PART II
DIARY – AINTREE FESTIVAL
LADIES’ DAY
FRIDAY 08 APRIL 2016
|
God’s Own is the surprise winner of the Grade 1 Melling Chase Click here to
read my Ladies’ Day Diary Part I The red-hot favourite for this race was Vautour, winner of the Ryanair
Chase, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh; price 1-5! Veteran Somersby was making his 41st start today;
having served his connections well for many years, he would be retired at the
end of the season. Being a Grade 1 race and the feature event of the
day, having exited onto the racecourse, the runners were paraded in front of
the stands before they headed to the starting gate, which was at the
beginning of the back straight.
And then they were off, with Vautour
leading the way, pressed by Gigginstown’s Clarcam. Somersby
followed to the outside of the dappled grey Vibrato Valtat,
with light grey Al Ferof and God’s Own bringing up
the rear. As would be expected, all
six cleared the first fence without issue. The runners headed to the next where, again,
there were no jumping problems. The
following fence was the first open-ditch; with God’s Own taking closer order
to the inside of the track as they cleared it. They then headed across the sandy track
before reaching fence number four; again the closely packed field took it in
their stride. Ruby allowed his mount to stride on as they
headed into the top bend, as a result he’d set up a clear advantage by the
time he’d jumped the cross-fence; ears pricked. Somersby was probably the least fluent at
this obstacle. The horses now headed
into the home straight for the first time, with Vautour
leading from Clarcam and God’s Own; Vibrato Valtat, Al Ferof and Somersby
disputed last position. The favourite led the runners over the next
without incident. The following fence
was the second open-ditch, which they all cleared in their stride. Vautour was a
couple of lengths clear from Clarcam, God’s Own,
Somersby, Al Ferof and Vibrato Valtat. The runners then headed across the Grand
National track to reach the next which, again, they all jumped well. Vautour
led the runners down past the winning post, with one circuit now to travel;
Somersby was narrowly last as the headed around the
bottom bend and into the back straight for the final time. However, this was the point where Ruby
failed to read the script … Vautour got in a little
bit too close to the fence and, as a result, knuckled over on landing. There was a collective gasp from the
gathered spectators; I wonder how many had been foolish enough to bet on the
1-5 shot? There’s no sport in it, and
the seemingly impossible had just occurred.
Personally I think Ruby had been complacent; he
was on by far the best horse in the race and probably thought he was
invincible, but had got careless.
Fortunately he didn’t bring down any of his opponents and the horse
was quickly to its feet, appearing uninjured as he galloped away. Ruby was quickly attended to by the
paramedics. Meanwhile, this left Al Ferof
and Clarcam to dispute the lead, from God’s Own,
Vibrato Valtat and Somersby. I wonder what was going through the
jockeys’ minds at this juncture; a first prize of £112,788 was now up for
grabs. Having jumped the next fence, Clarcam assumed a clear lead. The following fence was the penultimate
open-ditch, which the experienced chasers jumped in their stride. They then headed across the sandy track to
reach the final fence in the back straight.
Disputing last place at this point, Vibrato Valtat
was briefly pushed along upon landing. Clarcam
led the runners into the top bend, five or six lengths covered the entire
field; the loose Vautour was only three lengths
behind them. Having landed safely over
the cross-fence, the leading three had built up an advantage over the
others. The loose horse also jumped
the fence, but not particularly well having got too close to it! Bryan Cooper, aboard the leader, closed the door
upon Al Ferof as they headed around the home turn;
he was keen not to let Harry Skelton sneak up his inside. However, as they exited the bend, the
running rail cut away giving the grey horse room if he was good enough. Meanwhile God’s Own was launching a
challenge to their outside. The leaders
cleared the next safely, with Clarcam soon
capitulating as Al Ferof took the lead briefly
before being quickly joined by God’s Own.
The leading duo were
neck and neck as they headed to the final open-ditch, two out. God’s Own jumped it the better, Al Ferof having dived over it slightly. They then began the long run to the final
fence, with the loose Vautour slipping through the
narrow gap between them. This seemed
to encourage God’s Own to move ahead also, although there was no knowing what
the rider-less horse might do. In the event and unencumbered by a jockey, the
loose Vautour continued to extend away, jumping the
last in his stride. God’s Own was well
clear of Al Ferof at this point, although he did
jump away to his right, as he is prone to do, at the obstacle. However, Paddy Brennan kept the horse up to
his work and he was able to retain a margin of 2¾ lengths at the line from
the Dan Skelton runner. Clarcam finished a further 9 lengths away in 3rd, with
Somersby 22 lengths back in 4th and Vibrato Valtat
5th. It
had been an excellent two days for jockey Paddy Brennan, having won
yesterday’s Grade 1 Bowl Chase aboard Cue Card. God’s Own had finished 4th behind Sprinter Sacre in this year’s Champion Chase on his previous run.
We
remained beside the course-side rails following the race. Race 4 - 3:25pm THE JLT MELLING STEEPLE
CHASE (CLASS 1) (Grade 1) No Stewards Enquiry. The Stewards gave
permission for SOMERSBY (IRE), trained by Mick Channon,
to be mounted in the chute and to go first in the parade. The favourite for the Topham
Chase was Bishops Road, trained by Kerry Lee and ridden by Jamie Moore; price
8-1. The horse had been first reserve
for this year’s Grand National but, with no defections before the deadline,
he was now taking his chance in the shorter distance race. There was one non-runner, Gray Hession, leaving a field of 29 to take their chance. Also, Ruby Walsh needed to pass the doctor before
taking his chance aboard Blood Cotil in this
event. The
Topham Chase is run over 18 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.
Having arrived at the start and had their girths
checked, the jockeys began to form a group as they headed away from the
starting gate; there were a number of stragglers and they started to join the
others once the group had turned to head back to towards the Starter, Robbie
Supple. He was barking out
instructions, including requesting them to stop; they were jogging in too
fast; besides, it was too early to start he said! As they approached the gate, he asked them to
stand still; they didn’t. However, it was
now 16:05 or after and he raised his yellow flag and they were off, first
time. Prominent heading to the first
were Distime, Third Intention, and Rathlin; also Al Alfa on the wide outside. Near the rear of the field the favourite,
Bishops Road, jumped too big and shot jockey Jamie Moore over his head; Oops! Meanwhile the remaining runners headed to the
second, with Wayne Hutchinson’s mount, Witness In Court, marginally ahead as
they cleared it. There were no
departures here, although in mid-field Top Cat Henry hit the fence; at the
rear of the field was Killer Crow, along with Gallery Exhibition. The third fence was The Chair, and the
leaders were setting a good pace; at the head of the field, keen to get a good
view of the fence were Mr Moonshine, Witness In Court, Cocktails At Dawn, Dromnea and, to the inside, last year’s runner-up the
white-faced Fairy Rath. The fancied Village Vic blundered badly here,
having taken off too far away from the board in front of the ditch and he
almost failed to make the distance as a result; a case of being too
bold. The following fence was the
water-jump, with Cocktails At Dawn now leading marginally, from Fairy Rath, as they jumped it.
At the back of the field was the lighter of the greys, Corrin Wood, the other being mare La Vaticane.
The loose horse squeezed up the inside of the
leading duo as they headed around the bottom bend; he then headed to the
outside of the track. Meanwhile the
runners fanned out as they crossed over the Melling
Road to approach the fifth fence.
Fairy Rath, Cocktails At Dawn, Mr Moonshine
and Witness In Court were in the front line as they jumped it, with As De Mee almost upsides to the outside too. There were no departures or noticeable
errors at the fence; Corrin Wood trailed the field. The bold jumping Cocktails At Dawn knuckled over
on landing at the next; the head of the field is not the place to be having
hit the ground and Rathlin was hampered by the
fallen horse, with Ruben Cotter having to sidestep the prostrate jockey. This left Fairy Rath
to lead, from Mr Moonshine and As De Mee. The following fence was the ‘Westhead’
open-ditch, which they all cleared without problem. At this point, struggling at the rear of
the field were Ballykan, Dare To Endeavour and the
already mentioned Corrin Wood. There was a third departure at the next fence,
with Witness In Court getting too close.
This resulted in him catching his hind-legs on the fence and shooting
Wayne Hutchinson over his head; the horse remained on its but it looked like
a painful unseat for the jockey.
Ouch! The medics were quickly
on the course to check upon Wayne; fortunately he was okay. The following fence was the one before Beecher’s
Brook and, towards the outside in mid-field, Blood Cotil
made a complete horlicks of his landing; he skidded
and weaved, but survived … it takes more than that to dislodge Ruby
Walsh! The runners continued their
journey towards the most famous racecourse fence in the world. An experienced jumper of the Grand National
fences, Fairy Rath landed safely but, sadly, this
was not the case for Emma Lavelle’s Gullinbursti
which was travelling to the inside in his wake. The horse dived head first over the fence,
jockey Gavin Sheehan’s arms held aloft as his mount descended to the ground,
head first. Race over, and life over
too; the horse just didn’t stand a chance. And to make matters worse, Minella Reception, travelling just to the outside of Gullinbursti, suffered the same fate in an independent
and very similar fall. A number of the
runners were hampered by this tragic turn of events, namely Distime, Gallery Exhibition, Pass The Hat, Rouge Et Blanc
and Killer Crow. The only horse which
was brought down by the prostrate horses however, was a loose one. Heading over Fionavon,
top weight Third Intention had almost joined Fairy Rath
at the head of affairs; with Eastlake and As De Mee
travelling just in behind them. The
runners continued on to the Canal Turn, where Tom Cannon’s mount cleverly put
in a short one in order to meet the fence on the correct stride. The 24 runners cleared this without
incident before heading along to Valentine’s Brook. Again Fairy Rath led
over the fence, from Third Intention, Eastlake, As De Mee
and Top Cat Henry; the latter almost lost his footing on landing, Sam Waley-Cohen remained aboard but his mount lost a number
of lengths. The next to depart was Rathlin which hit the top of the next and landed
awkwardly as a result; Davy Russell was ejected out of the nearside door as a
result. The runners continued towards the final
open-ditch; four out. It was then one
of those moments for the commentator, in this instance Simon Holt, when he
wished he hadn’t said anything.
Namely, “Blood Cotil is still in contention despite the very bad … no
he’s not, he’s gone.” The horse
had hit the deck, with Ruby finding himself on the ground for the second race
running; it was not to be his day, in fact it would soon get a whole lot
worse … Meanwhile, Fairy Rath
continued to lead from Eastlake, Third Intention, As De Mee,
Top Cat Henry, Rouge Et Blanc and the grey mare La Vaticane. The trailing Corrin
Wood and Astracad were pulled up before the third
last; the other runners successfully negotiated this fence. The remaining 20 were soon returning back across
the Melling Road.
Fairy Rath still ahead of Eastlake, As De Mee, Third Intention, Top Cat Henry, La Vaticane, Rouge Et Blanc, Mr Moonshine, Distime, Ruben Cotter, Al Alfa, Gallery Exhibition, Bennys Mist, Village Vic, Ballykan,
Turban, Pass The Hat, Dare To Endeavour, Killer Crow and, last but not least,
Dromnea. Turban would be pulled up on the run to the
second last; he’d burst a blood vessel.
The same fate had befallen Eastlake in last year’s renewal but, today,
he was still travelling well within himself and just behind the leader Fairy Rath. The leaders
remained towards the far side rail as they headed over two out, further back
in the field and in contrast, both Mr Moonshine and Distime
were travelling out wide; La Vaticane got a little
close to the fence. Fairy Rath continued to
lead as they continued to the final fence, and he got in close to the bottom
of it too. He lost a bit of momentum
as a result and Eastlake drew alongside as they headed to the elbow, preceded
by one of the white-faced loose horses.
With much encouragement from their jockeys, the leading duo began to
pull away from their rivals and, initially, it seemed that the gallant Fairy Rath might be able to stave off the challenge from Barry Geraghty’s mount. However, half way down the run-in, Eastlake got
the upper-hand and he forged away to win by 4 lengths at the line. Top weight Third Intention just held on to
3rd place, by a neck, 9 lengths further back; Distime
having stayed on late. Gallery
Exhibition claimed 5th, never nearer, and Top Cat Henry 6th. Nineteen had finished, with Killer Crow
last across the line; he’d also broken a blood vessel. The winner is a full-brother to More Of That;
actually, thinking about it, they have a similar head carriage.
And
those which did not finish:
The
two side-saddle mounted ladies accompanied the winner back to the Winners’
Enclosure. On this occasion, we
decided to return to the steppings above the
Winners’ Enclosure too. There
was an announcement asking Nigel Twiston-Davies or
his representative to report to the Weighing Room; never a good sign. In this instance it related to his stricken
charge, Minella Reception. The horse has not passed away out on the
racecourse as a result of his fall, but had been taken back to the veterinary
facility to be assessed. However, the
news was not to be positive, with him euthanized following this
procedure. RIP Minella
Reception and RIP Gullinbursti. Race 5 - 4:05pm THE CRABBIE'S TOPHAM
STEEPLE CHASE (HANDICAP) (CLASS 1) (Grade 3)
The favourite for the sixth race was Bellshill,
sporting the Wylie colours and trained by Willie Mullins; price 11-2. Ruby Walsh having been stood down by the
doctor following his falls, the trainer’s son Patrick took the ride; Paul Townend and David Mullins already had engagements in this
race. EPDS Racing also had a
representative, namely Ami Desbois trained by
Graeme McPherson and ridden by Kielan Woods. Like the Cheltenham Festival’s Albert Bartlett
Novices’ Hurdle, this can be an attritional race
for the younger horses. However, last
year it was won by Thistlecrack and he’d gone from
strength to strength this season, having won a number of the top profile
staying hurdles; most notably the World Hurdle. There were 15 competitors today, running on
soft ground today. The
start of this race was part way down the home straight, with one flight
therein to jump and therefore just over 2 circuits to travel.
The horses jogged into the start and then they
were off, first time. The runners were
led away by Yala Enki,
Vintage Clouds and Arkwrisht; at the rear was
Bellshill, with Ami Desbois just ahead of him. Ghost River made an error at the first
flight and dropped to the rear of the field. Yala
Enki, now with an uncontested lead, led the field
down past the winning post and around the bottom bend; two circuits still to
travel. There was no change at the
head of affairs as they entered the back straight and headed towards the
second flight. The flashy chestnut Ballydine was now disputing second position with the sole
grey Vintage Clouds, from Arkwrisht to the outside,
then Duke Des Champs, Potters Legend, Tomngerry, Ballyoptic, Mystical Knight, Balko
Des Flos, Ami Desbois,
Gangster, Baoulet Delaroque,
Bellshill and Ghost River. They all
jumped it well. The runners continued to the middle flight in the
back straight; the pace was good and once again they jumped it without
incident. The field then headed across
the sanded strip to reach flight number four.
There were no departures but Ghost River, at the rear of the field,
continued to be the least fluent.
Heading into the far turn, Yala Enki under Aidan Coleman continued to hold the advantage
over Ballydine and Vintage Clouds; Bellshill had
now been relegated to a narrow last. Heading into the home straight, around 12 lengths
covered the field. Travelling to the
outside of midfield, Duke Des Champs was less than fluent at the first flight
therein; again Ghost River didn’t impress with his hurdling either and he was
relegated to last place once more as a result. Heading over the next, Gigginstown’s
Arkwrisht had moved through into second
position. They continued on to the
seventh flight; Vintage Clouds jumped it awkwardly and lost ground on the
leaders. Arkwrisht
now assumed the lead as they headed down past the winning post with one
circuit now to travel. Heading around
the bottom bend, Sam Twiston-Davies decided to call
it a day aboard Baoulet Delaroque
having already issued reminders but to no avail. Never jumping fluently, Ghost River was
being pushed along at the rear of the field as they entered the back straight
for the final time. Arkwrisht
continued to lead the field as they cleared the next flight; one of his two Gigginstown stable-mates, Gangster, hit this flight. The leader bunny-hopped over the middle
obstacle in the back straight but it did not affect his momentum. The remaining fourteen crossed the sanded
track before arriving at four out.
Having been up with the pace earlier, Ballydine
had begun to back-peddle through the field and he was very ungainly at this
one. Towards the rear of the field, a number of
runners appeared to be struggling as they headed into the far turn; Mystical
Knight, Ghost River and Vintage Clouds would be pulled up before they reached
three out. Meanwhile Arkwrisht continued to lead, from Ballyoptic
and Potters Legend; Yala Enki
now began to fade. Duke Des Champs
travelled just behind these and to his inner, Balko Des Flos seemed to be
cruising. Bellshill was also going
strongly in their wake. Having entered the home straight the runners
fanned out; to the outside Ballyoptic laid down a
challenge and was marginally ahead of the less than fluent Arkwrisht as they cleared it. Potters Legend hit the flight but continued
to battle on to the inside. Having
appeared a big danger just moments before, Balko
Des Flos was soon being ridden; whereas Bellshill
continued his progress and had drawn alongside Ballyoptic
as they reached two out. But, jumping is the name of the game and the
Irish challenger paddled through the flight; he survived but was soon under
pressure as Ballyoptic seized the upper-hand once
more. However, Patrick Mullins
continued to galvanise the favourite and he regained the lead and was a length
up as he jumped the final flight. But
that was not the end of the story … With the rail to the nearside to help him, Ballyoptic began to rally. Meanwhile, Bellshill began to drift towards
his challenger as the line approached.
They joined battle at the half furlong mark and it was then nip and
tuck all the way to the winning post … with the Nigel Twiston-Davies
runner prevailing by a neck at the line! They had drawn well clear of their nearest rival,
Potters Legend, 13 lengths in fact; he finished against the running rail on
the far side of the hurdles track. Balko Des Flos finished 2½
lengths behind him in 4th, with long-time leader Yala
Enki plugging on past tired rivals to claim
5th. There were nine finishers, with
EPDS Racing’s Ami Desbois completing in 8th … so he
won a small amount of prize money too; ‘Every
little helps’ as a well-known supermarket chain says! Tomngerry pulled
up before two out and Gangster before the last.
We stayed within the Earl of Derby Enclosure,
beside the horse-walk entry/exit point following the race. I didn’t notice it, but there was a ‘bucket incident’ early in the race, as
reported in the Stewards enquiry notes … buckets at Aintree
and spigots at Cheltenham; whatever next?
It seems that the fences are not the only dangers encountered on the
track! Race 6 - 4:40pm THE DOOM BAR SEFTON
NOVICES' HURDLE RACE (CLASS 1) (Grade 1)
The favourite for this race was Ballyandy, winner of the Cheltenham Festival’s Champion
Bumper, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden
by son Sam; price 9-4. Paul Townend substituted for Ruby Walsh aboard Battleford, the runner-up in the aforementioned
Bumper. On this occasion Patrick
Mullins was aboard Bacardys, who’d chased home the
other two that day. Alan King had a runner in this race, Zipple Back, ridden by Noel Fehily
due to the horse being owned by Potensis
Bloodstock. The starting gate for this event was in the far
corner of the track, close to the Anchor Bridge canal crossing.
And then they were off, with The Minch starting a
little way behind the main group of runners; this was his debut and not
surprisingly he was demonstrating some greenness. The runners were led away by Red Six and
Any Drama; also prominent were Battleford, Ballyandy and Pride Of Lecale. The runners were well-grouped as they
headed into the home straight on the first occasion, apart from The Minch which
remained a number of lengths adrift at the rear of the field. Evidently The Minch is a sea strait in
Northwest Scotland. Any Drama led narrowly from Red Six as the
runners continued down the home straight, heading between three sets of empty
hurdle wings in the process. Battleford, Ballyandy, Pride Of
Lecale and Utility were line across the track
behind the leading duo, from Bacardys with
Willoughby Court, Cheque En Blanc and Jam Session. Behind these were Zipple
Back, Atomix, Rodneythetrotter
and Manhattan Spring; finally King Uther with Bolving, and The Minch in rear. However, King Uther
had begun to travel less well than his rivals are they approached the winning
line and was soon relegated to last place as they headed around the bottom
bend. There was no change at the head of affairs as the
runners entered the back straight. The
next horse to show signs of distress in running was Cheque En Blanc; he began
to drop back through the field despite a number of backhanders from his
jockey James Davies. Tom Cannon
continued to persevere aboard King Uther, bumping his
mount along as they headed towards the far turn; in fact he overtook Cheque En
Blanc as they crossed the sand pathway.
Six Red had lost his place by the time the main
body of the field reached the railings to the inside of the far bend; Any
Drama and Pride Of Lecale disputed the lead at the
point in the race, with Battleford and Ballyandy matching strides just behind them. As the Bowen-runner continued to lose
ground, Zipple Back’s progress was momentarily
interrupted having found himself short of room in the backwash. It was still two by two as the leaders swung into
the home straight, with Pride of Lecale still
alongside Any Drama. Battleford and Ballyandy
continued to share third position, from Willoughby Court upsides Bacardys. Zippleback was still travelling okay and was heading the
main body of runners. Having passed between the first set of empty
wings, Battleford and Ballyandy
swept through either side of Pride Of Lecale and
took the lead. Bacardys,
which had finished third behind Ballyandy and Battleford at the Cheltenham Festival, continued to gain
on the leading duo as they headed down between the next set of wings. Meanwhile, The Minch had made good progress
from the rear of the field and was soon challenging for fourth position. Ballyandy,
which was carrying a 4lb penalty today, began to tire as they reached the
final furlong; the Patrick Mullins-ridden Bacardys
had now joined Battleford at the head of affairs on
the final run to the line. And it was Bacardys which proved the stronger today despite
substitute jockey Paul Townend’s best efforts, with
the Willie Mullins’ second-string triumphing by half a length at the winning
post. The Minch had continued to make progress all the
way down the home straight and completed just 1½ lengths
behind this duo. Ballyandy
claimed 4th today, 2½ lengths back; the 4-year-old Alan King-runner, Zipple Back, completed in 9th position. Sadly the very promising The Minch lost his life
later in the year, having dislocated a stifle at the home of his owners. RIP.
We
decided to return to the steppings above the
Winners’ Enclosure following this race, the final one of the day. I
recall, at one point during the afternoon, that we saw Chanelle
McCoy with companions close to the Winners’ Enclosure. I wasn’t sure about her outfit however –
she wore a black cape-style jacket which appeared of a rigid nature, with
white and yellow horizontal ribboning;
strange! I also passed Alice Plunkett
and was surprised that she was quite tall! Race 7 - 5:15pm THE WEATHERBYS PRIVATE
BANK CHAMPION STANDARD OPEN NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE (CLASS 1) (Grade 2) No Stewards Enquiry. The Stewards noted that
CHEQUE EN BLANC (FR), trained by Tom Symonds, would wear earplugs in the
parade ring. It
was then time for us to depart. Having
reached the racecourse crossing point, we were again delayed briefly – today
because the track was being rolled!
Having taken the shuttle bus back to the Melling
Road exit point, we’d soon arrived back at the car and traffic was flowing
smoothly out of the car park. We
successfully negotiated the ‘weird’
junction at the start of the M57, under my tutelage; but I have had eight
years’ experience! The driver in front
of us was having difficulty in deciding which side of the island to select –
the left takes you onto the M58, the right onto the M57. It’s the strangest road junction I’ve ever
encountered! Having taken this route,
we then followed the A580 back to our hotel at Golborne. We
were also well on schedule to meet our evening restaurant reservation time;
we had 45 minutes to spare. Today we
were seated in the ‘breakfast bar’
area. My default choice of meal is
always fish and chips – so that was what I chose on this occasion. I wanted to try the chocolate tart with
salted caramel ice cream, which Sandra had ordered the previous evening but,
by this evening, they had sold out.
Poodles. I ordered cheesecake
instead. My choice of drink was an apple and raspberry J2O. Having returned to our hotel rooms, I recall
turning on the TV hoping to watch Graham Norton; needless to say I dozed off
to sleep and saw nothing of the show!
But I did have a better night’s sleep than the previous one. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
PHOTOS – Aintree Festival
Day 2 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
