DIARY – SANDOWN PARK SEASON FINALE
– CELEBRATING AP MCCOY’S RETIREMENT
SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2015
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AP McCoy is interviewed by Channel 4’s Alice Plunkett
following his final career ride when he partnered Box Office to
finish 3rd. I had it in mind to attend
Sandown’s 2014/2015 Jump Season Finale fixture, and had already checked the
racecourse website to ascertain when tickets would go on sale. However, with AP McCoy making the
announcement during Newbury’s Super Saturday fixture in February that he
would retire at season’s end, the Esher racecourse brought forward ticket
availability. But not only that,
tickets were also being offered 2 for the price of 1! With this in mind, I contacted Lesley to
ask if she’d like to go and, having received an affirmative answer, I booked
two Premier Enclosure tickets for a total cost of £40. A bargain! In the event, this fixture was a
sell-out with no tickets available on the gate on the day. The tickets were late in arriving though,
as the racecourse had not arranged for them to be printed and despatched
until week commencing 13 April; mine arrived on Thursday 16 April by recorded
delivery. This was to be my 12th racing
outing of the 2014/2015 Jump’s season; eight of which occurred during March
and April 2015! Six visits had been
to Cheltenham, three to Aintree, with one each to Newbury, Kempton Park and
Sandown Park. But sadly on this day,
namely 25 April, Choc would have been sidelined for exactly one year. I woke up at 06:30 and showered,
and washed and dried my hair before applying my make-up. Breakfast today was two croissants and two
slices of brown buttered toast. I also
tuned into Channel 4’s The Morning Line to see special guest AP McCoy; no
surprise there then! Following a drier than average
April, and very pleasant weather leading up to today, it had been wet
overnight as a weather front moved in.
This lasted until breakfast time on Saturday morning too. Today’s outfit was a purple M
& S Per Una top, plus M & S Limited Edition skirt; both as worn on
Grand National Day. Also a turquoise M
& S Per Una hip-length frill-edged cardigan and irredescent
burgundy-coloured triple-frilled M & S raincoat; the latter having been
hanging in the wardrobe for a number of years unworn ... because I like it so
much! I’ve also got an identical
silver-grey one ... which I have worn once, when Choc rode his 1000th winner
at Towcester! It’s a problem I have,
not wearing clothes because I like them too much! And today there was not a thermal vest or
scarf in sight! A handbag and pair shoes were an
issue, in that I couldn’t make up my mind; in the end I settled for my usual
burgundy/brown/pink Next handbag and burgundy M & S wedges. As Lesley had been attending a
concert in Stevenage the previous evening, and staying in a hotel overnight
too, she agreed to drive us to Sandown Park.
I know that her timekeeping isn’t always the best, so arranged for her
to pick me up between 09:15 and 09:30, with gate opening time being 11:00. In the event, she picked me up a little
after 09:30 having popped into the local supermarket to fill up her petrol
tank first; she also arrived in the opposite direction than I’d expected, so
had to turn around to collect me from the pavement opposite my house! Our route took us around the
local ring-road and down to the London Colney roundabout, to join the M25 via
Junction 20. Traffic was moving well,
apart from a little congestion as we approached Junction 12, the M3 interchange;
Lesley was a little surprised the motorway was busy because it was the
weekend! We needed to leave the
motorway at Junction 10, which is the A3 turning, and head towards
London. Traffic was quite heavy on the
slip-road, but clear following that and until we left the carriageway at the
Esher turning. The road into Esher, namely
Copsem Lane, wasn’t as congested as I’ve sometimes experienced and, at the
second set of traffic lights, the ones on the Portsmouth Road, we crossed
over into the one-way system, then negotiated Lammas Lane to enter More
Lane. The road heads downhill, with
the racecourse entrance located on the right-hand side. Having entered the grounds, we
drove across the racecourse to reach the free of charge parking area
within. It was 10:45, and there was
space upon the tarmac area close to the entrance of the Golf Centre; I’d
hoped there would be, especially with the forecasted threat of cloud bursts
during the afternoon. From past
experience, I have an aversion to parking on the grass when there’s any
chance of rain! Having parked up, we
walked back up the slope to reach the main drive, turned right and walked
along to the Premier entrance to join the short queue which had already
formed. We noticed a helicopter in green
and gold livery ‘parked’ upon the
grassed area to the side of the car park; was it JP McManus’ helicopter we
wondered? Shortly afterwards it took
off and headed west. The queuing public were let in
at 11:00 as expected; I purchased two racecards, one each, and we had our tickets
scanned before crossing the racecourse and walking up beside the rhododendren
walk then bearing left to enter the grandstand enclosure and take up our
positions beside the Parade Ring to the rear of the main grandstand ... and
opposite the presentations podium of course!
Having not eaten breakfast,
Lesley pootled off to get herself a coffee and a sandwich, plus Kitkat bars
for both of us and a hot chocolate for me.
An unofficial lady photographer
was standing close by and I overheard her talking to a group of people about
raising a glass to Balder Succes last weekend; Teambalder she said ... she
should have said teambalderforever! The Parade of Champions took
place at 12:45. Today’s participants
were Many Clouds, winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup and Grand National;
Coneygree, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup; Dodging Bullets, winner of the
Tingle Creek Chase, Clarence House Chase, and Champion Chase; Cole Harden,
winner of the World Hurdle; Silviniaco Conti, winner of this season’s Betfair
Chase, the King George VI Chase and the Aintree Bowl. Putting in an appearance was Greatwood’s
Deano’s Beeno; now 23, the horse was also a favourite of AP McCoy’s. Also the retired Don’t Push It,
AP having won the Grand National aboard the horse in 2010; he has been
boarding with Jonjo O’Neill since his appearance in the Parade of Stars at
Aintree, the horse normally lives at JP McManus’ stud in Ireland. Following the parade, there were
a number of presentations made.
Firstly for the Horse of the Year, the winner having been voted for by
the readers of the Racing Post; the recipient was Trevor Hemmings in respect
of Many Clouds. Personally I’d have
awarded the trophy to Coneygree! The Racing Recognition award
went to AP McCoy, for his significant contribution to the racing
industry. Being an Arsenal fan, the
trophy was awarded by Liam Brady. AP’s
daughter Eve also joined in the celebration. JP McManus received the trophy
for the Leading Owner, having won around £500,000 more this season than his
nearest rival Trevor Hemmings; Uxizandre and Jezki getting a special mention
in the programme as major contributors this season. Paul Nicholls was crowned
Champion Trainer for the ninth time!
He saddled at least one winner on each Saturday between 01 November
and 21 March! Special mention was
given to Silviniaco Conti and Dodging Bullets. Having all accepted their
trophies individually, they then lined up for a group photo call. Both the Conditional Jockey Championship
trophy and the Champion Jockey trophy would be awarded later in the
afternoon. The former following the
first race, the latter prior to race number 3. There was news late yesterday
that Noel Fehily had decided to split, amicably, from his arrangement to ride
for trainer Charlie Longsdon.
Presumably well-timed to coincide with AP’s retirement with an eye,
going forward, to picking up mounts which may have previously been offered to
the Champ. Prior to the first race of the
afternoon, we relocated to stand beside the rails along the edge of the
rhododendron walk. Whilst loitering
there, who should I encounter but a lady named Tula who lives in a town
adjacent to St Albans; we’d never met before but had corresponded via twitter
and she recognised me from photographs I’d tweeted. The favourite for the first race
of the day was the Sean Bowen ridden Lil Rockerfeller, trained by Neil King;
priced 5-1. The horses having exited the
Parade Ring and headed down to the racecourse, we walked down the concourse
to find a space at the top of the grass slope beside the main grandstand from
which to view the race. The starting gate was at the far
end of the home straight, with this and one full circuit to travel; having
circled within the pen to the inside of the track, the runners were called
out onto the racecourse and headed away from the starter before turning and
walking, in the main, back towards the gate.
Then
they were off and heading to the first flight. Sebastian Beach held a narrow advantage
clearing it, from first-time blinkered Mercoeur to
his outside and Aristocracy to his inside.
Nearer last than first, Alzammaar jumped it
a little too big and knuckled over on landing; there was no damage done to the
horse or jockey, but Baron Alco had been hampered slightly. The
remaining ten runners headed over the next; there was no change at the head
of affairs, with Sternrubin now pulling his way up
to join the leading group and Old Guard slightly less than fluent at the rear
of the field. Heading up past the
winning post and continuing to the top of the hill, Aristocracy took a narrow
lead travelling to the inside of Sebastian Beach. Sternrubin
travelled just ahead of Mercoeur; they were three
lengths clear of Lil Rockerfeller and Unanimite, Baron Alco followed in seventh position, from Vosne Romanee alongside Bishop
Wulstan, with Old Guard bringing up the rear.
Having
reached the top turn, the runners turned right-handed and bowled along down
the hill; the distance from first to last was around 15 lengths by the time
they entered the back straight. Richie
McLernon aboard Sebastian Beach, travelling in a
close second position, wasn’t particularly happy with the way his horse was
travelling because he gave his mount a couple of backhanders as they
approached flight number three.
Despite this encouragement, Sebastian Beach jumped this flight more
slowly than his rivals and was soon joined by Sternrubin. In
rear, Bishop Wulstan cleared the next flight very slowly and began to tail
off; he jumped out to his left over the next.
Meanwhile, up front, Sternrubin had taken
the lead and Sebastian Beach received more reminders as they crossed over the
steeplechase track to reach the final flight in the back straight; now in
mid-field, Mercoeur flattened a panel with a
hind-leg as he jumped it. Sternrubin was travelling
well at the head of affairs as they entered the far bend; Aristocracy was
three lengths behind him, from Sebastian Beach, with Richie McLernon still animated aboard him. Behind these were Mercoeur
and Unaminite, then Vosne
Romanee and Lil Rockerfeller;
the latter being pushed along by Sean Bowen.
At the rear of the group were Old Guard and Baron Alco; Bishop Wulstan
would be pulled up before the next. Turning
into the home straight Richard Johnson, aboard the leader, glanced beneath
his left arm for dangers. As it turned
out, Sean Bowen’s efforts were being rewarded as his mount had made up ground
around the outside of the field and he was looking the main danger as they
headed towards the penultimate flight.
In fact he was upsides, to the nearside, as they cleared it; however,
despite dragging his hind-legs through the obstacle, Sternrubin
was more quickly away from it. Richard
and Sean continued to cajole their mounts as they headed towards the final
flight; both responding to pressure, but Lil Rockerfeller
more so. The Neil King representative
was slightly ahead as they took off but, once again, Sternrubin
was quicker through the air. It was
neck and neck for a few strides after the flight, but Sean’s mount soon
asserted and went away to win by 2¾ lengths at the line. Meanwhile
Old Guard, Unanimite and Vosne
Romanee had stayed on some lengths behind the first
and second, and finished in that order; Old Guard completing 14 lengths
behind the runner-up. Eight completed,
Mercoeur also having been pulled up. The
hood-wearing Sternrubin is a bit ‘quirky’, and Lil Rockerfeller
is a little bit lazy; but Sean Bowen made up the horse’s mind and he won well
today.
We returned to the area beside the Winners’
Enclosure following the race. Race 1 - 2:00pm THE bet365 JUVENILE HANDICAP HURDLE RACE (CLASS 2) Whilst waiting for the Stewards Enquiry to
finish, I noticed Jeremy Kyle and his wife walking across the Winners’
Enclosure. His wife was wearing
stiletto heels and one of them got stuck in the gap between the grass and the
centre pathway; she appeared concerned that she’d damaged her shoe. Stiletto heels are so unsuitable for
wearing outdoors ... because you just look silly if they get trapped between
paving stones, etc! Coincidentally the Conditional Jockeys’
Championship was won by Sean Bowen, son of Peter; a very proud mum and dad
arriving in the Winners’ Enclosure following the race. Sean rode 51 winners from 255 rides, a
winning percentage of 20%; he finished 20th overall in the general
Championship race. It had been a neck
and neck tussle with Nico de Boinville
in recent days; the latter finished with 44 winners. The favourite for the next race was the Philip
Hobbs-trained Menorah, ridden by Richard Johnson; the partnership had won
last year’s renewal too. Today’s
starting price was 11-4. There was
also one non-runner, namely Raajih. The starting gate for the next race was in the
back straight, with six of the seven fences jumped therein; the horses
therefore turned left upon exiting the walkway to head to the start. Once again we watched the race from the top of
the grassed slope beside the main grandstand.
Then
they were off. Third Intention led
over the first fence, from Rolling Aces; initially a close-up third, Home
Farm jumped this fence very slowly, having put in a small stride before
take-off. The second obstacle was the
first of the open-ditches, and Rolling Aces held the lead as the field jumped
it; Menorah brought up the rear. The
nine runners headed to the water-jump, with Pepite
Rose nodding on landing over this one. The
final three fences in the back straight are the closely-positioned railway
fences; all nine runners cleared these without incident. Heading into the far turn the order was
Rolling Aces, from Third Intention, Rebel Rebellion, Home Farm, Pepite Rose, Al Ferof, Argocat, Off The Ground and Menorah. There
was no change at the head of affairs as the horses headed over the Pond Fence
without incident; the fence must be the ‘safest’
in the country as only ‘once in a blue
moon’ does anything happen at this obstacle! First-time blinkered Rolling Aces was
enjoying himself as he bowled along ahead of his rivals, ears pricked. Al Ferof jumped
the next a little slowly; he was in last position now. The
runners angled across to their left to jump the next open-ditch, almost in
front of the stands; Third Intention took an almighty leap to clear this
one. The horses continued up the hill
to the winning post, now just one more circuit to travel; Off The Ground now
brought up the rear of this still closely packed field. Having
reached the top bend, they turned right-handed to head downhill to the next
fence. Home Farm put in a short-stride
and jumped this one slowly, receiving a reminder for his troubles; Menorah
hit it. Off The Ground was extremely
slow in rear; he jumped out to his left and had lost a number of lengths upon
his rivals as they entered the back straight for the final time. Third
Intention took a narrow advantage as they cleared the first fence
therein. The pace increased as the
runners headed over the next, and then the final open-ditch before clearing
the water-jump. By this stage of the
race, Home Farm was struggling and had dropped to the rear of the main field,
and Off The Ground under Leighton Aspell had tailed
off, well and truly. Meanwhile
Third Intention continued to bowl along at the head of affairs as they
cleared the three railway fences; he appeared happy, travelling with his ears
pricked. Menorah hit the
middle-railway fence, and Home Farm blundered at the last of these. Off The Ground was pulled up. The
Colin Tizzard-runner led the field entering the
final bend; he was pursued by Rolling Aces and Rebel Rebellion, Pepite Rose, Al Ferof and Argocat, Menorah and the struggling Home Farm. As the runners headed towards the Pond
Fence, it was all change just behind the leader; Menorah, Argocat
and Al Ferof took closer order, Pepite
Rose just behind these, as Rolling Aces and Rebel Rebellion dropped out. In
fact Menorah jumped the penultimate fence upsides Third Intention; they were
followed a couple of lengths adrift by Al Ferof, Argocat and Pepite Rose. Daryl
Jacob’s mount continued to battle on gamely as they headed to the last fence
and it was not until after they’d cleared it that Menorah began to pull away
from his rivals; he headed up the hill to win by 1¼ lengths at the line from
Al Ferof who had begun to stay on, followed by the
game Third Intention and Pepite Rose.
Having
left our course-side viewing point, it was hoped we’d make it back to the
Parade Ring in time to find a good position opposite the podium ahead of the
presentation of the Champion Jump Jockey trophy to AP McCoy. However, I wasn’t surprised to find a crowd
had already gathered there, making it impossible for us to regain our
earlier, pre-racing position; I presume those spectators had not even
bothered to watch race two. Oh well,
you win some, you lose some! Instead
we remained beside the rhododendron walk to see Menorah, et al, return. Everything appeared fine as the runners
began to walk by, but the jockeys were soon aware that something was amiss,
for they were glancing back over their shoulders. It soon became apparent that Rolling Aces
had collapsed on the walkway no more than 15 yards away from where we were
standing; we didn't actually see him go down, because he was obscured by the
horses returning ahead of him. The
vet took a little while to arrive, and the green screens even longer. Nick Scholfield
couldn't weigh back in because his saddle was trapped beneath the horse, but
they gave him special dispensation so that sixth prize could be claimed. Very
little consolation for losing your horse though. Paul Nicholls had no option but to walk
away and leave the deceased Rolling Aces to be 'cleared away', which was sad; he had to saddle Mr Mole and
Vibrato Valtat in the next race. The
incident happened just prior to AP's Championship presentation so, whilst
everyone's attention was drawn back to the Parade Ring, they were able to
move the horse's body; you would never have known that anything had happened once it had been
dealt with. Buckets of water were
placed along the walkway for the remainder of the afternoon, and a number of
jockeys dismounted after each race rather than riding their horses back. Race 2 - 2:35pm THE bet365 OAKSEY STEEPLE CHASE (CLASS 1) (Listed Race) There
was just enough space for us to gain a view across the Parade Ring from the
raised steppings adjacent to the rhododendron walk
ahead of the Champion Jump Jockey presentation. AP’s colleagues had formed a guard of
honour from the jockeys’ entrance stretching across towards the podium. The Champ’s wife Chanelle,
and his daughter Eve and son Archie joined him for the presentation; this was
carried out by another Arsenal legend, namely Ian Wright. At
one point, senior weighing room colleagues Andrew Thornton and David Casey
joined the celebrations to lift AP onto their shoulders so that the crowd
could get a better view of their departing hero. AP was also persuaded to do a tour of the
Parade Ring perimeter so that fans could take close-up photographs of him
too. The Champ was permitted to keep
the trophy, which I gather was introduced in the ‘noughties’. For
the record, AP finished with 231 winners this season from 827 rides, which is
an amazing 28% strike rate. It
was soon time for the third race of the day, this year re-titled the AP McCoy
Celebration Chase. It also featured
AP’s first of two rides of the day; his mount being the quirky Mr Mole. The favourite was Irish raider Special
Tiara, ridden by Noel Fehily; he’d won a Grade 1
event at Kempton Park on 27 December, beating the ill-fated Balder Succes, and followed up with a third place in the
Champion Chase. Also
in the line-up was Sprinter Sacre, who’d been pulled
up in the Champion Chase having appeared a shadow of his former self that
day. However, with reports of possible
retirement looming for the horse following that particular disappointment,
trainer Nicky Henderson had decided to give him another go. Today he was ridden by Nico
de Boinville, his regular work rider, as Barry Geraghty remained on the injury sidelines. Again, once the horses had exited onto the
racecourse, we set off down the concourse beside the rhododendron walk to
find a vantage point at the top of the slope adjacent to the main
grandstand. The two mile starting gate is positioned at the
far end of the home straight, the horses cantering down past the grandstand
to reach it.
Then
they were off, with Special Tiara leading the way from Mr Mole and God’s
Own. Somersby landed awkwardly over
the first, having slightly over-jumped and bumped into Mr Mole’s
hindquarters; the latter having put in a short stride on take-off. As a result, both Sprinter Sacre and Vibrato Valtat
overtook him. Court Minstrel continued
to bring up the rear. The runners
angled to their left to jump the open-ditch. However,
the second-year novice God’s Own took off far too early, he ploughed through
the fence and fell. Jockey Paddy
Brennan was catapulted into the path of Vibrato Valtat;
the horse kicked him but the grey wasn’t brought down. Special Tiara continued to lead the runners
up the hill and past the winning post, one circuit to go. He was followed by Mr Mole, Sprinter Sacre and Somersby; Vibrato Valtat
was now a few lengths adrift, with Court Minstrel continuing to bring up the
rear. The loose horse, which was
unscathed, followed the others. Having
reached the top turn, the runners headed right-handed and down the hill to
the next fence; where Mr Mole out-jumped Special Tiara and took the
lead. The remaining six horses turned
into the back straight and began their journey over the seven fences
therein. AP’s mount continued to hold
a half length advantage over the Irish raider clearing the first two of
these, before Special Tiara rejoined him at the second and final
open-ditch. The
runners headed to the water-jump, with Noel Fehily’s
mount just ahead of Mr Mole, followed by Sprinter Sacre
and Somersby; the latter wasn’t particularly fluent at this fence. The two leaders jumped the first of the
railway fences in unison, Vibrato Valtat nodded
slightly on landing and Court Minstrel, who was well behind the others,
jumped away to his right. There were
no noticeable errors at the second or third of the railway obstacles. Special
Tiara, who was far from being a tearaway today, continued to match strides
with Mr Mole as they entered the far bend.
Sprinter Sacre was three lengths behind
them, with Somersby a couple of lengths behind him and Vibrato Valtat slightly closer now. The runners crossed the hurdles track and
approached the Pond fence. Having
cleared this, Special Tiara pressed on and took the advantage, as AP McCoy
gave his mount encouragement with a strike from his whip. Sprinter Sacre
had joined Mr Mole for second position by the time they had reached the
penultimate obstacle, the latter jumping out to his left over it. Noel
Fehily gave Special Tiara a couple of hits with his
whip as they headed to the final fence, and he put in a big leap at it; this
enabled him to gain plenty of momentum which put him in good stead to gallop
up the hill to the line to win by 6 lengths.
Sprinter
Sacre completed in second, a shadow of his former
self but a much improved effort compared to his Cheltenham run. Mr Mole completed in third, with Vibrato Valtat just getting the better of Somersby by a nose to
take fourth; even the loose God’s Own had closely pursued those two to the
line. Court Minstrel finished a tailed
off sixth.
We
remained in our position beside the rhododendron walk until after the horses
taking part in the next race had exited the Parade Ring and passed by on
their way to the racecourse. The
favourite for the next event was the Warren Greatrex-trained
Paint The Clouds, ridden by Mr Sam Waley-Cohen;
price 13-2. The horse had, most
recently, finished third in the Fox Hunter race at the Cheltenham
Festival. Also in the race was Rocky
Creek who had ran disappointingly in the Grand National, finishing only 17th
this year. Unioniste
who had fallen at the 5th therein, and Royale Knight who had finished 6th in
the big race. Also
Duke Of Lucca who had won the listed handicap at Aintree on the same day and
Wonderful Charm who had finished 3rd in that race. There was also Grand Jesture,
who had been runner-up to The Druids Nephew on Day One at Cheltenham;
although he had displayed a certain amount of temperament on the way to the
start that day, he didn’t look keen!
The former Gold Cup winner Bobs Worth was also taking part following a
disappointing season. Plus The
Package, the veteran having won this year’s Kim Muir at the Cheltenham
Festival. When
making your choice, the fact that the Aintree Festival had taken place just a
fortnight ago had to be taken into account.
Being
the feature event of the day, there was a parade ahead of this race. Having exited onto the track, the horses
circled around at the top of the hill before being sorted into race-card
order and led down the course in front of the grandstands. Further down the course the competitors
broke into a canter to head down to the starting gate at the far end of the
home straight.
Then
they were off ... or rather 19 of them were; Grand Jesture,
who had been held away from the others as they circled around at the start,
decided to plant himself in the corner as they set off! The
remaining runners headed to the first fence, with Rocky Creek, nearside, and
Ely Brown the first to rise. As they
continued to the second obstacle, the first of the open-ditches, prominent to
the inside were Le Reve, Bally Legend and The
Package; also Unioniste and Grandads
Horse; at the rear were Guess Again, Duke Of Lucca and Wonderful Charm. All
the competitors having cleared the first two without incident, the field
headed up the hill to the winning post, with Ely Brown now holding the
advantage over Rocky Creek, The Package, Le Reve, Grandads Horse, Unioniste,
Paint The Clouds, Bally Legend, Bobs Worth and Roalco
De Farges; at the rear of the field was Duke Of
Lucca. The runners soon negotiated the
right-hand bend to head down the slope to fence number three, which they all jumped
without problem. Turning
into the back straight, Sam Twiston-Davies moved up
around the outside of the field to take second position and he joined the
leader as they jumped the next fence.
They continued to dispute the lead over fence number five and then, at
the open-ditch, Unioniste was much more fluent and
took over at the head of affairs, narrowly.
The field then headed over the water-jump and had soon arrived at the
first of the railway fences. The
runners cleared all three of these without major incident before heading
around the bend, across the hurdles track to reach the Pond fence. Unioniste
continued to lead from Ely Brown, Rocky Creek, Le Reve
and The Package. At the rear of the
field were Wonderful Charm, Duke Of Lucca and Just A Par; the horses had now
completed one circuit. Duke Of Lucca
blundered at the next fence, with jockey Richard Johnson unbalanced for a few
strides as a result. The
field headed across to their left to jump the next, the third
open-ditch. Unioniste
continued to lead from Ely Brown, Le Reve and Rocky
Creek; behind these were The Package, Paint The Clouds, Grandads
Horse, Roalco De Farges,
Bally Legend, Royale Knight, Lost Legend, Algernon Pazham,
Vics Canvas, Bobs Worth, Return Spring, Guess
Again, Duke Of Lucca, Wonderful Charm, and Just A Par. Ely Brown received a couple of reminders as
they headed up the hill towards the line, just one circuit now to race. Having
reached the top of the hill, the horses negotiated the right-hand turn to
head down the hill to the next fence; Le Reve was
now close on the leader’s tail and they had set up a three or four lengths
lead over their rivals. Having jumped
the fence and already begun to lose his place, Ely Brown dropped back
markedly through the field. He was one
of a number of runners who appeared now to be struggling as they entered the
back straight. Meanwhile,
Unioniste continued to lead over the next three
fences from Le Reve, Lost Legend and The Package;
the runners began to string out as the pace increased. Ely Brown was pulled up prior to the
water-jump and Royale Knight after it; these departures left Wonderful Charm
at the rear of the field. Unioniste continued ahead of Le Reve
over the first of the railway fences; further back in the field, Vics Canvas almost became the meat in the sandwich when
he got squeezed up between Algernon Pazham and the
retreating Rocky Creek. All
the remaining runners having safely negotiated the final railway fence, the
field headed into the far turn with Unioniste
leading from Le Reve, Paint The Clouds, Lost
Legend, Grandads Horse, Guess Again, Algernon Pazham, Bally Legend and Vics
Canvas. Following this there was a gap in the field to Just A Par, Bobs
Worth, Rocky Creek, the grey Roalco
De Farges, Return Spring, Duke Of Lucca, The
Package and Wonderful Charm. There
was a changing of the guard up front as they headed to the Pond Fence, with
Paint The Clouds, Le Reve and Guess Again taking
over from the now weakening Unioniste as they
jumped it. The leaders headed around
the final turn and into the home straight, with clear daylight between
themselves and Vics Canvas who was beginning to
stay on under Ruby Walsh; they were followed by Unioniste,
Algernon Pazham, Grandads
Horse, Bally Legend and the improving Just A Par. Le
Reve was a length up clearing the penultimate
fence, with Guess Again and Paint The Clouds continuing to challenge for the
lead as they headed to the final obstacle.
However, despite it initially appearing to be a battle for the prize
between the leading three, both Vics Canvas and the
now fast closing Just A Par had different ideas and they were both on the
heels of the leaders as they safely negotiated the final fence. Sean
Bowen aboard Just A Par drove his mount up the stands side of the group as
they headed to the line, with Ruby Walsh aboard Vics
Canvas to the far side. These two had
soon left the others in their wake, with the Paul Nicholls runner proving the
stronger as he went away to win by 1¼ lengths at the line. Le Reve completed
2¾ lengths behind in 3rd place; it was a further length back to Paint The
Clouds in 4th and Guess Again two lengths behind him in 5th. It
was an amazing result, as the winner and runner-up had been in ninth and
tenth places respectively heading into the final bend! There had been no fallers, 12 finishers;
the others which pulled up were Rocky Creek, Wonderful Charm, The Package,
Lost Legend and Roalco De Farges. I
also noticed that the large hedge which separated the final fence from its
adjacent open-ditch has disappeared to be replaced with ‘Red Robin’ which you see everywhere these days! It’s a variety of the photinia
shrub.
Having
returned to the rhododendron walk ahead of the horses returning, we didn’t
even attempt to go to the Winners’ Enclosure following the race. Race 4 - 3:50pm THE bet365 GOLD CUP
STEEPLE CHASE (HANDICAP) (CLASS 1) (Grade 3) It
was now time for AP McCoy’s final career ride, aboard the Jonjo
O’Neill-trained, JP McManus-owned, Box Office. Having arrived in the Parade Ring, the
Champ was surrounded by a group of official photographers who wanted to take
snaps of him with the connections. The
favourite for this race was the aforementioned Box Office, at 5-2; probably
more of a wish for him to win than an actual favourite’s chance on this
occasion. The second favourite was Wilberdragon priced at 7-1, third favourite Brother Tedd at 9-1. There
were also a couple of latish non-runners, namely Sainglend
and Clondaw Kaempfer, the
latter having been due to be Wayne Hutchinson’s sole ride of the day. AP’s
agent, Dave Roberts, accompanied the Champ as he made his way down the
rhododendron walk to the racecourse.
Once out upon the track, the crowd applauded as AP and Box Office
cantered down in front of the grandstands.
We
had returned to the top of the slope adjacent to the main grandstand in order
to view the race. To
reach the starting gate, having turned right upon exiting onto the
racecourse, the horses cantered down past the grandstands beside the
nearside-side rail. They then turned
the corner just beyond the Pond, headed across the hurdles track and onto a
narrow, railed track across the centre of the racecourse. Cones marked out the route as they crossed
the flat sprint track, and again as they cantered across the golf course to
reach the back straight. The
competitors then turned left to reach the 2 miles 4 furlongs hurdles starting
gate. Having
congregated at the start to have their girths checked; the last to join the
main group as they circled at the start were Gran Maestro, Brother Tedd and Chase The Wind.
As per current protocol, the runners were sent away from the gate, on
this occasion completing a circuit of a hurdle and the water-jump before
approaching the tape at a sedate walk or jog.
And then they were off, led away by Rayvin Black and Big Hands Harry; also in the front line
as they crossed the chase course to approach the first flight were Party
Rock, Wilberdragon and Gran Maestro. All of the runners cleared the hurdle
without incident, with Chase The Wind bringing up the rear. The field then entered the far turn,
with the Oliver Sherwood-trained runner leading the way by a length or
two. He continued to bowl along at the
head of affairs as they turned into the home straight on the first occasion;
he was pursued by Big Hands Harry, Wilberdragon,
Gran Maestro, Party Rock, Kylemore Lough, Jayo Time, Lightentertainment, L’Aigle Royal, Factor Fifty, Brother Tedd,
Money Talks, Box Office, Stephen Hero, Go Odee Go, Ossie’s Dancer, Romeo Americo
and Chase The Wind. Rayvin
Black had set up a clear lead having negotiated the next two flights; there
was applause for AP McCoy as the runners headed up past the grandstands on
their journey to the top of the hill.
Having reached the top bend, the leader appeared a little bit
reluctant to continue his journey; for he shied away from the rails
initially, but agreed to go on again once Big Hands Harry had moved up upon
his inside. Heading down the hill, Rayvin Black increased his lead upon the field once more
and led them into the back straight.
Chase The Wind continued to be slightly detached in rear; Party Rock,
having already drifted back through the field, made an error at the fourth
flight and soon found himself behind the Warren Greatrex
runner. Meanwhile, up front, Thomas
Garner’s mount continued to hold a clear advantage over his rivals as he
cleared flight number five. By this stage of the race, AP McCoy
had angled his mount to the outside of the pack, and now travelled in the
hoof prints of the grey Brother Tedd, with Chase
The Wind also continuing to race out wide.
There was still no change at the head of affairs as the runners jumped
the next, before heading across the chase track to reach the final flight in
the back straight; namely three out. Rayvin
Black led narrowly over this, from Gran Maestro, Big Hands Harry, Wilberdragon and Brother Tedd. Just behind these heading into the far turn
were Jayo Time, Factor Fifty, Box Office and Light
Entertainment. They entered the home
straight, with Gran Maestro and Brother Tedd laying
down their challenge to the long time leader as they approached the
penultimate flight; Box Office was now in fourth position having stayed on to
overtake Jayo Time. Having jumped two out in unison, Gran
Maestro and Brother Tedd were neck and neck on the
run to the final flight; Will Kennedy resorting to the whip to give
encouragement to the former, Richard Johnson still just hands and heels upon
the grey. Again there was nothing between them
as they jumped the last; but then Brother Tedd
began to pull away from his tiring rival, receiving four backhanders from his
jockey on the run to the line as he did so.
The winning distance 3¼ lengths.
AP had continued to persevere with his mount, and he gained and
retained third position; 7 lengths back.
Go Odee Go stayed on to take 4th; long-time
leader Rayvin Black faded into 7th. Having completed the race, many of
the jockeys rode over to AP to shake his hand, pat him on the back, or offer
words of congratulations following his extraordinary career; it was the end
of an era. AP’s agent soon joined him and they headed down
past the packed grandstands to accept the applause of the gathered masses. Meanwhile, Lesley and I headed back to the
rhododendron walk to find a space ready for when he returned.
Ruby
Walsh decided to leave the Weighing Room in order to stand to the far side of
the walkway, close to the ‘owl tree’
in order to applaud AP as he rode back in!
We were unable to find a space further up the railings beside the
rhododendron walk, so stood further down the slope to see the Champ pass by. Due
to weight of numbers, we didn’t attempt to make it to the Winners’ Enclosure,
but I imagine his return to the third-place marker totally overshadowed the
winner. But at least, on this
occasion, it wasn’t as if Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson had not been there
and done that, unlike poor Michael Scudamore’s
first Cheltenham Festival winner which had been completely overshadowed by
AP’s final ride at the Festival. Once
the horses had exited the Parade Ring and headed to the racecourse, we set
off to find a vantage point at the top of the grassy slope beyond the main
grandstand. The
5-1 favourite for race number six was Generous Ransom, ridden by Daryl Jacob
and trained by Nick Gifford; the trainer hoping to win this event named in
honour of his late father. Having
reached the end of the walkway, the horses turned right and cantered down
past the stands before heading across the golf course to reach the starting
gate; the first fence in this event was the first of the railway fences.
Then
they were off. The runners were led
away by The Ould Lad, and he held a narrow
advantage over Horizontal Speed and Cocktails At Dawn as they jumped the
first of the railway fences; in rear were Gores Island and Jay Are. Horizontal Speed and Cocktails At Dawn went
into the lead as they cleared fence number two, where Dresden made an
error. There were no problems at the
final railway fence and the runners headed into the far bend with the Nicky
Henderson runner now holding the advantage. Having
exited the bend, the horses travelled towards the Pond fence, which they all
cleared in their stride. Cocktails At
Dawn appeared happy with his lot as he entered the home straight to approach
the next fence, ears pricked in anticipation; in rear, Vesperal
Dream wasn’t particularly fluent at this one.
The field then angled out to their left to jump the first of the
open-ditches; Dresden had now taken third position, with Howlongisafoot
in fourth. The Ould
Lad, who was second favourite, had already begun to drift back through the field;
it certainly wasn’t a going day for him. Having
cleared this fence without incident, the runners headed up the hill in front
of the grandstands. Cocktails At Dawn
was around 8 lengths clear of his nearest rival Horizontal Speed. The Ould Lad, who
had fallen back to eighth place immediately after the open-ditch, received a
reminder and closed up to the nearside to dispute third position as they
passed the winning post with one circuit to go. And Phone Home, who had become so far
detached from the rear of the field by the time they reached the top bend,
was pulled up by Tom Scudamore. Cocktails
At Dawn led them down the hill to the next, although his lead had diminished
somewhat. The Ould
Lad had dropped back through the field once more and was being booted along
by Denis O’Regan; Vesperal
Dream at the rear of the field, made an error at the fence. Having turned into the back straight,
Horizontal Speed joined Cocktails At Dawn as they cleared the next
obstacle. Howlongisafoot
was a clear third, from Dresden, Generous Ransom, Gores Island, Jay Are, Vesperal Dream and The Ould
Lad. Having
cleared the next fence, Cocktails At Dawn went into the lead again. Dresden hit the final open-ditch when in
fourth place; in rear, Denis O’Regan decided to
pull up The Ould Lad having cleared it. Richard Johnson’s mount rejoined the leader
as they cleared the water-jump, where Gores Island to the rear was a little
awkward. Having completed one circuit,
the runners headed to the first of the railway fences. The
leaders jumped this in unison, before heading to the next; Horizontal Speed
jumped out to his left at the middle railway fence, and Howlongisafoot
in third position was a little untidy.
Having cleared the final one, Cocktails At Dawn took a three length advantage over
Horizontal Speed into the final bend, with Sam Twiston-Davies
very animated aboard Howlongisafoot as he tried to
keep tabs on the front two. These
three had pulled well clear of the remaining five, who were led by Generous
Ransom. The
leader exited the bend and headed to the Pond fence; he continued to travel
well within himself, and the gap between him and the remainder continued to
grow as he entered the home straight and cleared the penultimate fence. Horizontal Speed had tired by this stage
and had been overtaken by Howlongisafoot. Cocktails At Dawn flew the final fence,
with jockey Nico de Boinville
glancing behind having landed; there were no dangers whatsoever. The
leader continued up the hill to the winning line; his jockey eased him as he
approached the lollipop but, despite this, the winning distance was still 26
lengths! Howlongisafoot,
who had been hard work for some time for jockey Sam Twiston-Davies,
claimed 2nd, with Horizontal Speed just holding off the challenge of Generous
Ransom at the line; the distances between 2nd and 3rd being 12 lengths, and
between 3rd and 4th one length.
We
decided to return to the shallow steppings above
the Winners’ Enclosure following this race.
I’m not sure whether it was after the sixth race of the day or the
seventh that we passed Chanelle McCoy and her
entourage heading in the opposite direction as we walked back beside the
rhododendron walk. The
prizes for this event were presented by Althea Gifford, widow of Josh. I remember Althea when she was Althea
Roger-Smith, an international show-jumper.
I’m getting old L Race 6 - 5:00pm THE bet365 JOSH GIFFORD NOVICES' HANDICAP STEEPLE CHASE (CLASS 2) The favourite for the final race of the day
was Polly Peachum, trained by Nicky Henderson and
ridden by David Bass. The mare had
been runner-up in this race last year and had also just failed to win the
OLBG Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last month too. Her price today was 9-4. With some spectators having lost interest by this stage of the day and
probably having already set off for home, there was plenty of space available
for us to stand at the top of the raised steppings
above the Parade Ring ahead of the next race.
Following that, we waited beside the rhododendron walk until all of
the runners had passed by on their way to the racecourse before heading down
to the top of the grassy slope overlooking the racecourse. The starting gate for the final race of the day was situated after the
first flight in the back straight; this being the case, the riders turned
left upon exiting onto the course to canter up around the top bend to reach
it.
Then
they were off. The other mare in the
race, Twentytwo’s Taken, led them away, with
Southfield Vic almost upsides. Polly Peachum and Dragon’s Den followed these, from
Irish-raider Bayan; at the rear was Aqalim who was a little slow clearing the first
flight. The field cleared the next
flight before crossing the chase track and heading to flight number
three. Dragon’s Den hit this one,
leaving his mark in the inside panel. Southfield
Vic took over the lead heading into the far bend; upon entering the straight
the runners split into two groups, with Twentytwo’s
Taken and Dragon’s Den deciding to remain close to the inside of the track
whilst the other four led by the Paul Nicholls runner decided to head up the
nearside. Dragon’s Den hit the next
flight. There were no issues when
jumping flight number five and the runners regrouped to head up past the
winning post with one circuit now to travel. Twentytwo’s Taken and
Southfield Vic disputed the lead as they turned the top bend and headed down
the hill to reach the back straight; at which point the latter swept around
the outside to go on again. Polly Peachum jumped through to take second position as she
cleared the first flight down the back; Aqalim also
made progress on the outside of the field to take fourth position. The leader landed a little awkwardly over
the next flight and Polly Peachum hit the one after
that. The
six runners then traversed the chase course to reach the third last flight;
or rather they didn’t, because a steward was standing close to the flight and
he was wavering a chequered flag to instruct the field to go to the outside
of the obstacle as it had been trashed on the first circuit by Dragon’s
Den! Tom Scudamore
aboard Twentytwo’s Taken switched his whip to his
left hand just after bypassing the flight. Southfield
Vic led the way into the far turn, from Twentytwo’s
Taken, Polly Peachum, Bayan,
Aqalim and Dragon’s Den; marginally last, Leighton Aspell was bumping his horse along by this stage. Turning into the home straight, the Nicky
Henderson runner loomed up to the outside of the leader; the visored Aqalim, who appeared
not to be the easiest of rides, had been encouraged into third place just
behind these. Polly
Peachum had taken up the lead as they approached
two out; Southfield Vic to the inside appeared to resent his rider’s urgings
and was soon overtaken by Aqalim. The leader put in a good jump at the last,
although she did dislodge the orange protective strip with a hind leg. Aidan Coleman had swapped his whip into his
right hand approaching the final flight then, following it,
he’d switched it back again. David
Bass resorted to his whip as he drove his mount out to the line, with Aqalim in hot pursuit.
And, although the latter was closing the gap on the run up the hill to
the line, Polly Peachum hung on to win by ¾ of a
length. The two had pulled well away
from Southfield Vic who was 10 lengths back in 3rd, with Bayan
1¼ lengths behind him in 4th. Thus
the final two races of the meeting, and the season, had gone the way of Nicky
Henderson.
During
the course of the final race, a trouser-less streaker had run across the home straight and into
the mid-course car park; he was pursued by a security guard, but the latter
had soon become out of breath and stopped as the guy disappeared between the
parked vehicles! Non-Race related incidents Again
we returned to the Winners’ Enclosure following the race; and I thought I
recognised the guy in charge of Aqalim today ... it
was none other than ex-jockey Alex Merriam who is now John Ferguson’s
Assistant! Last
race over, and the final presentation made to connections within the Winners’
Enclosure, we headed across to the seats along the side of the Parade
Ring. We ate the KitKats
which Lesley had purchased earlier, before heading into the main building and
across the entrance hall to the ladies loos.
The queue wasn’t too long; in fact it was worse as we headed back out
into the reception area! I
think we were probably intending to head back to the car park via the Premier
Entrance, so initially we exited back into the concourse alongside the Parade
Ring. However, we changed our minds,
and entered the Surrey Hall further along in order to avoid the crowded area
close to where a band was playing.
Having then exited into the betting ring, we walked diagonally across
the slope to reach the gateway to the path which leads across the
racecourse. Three
or four people had decided to walk down the course to take a look at the
nearest steeplechase fence within the home straight. Having reached the far side of the track,
we turned left and walked along the roadway before turning right and heading
down the tarmac drive which led to the area where we had parked. I’d
brought along four cheese rolls, two each; we ate these before we set off on
the journey home. Despite it being a
sell-out crowd, there was no sign of the gridlock I experienced in 2014. In fact we were able to proceed up the
driveway as far as the Premier entrance before joining the back of the queue
to leave. Cars not wishing to head
towards Esher town centre were instructed to turn right prior to the main gate
in order to exit via an alternative one.
As we wanted to reach the M25, we exited the main gate and turned
left; we had to merge into a queue of traffic which stretched back down More
Lane. On
the way back, having been moving slowly while stuck in this tailback of
traffic beside the green, I noticed that the pub to the left (the Wheatsheaf?) was closed for renovation at the present
time. At the top of the road we turned
left to enter the one-way system. Our
route took us through the traffic lights and very briefly onto the Portsmouth
Road before we turned off to the left to head back along Copsem
Lane to join the A3; we followed a Lambourn
Racehorse Transport lorry along this part of the route. Having headed south-westwards, we exited
the carriageway to negotiate a roundabout and join the M25 at Junction
10. On the motorway we overtook Chris
Gordon’s horsebox; it must have been on its way to join the M3, because his
stable is situated at Winchester. Further
along our route, near to the Kings Langley junction, we saw a large Nad Al Sheba horsebox; it would have been carrying
Arabian endurance racehorses. Having
experienced no rain whatsoever during the afternoon, apart from a few slight
spits and spots when standing beside the Winners’ Enclosure following the
final race of the day, it came as a surprise when we encountered heavy rain
once on the M25; it followed us all the way home too. Lesley dropped me off at 19:45. I guess that was quite late, considering
the last race began at 17:35! When
I undressed to go to bed I noticed that I’d caught the sun on my décolletage; and all because I’d not worn a scarf! There
was no sign of Choc at Sandown Park; in fact he’d spent the day at home in
Gloucestershire with son William and girlfriend Jennie. However a number of jockeys did attend
despite not having rides today – Dominic Elsworth
(who was still on the injury sidelines), Andrew Tinkler,
Sam Jones, Dave Crosse (who said he would be there) and Gerard Tumelty who has acted as AP’s chauffeur over the years;
and I expect there were more too. Click here for photos – Parade of Champions and End of Season
Awards Click here for photos – Races 1 & 2 Click here for photos – Champion Jump Jockey presentation
& Race 3 – AP McCoy Celebration Chase Click here for photos – Race 4 – bet365 Gold Cup Click here for photos – Race 5 Click here for photos – Race 6 Click here for photos – Race 7 Click here
for photos – Farewell to
AP McCoy |
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