "I had talked with his owners (Frank and
Hilda Bell) about calling it a day at the end of last season as Medinas is too small to go over fences and he falls
between two stools over hurdles, being too high in the handicap, yet
invariably falling just short of the top level. "However, he made full use of the 8lb he was
getting from his two main rivals at Newbury, and he is one who was glad to
see the autumn so wet as he simply loves this soft ground. "The two leaders went off very hard and
Richard hung on in there, but Medinas is an
absolute legend and we all love him to bits. We'll have to think about the Long
Walk Hurdle at Ascot now." It
was now time for the feature race of the day, in which Alan King had two
runners – Smad Place, runner-up in last season’s
Cheltenham Festival RSA Chase, and Midnight Prayer, winner of the long
distance amateur riders’ chase at the same Festival. Today Smad Place
would be ridden by Denis O’Regan and Midnight
Prayer by Tom Bellamy. Martin
Keighley also had his first runner in the race, Annacotty,
winner of last season’s Feltham Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day; today he would be
ridden by Gavin Sheehan, with Ian Popham not quite
100% fit following injury. The
favourite for this race was Irish raider, Djakadam,
trained by Willie Mullins, ridden by Ruby Walsh and priced at 5-1. A
number of celebrities were in attendance today, and they gathering in the
Parade Ring. However the only person I
spotted was Patrick Grant from the Great British Sewing Bee! Once
the horses had begun to leave the crowded Parade Ring, I set off to find the
best position I could attain beside the course-side rails. The on-course security staff were finally
asking spectators not to stand upon the course-side picnic tables whilst the
feature race was taking place. There
was a parade ahead of race, led by top-weight Houblon
Des Obeaux. Smad Place was number 5 in the line, Annacotty
11 and Midnight Prayer 16.
Surprisingly I got a better view than usual of the runners as they
were led down the racecourse, despite being one row from the front. I think it was because the line ‘broke’ later than usual; the light conditions
were good too. The sun had been a
hindrance earlier in the afternoon, as it had been almost head on when
viewing the big screens opposite the enclosures. The
starting gate for this race was at the beginning of the back straight, with
almost two circuits of the track to cover.
The
runners approached the tape at an orderly pace and then they were off; this
new ruling stating nothing faster than a jog is working wonders! In the front line approaching the first
fence was What A Warrior to the inside, Annacotty
centre, to his outside Merry King, Midnight Prayer and Le Reve. The former rose first and all nineteen
runners cleared it without incident.
The back marker was Ballynagour. They
headed to fence number two, the first of the open-ditches. What A Warrior and Annacotty
were now setting a good pace at the head of affairs; there were no casualties
at the fence. The runners headed over
the third fence; Le Reve travelled in third position,
although now closer to the inside rail than before. Close behind him was Midnight Prayer, Merry
King, and Vino Griego to
the wide outside. Annacotty jumped into the
lead at the fourth fence, although he did get in a little close to it. However, both What A Warrior and Le Reve out-jumped the leader at the next. Having negotiated all five obstacles in the
back straight, the runners headed towards the far bend. What A Warrior and Le Reve
led, from Annacotty, Midnight Prayer, Rocky Creek, Djakadam, Merry King, Fingal
Bay and Vino Griego. Behind these were Unioniste,
Many Clouds, Wychwoods Brook, Houblon
Des Obeaux, Smad Place,
to the inside The Druids Nephew, to the outside Monbeg
Dude; at the rear of the field, Ballynagour, Via
Sundown and last year’s winner Triolo D’Alene. What
A Warrior, Le Reve and Annacotty
were two or three lengths clear of the main field as they headed towards the
cross-fence; The Druids Nephew, who has a reputation for wayward jumping,
clouted this fence and dropped to the rear of the field. The runners entered the home straight and
cleared all four fences therein without mishap. By the time they had reached the water-jump,
Annacotty had lost ground upon the two leaders but
remained ahead of the others; Triolo D’Alene and
The Druids Nephew remained at the rear of the field. The
nineteen-strong field headed up around the top bend and began their journey
down the back straight having completed one circuit of the track. Annacotty jumped
the next fence slowly and began to drift back through the field. In contrast, Houblon
Des Obeaux had improved his position to the outside
and now disputed the lead with What A Warrior and Le Reve. Fingal Bay also
jumped up to take a share of the lead as they cleared the open-ditch; Le Reve began to struggle having jumped the middle fence in
this line of five. Houblon Des Obeaux held a slight advantage over the following fence;
The Druids Nephew had recovered from his earlier blunder and, racing to the
wide outside, was now placed better than mid-field. By the time the runners had successfully
negotiated the final fence in the back straight, the back-markers were Unioniste, Annacotty, last
year’s runner-up Rocky Creek and Vino Griego. Triolo D’Alene had improved to the inside and now
travelled in mid-field. Le
Reve and Houblon Des Obeaux led the runners into the final bend; What A
Warrior having weakened rapidly through the field. The two leaders were tracked by Many Clouds
and Merry King; the latter ridden by AP McCoy who had still to add this race
to his CV. Following these Djakadam and The Druids Nephew; close behind these were
both Midnight Appeal and Smad Place. Calling it a day before the cross-fence
were Annacotty and Vino Griego; towards the rear of the field Wychwoods
Brook made an error here and he was pulled up before the next; also pulled up
at this point were Via Sundown and one time leader What A Warrior. Turning
into the home straight, the Venetia Williams runner held a one length
advantage over Many Clouds, closely pursued by The Druids Nephew and Merry
King. The favourite travelled in
fifth, with Smad Place continuing to make ground
behind him. Back in the field, Ballynagour blundered at the fourth last. Le Reve who had
been travelling to the inside of the track, was pulled up before the final
open-ditch; his jockey steering him diagonally across the course between
runners to avoid the obstacle. Triolo D’Alene was pulled up here too, as was the
struggling Rocky Creek. Houblon Des Obeaux held a half length advantage over Many Clouds to
his inside as they cleared the fence; Merry King was in third position. To the outside, currently holding fourth
place, The Druids Nephew dived over the fence but remained standing. Smad Place stumbled
slightly in fifth, to the far side, with Djakadam
in sixth, closely followed by Midnight Prayer and Monbeg
Dude. Unioniste
jumped the ditch okay, but Fingal Bay barely
scrambled over it and was pulled up; Ballynagour
was pulled up too. The
leaders headed over the penultimate fence, with Houblon
Des Obeaux still leading from Many Clouds and Merry
King. Having cleared this, they began
to draw away from their remaining rivals approaching the last. The tiring favourite blundered at this
fence, and Monbeg Dude continued to stay on. Oliver Sherwood’s runner took a half length
advantage as they cleared the final fence, with Merry King marginally second
ahead of Houblon Des Obeaux. These
three were driven out to the line, with Many Clouds prevailing by 3¼ lengths
from the rallying Houblon Des Obeaux. Having put in his best effort, Merry King
faded in the final few yards and finished a length behind the second. Monbeg Dude
claimed 4th, 15 lengths back; Smad Place just ¾ of
a length behind him. Unioniste claimed 6th, he hit the last and was never
nearer, from The Druids Nephew who had blundered away his place claims at the
final fence. Djakadam
was a tired 8th and Midnight Prayer, was the last of those who finished. Nine
had finished; no fallers or unseats, ten pulled up.
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the placed horses arrive back. Smad Place and
Midnight Prayer were unsaddled in the main part of the Parade Ring, none the
worse for their exertions; although Alan King latter admitted that he’d
learnt his lesson in that horses needed a preparation run ahead of a race
like this as his two representatives had got tired in the closing stages. Instead
of taking the usual route along the far side of the Parade Ring to return to
the Winners’ Enclosure, Many Clouds was led in an anti-clockwise direction in
order to receive the applause of the spectators who had returned to the steppings. Being a
popular figure in Lambourn, trainer Oliver Sherwood
received numerous congratulations from his friends and colleagues. This
was the second time he had trained the winner of this race, the other being
Arctic Call in 1990; Jamie Osborne, the jockey that day, and now also a
trainer, was on hand to congratulate the connections too. It was owner Trevor Hemmings
second win in this race, the previous one was Trabologan
in 2005, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Mick Fitzgerald. Trevor was not in attendance today as he
was unavailable due to business commitments in the Isle of Man where he
lives. The
prizes having been presented to the connections, winning jockey Leighton Aspell was hoisted onto the shoulders of friends and
colleagues to celebrate. It
was then time for the final race of the day and the Festival; a Handicap
Chase in memory of Jim Joel ... who was well known in my home county of
Hertfordshire, where he owned a stud farm and estate at Childwickbury
situated in the countryside between St Albans and Harpenden. The
favourite for this race was Monetaire, trained by
David Pipe and ridden by Tom Scudamore; price 2-1. The
starting gate for this event was half way down the home straight, with that
and one full circuit to travel.
Then they were off. It was no surprise that the bold
front-running Next Sensation led the runners to the first fence; disputing
second was Monetaire to the outside, Rody centre and Anquetta to the
inside. In fifth position, Arthur’s
Secret dived at the fence and lost his place to Solar Impulse; Rio De Sivola and Ut Majeur Aulmes brought up the
rear. Next Sensation had set up a lead of
around six lengths as he jumped the second fence; all eight runners cleared
this without incident. They headed for
the water-jump for the one and only time and the leader further stretched his
advantage as they travelled around the top turn and into the back
straight. Anquetta,
Rody and Monetaire
disputed second position, with Solar Impulse and Arthur’s Secret behind
these, followed by Rio De Sivola and Ut Majeur Aulmes. The runners cleared the third fence
in their stride; the next, an open-ditch, caused Rody
to land awkwardly and he began to drop back through the field. Richard Johnson’s mount continued to jump
from fence to fence, pursued by his rivals.
Solar Impulse began to take closer order and had joined Monetaire and Anquetta by the
time they jumped the middle of the line of fences. However, by the end of the back
straight, the leader’s advantage had been reduced to around three lengths; Rody was now at the rear of the field. Second from last, Arthur’s Secret made an
error at the cross-fence and received a couple of reminders for his trouble. Next Sensation led the runners into
the home straight, from Anquetta, Monetaire, Rio De Sivola, Solar
Impulse and Ut Majeur Aulmes. Both Rody and Arthur’s Secret were adrift of the main group,
with the latter receiving further reminders.
The favourite was almost upsides the long-time leader as they jumped
four out. The runners then headed to
the final open-ditch, where again the two leaders jumped it in unison. Monetaire
held a one length lead as they jumped the penultimate fence; Next Sensation
clouted the fence and dropped back to third behind the improving Solar
Impulse. On the run to the final
obstacle it had appeared that the Paul Nicholls runner might draw alongside
to challenge Monetaire, but the latter pulled out a
little bit more and retained his advantage.
They jumped the last, and despite the
best efforts of Sam Twiston-Davies to close the gap
on the run to the line, Monetaire held on to win by
2¼ lengths. Ut
Majeur Aulmes claimed 3rd
on the line by just a head from Next Sensation. All eight completed the course.
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the horses come back for the final
time today. The final presentations having been
made, including a memento to Tom Scudamore as the winning-most
jockey at the Festival (with 4 winners), it was time for me to depart. I was kind of hoping there would be a
leading trainer prize too, but no. It
would have gone to Alan King, also with four winners. I exited via the Grandstand gate,
turning right and heading back to the far side of the car parking area. I have to say it was pleasant to arrive
back at my car without feeling in the slightest bit cold! It was certainly unseasonal weather for the
penultimate day of November. I’m so
accustomed to cold, and/or dank, Hennessy Festivals. My feet were a little bit sore underfoot;
I’ve experienced the same problem with my burgundy boots before. Although I was hoping the recently
installed insoles would help, but no.
Mind you, the main reason for these was to use up space for when I
wear just tights, not socks. Having
eaten the two remaining cheese rolls, I texted Den to let her know I’d be
leaving very shortly. There was traffic queuing to exit the
racecourse via the golf course gate, this consisted of premier enclosure
punters and a few cars from the non-label punters area where I’d been
parked. However, having seen the car
adjacent to mine leave via an open gate onto the newly tarmaced
drive which runs alongside the racecourse itself, and it being the way I’d
entered too, I drove out through it, turned left and headed to join the
queue. The far end of this drive
remains cindery and the junction with the ‘labels’ drive was badly worn; so I drove over slightly to the
right, onto the grass, to ensure my little car suffered no ill effects when
joining the slightly raised tarmac drive once more. Using this route did result in me gaining
an advantage, as I joined prior to the end of the queue. It wasn’t the half dozen cars ahead
of me of last year but, apart from a couple of stationary moments prior to
the far gate, which lasted a matter of seconds rather than minutes, the
journey through the exit, under the railway line and through the industrial
estate to join the Hambridge Road suffered no
delays. Because of its location,
traffic exiting onto the roundabout from my route has priority over vehicles
which may have travelled via Newbury’s main entrance. I turned right to reach the traffic lights
upon the A4. It was just one of two signal changes
before I was on my way again, having turned right to head for Thatcham.
Admittedly I got caught by every light on red as I drove through it,
but had soon exited the town. My route
took me back through Woolhampton to rejoin the M4
and I headed towards London. The M4 road-works
relating to the bridge were affecting both carriageways; with the outside one
on the eastbound carriageway being part of a contra-flow system. These began after the Reading Central
turning. However, as I was to visit Denise in Caversham, I left the motorway at Reading East, heading
down the dark A329M to reach the A4. I
took a right to head along the road towards Maidenhead. I find it easier to travel via the
eastern-most lane into Sonning, rather than the
nearer western and central roads, so this is what I did. There was little traffic on the roads,
despite it being around 17:00. I had
to queue for a few moments at the traffic lights prior to the ancient single
carriageway bridge over the Thames, just one vehicle waiting ahead of me; it
was the first time I’d noticed lights embedded in the single left-hand
pathway. It provided guidance for
traffic too. Having passed the French Horn hotel
and restaurant and the turning to Sonning Eye, I
drove over another bridge, a tiny one, prior to reaching the roundabout at
the beginning of the Henley Road.
Shortly afterwards I was parked outside Denise’s house. Both Den and her husband Terry were at home
when I arrived, and we enjoyed hot drinks and a couple each of the Viennese
biscuits I’d brought with me. With
both of my hosts having felt slightly under the weather yesterday, with few
supplies at home, it was decided that we’d go out to supper at the Wetherspoons in Caversham. There were concerns I’d be cold,
having left my coat in the boot of my car, but I did point out that I was
wearing three thermal vests, a cardigan and a fleece; so these were
unfounded! I think both Den and Terry
found the air-conditioning in the pub cold; again this caused no
inconvenience to me! Den and I went into the pub ahead of
Terry, as initially we couldn’t find a free space in the car park to the back
of the pub. My supper was a veggie
burger and chips; I’ve decided against chicken when eating out at the moment,
following recent supermarket scare stories.
Drink was an apple and mango J2O; my favourite. We returned in time to see the
majority of Strictly Come Dancing; I missed Pixie and Trent, and Mark and
Karen. I set off for home at
20:50. Having turned right to head
over the River Thames via Sonning, a fox whizzed
across the lane at the near end.
Fortunately cars travelling in the opposite direction didn’t hit
it. Not that we haven’t got too many
foxes, but it would make a bit of a mess to vehicle and road if it got
squashed! Not surprisingly, it was misty near
to the river Thames, but the traffic lights were showing green as I
approached the single file crossing over the ancient river bridge. It’s a 20 mph zone through the village,
with three speed humps before the residential area finishes. Having reached the A4 I turned left to
travel along this road to the A404 before heading southwards to join the
M4. It was a bit misty but not really
foggy as I drove towards London, although there being lights on this stretch
of the motorway did help. I find driving on the motorways at
this time of night a pleasure and I’d soon reached the M25, before joining
the clockwise carriageway and heading for my exit point at Junction 20. It was only here that the fog became a
problem, and it stayed with me until I reach home at 22:00. I stayed up until gone midnight;
having watched part 7 of 8 of Intruders.
In fact I didn’t go to bed; I camped out on the sofa overnight! Which was cold, despite a fleece jacket, sleeved
fleece blanket and a fleece throw ... and it hurt my hip too. There was a false start the following
morning when a recorded and finalised disk refused to play back in my ancient
play-only model. It meant that I lost
highlights of an Agassi vs Connors match from the
1989 US Open and RUK’s Racing Life Hennessy preview which included an
interview with Alan King, and a recording of Smad
Place and Midnight Prayer having a racecourse gallop on Newbury’s Hennessy press
day. But I re-recorded RUK’s Hennessy
Day highlights programme and it played okay on a new disk. So, fortunately, it was a faulty disk problem,
not an equipment problem. Phew! But annoying none the less. By the time next year’s Hennessy
arrives, the promised new bridge over the railway line is due to be
complete. RUK’s discussion the
following morning mentioned the muddy car park ... I found my car park to be better
than usual! It must be the difference
between being part of the media scrum/premier division and the ordinary
grandstand crowd. Click here for photos – Races 1, 2
& 3 Click here for photos – Race 4, 5
& 7 Click here for photos – Race 6 –
Hennessy Gold Cup |
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