PART III
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2014
DAY FOUR - FEATURING THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP
FRIDAY 14 MARCH 2014
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Choc and Raya Star head to post ahead of the final race of the 2014 Festival Click here to read my Day 4 Diary Part II It
was now time for the final race of the day, and the Festival. As always,
Nicky Henderson had a number of runners in this event, named in honour of his
father; namely French Opera, Tanks For That and Anquetta. There were two joint-favourites, Ned
Buntline trained by Noel Meade and ridden by Paul Carberry
and Claret Cloak trained by Emma Lavelle and ridden by Noel Fehily; priced 6-1. Alan
King had a competitor in this race too, novice Raya Star, ridden by Choc.
Wayne Hutchinson had been booked to ride the Dr Newland representative,
Changing The Guard. The major mover in
the betting was Savello, who began as a 33-1 shot
and shortened into 16-1. Harry Derham took the ride aboard Shooters Wood in place of the
injured Daryl Jacob; likewise David Casey aboard Passage Vendome for Ruby
Walsh. And, finally, JP McManus owned
four of the runners in this race; Mr Mole, Eastlake, Competitive Edge and Ned
Buntline. Having
taken a few snapshots of Choc’s mount and of Choc
too, I headed back to the course-side rails for the final time. The race being run over a distance of two
miles, the horses cantered up the all-weather strip in front of the grandstands
before returning down the turf and entering the strip once more to canter to
the starting gate at the far end of the home straight. I made it in time to see Choc and Raya Star
canter by, in both directions. There
was a funny incident ahead of this race, when the hooded Oscar Hill ridden by
Tom O’Brien failed to stop having cantered down to the two mile start. He subsequently headed up the mid-course
chute, jumping a flight of hurdles in reverse too. Tom steered him into the infield and he
must have done three or four circuits thereof before he ran out of gas and
Tom was able to pull him up. The
remark from the commentator was ‘they
are obviously running the horse over the wrong trip’! Not surprisingly it had already been
announced that Oscar Hill had been withdrawn. Meanwhile
the jockeys jogged their horses around in a group out upon the racecourse,
well back from the starting gate, although they eventually came to a halt;
during this time they were kept amused by this turn of events. Choc’s mount could be seen swishing his tail and kicking
out with his near-hind and stamping his other hind-leg too, keen to get on
with things. Nick Scholfield
was wary of this, and ensured he kept Viva Colonia at a distance; Claret
Cloak also strolled into this danger area, Choc checking behind and talking
with Noel Fehily to warn him, just in case of a
stray hoof. As
it turned out, this break in proceedings was the only bright moment
associated with this race, because it had a very sad ending from my point of
view.
They
seemed to stand waiting for ages for Oscar Hill to gallop himself out and for
Tom O’Brien to dismount to begin the long walk back, leading his runaway
mount. Then finally they were off; to
the final cheer of the 2014 Festival from the gathered spectators. The
runners were led away by Astracad towards the
inside, Shooters Wood centre and Next Sensation wide on the course. At the first fence, near the rear of the
field which was spread wide across the track, the sole Willie Mullins representative
Passage Vendome tipped the top of the fence and fell; he hampered Lucky
Landing who Dougie Costello steered around the
prostrate jockey, the horse having got to his feet quickly. Heading
to the second fence, the Richard Johnson-ridden Next Sensation had taken the
lead on the wide outside; just behind him Changing The Guard ploughed through
the fence but he retained his momentum.
Towards the inside in mid-field Raya Star took off too soon and
ploughed through it too. The
partnership survived but it took a few strides for Choc to re-gather the
horse having been shot backwards, clinging on to the reins to steady himself;
he lost some ground too. Having
joined the New Course the runners headed to fence number three; Next
Sensation leading from Astracad to the inside, Anquetta in the centre and Changing The Guard to the
outside. They were followed by
Shooters Wood and French Opera; Raya Star took this fence much better. The leader began to put distance between
himself and his pursuers as they headed to and jumped fence number four; he
was probably now seven or eight lengths clear. Bringing up the rear were Viva Colonia and
Lucky Landing. The
field was soon heading up the hill in front of the Best Mate enclosure; Next
Sensation continued to extend his lead.
Richard Johnson’s mount wasn’t particular fluent jumping the next
fence and Astracad blundered badly. But, back in the field, total and utter
disaster struck for Raya Star; he fell, the little horse possibly
unsighted. Easter Meteor was hampered
by the faller. The
remaining twenty-two runners headed over the water jump, Next Sensation still
well clear, from Next Sensation, Anquetta sporting
the Robert Waley-Cohen colours with son Sam aboard,
then Changing The Guard, Shooters Wood, Astracad
and French Opera. The following fence is the first open-ditch; Anquetta flew this one, in contrast there were a number
of less than perfect leaps further back in the field, the pace they were
travelling being strong. The
horses then jumped a plain fence before negotiating the dog-leg turn, and
heading to the final open-ditch. There
were no casualties at this obstacle, although the field was well strung out
by this stage. They continued their
climb up the hill, clearing the fifth last in the process; Next Sensation was
still well clear and Easter Meteor and Viva Colonia brought up the rear. The
runners headed around the far turn and began their descent, facing up to the
tricky fourth last en-route. The main
pack was led by Anquetta, from Oiseau
De Nuit, Shooters Wood, Eastlake and French
Opera. There were further departures
here; Competitive Edge fell when near the rear of the field, and Easter
Meteor’s luck finally ran out when he was tripped up with nowhere to go. Viva Colonia did a nifty little jump over
Competitive Edge; the latter just about to rise. And he also sidestepped
Easter Meteor. Having lost his place, Astracad was pulled up before the fence. The
horses continued their journey down the hill to the next, the leader only two
or three lengths clear as he jumped it; Anquetta
jumping out to his right over this one.
The two horses who’d departed at the previous fence appeared to be
fine, galloping along some away adrift of those remaining. Heading to the final turn, the 2011 winner Oiseau De Nuit was noticeably
under pressure and just beginning to drop back. The
runners entered the home straight, Next Sensation hotly pursued by Claret
Cloak, Anquetta and French Opera. A couple of lengths behind this group
travelled Savello, having got a clear run up the
inside around the final bend. They
headed to the penultimate fence, where Claret Cloak blundered having got to
within a length of the long-time leader.
To the outside, Anquetta made a mistake too;
bumping the wider still French Opera (known as Frenchie
in the yard) in the process. Meanwhile
the fading Oiseau De Nuit
got far too close and fell. And
still Next Sensation retained the lead as they headed to the last. However, Savello
was soon laying down a challenge to Claret Cloak and Ned Buntline was also
staying on through tired horses and was a close-up fourth as they jumped the
final fence. It was now time for the
long uphill run to the line, with Richard Johnson’s mount, to the far side, gamely
attempting to hold on to the lead. But
unfortunately time was up as they travelled past the half furlong post, with Savello being driven to the front, followed through by
Claret Cloak; although the latter lost second on the line to the staying-on
Ned Buntline. Next Sensation had gone down,
all guns blazing, to finish fourth.
The distances 1¼ lengths, a neck and a neck; with the 11-year-old Frenchie in 5th.
Mr Mole fell at the last.
Not
satisfied with three winners today, this was the fourth Gigginstown
winner. It was also the third winner
of the day for Davy Russell. And now a
final day score of 6-1 to Ireland (including Northern Ireland), as opposed to
Great Britain. Having
aggravated the injury he’d suffered earlier in the week when Mr Mole departed
during this race, AP McCoy was too sore to ride at Kempton Park the following
day.
NEWS FROM THE STEWARDS’ ROOM
FOLLOWING THE RACE: The
Stewards considered the apparent improvement in form of the winner, SAVELLO
(IRE), compared with its previous run at Fairyhouse
on 19 January 2014, where the gelding finished 9th of 13 runners, beaten 55
lengths. They noted the trainer’s explanation that SAVELLO (IRE) had made a
bad mistake three out and was unable to recover in the soft ground. They
ordered the gelding to be routine tested. WHY THEY RAN BADLY: Harry
Derham, the rider of SHOOTERS WOOD (IRE), unplaced,
reported that the gelding stopped quickly. During the races I watch the big screen
positioned part way down the racecourse, so I saw poor Raya Star fall and
knew immediately from the telltale signs that he had sustained a serious
injury from which he would not recover; Choc had been thrown clear and,
fortunately, having been near the rear of the field, appeared to have avoided
the galloping hooves of most if not all of his rivals. The horse ambulance was quickly on the scene but,
from my low viewpoint beside the course-side rails, I could not see whether
Choc was on his feet, due to the Cross Country cheese-wedges fence blocking
my view. The race continued but I paid
little attention, especially once an ambulance vehicle had headed off in the
direction of the back straight, warning lights flashing. I began to wonder if Choc had been injured
after all. I waited at my vantage point to see if there were
any further developments, but all I saw was the horse ambulance returning
across the course having picked up Raya Star’s now lifeless body. The race had proved too much for this
novice, although it has been won by such in the past. He wasn’t very big, and could race keenly;
his jumping had been his undoing on three occasions during his hurdling days,
although twice this was as a young novice.
Sadly, today, his luck ran out.
Such a shame that he was now gone, having won a couple of valuable
handicap hurdles in his time, at Ascot, including the Ladbroke in December
2011. The 8-year-old had also finished
third to Zarkandar in Newbury’s Betfair
Hurdle in February 2012. “He’s done very well over fences but they are
just a bit big for him; he tries really hard and it would be good to see him
do well”, said Lydia Hislop when talking about the
horses in the Parade Ring; Raya Star was following Savello
out of the Paddock and onto the horse-walk as she spoke. Triumph and disaster. What to do now?
I absolutely hate it when I’ve been left in limbo, not knowing whether
Choc is okay or not. I decided to
return to the Parade Ring area, heading across the concourse with the aim of
getting closer to the area beside the Weighing Room with the hope of perhaps
seeing Choc dropped off and walking back in.
I was delayed by the horses returning along the
horse-walk after the race, crossing access denied to the public until it was
safe for them to do so. Eventually I
did find my way to the rails beside the enclosure reserved for the unplaced
horses; no sign of Choc, but a number of ambulance vehicles with flashing
lights did return to the area behind the Weighing Room to drop off their
passengers. One ambulance almost ‘took out’ one of the fence posts in
an attempt to access the area! Horses
being led across their path on the way back to the stables had to be diverted
into the adjacent unplaced horses’ enclosure for a minute or two. No news is good news I suppose. After a few minutes I decided to head back
towards the opposite side of the Parade Ring; on the way I passed Alan King’s
Travelling Head Lad, Matt Howells, he was carrying Choc’s
saddle and looked glum. However, I was
still at sixes and sevens … and, as I stood close to the bottom end of the
paddock, I noticed Choc’s mum, Sally, heading in my
general direction having been to visit the Weighing Room. Oh well, needs must … so I plucked up the courage
to approach her. “Are you Choc’s mum?” I asked.
“Yes”, she replied. Having
expressed my concern, Sally explained that Choc had hurt his knee during the
fall and ice was now being applied to reduce the swelling but he was
okay. “That’s a relief”, I said. She also mentioned that there were a number
of jockeys in the medical room all lined up for treatment. Before I left her, I asked for her to pass on my
best wishes to Choc. She said she
would, asking for my name and if he knew me … “Yes, I’m afraid so”, I
joked. And she laughed! I expect his mum was left wondering who
this very strange and concerned race-goer was! It later transpired that it had been Mark Walsh
who was stretchered off the course, having taken a heavy fall from
Competitive Edge, and brought down Easter Meteor. Having
discovered that Choc was okay, it was then time for me to make tracks. I popped to the loo, always a sensible idea
ahead of a long journey, before returning to my car which was parked in the
lower field today. I ate the two
remaining cheese rolls and set about waiting for the massed throng of
vehicles to leave although, saying that, I never really noticed a long
tailback of vehicles queuing to exit onto Swindon Lane. I’m
totally accustomed to leaving later on the last day and this was no
exception; I exited at 19:20. Being
later, I was permitted to turn left outside the gate, and decided upon the
same route out of Cheltenham as yesterday.
This being the case, I turned right at the roundabout and headed down
Evesham Road towards the town centre.
At the junction with Wellington Road I turned left; coaches leaving
from the New Barn Lane coach park are directed down Albert Road, turning
right to travel along Wellington Road in the opposite direction to me and, at
the end of which, they enter the Evesham Road to make their escape. Having
negotiated the roundabout on the Prestbury Road, I
drove straight ahead and circumnavigated Pittville
Circus before entering Pittville Circus Road. Upon reaching Hewlett Road I turned left to
reach the ‘longabout’,
where I took a left and a right to head up Harp Hill. Having reached the top I turned right into
Greenway Lane, negotiated the two chicanes and arrived at the Six Ways
junction; once the traffic lights had changed to green, I turned left to join
the A40. It was 19:38. For
the final time this week I headed up past the Dowdeswell
Reservoir, around the Andoversford bypass, through
two sets of traffic lights, and up the steep incline of the dual carriageway
to reach what is probably the highest point of my journey. The route took me past the Puesdown Inn, and onwards to the roundabout which marks
the crossing of the Stow to Cirencester Road.
It’s
actually 40 miles from the racecourse to the Wolvercote
roundabout in Oxford, using the A40; the section between the aforementioned
roundabout and the Burford roundabout is 9 miles
and, according to Google, it takes just 11 minutes to drive! There is then a short stretch of road
before one reaches the Witney bypass.
At this point the faster vehicles streaked off into the distance,
leaving those like myself to travel at a steady 65 mph until the road becomes
a single carriageway in both directions once more. The
route takes me through a set of staggered traffic lights; I hate it when they
appear to have been green for an extended period of time, just in case they
decide to change upon one’s approach when travelling quite fast. After that is a roundabout and a second set
of staggered traffic lights. Not long
after I arrived at the Wolvercote roundabout. It
is at this point, whilst waiting in the queue of traffic, I mull over my
options as to the route to take next.
In recent years it has invariably been the Oxford bypass, M40 and M25
but, on this occasion, I decided I’d travel via Bicester
and Aylesbury, retracing my morning route to return. I wasn’t feeling particularly tired, but
knew the cross-country route would definitely keep me awake, as opposed to
risking the pure monotony of a motorway drive. To
follow this route I drove up the short section of the A44, circumnavigated
the Peartree interchange roundabout, taking a right
turn to join the A34 Oxford bypass and headed north-eastwards. Approaching the M40 motorway junction, I
ensured that I moved into the outside lane as this would enable me to
negotiate the roundabout in order to enter the A41 dual carriageway; the
inside lane bears off to join the M40 northbound carriageway. There’s
a fairly new roundabout on this section of the road, providing access to and
from the ever-growing housing estate to the west of Bicester. Shortly after this junction, a new Premier
Inn has been built. When I reached the
next roundabout I turned right to head along the Bicester
bypass; this runs alongside the Bicester Village
shopping outlet. At
the end of this section of road is the Ambrosden
roundabout; it soon became clear why the articulated lorry I’d seen this
morning had crashed. Tyre tracks could
clearly be seen across the top of the raised island separating the end of the
east and west carriageways, with a muddy rutted track heading into the middle
of the roundabout, ending at a tree within the shrubbery. The driver must have failed to see the
island in the fog, only to realise that braking was required when it was far
too late! I
successfully negotiated the roundabout and headed down the A41, the middle
section of which follows the old Roman Road.
This is a very dangerous section of road, as drivers take liberties
when overtaking due to its straightness.
I’d soon reached the short section of dual carriageway to the west of
Kingswood, manoeuvred through the road-works where, I believe, a new
roundabout is being constructed, and headed onwards to Waddesdon. After
Waddesdon I reached Aylesbury, taking care not to
speed around their 30 mph ring-road due to cameras. I rejoined the A41 and soon left the
residential area behind me. At the
large roundabout further along I turned left to head along the A41 bypass; it
should be an easy drive to reach the Hemel Hempstead junction ... but
no. Road-works, after darkness. All traffic was funnelled off at the Tring junction. At
this point I decided to play ‘silly
buggers’; especially in light of the fact I actually knew the route I
should take from the days when I went rambling in the vicinity. Instead I followed the diversion signs ...
which directed me back to a slip-road leading onto the A41 which, had I
followed the instruction, would have taken me back to Aylesbury! I was beginning to wonder if some jokers
had moved the signs! Anyway,
after driving back across the A41 bridge once more, this time I took the road
into Tring.
The only disadvantage of this route is the traffic calming humps all
along their main shopping street, but I soon negotiated these and found
myself on the eastern side of the town, heading towards the next junction
with the A41 bypass. There were no
signs to direct me back onto the bypass, but it appeared that one of the
vehicles ahead of me had chosen to rejoin the road, so I followed it and was
on my way to Hemel Hempstead once more. Having
left the A41 carriageway for the final time, I drove down the hill and along
Two Waters Road to negotiate the ‘magic
roundabout’; after which I headed up the steep hill, careful not to break
the 40 mph speed limit here or further along.
At the Maylands Avenue roundabout I turned
right, headed through Leverstock Green and on towards
St Albans. Again care must be taken to
avoid speeding, as there are a couple of speed cameras situated overlooking
the road as one heads out into the country once more. Upon
reaching the outskirts of St Albans, I drove down Bluehouse
Hill and around the ring-road to reach home.
There was no requirement to visit the petrol station today, even if a
trip to Kempton Park was in the offing the following day; there would be
sufficient fuel for that in the tank.
I arrived home at 21:45; the journey door-to-door having taken 2 hours
and 25 minutes. It
was definitely time for supper, and I also found time to upload my
photographs and check the following day’s runners, just in case a trip to the
Sunbury-On-Thames track became a reality.
I thus turned in knowing that, if Choc was fit to ride following
today’s fall, I’d be there! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz For
the record, it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to travel to Cheltenham on
Tuesday, 2 hours and 32 minutes on Wednesday, 2 hours and 53 minutes on
Thursday ... something to do with the fog, and 2 hours and 30 minutes on
Friday ... because I left home at 05:45 and despite the fog! My
journey times home were 2 hours and 20 minutes on Tuesday, 2 hours 45 minutes
on Wednesday (presumably due to the waiting time at Greenway Lane and the
slow moving traffic on the A40), 2 hours and 30 minutes on Thursday, and 2
hours 25 minutes on Friday despite going across country rather than by
motorway and because I didn’t drop in to the petrol station. Also,
I forgot to mention that Willie Mullins won the Top Trainer prize, with 4
winners. Ruby Walsh was Top Jockey
having clocked up 3 winners prior to being injured during the first race on
the final day. Attendance
on Gold Cup day was 67,814; total attendance for the Festival 232,340. The
re-development of the racecourse would continue moving forward; further
demolition having taken place in time for the April meeting. The area above the Winners’ Enclosure will
have changed by the time I hope to return in October 2014, and the
horse-walkway leading out of the Parade Ring repositioned by then too; it
will take the form of a more sweeping curve I gather. Photos – Cheltenham Festival Day 4 – Races 1 to 3 |
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