PART I
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2013
DAY TWO
FEATURING THE QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 2013
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Jockey Sam Twiston-Davies is congratulated by his dad
Nigel, trainer of The New One, having won the Neptune Investment Management Novices’
Hurdle Another morning when the alarm sounded and woke
me from a deep slumber. Gone are the
days when I would be already awake due to excitement and waiting for the
call. I showered, washed and dried my hair; then ate
breakfast of two Weetabix with soya milk, and two
slices of white toast with butter on.
Then it was time to put on my makeup.
I wore a plum shade of eye-shadow today, as opposed to the dark brown
of yesterday. By tomorrow I would give
up and just wear foundation and mascara!
My right lower eyelid was definitely showing
signs of improvement, having been suffering from a stye
last week, so I wore glasses to drive to Cheltenham before inserting my
contacts once there. Wednesday’s outfit was a black thermal vest, grey
bird-print thermal long-sleeved vest, cream thermal long-sleeved vest, cerise
frilled hem cardigan, black frill-edge cardigan, new purple fleece, purple
frill-edged cardigan, black gillet, black 40 denier
tights, brown leggings, black handkerchief hem long skirt, M & S
horse-print snood, M & S engineer boots, Thinsulate
gloves, wrist-warmers, black faux sheepskin coat, mauve/grey Katia Big Snow scarf, plus my Magic Branches Chaotic
Rainbow pendant. With everything set to go, I departed around five
minutes earlier than yesterday.
Instead of driving around the ring-road to reach the Hemel Hempstead
road, today I drove via the City Centre.
My route then took me to join the A41 bypass, after which I headed to
Aylesbury and onwards to Bicester. The queue tailing back from Junction 9 of
the M40 was much shorter than yesterday, so it took only two or three changes
for me to continue on my journey. The
traffic slowed at the beginning of the A34 where the three lanes became two,
exacerbated by vehicles joining from a side-road further down the carriageway. Upon arrival at the Peartree
Interchange, I discovered that traffic was queuing solidly at the roundabout
where the slip-road meets the A44.
Eventually I was able to push my way into the queue; one usually has
to wait for someone to demonstrate their intention to move across to the
innermost roundabout lane with the purpose of heading to Woodstock. That then enables me to move out too, on
their left-hand side. They go, I
go! The queue therefore stretched from
here, all the way down the dual carriageway to the A40. A number of vehicles were also in the wrong
lane, so they pushed into the outside lane too. After a number of minutes, I was on my way
westwards along the A40, heading for Cheltenham. I recall there was a tanker which appeared
to be leaking a liquid; it had pulled to the inside and was parked on the
grass verge. And, initially, a slow
moving queue had formed behind a JCB digger; fortunately he soon pulled into
a lay-by to permit those behind him to pass.
Nothing of note happened for the remainder of the
journey to Cheltenham, apart from the fact that there weren’t many vehicles
on the road! Instead of initially
heading towards the centre of Cheltenham before turning right into Hales
Road, I decided to pull over to the outside at the Six Ways junction and
travel up Greenway Lane once the traffic lights had turned to green. Upon arrival at the T-junction at the far
end, I turned left and descended Harp Hill to reach the ‘longabout’. I then turned right, drove through the
traffic light junction beside a supermarket, after which I took a right turn
into Bouncers Lane. The junction at the far end can be difficult to
negotiate, being two adjacent mini-roundabouts, but soon I was heading along
New Barn Lane towards the main entrance to Cheltenham racecourse. At the Evesham Road I continued ahead,
turning right into the car park. Once
again there was space for me to park my car in the lower field; being earlier
than yesterday I wasn’t so high on the hill, and also on the front row of
two. I was feeling laid back today, so remained in my
car until 10:20 before heading to the turnstiles. It wasn’t so cold
as yesterday either. I was very
relieved when the gates opened at 10:30 ... because, having remembered to
drink a cup of tea before departing, I was dying to go to the loo! After which I went to the kiosk on the
concourse to purchase a race-card, £3.
It was sunny today, so it was quite pleasant to stand on the steppings above the Winners’ Enclosure. Evidently the planned course inspection had been
called off; the going good to soft, soft in places. Having been covered immediately after
Tuesday’s racing had been completed, the operation to lift the covers had
commenced at 08:30. Whilst waiting for the Paddock Interviews to
begin at 12:15, it was announced that the Martin Keighley-trained Johnny Og would be a non-runner in the Champion Bumper;
self-certified due to lameness. Eventually it was time for Alastair Down and
Martin Kelly to begin today’s interviews.
The first item was the presentation of a cheque to the Injured Jockeys
Fund by the Cheltenham and Three Counties Racing Club who had raised the
money through their annual Festival Preview Evening; Sam Twiston-Davies
and Denis O’Regan having participated as two of the
preview panel. The next interviewee was Countryfile’s
Adam Henson, who was acting as Ladies Day Ambassador today. He said his role was the present the prizes
and kiss the beautiful women! When
quizzed as to whether he should remain at the farm during the busy lambing
period, he said his assistant was carrying out that role today. They expected around 200 lambs to be born
this year, with visitors welcome to see them arrive. A comment was also made about his tweed
suit – he said he’d had it specially made because he was supporting the
British wool industry. Adam enjoys
racing; Simon Claisse, Clerk of the Course, is a
good mate of his. It was then time for three rugby referees to be
introduced to those surrounding the Winners’ Enclosure – Wayne Barnes, Craig Joubert and Chris White – I switched off here, as I don’t
‘do’ rugby! I recollect these three have been
interviewed before, at a previous Festival. It was then the turn of trainer Jonjo O’Neill to be interviewed. He reminisced about winning the Gold Cup
aboard Dawn Run. He also spoke about Taquin du Seuil, his
representative in the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle. He said the horse had a high
knee action so should be suited by the soft ground. His runner in the Coral Cup, Mr Watson, was
described as a character when at the racecourse, although has lots of
ability. He has a tendency to run far
too free and wears a hood today. Jonjo said the horse is fine at home. Jonjo described Albertas Run as being in great form and he was happy with
him, confident he’d run a good race in tomorrow’s Ryanair
Chase. Next up was Henry De Bromhead,
trainer of Sizing Europe. Another charge, Sizing Gold, wouldn’t run
today as he was not right, so had been withdrawn from the Nepture. He then went on to speak about Sizing
Europe, who he said was an amazing horse and a joy to train. The horse has had many major wins,
commencing with the Greatwood Hurdle in 2007 when a
5-year-old. The trainer believes that
Sizing Europe now handles any ground – having won the Arkle
Chase, Champion Chase and been runner-up in the latter too, he said his
charge rises to the challenge. Next to be interviewed was Nicky Henderson –
Henry shook hands with him as one left, the other went to the Winners’
podium. Nicky began by speaking about Sprinter Sacre – he described training the star as frightening and
exciting – as everyone expects superb runs every time. Asked what the
race game plan was, Nicky said he’d ask Barry Geraghty
what he wished to do, rather than dare suggest a strategy to the experienced jockey! They then spoke about My Tent Or Yours’ run in
yesterday’s Supreme Novices. Nicky said his horse received a good lead
from Champagne Fever but unfortunately couldn’t get past him. The trainer said Barry Geraghty
recently visited the yard to school the horses; he started with Sprinter Sacre as a treat, and then schooled the novices. Speaking about his Neptune Novices’ Hurdle
representative, Chatterbox, he said the horse has solid form; and is owned by
the Bobs Worth team. Nicky admitted to
looking for excuses not to run the horse today but, despite his best efforts,
he could think of none. So he’s here
to run. Nicky then spoke about his runner in the RSA
Chase, Hadrian’s Approach; he said the horse has had jumping issues, but
should be on a par with Unioniste. He then spoke about Captain Conan, who was due to
run in tomorrow’s Jewson Novices’ Chase – he was looking forward to the clash
with Dynaste; it was a strong race. Nicky
said Captain Conan is a power horse, and the ground conditions will help. Looking forward to the World Hurdle, he said the
drying ground will help Oscar Whisky get the distance; he also had Oscara Dara entered for the race. Finally, Nicky spoke about his hopes for the Gold
Cup. He said Long Run never gets the
credit he deserves; he said the horse is in good form, better than last year,
because he was not finishing off his races season. Although Bobs Worth doesn’t have the strongest
constitution, he described him as a ‘smashing
horse’ – professional but not flamboyant.
He didn’t run in January as he wasn’t right, but they’ve had a clear
run with him approaching Cheltenham, and his work at home has been very good. The final guest today was Russ Wiseman,
representative of Sportingbet.com, sponsors of the Queen Mother Champion
Chase. He began by discussing Sizing Europe, who he said
was good value when compared to Sprinter Sacre
whose odds were 1-4. The prediction was for the latter to win by over 10
lengths. Back In Focus was popular for the 4-mile Amateur
Riders’ Chase; with punters also getting ‘stuck
in’ to Buddy Bolero. Pont Alexandre was very popular for the Neptune Novices’
Hurdle and was now a short price; being Mick Fitzgerald’s pick of the
day. Punters were also keen on Rule The World, The New One and Taquin du Seuil. Boston Bob was not strong in the betting, at 9-2
or 5-1, for the RSA. Not surprisingly,
as Ruby Walsh’s choice of ride, Unioniste was favourite for the race; he said there was strength in
depth, with Terminal also popular. It was 8-1 the field for the Handicap Hurdle, the
Coral Cup, with punters keen on Abbey Lane and Pendra;
also Mr Watson each way. Money was
coming in for Kalmann, Bordoni,
Saphir de Rheu and
Counsel in the Fred Winter Novices’ Hurdle.
Russ’ best bet of the day was Rule The World. The Paddock Interviews having been completed for
another day, I decided to head to the course-side rails to obtain a vantage
point next to them. I wasn’t about to
miss out, as I had ahead of the first race yesterday. The favourite for this race was Back In Focus at
odds of 9-4. Alan King had a
representative in this race, Godsmejudge ridden by Nico de Boinville. This is the marathon event of the Festival. The
starting gate for this race was in the mid-course chute; upon exiting the
horse walkway, the runners cantered across the home straight and headed up
the all-weather track around the top bend.
They then crossed the racecourse to enter the chute; at the off, there
were three fences to negotiate before the far turn, after which they
travelled along the home straight and then completed another two full circuits!
Then
they were off; the spectators roared to signify the start of the first race
of the day. The runners were led away
by Highland Lodge, from Hawkes Point, the grey Rose
Of The Moon, Tofino Bay, Our Island, Present To
You, Emperor’s Choice, Buddy Bolero, Godsmejudge,
Back In Focus, Heathyards Flyer, Drawn N Drank, Top
Smart, Sacred Mountain and Scampi Boy; Rival D’Estruval
brought up the rear. The
field cleared the first three fences without mishap, although Back In Focus
did jump out to his right over the middle of these, bumping Heathyards Flyer in the process. Having negotiated the far turn, the horses
straightened up to approach fence four; Highland Lodge continued to lead to
the inside of the track, Tofino Bay almost upsides
to his wide outside. Drawn N Drank was
fencing very slowly and had soon dropped to the rear of the field and was in
danger of becoming detached. Heading
up the home straight, Highland Lodge and Tofino Bay
continued to lead, Godsmejudge now disputing third
with Rose Of The Moon; Back In Focus close up to their outside. Having cleared fence number seven, the
runners set off around the top turn and headed into the back straight for the
first occasion. There was no change at
the head of affairs as they began their journey towards the far corner; Godsmejudge putting in a fantastic leap at the first in
the line of fences. Rose
Of The Moon made a slight error at the fence following the water, the first
of the open-ditches. To the rear of
mid-field, Heathyards Flyer was soon being driven
along by Joshua Newman. Having reached
the far turn the horses began the journey downhill. Tofino Bay was
lobbing along happily, ears pricked, to the outside of Highland Lodge, Back
In Focus in the former’s slipstream; in fourth position, to the inside, was Godsmejudge.
Struggling badly at the back of the field was Drawn N Drank. Heading
around the turn and into the home straight once more, the order was Torfino Bay, Highland Lodge, Back In Focus, Godsmejudge, Scampi Bay, Our Island, Rose Of The Moon,
Buddy Bolero, Rival D’Estruval, Top Smart, Hawkes Point, Present To You, Heathyards
Flyer, Emperor’s Choice, Sacred Mountain and the tailed off Drawn N
Drank. All sixteen runners were still
standing as they set off into the country for the final time. The
first casualty was Scampi Boy who blundered at the first in the back
straight, unseating his rider Jack Sherwood, and hampering Rose Of The Moon
in the process. Highland Lodge landed
on all fours when negotiating the water-jump.
Back In Focus hit the next fence, the penultimate open-ditch. Rose Of The Moon was pulled up before the
21st fence, as was the tailed off Drawn N Drank before the 20th. Heading
around the dog-leg, Highland Lodge continued to dispute the lead with Tofino Bay, Godsmejudge was
just behind them in third position, then Back In Focus, Our Island, Buddy
Bolero, Rival D’Estruval, Top Smart and Hawkes Point.
These had drawn clear of the continuing remainder of the field. Top Smart departed at the final
open-ditch. Heading
downhill for the final time only five runners were still travelling okay;
Highland Lodge, Tofino Bay, Godsmejudge,
Back In Focus and Rival D’Estruval. Having cleared the next, Godsmejudge came under pressure and began to lose his
place. As
they approached the final bend, Derek O’Connor drove Rival D’Estruval through the gap between Highland Lodge and
Back In Focus, to join Torfino Bay at the head of
affairs. However, the former hit the
top of two out and crumpled on landing, leaving Nina Carberry’s
mount with two or three lengths advantage over his nearest rival. Further back, the tired Highland Lodge lost
momentum when forced to side-step the prostrate horse, allowing Godsmejudge to assume third position. Having
cleared the last, Nina drove her horse towards the line but he began to tire
under pressure, Back In Focus now gaining with every stride. Patrick Mullins’ mount overtook him just 75
yards from victory, winning by half a length at the line. The Alan King runner, having put in an
almost immaculate round of jumping, held on to claim 3rd place by a head from
the staying on Buddy Bolero. Our
Island completed in 5th place, with the long-time leader Highland Lodge in
6th. An
Irish-trained winner, but an English-owned one – Andrea and Graham
Wylie. It was also trainer’s son Patrick
Mullins’ first ever steeplechase winner at the Cheltenham Festival.
NEWS FROM
THE STEWARDS’ ROOM FOLLOWING THE RACE: The Stewards held an enquiry into the use
of the whip by Miss Nina Carberry, the rider of
TOFINO BAY (IRE), placed second, from approaching the second last fence.
Having heard her evidence and viewed recordings of the race, they found her
in breach of Schedule (B)6 Part 2 in that she had used her whip above the
permitted level. The Stewards suspended Miss Carberry
for 7 days as follows: Thursday 28, Sunday 31 March and Monday 1, Tuesday 2,
Thursday 4, Friday 5 and Saturday 6 April 2013. Not
being a betting person, it had never occurred to me that horses might run with
a speed sensing device ... you learn something new every day! It was still cold, but at least it was sunny ... The favourite for the next race was the Willie
Mullins trained Pont Alexandre ridden by Ruby Walsh,
at odds of 6-4. Alan King had a runner
in this race, Two Rockers, the trainer having decided to let the horse take
his chance in this event. Although I
believe his feeling was that the horse would have been better suited by the
three miles of Friday’s Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, but an entry for
that particular race had been overlooked. Evidently eight was the smallest number of horses
ever declared for the following event. The
starting gate for this race was in the mid-course chute; upon exiting the
horse walkway, the runners cantered across the home straight and headed up
the all-weather track around the top bend.
They then crossed the racecourse to enter the chute; at the off, two
flights would be negotiated before the far turn.
Then
they were off. The runners were led
away by Ubak and Pont Alexandre;
they were followed four abreast by Two Rockers, Rule The World, The New One, Taquin du Seuil and bringing up
the rear were Chatterbox and Minsk.
Having pulled his way up into third place approaching the second
flight, Rule The World jumped it slower than the horses to his inside and
dropped back to sixth place. The
horses headed around the far turn lead by Pont Alexandre,
from Ubak, The New One, Taquin
de Seuil, Rule The World, Two Rockers, Chatterbox
and Minsk. The field cleared the next
flight and began their journey up the home straight; Ruby’s mount, ears
pricked, at the head of affairs.
Chatterbox was less fluent than his rivals at the fourth flight. The
horses then headed out into the country with one full circuit now to
travel. The field was still tightly
packed as it began its journey down the back straight; Two Rockers made a
small error at the fifth flight. Ruby
Walsh stole a peek behind on a couple of occasions to see where his main
rivals were. The outsider Ubak took a slight lead as the runners headed over flight
six. Pont Alexandre
was still close up to his outside, from The New One, Rule The World, Minsk, Taquin du Seuil, Two Rockers
and Chatterbox. The
runners negotiated the dog-leg turn and headed over flight seven, after which
Two Rockers was briefly ridden along at the back of the tightly packed
field. Pont Alexandre
led again three out, Ubak, Taquin
du Seuil, The New One, Rule The World and Minsk all
close on his heels; Chatterbox was just behind these, with Two Rockers just
beginning to struggle in rear and receiving a couple of backhanders from his
jockey. With
the momentum of the hill, the leading seven sprinted towards the penultimate
flight, Ubak the first to capitulate. Pont Alexandre
still led from Taquin du Seuil
and Rule The World who now disputed second, then Minsk in fourth, Chatterbox
together with The New One at the back of this main group. Coming
off the bend, Ruby was riding for all he was worth to remain ahead of his
nearest rivals, but Rule The World was now at his off-side girth and Sam Twiston-Davies had launched The New One’s challenge to
the stand-side too. The latter was
travelling the strongest and took the lead as they approached the final
flight and stayed on strongly to win by 4 lengths at the line. Rule
The World, having also got the better of Pont Alexandre
before the last, claimed 2nd, with Ruby’s mount a tiring 3rd. Chatterbox completed in 4th, Minsk in 5th, Taquin de Seuil 6th and Ubak 7th. Two
Rockers was last of the eight.
The favourite for the next race was Unioniste, at odds of 5-2. Possibly because Ruby Walsh had chosen to
ride the grey rather than the Willie Mullins trained Boston Bob. The starting gate for the third race of the day
was located between the two fences nearest the stands; meaning that the first
fence jumped is also the 10th fence and the final fence too. This being the case, the horses cantered up
the all-weather strip in front of the stands before heading back down the
turf and re-entering the all-weather strip for a short distance before exiting
onto the racecourse once more to reach the starting gate.
Then
they were off. Theatrical Star was around
a length up as the field cleared the first fence. Sharing second were Goulanes
and Houblon des Obeaux,
to their outside was Unioniste, further out on the
track Real Milan and Lyreen Legend; Boston Bob to
the inside, then Hadrian’s Approach, Vintage Star, Terminal and Lord Windmere. The
horses then headed up the hill and cleared the second fence before beginning
their trip along the back straight for the first time. The pace was steady so the field remained
closely grouped, none of the horses made any serious jumping mistakes on their
journey towards the far corner, just a few minor errors here and there. Turning
downhill, Theatrical Star continued to lead, from Goulanes,
Houblon des Obeaux, Real
Milan, Vintage Star, Boston Bob, Unioniste,
Hadrian’s Approach, Lyreen Legend, Lord Windermere, with Terminal at the rear. The runners cleared the next fence safely
and turned into the home straight once more.
Over the next, Houblon des Obeaux made a slight error, as did Hadrian’s Approach;
the latter received a slap down the neck as a result. One circuit had now been completed. With
a good leap over the next, Goulanes joined
Theatrical Star at the head of affairs; then as they headed away from the
stands towards the next, he took over the lead. Houblon des Obeaux and Real Milan followed him through as Joe Tizzard’s mount began to drop back through the
field. The tiring Theatrical Star
subsequently made an error at the first in the back straight; Boston Bob
caught in his slipstream was shuffled to the back of the field. The
next obstacle was the water, Ruby Walsh had begun to push Unioniste
along in mid-field; after the open-ditch his jockey administered a
reminder. Goulanes
led over the next, from Houblon des Obeaux, Real Milan, Hadrian’s Approach, Unioniste, Lyreen Legend, Lord
Windermere, Terminal, Vintage Star and Boston Bob; Theatrical Star was tailed
off, soon to be pulled up. The
runners headed around the dog-leg turn, their next fence the final
open-ditch. Houblon
des Obeaux put in a short stride and hit this one,
losing his place; Terminal made an error here too. Vintage Star had now begun to lose touch. Downhill
they travelled, Goulanes still ahead, from Real
Milan, Hadrian’s Approach, Lyreen Legend, Lord
Windermere, Houblon des Obeaux,
Boston Bob and Unioniste; the latter in danger of
losing touch. The runners jumped the
third last and headed for the final turn, Tom Scudamore’s
mount just half a length ahead of his four nearest rivals. Mounting his challenge on the inside, Lord
Windermere found himself a touch short of room on the turn and stumbled slightly;
Boston Bob soon sent into the lead as they straightened up. The
leaders jumped the penultimate fence; Goulanes
making a slight error, his jockey subsequently steering to avoid the corner
of the impending plastic rail.
Heading for the final fence, Boston Bob was a couple of lengths clear
of Lyreen Legend, from Hadrian’s Approach, the
closing Lord Windermere and Goulanes. But
he hit the top of the obstacle and crumpled on landing, thus handing the
initiative to Lyreen Legend and Lord Windermere;
the latter being driven out to win by 1¾ lengths at
the line. Having won with ears
pricked, the winner probably still had more to give! Hadrian’s
Approach was 6 lengths back in third, despite an indifferent round of
jumping. Unioniste
won the battle for 4th place by a length from Terminal 5th, Goulanes a short-head behind in 6th and Houblon des Obeaux half a
length back in 7th. The only other
finisher was the tailed-off Real Milan.
It
was the first Cheltenham Festival training success for ex-jockey, Jim Culloty, well-known for his exploits aboard Best
Mate.
That’s
it for the first half of the diary, please ... |
