PART II
DIARY – AINTREE FESTIVAL
LADIES’ DAY
FRIDAY 04 APRIL 2014
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My special star, Choc aboard Avispa having won the Listed Mares’ NH Flat Race Click here to read my Ladies’ Day Diary Part I It
was soon time for the fourth race of the day; the Topham
Chase which is run over the Grand National fences. The start of the race was at the far end of
the home straight, with 2 fences to jump before The Chair. The
favourite for this race was Double Ross, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies
and ridden by son Sam; price 6-1.
Second favourite was the grey mare, Ma Filleule;
Holywell having stamped her form, with a win in the
second race, although she was running over a shorter distance today than at
Cheltenham. Martin Keighley had a
runner in this race, top-weight Champion Court ridden by Ian Popham. The horses reached the starting
area, took a look at the first obstacle, and had their girths checked prior
to the race.
Then
they were off, at the first attempt, and heading towards the first
fence. Doeslessthanme
landed marginally ahead, from Double Ross centre, Champion Court to his
inner, and Poole Master on the outer.
Between the former and the latter, Lost Legend dived over the fence;
Richie McLernon hanging on for dear life, but the
partnership survived. In rear at this
stage were King Edmund, Lucky Landing and Tanks For That. Tahiti Peal was untidy at the second. Plenty of loose spruce dressing was strewn
across the turf as the horses headed away from the fence; the ground crew
soon on hand to tidy it up before the runners returned to jump the fence
again, it also being the last obstacle. The
next fence is the Chair. It looked
like all of the runners would clear it safely, but no. The last over, King Edmund, stumbled having
landed safely and deposited Tom Cannon on the turf. Heading over the water-jump, Doeslessthanme led from Poole Master. To their inside, Double Ross, Champion
Court and Dunowen Point were just behind this duo;
You Must Know Me made an error here, as did Soll at
the rear of the field. The
field headed down around the turn, over the Melling
Road and faced up to the fifth fence.
There was no change at the head of affairs, the entire field having
cleared this obstacle safely; Soll was at the back
of the field. Kauto
Stone and Swift Arrow were a little slow clearing the next, both near the
rear of the runners. The following
obstacle is an open-ditch; on the outside of the runners Bishopsfurze
fell, his jockey catapulted over his head as he did so. The horse was fine, the jockey Mikey Fogarty could be seen moving his legs, but he
didn’t attempt to rise. The medics ran
across the course to assist him. Double
Ross took the lead as the runners headed over the next fence; Kauto Stone blundered and unseated Paul Carberry. Again
the jockey slow to rise and assistance soon arrived. Sam Twiston-Davies’
mount continued to lead from Tahiti Pearl and Doeslessthanme
as they cleared the ninth obstacle.
Close to the pace Viva Colonia made an error here, Danny Cook lost his
right iron as a result and eventually his battle with gravity. But not before he’d wandered into the path
of, and hampered, Giorgio Quercus, Bennys Mist and Tanks For That. Again the jockey was slow to rise. The
next fence was Becher’s Brook. A mistake by Tahiti Pearl, and Ryan Mania
lost his balance and exited via the off-side door. He was the only casualty at the fence;
although near the rear of the field He’llberemembered
stumbled on landing. There were no
casualties at the Fionavon fence and the field
headed on towards the Canal Turn; one of the loose horses made a beeline for
the pen situated to the outside of the fence.
Doeslessthanme
and Double Ross still led the field, with Ma Filleule
taking the shortest route close to the inside wing. Further back in the group, Andrew Tinkler’s mount Tanks For That fell here; and Standing
Ovation ridden by Conor O’Farrell collided with the
loose horse as it rose to its feet and he was unseated. Andrew was still down as the runners
continued their journey to Valentines; Conor was
knelt down, but appeared okay. On
the wide outside, Doeslessthanme departed at
Valentines, Giorgio Quercus fell here too; their
jockeys Harry Challoner and David Bass
respectively. Lost Legend made an
error and was also lucky to miss the prostrate Doeslessthame;
Swift Arrow was hampered by the latter.
Mart Lane jumped the fence very slowly and Wayne Hutchinson pulled him
up. Barry
Geraghty’s mount now led, from Bennys
Mist, Big Fella Thanks and Double Ross; although
she did stumble upon landing over the next.
These were now followed by Eastlake, Rebel Rebellion and Cedre Bleu. Fargo
took a horrible fall at the next, slamming Noel Fehily
into the turf. Massini’s
Maguire was hampered as a result and Soll even more
so, as he had to step over the prostrate horse; Mark Grant momentarily losing
his balance but he clung on and survived. Ma
Filleule led over the next from Big Fella Thanks, who made a slight error and dropped back to
fourth position behind Double Ross and Bennys Mist
as they crossed the Melling Road and headed for
home. These were closely followed by
Eastlake, Cedre Bleu, Tatenen
and You Must Know Me. Having
negotiated the final turn, the runners headed to and jumped the penultimate
fence; the grey mare still led, with Double Ross in second position and
Eastlake under AP McCoy in third but under pressure. She
jumped the last and began to put daylight between herself and her
pursuers. She forged on, negotiating
the elbow and she was not for catching.
Barry Geraghty was able to steal a glance
under his right arm on the run to the line, easing down to win by 8
lengths. Benny’s Mist stayed on best
of the rest to claim 2nd from Eastlake; Tatenen
charged down the outside to pip Double Ross by a head on the line for 4th. You Must Know Me the best of the Irish in
6th. Champion Court completed in 9th;
the last finisher was Dunowen Point in 17th; many
of the tail-enders cantering over the line. Nicky
Henderson had claimed the race for the second year running, having won it
with Triolo D’Alene in 2013. All
horses were reported to be fine following their mishaps. The out-riders were shown leading back five
of the horses, including Kauto Stone, Viva Colonia
and Giorgio Quercus.
And
those which did not finish:
I returned to the Winners’ Enclosure for the
first time today to see the placed horses return. But I had returned to my favourite vantage
point prior to the runners leaving the Parade Ring ahead of the next
race. Davy Condon replaced Paul Carberry aboard Giantofaman;
the latter having been limping wounded following the Topham. Paul went to hospital to be checked out as
a precaution ahead of his ride aboard Monbeg Dude
in the following day’s Grand National.
The favourite for this race was Seeyouatmidnight, ridden by Ryan Mania and trained by
Sandy Thomson; priced at 7-2. The
start of this race was half way down the home straight, with just over 2
circuits to travel.
And
then they were off, with one flight to negotiate before the grandstand
turn. The horses were led away by the
blinkered Giantofaman with, to his inside, Cole
Harden and to his outer, Seeyouatmidnight; Racing
Pulse made an error at the first.
Travelling down past the winning post, the tongue-tied Cole Harden had
assumed to lead. Heading around the
turn, past the hospitality boxes and out into the country, the pace was good
for a 3-mile event; there was no problem with bunching as all the horses had
plenty of room to manoeuvre. Cole
Harden put himself right jumping the next flight and continued to bowl along
in front; in contrast Mondo Cane disputing fifth
position jumped it slowly and lost a place or two. Tistory near the
back to the field hit the flight, damage to the panel resulted. Having cleared the next flight, Deadly
Sting received a reminder. The field
continued along the back straight, jumped one more hurdle and headed into the
far turn. The mare Toubeera
was already detached at the rear of the field. Deadly Sting received yet more reminders;
AP’s mount Capote had made a little progress. Cole
Harden led the field around the far turn and into the home straight. He was followed by Giantofaman,
Seeyouatmidnight, Mondo
Cane, Killala Quay, Flatfoot Boogie, Beat That, Cogry, the other mare Tagrita,
Racing Pulse, Port Melon (infamous for the pre-race incident which injured
Daryl Jacob at this season’s Cheltenham Festival), Tistory,
Themanfrom Minella,
Capote, The Last Samurai, Deadly Sting, Walk On Al and Toubeera. The
runners headed over the next two flights without incident; Deadly Sting was
still being bustled along disputing second from last with Walk On Al. They had travelled one complete circuit now
and galloped on down towards the next; Tistory had
made some progress through the field but he made another error at this flight
and was ridden along for a few strides to retain his place. The struggling Toubeera
had been pulled up before the 7th. Cole
Harden led the runners around the grandstand turn once more. The three runners at the back of the field,
namely The Last Samurai, Walk On Al and Deadly Sting had become a little
detached from the main body of the field.
The leader kept up the gallop as they set out upon the final circuit
and they began to string out in his wake.
Mondo Cane made an error at the next flight
and came under pressure. Debris flew as the runners cleared the fifth
last. They
headed over the pathway and jumped four out.
Deadly Sting had tailed off by this point, and losing touch with the
main group were The Last Samurai and Mondo
Cane. Walk On Al accompanied Themanfrom Minella also
slightly detached from the main group.
And Cole Harden still pressed on around the top bend. He led into the home straight pursued by Seeyouatmidnight and the strong travelling Beat
That. Killala
Quay was in fourth position from Cogry, the fading Giantofaman and Tagrita. These were followed by Capote. The
leaders headed over the third last; Barry Geraghty’s
mount loomed up to the nearside of the leaders. Capote was staying on and overtook Killala Quay following the flight. Cogry fell here,
hampering Walk On Al; the horse was okay, jockey Ryan Hatch curled up to
avoid injury from any of the runners following him. Cole
Harden, Seeyouatmidnight and Beat That approached
two out; the former still holding the advantage, the latter two’s progress
slightly stemmed by slight errors at this flight. The long time leader wandered slightly
under pressure as Beat That loomed up to the nearside to challenge him; Seeyouatmidnight switching to the far side behind
them. But
time was up for the game Cole Harden who had to give best as they jumped the
last flight, Gavin Sheehan’s mount wandering out to his left after it. Having overtaken the long-time leader,
Beat That was driven out to the line to win by 4 lengths. Barry even had time to glance across at the
big screen to check on the progress of his pursuers as he headed down to the
winning post! He and the runner-up
were miles clear of the third Seeyouatmidnight, who
was 25 lengths adrift. Capote claimed
4th, despite a bad error at the penultimate flight. Three
winners so far today for Nicky Henderson and Barry Geraghty;
both had drawn a blank on the first day. Cogry was fine following his fall and
cantered away; Ryan Hatch uninjured too.
I crossed over into the Lord Sefton
enclosure following this race in order to take photographs, before returning to
my favoured vantage point once the gates had been opened again. NEWS FROM
THE STEWARDS ROOM: The Stewards noted that TISTORY
(FR), unplaced, had interfered with FLATFOOT BOOGIE (FR), unplaced, who in
turn interfered with PORT MELON (IRE), unplaced, on the bend leaving the back
straight but after viewing a recording of the race they were satisfied that
it did not involve a riding offence. The
favourite for the next race was the Donald McCain representative Stonebrook, owned by JP McManus and ridden by AP McCoy;
the jockey having deserted Alaivan in the same
ownership but trained by Jonjo O’Neill. Wayne Hutchinson also rode for Donald
McCain in this race, partnering Clondaw Kaempfer. There were a number of jockey changes in this
race, due to injuries incurred during the Topham
Chase. Tom Scudamore
replaced Paul Carberry aboard Cash And Go; Charlie
Deutsch replaced Noel Fehily aboard Hazy Tom; Brian
O’Connell substituted for Mikey Fogarty aboard
Mister Hotelier; and David Bass took over the ride aboard Golden Hoof for
Andrew Tinkler.
The
starting gate for this event was part way down the back straight, two flights
therein to jump before the first bend and with one and three quarter circuits
to travel.
Having looked like the horses would
be let go first time, having trotted up in an organised group towards the
tape, they were asked to take a turn around the first hurdle in the back
straight, despite it being after post time.
In fact they were rather disorganised at the second attempt; with
Grand Vision, Attaglance and Aazif
joining the group latterly, their jockeys having chosen not to take the extra
turn but wait until the main group returned to the gate. Then they were off. The
field was led away by the Jennie Candlish runner,
Party Rock; jumping the first flight to his outside almost upsides were
Golden Hoof and Attaglance. In the leader’s slipstream travelled Clondaw Kaempfer; pulling
strongly in mid-field one of the Irish raiders, Zabana. Having
successfully negotiated the initial obstacle the runners headed to the
second; where the novice Little Jon, under Sam Twiston-Davies
jumped into the lead and continued at the head of affairs as the horses
entered the far turn. Golden Hoof
travelled a clear second with, from the inside, Party Rock, the grey Grand
Vision, Aazif and Attaglance
disputing third place, Clondaw Kaempfer
a clear seventh; the sole mare in the line-up, Pass The Time, travelled at
the back of the field. The
field entered the home straight on the first occasion; there must have been a
few trailing hooves over the next, as a couple of the panels looked rather
the worse for wear as the runners headed towards the fourth flight; the same
was true of this obstacle, the 22 runners having jumped it! Little Jon and Golden Hoof continued to
lead the way as they travelled towards flight number five; in behind these
were Party Rock and Grand Vision.
There was a small mistake from Little Jon at this hurdle. The
horses headed down past the grandstands; the mid-field runners were quite
tightly packed and this resulted in Hazy Tom clipping heels, he stumbled and
deposited Charlie Deutsch upon the turf.
The jockey didn’t appear to be caught by the hooves of the runners
following him and he was seen sitting up as the field galloped away from him;
his breeches were rather muddy as he got up and headed under the far-side
rail. Little Jon and Golden Hoof led the runners past the winning post and
out into the country once more. There
was a little bit of argy bargy in mid-field as the
loose horse squeezed in to negotiate the short section of rail directing the
runners travelling on the hurdles course into the back straight. Having cleared the first flight therein,
Morning Royalty and Yesyoucan now travelled at the
rear of the field; there was still no change at the head of affairs. Aazif was a
little bit clumsy at the next. The
runners headed across the pathway and on towards the final flight in the back
straight; Art Professor near the rear of the field flattened one of the
panels. The
horses now headed into the far turn, Little Jon and Golden Hoof still leading
the way; the loose horse sandwiched between them; disputing third, from the
inside, were Party Rock, Clondaw Kaempfer, Grand Vision and Aazif. Struggling at the rear of the field around
the final bend were Lyvius, Attaglance,
Art Professor and Yesyoucan; Morning Royalty was
eased and pulled up at this stage. The
field entered the home straight and headed for home, preceded by the loose
horse. There were still many in with a
chance as the horses spread out across the track to make their challenges. Golden Hoof held a very narrow advantage
over three out, from Aazif to his outside and Clondaw Kaempfer to his inside;
Little Jon began to fade. Wayne
Hutchinson’s mount held a very narrow advantage as they jumped two out. Caid Du Berlais was challenging to the nearside, to his left Alaivan and Cheltenian. To the far side, when also almost upsides,
Party Rock stepped at the hurdle and fell; he did no favours to Stonebrook and Like Minded travelling in his wake, the
former having to jump the neck of the prostrate horse. Caid Du Berlais
now took the lead, but he wandered towards the centre of the course to join Cheltenian who was a close second; this forced Wayne
Hutchinson to switch his mount to the nearside. In fourth position was Zabana,
with Cash And Go challenging Alaivan for fifth
having made progress from well back in the field. The leaders approached the final hurdle. Harry
Derham’s mount was still ahead as they jumped it; Cheltenian, tiring a little, flattened a panel. Clondaw Kaempfer continued in third position, Cash And Go now
fourth. They began their long run to
the line. It was at this point that
Wayne’s mount began to rally under strong pressure and he gained upon Caid Du Berlais as the
approached the line; he claimed the lead in the final few strides, winning by
a neck. In 3rd place was Cash And Go;
just three quarters of a length back. Cheltenian beaten by a further 1¼ lengths into 4th. Although
initially struggling to rise, Party Rock walked into the horse ambulance and
was taken back to the stables to be assessed, just as a precaution. Jockey Sean Quinlan was treated by the
medics and was taken to hospital to be checked. He must have been fine though as he rode a
winner, Snowed In, at Carlisle the following Tuesday.
I decided
to return to the Winners’ Enclosure following this race due to the winning
jockey being Wayne Hutchinson ... I’m not bitter! Donald
McCain reported that Clondaw Kaempfer
lost both of his hind shoes during the race; the jockey said it was probably
due to the loose Hazy Tom ‘climbing all
over the back of him’ and Stonebrook during the
mid-part of the race. During his RUK
interview, Wayne also said the horse felt like he’d more growing up to do and
would therefore have more improvement in him.
He was delighted to ride a Festival winner, and to ride it for Donald
too. NEWS FROM THE
STEWARDS ROOM: The Stewards held an
enquiry into the fall of Charlie Deutsch, the rider of HAZY TOM (IRE),
approaching the winning post on the first circuit. They interviewed Charlie
Deutsch and having heard his evidence and viewed recordings of the incident
the Stewards found that the fall was caused by HAZY TOM (IRE) clipping heals
with ZABANA (IRE). Being satisfied that the incident was accidental, the
Stewards took no further action. I remained upon
the steppings until Choc had entered the Parade
Ring ahead of the next race. Once more
he was first out, presumably he sits closest to the Weighing Room door; he
accompanied Harry Skelton down the steps from the Weighing Room. Again I returned to my favoured vantage
point prior to the mares leaving the Parade Ring. The favourite
for this race was Molly Cat, ridden by AP McCoy and trained by Alan Swinbank; price 5-1. Yet again,
jockey changes; David Bass deputising for Andrew Tinkler
aboard No Pushover and Gavin Sheehan for Noel Fehily
aboard Hannah’s Princess. The starting gate for this race was in the far
corner of the track.
Then
they were off. Molly Cat led them
away, although she did jink to her left when the running rail ended after a
few metres. To the outside, Millicent
Silver under Sam Twiston-Davies travelled ahead of
the main field and had taken over at the head of affairs by the time they
entered the home straight on the first occasion. Molly Cat continued in second position,
followed by Roll On Ruby, Tara Mac and Princess Tara. Avispa
travelled just worse than mid-field, with Oleohneh
at the rear. Millicent
Silver, who is a very dark grey, continued to lead as the runners headed down
the home straight between the wings of the now absent hurdles. Restrained behind her was the chestnut Roll
On Ruby; the runners closely bunched due the sedate pace being set. Heading
down to the winning post with one circuit to go, the order was Millicent
Silver and Molly Cat disputing the lead; disputing third, from the inside,
were Princess Tara, Midnight Jazz, No Pushover, Roll On Ruby and Tara
Mac. Behind these Diligent, Ebony
Princess, Avispa, the lighter grey Tara Mist; the
next wave consisted of Miss Sassypants, Queen
Alphabet, Plumstone, then Lady Buttons, Amberkatann,
The Govaness and Oleohneh. Heading
around the turn beside the hospitality boxes, Molly Cat had regained a narrow
lead by dint of holding the inside line.
Having passed between the next set of hurdle wings, Millicent Silver
had assumed a narrow lead once more, flanked to her inside by Molly Cat and
to her outside by Roll On Ruby. Ears
pricked, Sam Twiston-Davies’ mount continued to
lead as the runners threaded their way through the following set of wings and
across the pathway; David Bass aboard No Pushover becoming animated as he
encouraged his mare to hold her position as they passed between the final
pair of wings and headed to the far turn. Travelling
across the top of the course and there was still no change in the front
three; No Pushover had responded to her jockey’s urgings for the time being,
and Avispa still travelled in mid-field. Having negotiated the home turn, the
runners spread out wide across the track to get a clear run for home. Heading through the wings of the absent
third last, to the near side Tara Mist and The Govaness
appeared to now have the lead. Avispa had burst through in the centre of the field, at
her quarters to her outside Queen Alphabet and Hannah’s Princess; Davy
Russell’s mount did become a little short of room as Avispa
drifted slightly across her path. The
battle was joined as the horses approached the one furlong post. Tara Mist still held a narrow advantage
over Avispa to her far side and the Govaness to the nearside; Lady Buttons was staying on
towards the centre of the track and had joined the leading group. Choc’s mount had
got the better of Tara Mist by the time they had reached the half furlong
marker; his main danger now being Lady Buttons. It was nip and tuck within that final 110
yards. Photograph! Having
pulled up his mount, the result of the photograph was announced. Avispa had won,
by a neck. Phew!!! Finally a close finish had gone Choc’s way. Tara
Mist finished 3rd and The Govaness 4th. A
25-1 winner too! When interviewed,
Alan King said the mare always works well at home; they had thought she’d win
the listed bumper race at Sandown on Imperial Cup day in early March but
she’d got stuck in the holding ground that day. He wasn’t exactly shocked by today’s win,
because it wasn’t totally unexpected.
He said this would be it for Avispa for the
season, as she was running light now; holiday time. Alan also admitted to being so bored all
day, having to wait until the last race of the day to saddle his one and only
runner. It had been well worth it now.
Choc
said she travelled superbly throughout the race; which you need in this type
of event. He thought that his mount might not like a rough race with too much
bumping and barging, being only a small mare, but she was very professional
and coped well. He was worried when
Lady Buttons began to bear down upon him in the final run to the line, he
thought he was beat, but she stuck her head out and tried. The ground suited her well today, unlike
Sandown when she travelled well but got bogged down and didn’t get home. It’s lovely, it’s nice to get one on the
board, he said. The
lucky last is fine for me; I’d rather wait through all the races and finish
off the day by seeing Choc, than see him ride in the first race only and have
no special treat to look forward to for the remainder of the day! The only downside would be darkness falling
during the deep mid-winter, which is not conducive to photography.
As I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see the winning jockey
arrive back in the Winners’ Enclosure, I set off on my usual ‘power walk’, heading through the Lord
Sefton enclosure to reach the steppings
below the Weighing Room; if I head back through the entrance to the Earl of
Derby enclosure there’s always a risk the walkway gates will be closed and
prevent me from reaching the steppings before the
horses arrive back. Anyway, I was there in plenty of time to see Choc and Avispa return. Not
surprisingly, Alan King was delighted for Choc; my favourite jockey having
had a number of ‘near misses’ as
regards winning at both this and the recent Cheltenham Festival. Having debriefed the also delighted
connections, which included Alan’s landlord at Barbury
Castle, Nigel Bunter, Choc headed over to weigh out upon the scales located
on the podium. Task completed, he handed his saddle to one of the assistants in order
for it to be returned to the Weighing Room, following which Choc was
interviewed by RUK’s Tom O’Ryan before he went to
chat with friends and colleagues; these included Wayne Hutchinson who was now
suited and booted having won the previous race aboard Clondaw
Kaempfer.
Choc also took a sip from the drink which Wayne had been holding; to
keep any dehydration at bay! It was then time for the presentation of the mementos; a Marilyn
Monroe impersonator doing the honours for this race, although I think she
needed better foundation garments with the dress she chose to wear! Meeow!!! Alan and Choc also posed for a photograph
taken by Choc’s mum Sally, his arm around the
jockey’s shoulder. On his way back to
the Weighing Room he was accosted by a number of punters wishing to have
their photos taken with him, he then posed for a photo with his mum, taken by
her companions. As I was standing
nearby, I was also able to capture this moment in a photograph ... it turned
out to be my best and favourite photo of my entire trip to Aintree! It was now my opportunity to accost Choc, I congratulated him with a
kiss on the right cheek and a mini-hug; unlike yesterday, he wasn’t
stubbly! He then returned to the
Weighing Room. NEWS FROM
THE STEWARDS ROOM: The
Stewards considered the apparent improvement in form of the winner, AVISPA,
ridden by Robert Thornton and trained by Alan King, compared with her
previous run at Sandown on 8 March 2014 where the mare finished fourth of
nine beaten 14¾ lengths. They noted the trainer’s explanation that the mare
was suited by the better ground. They ordered AVISPA to be routine tested. It was now time for me to depart.
I quickly popped to the loo, again the one to the rear of the Earl of
Derby stand; and it was surprisingly neat and tidy considering this was
post-Ladies Day! It was actually on a
par with the state of the Cheltenham loos at the end of each day at the
Festival ... or at least the one which I visit!!! I headed along the concourse to the crossing point, walked across the
green carpet which presumably had already been cleaned as there was no sign
of the usual rubbish discarded by the spectators, before catching the bus
back to the car park. Unfortunately
the bus journey was disturbed by a group of drunken, loud, foul-mouthed young
females, one of whom was f’ing and blinding and
talking about photographers taking photos of her fanny when she’d fallen over
earlier in the day. Pure class ... I
don’t think so!!! Teams of workmen were already on course, dismantling the plastic rails
in order to move the racing lines for Saturday. Having alighted from the bus, I walked over
the back straight, across the Melling Road, through
the entrance marquee before turning right and walking along the driveway to
find my car. I set back to my hotel
off at 18:20. Once again the exit route had seemed quieter than usual; today Katy B
was performing in the Equestrian Centre from 18:00 and perhaps had encouraged
younger race-goers to remain at the racecourse until later in the
evening. Not that I mind in the
least!!! The roads were fairly quiet, there was no queue to exit into Aintree
Lane, and just two changes of lights needed to enter the Ormskirk
Lane. As previously, I headed
southwards down the M57 before leaving to join the A580 and head eastwards to
reach my hotel, which I did just before 19:00. I took my black coat into the hotel with me
this evening, just in case tomorrow turned out to be wet and I needed it on
my walk to the car in the morning. I’d enjoyed my meal on Thursday evening, but not the service time of
90 minutes. This being the case, I
requested a further supply of coffee, sugar and milk sachets from the hotel
Receptionist when I passed through on my way back to my room; I’d foregone
room service this morning so these would not have been replenished. I had plenty of emergency supplies of food
which I’d brought with me from home, so for my evening meal I ate two
hot-cross buns, a number of cheese straws and a Yorkie
Bar! This gave me time to check teletext to find
out the news regarding injured jockeys, ie. those which had needed to give up their rides later in the
day following the Topham Chase – Andrew Tinkler, Paul Carberry, Noel Fehily and Mikey Fogarty. It transpired that the latter had fractured
his spine so would remain in hospital and miss his National ride; the other
three just needed to pass the Aintree doctor before being given the all-clear
to compete in the big race ... which they did. It seems to me that since the Grand National fences have been
modified, it’s now the jockeys who take the brunt of the injuries, not the
horses. Okay, so the jockeys mend in
most instances, but as Ruby Walsh said, human life is more valuable than that
of an animal so surely the modifications shouldn’t be to the detriment of the
jockeys. I recall watching Question Of Sport and, somewhat later, the beginning
of Alan Carr’s Chatty Man show but was soon fitfully dosing ... I can sleep
anywhere, any time if not occupied by tasks!
At some point either before midnight or after, having woken, I finally
switched off the TV and went to sleep looking ahead to Grand National Day. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Side-saddle riding display Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 1 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 2 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 3 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 4 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 5 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 6 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 7 Click here for photos – Grand National Festival Ladies Day –
Race 7 – Winners Enclosure |
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