DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL DAY 1
TUESDAY 10 MARCH 2009
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I left home at 07:20, travelling via Hemel
Hempstead, and taking the Bourne End junction onto the A41 to Aylesbury, then
around their ring-road to leave the town by 08:10, although I got stuck behind
slow moving lorries to Bicester. Turning south I headed along the A34
towards Oxford, although there was a traffic hold-up as I approached the M40
junction and further down a traffic jam caused by road-works on the Oxford
ring-road. However, once I’d joined
the A40 the road was clear apart from minor holdups at the traffic lights as
I headed westwards into the Cotswolds.
At Burford there were ‘Alternative Route’
road-signs for Cheltenham races, suggesting a route through the actual
village, and up through Stow on the Wold perhaps? These signs had, however, been vandalised! As I was early, and know the A40 route to
Cheltenham and onwards to the racecourse, I decided to stick to my original
plan. It was the correct decision, as
there were no serious hold-ups, and I arrived at the racecourse at 10:10,
parking in the South car park. There
were numerous coaches parked in this area, and this would prove very
disadvantageous at the end of the day!
The weather was cloudy with sunny intervals. I sat in my car for a few minutes, before
deciding to put on my coat and walk along to the entrance. Having entered the course, my bag was
searched and I walked down the concourse to purchase a race-card. I then went to sit by the side of the
Parade Ring to read through the card, and also to make notes for this
diary. Whilst I was sitting there, I
noticed Alan King walk across the paddock to the Weighing Room, followed a
little while later by his Assistant Trainer, Noel Williams. At 12:15 the ‘Guinness’ sponsored presentations
took place. Although I’d read the
programme I failed to notice that a prize would be presented to Choc as the
overall 2008 Guinness Festival Award winner.
The purpose of the Award is to honour the individual who made the most
outstanding contribution to last year’s Festival. However they did make an announcement
shortly before the presentation so I knew Choc would be making an
appearance. And, as I left my ringside
seat to head around to the Winners’ Enclosure, who should I follow but Meally who had just arrived to watch the presentation
too. Today she was wearing a black
coat, a miniskirt (or dress) and stilettos. Choc came out of the Weighing Room and waited
until his name was announced, during which time someone requested his
autograph. He climbed the podium to
accept his prizes (Waterford Crystal and an OPL photo montage), and then
spoke about his hopes for the Festival.
Following this there was the British Forces
Foundation Lap of Honour to show support for the Armed Forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan. A number of jockeys came
out of the Weighing Room to greet the serviceman as they arrived in the
Winners’ Enclosure. Shortly afterwards, horses began to arrive in the
Parade Ring in preparation for the first race. I noticed that when Choc was waiting to
mount, one of the other horses was bucking and kicking so he guided Alan out
of its way before it could do any damage.
As soon as Choc had left the Paddock I set off to view the forthcoming
race.
As the race began at the start of the
home straight, the horses cantered up the horse-walk past the stands before
heading down to it. Choc’s mount in this event was the Alan King trained
grey, Medermit.
As the horses came back out onto the course for
the start, a cheer rang out from the stands, but it was a little premature,
so a louder cheer was heard as the horses commenced the race a few moments
later. The field was led off by Golan Way, who soon
built up a margin of 6 or 7 lengths. Kempes blundered at the first. Both Cousin Vinny
and Shoreacres were also prominent. Choc took a centre line in the middle of
the field aboard Medermit. Ainama came to
the head of the field as they galloped along the back straight, when Golan
Way made a bad error at one of the flights.
Choc had begun to make progress through the field, although stumbling
on the bend after the 5th flight. As they turned into the final straight, the Irish
Raider, Go Native, was travelling ominously well in the inside rail and was
sent into the lead soon after. Choc’s mount jumped the last flight in 6th position, and
Choc wanted to switch to the inside to make his challenge but Cousin Vinny didn’t jump the flight too well and stumbled to his
left, as a result Medermit had to be switched to
the stand side of him. Despite this
interrupted run, Choc’s mount gained rapidly up the
run-in, but Choc had to settle for a close 2nd, Go Native under Paul Carberry holding on at the line. Somersby finished 3rd, with Copper Bleu
4th.
As Choc had been placed, I
immediately returned to the Winners’ Enclosure to see him come back. Although I hadn’t seen her arrive, I did
notice Meally and her mother leave along the lowest
level of the steppings once the horses had been
taken away.
Choc didn’t have a mount in this
event. Again the horses cantered up along
the horse-walk past the stands, before proceeding to the start. Despite Made in Taipan
hanging back at the start, he soon took up the challenge and went into the
lead. Planet of Sound made a mistake
at the 1st obstacle. Tatenen was prominent but fell at the 3rd fence, luckily
Ruby Walsh was soon on his feet, although the loose horse careered through
the plastic railings but was unscathed.
Forpadydeplasterer was close up in 2nd, Cheating Chance was one of those bringing up the
rear. As they galloped down the back straight, Made in Taipan, Golden Silver, Forpadydeplasterer,
and Follow the Plan were in the front line.
Kalahari King made a mistake at the open-ditch. Cornas, when
challenging for the lead, made a mistake at the 2nd last obstacle. As they came around the final bend, Forpadydeplasterer and Made in Taipan
were disputing the lead, with the former running on the win. Kalahari King came with a late run but
didn’t quite catch the winner. Planet
of Sound finished 3rd, with long-time leader, Made in Taipan
4th. A second win for the Irish.
The ‘supporters club’ for Forpadydeplasterer were very loud, and sported red and
white scarves, the horse’s silks being the same colour. And it was soon time for the 3rd race.
Choc’s
mount in this race was Nenuphar Collonges,
the horse providing Choc with his third winner at last year’s Festival when
winning the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
As the race was to commence in the home straight, the horses cantered
up the horse-walk in front of the stands before they headed for the
start. The mare Cailin
Alainn was very frisky as she cantered to join the
other horses. Then they were off. There was a false start to begin with, and then
the field was led off by The Sawyer, taking his customary place at the
front. Ollie Magern,
Comply or Die and Billyvoddan were all
prominent. Patsy Hall was not jumping
fluently, and Hot Weld was near the back of the field. Choc rode on the outside, in
mid-field. Golden Flight made a bad
mistake, as did Wichita Lineman at the notorious fence before they came into
the straight for the first time. There
was a shower of rain at this time. Stable-companion, Wind Instrument raced with Nenuphar Collonges on his
outside, Choc starting to push his mount along as they jumped the uphill fence
and he gained ground. Simon made a
mistake at the water-jump. AP’s mount,
Wichita Lineman, having made a mistake was being pushed along to keep in
touch with his rivals. The front
runners were closely bunched as they came down the hill for the final time,
Patsy Hall a faller at the back of the field.
Choc was in 3rd position as they turned into the
final straight, Maljimar having taken up the
lead. Choc jumped the last in 2nd
spot, but AP McCoy, having been coaxing and cajoling his mount for over a
circuit, conjured up a final challenge to beat Maljimar
into 2nd place, with Choc a short distance away in 3rd. Dear Villez
finished 4th.
It is only when you watch the replay
of this race that you realise what an incredible ride AP gave his mount. The horse jumped poorly, and was being
driven along for over a circuit, so it was amazing that he managed to beat
all his rivals. It was definitely the
ride of the Festival! I returned to the Winners’ Enclosure
to see Choc and Nenuphar Collonges
arrive back .
Wichita Lineman is owned by JP McManus and, as it was JP’s birthday,
the crowd sang Happy Birthday as he stood in the Winners’ Enclosure to greet
the victor. It was now time for the feature race
of the day.
Choc’s
ride, once again, was last year’s victor, Katchit,
although the diminutive horse had shown little form this season. However he had been on a ‘holiday’ away from
Alan’s yard, and was beginning to show some of his old sparkle. Despite toying with the idea of blinkers,
Alan had decided against using them today.
Being the feature race, the horses were sorted into
number order and were then paraded in front of the stands before setting off
for the start, which was at the far end of the home straight. Alph was
permitted to go to the start early, so missed the parade. Then they were off. Osana,
wearing blinkers, was sent into the lead.
Close behind were Celestial Halo and Hardy Eustace. Katchit was also
fairly prominent, in around 5th.
Binocular was racing in 9th position.
Punjabi began to move up through the field as they galloped down the
back straight. Katchit
lost a little ground on the leaders at this stage, although he was still not
far away. Osana
was passed at the top of the hill, Othermix falling
at the 3rd last flight. As they came
into the straight, the lead was being disputed by Celestial Halo and Punjabi,
with Binocular close behind in 3rd. The former jumped the last with a very
slight lead, but Punjabi overtook him on the run-in to win. Binocular was closing on the line, but had
to settle for 3rd place, Celestial Halo having run very bravely to take
2nd. Crack Away Jack completed in
4th. A win for Nicky Henderson and
Barry Geraghty.
Katchit
finished a fairly close 6th, Choc having come wide into the final
straight. He had run very well,
especially in light of his loss of form this season. Ahead of him in 5th was Muirhead. Ruby received a 3 day ban for whip
abuse, as did David Casey the rider of unplaced Jered.
When watching a recording of the
day’s events, I noticed the cameraman had followed Barry as he walked back to
the Weighing Room. As they moved
through the ‘Scales’ area, Alan King and Noel Williams could be seen in shot,
and Choc’s valet, Phil Taylor, was there too,
congratulating Barry as he came in. It was now time for the 5th race of
the day.
I took this opportunity to cross the
course to watch the event. You have to
pass the starting point for the race so I was able to take a couple of photographs
before myself and other spectators were asked to move on. I positioned myself on the mound of earth
near the cheese wedges and rail fence to watch the action. Then they were off. Initially the field was led off by Heads on
the Ground and Pass Me By, with Garde Champetre and L’Ami in 3rd and
4th positions. Choc was on the outside
of the field quite near the back. It
gets very difficult to follow the horses in this kind of event, so I’ll cut
to the business end ... as they galloped up the final straight, L’Ami was in the lead, followed by Garde
Champetre, with the latter challenging and going on
to win under Nina Carberry. In third was Drombeag,
a 1, 2, 3, for trainer Enda Bolger and owner JP
McManus. Choc pulled up Crystal D’Ainay before 3 out.
The final race of the day was the
David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle Race. As
David was the mentor to both Alan King and Martin Keighley, they had entries
and wanted to do well in this event.
The start of this race was located in
the centre-course chute, so the horses cantered across the home straight and
up around the top bend to reach it. There was some confusion before this
race, with the jockeys being eager but the starter not ready. But then they were off. Gaspara lead them
away, with Megan’s Joy prominent. As
they raced up the straight on the first occasion, Over Sixty was close up on
the inside, with Wychwoods Legend on her
outside. Ruby aboard Quevega (the horse wearing ear plugs) was in mid-field by
this time, having initially been rooted at the start. At the 3rd last Choc
was in 4th position, Gaspara still out in the lead,
a group of 8 having broken away from the remainder of the field. Ruby was one of them, and he sent Quevega into the lead as they rounded the final bend,
running on to win by 14 lengths from United, Aura About You and Over
Sixty. Ruby’s first winner at this year’s
Festival, although he did have a problem persuading her to walk back down the
horse-walk past the crowds. Martin’s Wychwoods Legend was in touch, but was not fluent at the
4th flight, then ridden after the 7th, and weakened approaching 3 out,
finishing 14th.
I returned to the Winners’ Enclosure
to see Choc come back in 4th place spot, and disappear into the Weighing Room
for the final time today. I didn’t
leave immediately, as I knew there would be serious traffic delays on the
roads surrounding the course. Whilst I
was waiting, I noticed Andrew Thornton cross the Parade Ring, and AP too. Finally I decided it was time to return to my
car. However, vehicles in the car park
weren’t going anywhere, and I didn’t see the end of the queue until around
18:45, at which time I joined it.
Whilst I was waiting I ate various snacks which I’d stored in the car
for just such an eventuality. Weirdly,
although everyone had suffered severe delays, there was hardly any traffic on
the roads immediately outside the course or on my route out to join the
A40. It was a clear evening, with a full moon. I made very good time across the Cotswolds,
then up the A34 to Bicester, the A41, returning via
a short section of the M25 to fill up my car with petrol at the local
supermarket ready for the following day.
I arrived home at 21:00. I uploaded my photos, charged my camera battery,
wrote my daily blog, and set-up my videos to record
Wednesday’s action. I went to bed at
10:30 and tuned into the Racing UK Festival highlights programme on my
bedroom TV, although I did doze off to sleep during it! |
