DIARY – KEMPTON PARK – SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008
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There were two National Hunt meetings
today, Fontwell Park and Kempton Park and, luckily for me, Choc had 6 riding
engagements at the latter venue, all for Alan King. His mounts were Saticon, Greenbridge,
Levera, Trouble at Bay, Katchit (the reigning Champion Hurdler) and Nikos
Extra. It was my first visit to Kempton Park.
Choc had ridden at the 2-day Showcase
meeting at Cheltenham on Friday and Saturday, with two winners from 6
rides. Dragon Eye in a Novices’ Hurdle
on Friday, and Ouzbeck in the major race of the meeting, a Handicap Chase on
the Saturday, at odds of 8-1.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend Cheltenham on Friday because I
was working, and I had a prior engagement in London on Saturday as, in early
2008 BC (that’s ‘Before Choc’ for the uninitiated) I’d booked tickets to see
Lee Mead in Joseph that day. However
Cheltenham is one of the courses I must visit in the near future, so perhaps
the next fixture in November will be my opportunity. Lesley cannot accompany me to the
races for the present, as she likes to have a flutter but has recently
incurred the costs of moving house, so I asked Mark if he’d like to accompany
me instead. Unfortunately he didn’t
feel solvent enough to come along either, as he also likes a bet or
three. For me, the only costs involved
for a day’s racing are entry fee, race-card, perhaps car parking, and either
petrol or train fare! I rarely place a
bet, as I don’t wish to bring Choc bad luck, and it would be disloyal to bet
against him. As Kempton is less than 40 miles away
from my home, and the first race was at 14:20. I spent a leisurely early part
of the morning at home before leaving at 11:20 to drive to the course. I know that gave me 3 hours to drive a
journey which takes less than an hour, but I have an aversion to traffic jams
so prefer to arrive far earlier than necessary, to avoid any problems. My route took me onto the M25 at
Junction 21A, then anti-clockwise to the junction with the M3, where I turned
eastwards towards London. I did have
an option of taking a shorter route by leaving the M25 at Junction 13 and
going via the A30 and A308 but decided the M3 would probably be simpler.
Anyway, I arrived outside Kempton Park at around 12:10, deciding to use the
free car park a little further along the road which, as it turned out, is
very close to the main enclosure areas once you’ve driven along the roadway
to the parking area itself. As I didn’t have an advance ticket
for the fixture, I walked around to the Main Entrance to purchase an entry
ticket, which was £18 today. I also
purchased a race-card from the kiosk - £3.
My route took me across the horse walk-way, I then turned right to
walk alongside the paddock to a bench where I sat down for a while to read
the card. I don’t feel comfortable going into the bars when I’m on my own so,
as there was a cold wind blowing and I was beginning to shiver a little, I
decided to take a walk around the side of the stands to look at the course
itself. There is a statue of Desert Orchid at the southern end of the paddock,
and I understand his ashes lie there too. Upon my return to the paddock side, I
sat down on a bench facing towards the Clubhouse to watch the world go
by. Whilst I was there, Carl Llewellyn
came along, checking out the items on sale at the clothing stall to my
right. I gather he is a bit of a
bargain hunter on the quiet, sometimes searching for items in charity
shops. Eventually it was time for the
first race and the horses started to arrive in the paddock. Seeking shelter from the cold breeze, I
positioned myself at the far end, where the conifers lining the perimeter
fence provided protection. The jockeys came into the paddock and
a short time later mounted and headed down the walkway. I walked briskly around the stands and down
to the rails in time to see Choc and Saticon canter by, heading for the 2
mile start at the beginning of the home straight. Soon they were under Starter’s orders and
off. Saticon didn’t jump the first
very well, and galloped up the straight two thirds of the way down the field,
on the inside rail. He moved off the
inside line down the back, and then closed up just behind leaders. Choc crept up the inside on the final bend,
and was almost leading by the penultimate flight. As the field approached the
last, Saticon was now just in front, he jumped it well, holding on to win
from Maxwil who was closing towards the line. First race over, I returned to the
Winners’ Enclosure, which is part of the paddock at Kempton Park, to see Choc
and Saticon return to unsaddle. Choc’s mount in the second race, a
Beginners’ Chase, was Greenbridge. Again I positioned myself at the end of
the paddock in the shelter of the conifers.
When Choc came into the paddock he was asked to pose, along with
another jockey, for a photo. He then
spent time adjusting his red stockings and boots, which was rather amusing to
see! Once the horses were mounted and
heading down the walkway I again went around to the rails to see the horses
canter down to the start which, the race again being 2 miles, was at the
beginning of the home straight. Then
they were off. Choc was on the inside
in 5th place when he jumped the first fence. And there was a faller at the
2nd fence. I’msingingtheblues for Paul
Nicholls and Ruby Walsh was leading them along. Greenbridge moved into 3rd
turning into the back straight, then into 2nd place turning for home. He was only one length behind Ruby at the
3rd last, but this was extended to 6 lengths between the penultimate and last
fence, and I’msingtheblues pulled away even further as they approached the
line. Choc and Greenbridge remained in
runner up position on the line. Alan
King 1, Paul Nicholls 1. Again I returned to the Winners’
Enclosure to see Choc return. He spoke
to connections and then jogged off to the Weighing Room, saddle in hand. Choc’s mount in the 3rd race was
Levera, who I’d seen him win on at Huntingdon on August Bank Holiday
Monday. It was a 2-mile Novices’
Hurdle, a listed race, with 5 runners.
Maslak was also competing, on this occasion ridden by Richard
Johnson. When the race began, Choc was
in 3rd place approaching the first flight.
Maslak and Oceana Gold took them along. He stayed in 3rd position, with Woolcombe
Folly ridden by Ruby Walsh coming alongside as they approached the home
straight. Choc had a good run up the inside but Ruby’s mount was slightly
ahead at this stage and stretched its lead to 2½ lengths on the line. Maslak
finished last. Alan King 1, Paul
Nicholls 2. The fourth race on the card was a
Handicap Chase, with Choc riding Trouble at Bay, owned by Nigel Bunter. There
were 6 runners. Choc was in 2nd place
as the field jumped the first fence, but dropped back into 4th place down the
back straight. Oumeyade, again trained by Paul and ridden by Ruby, lead all
the way, winning by 11 lengths. Choc had weakened into 5th place by the time
he’d reached the winning post. Slight panic sets in here as I notice my
camera battery’s charge is getting low, despite me having charged it earlier. And I haven’t even seen Katchit yet! Although thinking about it, that’s not
quite true, as I had seen Katchit at the Champions’ Parade on Bet365 Gold Cup
Day at Sandown Park. I remember my
friend, Lesley, saying she’d consider riding Katchit as he was about her size
– and she’s just 5 foot 2 inches! Alan King 1, Paul Nicholls 3. I returned to the Winners’ Enclosure
and I spotted Meally watching and supporting her man from the Owners’ and Trainers’
area on the far side of the Winners’ Enclosure/walk-way area. It was now time for Katchit, the
reigning Champion Hurdler, to make his seasonal reappearance. There were lots of spectators around the
paddock waiting eagerly to get a glimpse of him in the preliminaries, and I
noticed that many of the owners and connections of his opponents were
watching Katchit as Choc was legged up into the saddle. Again I walked around to stand beside the
rails as Choc cantered to the two mile start.
And then they were off. The
grey, Sporazene went into the lead, with Choc settling into 2nd place. Katies Tutor kicked the protective top off
a hurdle down the back. Katchit moved
into the lead as the field entered the final straight. But Snap Tie, ridden by Richard Johnson,
was almost upside as they jumped the last, overtaking Katchit to win by 1½
lengths. On the video replay I noticed that, on the run in, when Choc leaned
to the right, Katchit swerved slightly to the right too. I returned to the Winners’ Enclosure
to see Choc unsaddle. Then I waited
for his final ride of the day, Nikos Extra, to arrive in the Parade
Ring. Instead of going to the rails to
watch the race, I decided to seek shelter in the stands, as the wind was
still blustery and cold. This race was
2 miles and 5 furlongs in length, so the horses didn’t canter by on the way
to the start but, instead, headed immediately out along the course away to my
left, the Kempton Park track being triangular in shape. Choc was in 3rd place at the first flight,
with Tide Slider leading. Ruby’s
mount, Earth Dream, badly jinked approaching one of the hurdles. As they turned into the final straight Choc
was still in third place. By the
second last flight he was in front alongside Earth Dream, but then disaster
struck as Ruby’s mount stumbled, having jumped the last flight okay,
resulting in him flying out the side-door.
Rather wickedly I was pleased that Choc’s luck had finally changed
(sorry Ruby) as they went on to win by 1¼ lengths from Tide Slider who kept
on to take second. Ruby later reported
that he thought he had been in with a chance of winning, but it seemed to me
that Nikos Extra was going best at the time, although he had idled a little
towards the line. I returned to see Choc unsaddle
again, and I saw Meally chatting with Richard Johnson’s wife, Fiona, after
the race. Choc and Meally had been
guests at the christening of Richard and Fiona Johnson’s daughter, Willow,
the previous Sunday. I decided to stay for the final race
on the card, a three mile Steeplechase.
One of the runners, Direct Flight, behaved mulishly as he didn’t want
to go out onto the course. At the
first fence, Brinkmanship left his hind legs in the fence, almost unseating
Tony McCoy, who also lost his whip. Tony struggled at the second too, when
his mount took off early. AP had just one ride, having travelled up from
Fontwell Park, where he’d ridden earlier that afternoon. The race was dominated by Charlies Future
and McEvoy. Yet despite a bad mistake by the former when galloping away from
the stands, he held on to win by 11 lengths from McEvoy. Brinkmanship never recovered from his early
errors and was eased down entering the final straight. A win for the Alners,
who’d had a winner at Fontwell too. Robert Walford had also travelled up from
Fontwell to ride. I returned briefly to the Winners’
Enclosure, then shortly afterwards exited via the Paddock gateway, to return
to my car which was parked in the free car park. The queue to reach the road was short,
especially when compared to the mega queues I’ve experienced at Market
Rasen! The road was clear until I
reached traffic which had exited from the main car park, but the hold-up was
brief, and I was underway once I’d turned onto the M3. Traffic was busy on the M25
anti-clockwise at Junction 12, but clockwise it flowed freely except for very
slight congestion between the M4 and M40 junctions. I arrived home at 18:55. The final scores were: Paul Nicholls 3, Alan King 2, Philip
Hobbs 1, The Alners 1 Ruby Walsh 3, Choc 2, Richard Johnson
1, Robert Walford 1 I won’t be able to go racing next
weekend, as Choc is scheduled to ride at the Aintree meeting. However, I may take a day off work to go to
Huntingdon on Wednesday 29 October.
I’ll definitely put a note in my diary to consider Kempton’s next two
National Hunt meetings – Wednesday 12 November and Wednesday 26 November on
the proviso that Choc rides at these fixtures. |
