PART III
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2015
DAY FOUR - FEATURING THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP
FRIDAY 13 MARCH 2015
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Next Sensation, winner of the final race of the 2015
Festival for brothers Michael and Tom Scudamore Click here to read my Day 4 Diary Part II It
was now time for the final race of the day, and the Festival and also AP
McCoy’s last ever Cheltenham Festival ride ahead of his retirement at the end
of the 2014/2015 season. With this in
mind, the Champ’s mount in this race, Ned Buntline, became the 4-1 joint
favourite along with Blood Cotil for Willie Mullins
and Ruby Walsh. But,
very tellingly, RUK’s Jonathan Neesom told viewers
that AP McCoy was nought from four on this horse and that the Champ doesn’t
particularly like the horse ... and the horse doesn’t particularly like him
either!!! The horse is huge ...
standing at 17.3 hands, and trainer Noel Meade recounted that his charge had
been specially trained for the race, having finished a runner-up last year
under Paul Carberry. This time around, Paul Carberry
was riding Eastlake for Jonjo O’Neill. Alan
King had two representatives in this race, namely Turn Over Sivola ridden by Denis O’Regan
and Grumeti ridden by Wayne Hutchinson; their
prices 33-1 and 7-1 respectively. And
GB fingers were firmly crossed that one of the home team would lift this
event, which had been named in honour of AP McCoy for this renewal, so that
we could beat the Irish and win the GB versus Ireland competition for having
the most winners; the tally currently stood at 13-13! With
the rain-softened ground, there were four non-runners, namely Clarek Cloak, Solar Impulse, Karinga
Dancer and Tanks For That. So,
ahead of the race I ventured across to the Pre-Parade Ring to see the horses
being saddled. Having been damp
earlier today, followed by just plain dull, the light was already beginning
to fade and it was difficult to take clear photographs; they had a tendency
to be blurred. After
that I headed straight down to the course-side rails in order to take
photographs and I was in time to capture images of AP McCoy aboard Ned
Buntline, and also Turn Over Sivola and Grumeti as they cantered up the all-weather strip in
front of the stands. When AP appeared,
the gathered spectators clapped, cheered and whistled as he rode by! Having
reached the top of the racecourse, all the runners then headed down the turf
to re-enter the all-weather strip in order to continue their journey to the
starting gate as the far end of the home straight. Having congregated initially within the
small corral to the inside of the track, as race time approached the runners were called out onto the racecourse; they jogged away from
the gate before heading back towards the tape. Tom
Scudamore was keen for his mount to get a good
start and he lined up on the inside at the front of the group as they jogged
in.
And
then they were off, first time and to the cheers of the crowd too. Next Sensation led over the first, from My
Brother Sylvest and Festive Affair; at the rear of
the field and a little slow jumping the obstacle, was Eastlake. The runners headed towards fence number two
and were led over it by Next Sensation, My Brother Sylvest,
Festive Affair and Croco Bay. They were followed by Dick Dundee, Brick
Red and Astracad; Turn Over Sivola
travelled behind these. Turban made an
error here. My
Brother Sylvest pulled himself into the lead as the
runners travelled towards the next, where Blood Cotil
blundered badly. Next Sensation
ploughed through the next obstacle but retained second position. The runners
then headed up the hill in front of the Best Mate enclosure and into the back
straight. There
was no change at the head of affairs heading over fence number five, with My
Brother Sylvest leading from Next Sensation,
Eastlake, Croco Bay, Brick Red, Astracad,
Dick Dundee, Dresden, Turn Over Sivola, Chris Pea
Green, Bellenos, Ned Buntline, Mount Colah, Blood Cotil, Turban, Firth Of Clyde, Grumeti,
Ted Veale, Bold Henry and Eastlake.
The field then cleared the water-jump without problem. The
next fence was the first of the open-ditches; there was a little bit of argy-bargy between Chris Pea Green and Brick Red as they
became sandwiched between Dresden and Astracad. My Brother Sylvest
got a little bit close to the next obstacle, a plain fence, which allowed
Next Sensation to take a slight advantage.
The runners then headed around the dog-leg turn to approach the final
open-ditch; there were no problems at this fence. The
field continued their journey up the hill to fence number ten, which they all
cleared without incident. After that they
entered the left-hand bend at the far corner of the track to approach the
most difficult fence on the New Course.
The
leading duo jumped it okay but, just behind them, Dresden fell, as did Chris
Pea Green independently. Turn Over Sivola was lucky to escape the flailing hooves, Ned
Buntline too. Brick Red managed to
stay on his feet, but jockey Coleman ended up with both legs over the
nearside of the horse and was forced to bail-out. The already struggling Grumeti
bumped into the rising Dresden, which didn’t help his cause and he was soon
pulled up. And last but not least,
Ruby Walsh just managed to avoid Chris Pea Green as that horse got to its
feet; but, as Blood Cotil was even further behind
now, he would pull up after jumping the next.
Meanwhile
Next Sensation and My Brother Sylvest continued to
dispute the lead as they headed down the hill to three out. They were pursued by Croco
Bay, Dick Dundee and Astracad. The field having cleared this obstacle
without incident, the runners headed around the home turn and into the final
straight. Next Sensation had gained a
one length advantage over the David Pipe representative, followed by Dick
Dundee, Croco Bay, Turn Over Sivola
and Ned Buntline. Having
jumped the penultimate fence, Next Sensation continued to extend his lead as,
firstly, Dick Dundee assumed second position only to fade before the last and
be overtaken by Croco Bay, Turn Over Sivola and Ned Buntline.
The Team Scudamore runner took the final
fence in his stride and began the journey up the hill to the line three or
four lengths ahead of his nearest rivals.
And, despite a strong drive from the Champ, Ned Buntline could not
close the gap and was eventually overtaken by Eastlake who stormed up the
run-in to claim 2nd place, with Croco Bay rallying
to take 3rd. In the end, AP had to
settle for 4th, just ahead of Turn Over Sivola. Next
Sensation had won by 4 lengths, with Tom Scudamore
standing in his irons to salute the spectators with his whip as he crossed
the line. It was Tom’s second victory
of this year’s Festival and his brother’s first ever Cheltenham Festival winner.
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the horses arrive back. It was a little bit unfortunate that AP
arriving back overshadowed the celebrations of the Scudamore
clan. As
well as Nicky Henderson being on hand to present the Grand Annual trophy, so
was AP McCoy; it was three cheers for him too. The
Champ also received a special ‘This is
your Life’ style book presented by Racecourse Chairman Robert Waley-Cohen to mark the end of his Cheltenham
career. AP was then interviewed by
Martin Kelly. When
interviewed by RUK’s Lydia Hislop, Tom spoke about
how special the victory was for the family.
The Scudamores had lost both their granddad
and grandmother last summer and he explained what an integral part of the
team Michael senior had been and said it was such a shame that their grandparents
had not been there to see this victory.
The owner, Mark Blandford, had been Michael
senior’s godson too; Mark’s father having been his granddad’s best
friend. Tom
also explained that AP had been a great mentor to him and very kind; even as
a child when he used to visit the Pipe yard.
Tom said he owed the Champ an awful lot and that AP was his hero. Race 7 - 5:15pm. THE A.P. McCOY GRAND ANNUAL HANDICAP
STEEPLE CHASE (for The Johnny Henderson Challenge Cup) (CLASS 1) (Grade 3) The
Stewards held an enquiry into the use of the whip by Paul Carberry,
the rider of EASTLAKE (IRE), placed
second, from the third last fence. Having heard his evidence and viewed
recordings of the race, they
found him in breach of Schedule (B)6 Part 2 in that he had used his whip
above the permitted level. The
Stewards suspended Carberry for 2 days as follows:
Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March 2015. Ruby
Walsh, the rider of BLOOD COTIL (FR), which was pulled up, reported that the
gelding jumped poorly.
The Veterinary Officer reported that a post-race examination of the gelding
during routine testing failed
to reveal any abnormalities. It
had not been a good Festival for jockey Bryan Cooper, who had picked up a
total of 18 days suspension due to whip abuse during the four days; this
would rule him out of both the Fairyhouse Irish
Grand National meeting and the Aintree Grand National meeting. The Irish jockeys are far more whip-happy
than those based in the UK; I’m sure their rules are far less stringent. But even so it was better than last year, when
Bryan broke his leg due to a fall from Clarcam
during the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle! My
boots were the muddiest that I observed all afternoon; I really have no idea
why, because I only walked across the car park and the members’ lawn. And,
this year, I didn’t even venture out into the centre of the racecourse; not
even for the cross-country race on Wednesday.
My reason that day was not to get stuck out there just in case Any
Currency won. The staff assigned to
clean the floor in the ladies’ loo probably dreaded women arriving wearing
boots as muddy as mine! Having
stayed to the end of proceedings, and paid a visit to the little girls’ room,
I then headed up the concourse, out through the main gate adjacent to the
Centaur, across the wide bridge which spans the horse-walk from the stables
to the pre-parade ring, before crossing the driveway. Having negotiated the short stretch of
gravel on the other side, I was able to weave my way through the traffic
queuing along the Evesham Road and headed up the driveway into the upper car
park. Upon
reaching the driveway which leads to the Swindon Lane exit, I crossed through
between the hedges before walking along the top of the slope within the
bottom field and heading through a gap in the far perimeter. I crossed the road which leads to Hunting
Butts Farm and entered the far field where my car was parked. I couldn’t risk
walking along the main thoroughfare; it was too muddy and slippery, so I
weaved my way through the parked vehicles.
It
was so muddy that I couldn’t take off my boots to change into my driving
moccasins before getting into the car.
Instead I took a large red plastic box from the car-boot and wedged it
into the passenger foot-well before sitting in the passenger seat to remove
my boots. I was then able to slide
across into the driver’s seat without stepping out of the vehicle. It’s a familiar manoeuvre, as I have to
climb across the passenger seat to reach the driver’s seat whenever I park my
vehicle under the carport at home.
But, on those occasions, I don’t have to contend with a large box
containing muddy boots in the foot-well or having to remove a large heavy
handbag from the driver’s seat beforehand!
Anyway,
I got there in the end and consumed the final two cheese rolls while I mulled
over whether to depart just yet. I
usually wait until around 19:30 to leave at the end of the final day, hoping
that the traffic jams will clear by then.
For a while today, the gravel driveway through the centre of the field
was busy with traffic queuing to exit; they were tailing back to the top of
the field. At the bottom of the field,
I noticed a vehicle being towed out by a tractor. The same tractor then headed up the slope
to rescue a driver who had got stuck not very far away from me. Help!
However,
by 18:20 the lower area of the field was almost clear of vehicles, and the
driveway to exit almost deserted too; perhaps many punters had decided to
leave early, fearing they might become stuck once the grass had become very
muddy from overuse! It
was time to set off. As feared, my car
tyres were having problems getting traction in the mud; I didn’t get stuck as
such, but had to head down the grassy slope in gear without any brakes! And I know the brakes weren’t working in
the conditions ... because I tried them.
It was pretty scary and very fortunate there were no vehicles in my
path! I
made it to the gravel track, hoping that I’d have no call to stop prior to
exiting the gate. Fortunately the
traffic policeman beckoned me to exit immediately; I turned right as directed
and headed along Swindon Lane. The
roadway was caked in mud; grit and gravel rattled beneath my car as I
proceeded in a westerly direction. I
headed down Windy Ridge but, unlike Wednesday, there was no long queue of
traffic at the far end today. I
made my way back eastwards towards the Evesham Road. However, I encountered a tailback from the
traffic lights thereon and had to wait for what seemed like ages before I was
able to drive into Clarence Road.
Ambulance staff had been attending to someone; there were also police
officers and a small crowd of people gathered on the pavement to the
left-hand side of the road. I presume
that a pedestrian had been knocked down and injured. However
unfortunate, I’m not in the least bit surprised because people walking to the
town from the racecourse pay absolutely no attention to traffic heading in
their direction. But having said that,
I cannot understand why there is no pedestrian crossing at that point,
because there is on the other side of the junction. I’ve also frequently heard abusive language
between pedestrians and drivers at this location; come to think of it, I may
have sworn at them myself on previous occasions too! Idiots ... often drunken idiots. Anyway,
I still made it to Sixways by 18:55. I travelled out of Cheltenham behind a
minibus and just couldn’t be asked to overtake it; I had no time constraints
today, being in no particular hurry to get home. I followed the vehicle until I reached the
Witney bypass before overtaking. I was
seriously considering the ‘scenic’
route home, via Bicester and Aylesbury but, as I
didn’t feel particularly tired, yet again I returned via the M40 and
M25. I
left the M25 at Junction 22, but not before I’d seen a lunatic speed past me
on the motorway, weaving in and out of the traffic. I sincerely hope the police were able to
catch him before he killed someone. There
was no need to drop in to the petrol station this evening, so I arrived home
at 21:00. I would probably have been
too embarrassed to visit the forecourt with such a dirty vehicle ... although
it has been worse! I
had survived the Cheltenham Festival 2015 and Friday the 13th proved to be a
very good day’s sport, apart from not seeing Choc today ... so I don’t know
if he was there or not. Supper
tonight was spaghetti on toast again.
And I turned in with the prospect of a busy extended weekend ahead; a
weekend devoted to commencing work on my Festival blogs and diaries. With Choc out of action, there was no need
to attend Kempton Park on the Saturday, unlike last year. Although, despite this year booking the
Monday as annual leave too, it seemed to me that I was further behind
schedule when I returned to work than I’d been in 2014! And
I’ve come to the conclusion that it may well be worth my while becoming a
member at Cheltenham, despite the ridiculously high first year administration
fee ... so that I no longer have to park in a very muddy car park! And, these days, usually a car park I don’t
wish to park in! All-in-all
the 2015 Cheltenham Festival had been enjoyable although, of course, it would
have been even more so had Choc been able to ride. Day
one was good, because I did see Choc on a number of occasions and spoke to
him too. Day three was memorable for
the victories of Uxizandre and Cole Harden. Day four for the triumph of Coneygree. The
only day I didn’t particularly enjoy was Wednesday ... because I had a
headache from the time I woke up until mid-afternoon and it was a cold and
windy day too. As
Easter fell in early April this year, there were three weeks between
Cheltenham and Aintree; I had my fingers crossed that Choc would pay a visit
to Liverpool too ... as he’d done in 2013 when injured. Photos – Cheltenham Festival Day 4 – Race 1 Photos – Cheltenham Festival Day 4 – Races
2 & 3 Photos – Cheltenham Festival Day 4 –
Cheltenham Gold Cup Photos – Cheltenham Festival Day 4 – Races
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