CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2019
Day 1 - Tuesday 12 March
Picture of the Day Ultima Handicap
Chase (Grade 3): The winner, Beware The Bear,
trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Jeremiah McGrath This year I was in two minds as to whether I
wanted to attend the Festival for more than a couple of day trips. I had tickets for all four days, and a
hotel room booked too. But, as you may
know, I’ve been emotionally distracted since at least the start of 2019! There would also be no chance of seeing
Choc and Jennie this year either, as they had departed upon a skiing holiday
during this period. However, despite being undecided in the days
leading up to the Festival, I resisted the temptation to cancel my hotel
booking ... even though I could think of a far better way of spending £300 on
this occasion. Although, saying that,
I would need far more than this amount for one particular heart’s desire to
be satisfied. L Anyway, I awake early on Tuesday but not ready to
depart until 06:45. This meant that I
would encounter traffic issues by the time I reached Bicester;
I spent ages in the queue on the A41, leading down to Junction 9 of the
M40. There was further congestion on
the A34, but this cleared after traffic from the side-roads had assimilated
into the main stream. But, looking on the bright-side, there was barely
a delay at the Peartree roundabout; in fact traffic
was moving freely around it. The dual
carriageway which leads down to the Wolvercote
roundabout was clear for the most part too! The weather hadn’t been too bad either, thus far;
although it did start to rain as I approached Cheltenham. As per the past few years, I followed the
signs directing me through Prestbury and onwards to
the North car park, the entrance of which is situated off Southam
Lane. The public area of the car park
had been divided into two this year, the upper part of which was reached via
the track-way which runs adjacent to the steam railway line. However, I continued ahead to enter the
lower part of the car park instead; I showed my pre-purchased parking docket
to one of the stewards as I entered. I arrived at 10:00, and then the heavens opened
and I was stuck in my car for ages; it was still raining when I set off for
the Northern Entrance turnstiles, but not so heavily. Weather-wise it was not forecast to be a
good week, and the going was soft again, similar to last year. It also became apparent that, with the concerns
about plastic, water was being sold in cans via the food outlets this
year. That’s fine, but how impractical
is that? One wants to carry a bottle
of water, and takes sips during the day; one cannot carry around an open can
of water! Having purchased a race-card I headed to the little
girls’ room, before sheltering beneath the upper steppings
which overlook the Winners’ Enclosure.
I also decided to take part in today’s toteplacepot! My selections were:
And, yes, I know I’ve chosen an Irish-based
runner and, even worse, one ridden by Ruby Walsh! I’ve totally lost it!!! As happens on the first day of the Festival,
there was a RoR Parade ahead of racing. This year, the twelve taking part were – Annacotty, Balthazar King, Carruthers,
Cue Card, Lord Windermere, Master Minded, Monkerty Tunkerty, My Way De Solzen, Saphir Du Rheu, Wayward Prince,
What Of It and Zarkandar. The race-day interviews having been completed, by
presenter Martin Kelly, I headed down to the course-side rails to reserve my
place ahead of racing. However to save
the racing surface, the horses headed straight to the starting gates today,
instead of cantering up in front of the stands where possible. So there was nothing to photograph prior to
the races, unless the horses headed across the course to reach the mid-course
chute. The first race was at 13:30 and, of course, was
accompanied by the famous Cheltenham roar as the horses set off, although
there was a false start to this and a number of races today! There were two joint favourites for the Supreme
Novices’ Hurdle; Al Dancer trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies
and ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies, along with Fakir D’Oudairies trained by Joseph O’Brien and ridden by JJ Slevin; price 9-2. The winner turned out to be Klassical
Dream, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh; Ruby’s 59th Cheltenham
Festival winner and I’m not even counting the number of Festival winners
trained by Willie Mullins. The 2nd and
3rd, notably, were trained by Olly Murphy, priced
at 28-1 and 25-1 respectively! And I was already knocked out of the toteplacepot, Grand Sancy
having finished 11th! Drat.
The horses having returned to the Winners’
Enclosure, I headed back to the upper steppings
overlooking it. There seemed little point
hanging about beside the rails, with little to see pre-race. The favourite for the Arkle
was the Gordon Elliott-trained Hardline, ridden by
Davy Russell; price 10-3. Three of the other fancied runners, Lalor, Glen Forsa and Kalashnikov departed during the
race. Lalor
was pulled up having never been travelling, Glen Forsa unseated Jonathan
Burke at the 4th fence, and Kalashnikov unseated Jack Quinlan having been
hampered when Ornua fell. And the winner was Duc
Des Genievres, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden
by Paul Townend; he triumphed by 13 lengths.
There were three co-favourites for the third race,
a competitive handicap chase – Up For Review trained by Willie Mullins and
ridden by Paul Townend, Mister Whitaker trained by
Mick Channon and ridden by Brian Hughes, also last
year’s winner Coo Star Sivola, trained by Nick
Williams and ridden by his step-daughter Lizzie Kelly; they were priced 8-1. Anyway, the winner was the 10-1 shot Beware The
Bear, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Jeremiah McGrath; a 10-1
shot. It was great to see Jerry ride
his second Festival winner, having been just touched off on a number of
occasions, including the Novices’ Listed Handicap Chase last year. And, of course, he was in my placepot. Trust me to select the winner of possibly
the most difficult selection-wise race of the day. And why didn’t I have just an each-way bet
on him instead, we ask?
Being the feature race of the day, there was a
pre-race parade ahead of the Champion Hurdle.
The favourite for the event was the Gordon Elliot-trained
Apple’s Jade, ridden by Jack Kennedy; price 7-4. The 2017/2018 winner Buveur
D’Air was taking part again, ridden by Barry Geraghty. However,
he fell at the third flight, and brought down Sharjah
in the process. But the race was still won by owner JP McManus;
with 5-year-old Espoir D’Allen,
trained by Gavin Cromwell and ridden by Mark Walsh, triumphing by 15 lengths
over Melon. The fancied Laurina finished only 4th, and the favourite 6th.
The favourite for the next event was Benie Des Dieux, trained by
Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh; odds-on price 10-11. The winner of last year’s renewal. Alan King’s Mia’s Storm was a non-runner due to unsuitable
ground conditions. However, with the race evidently in the bag, the
favourite fell at the last! This left
the Dan Skelton-trained Roksana, ridden by brother
Harry, to claim the prize; although she wasn’t an easy ride! Dan’s first Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival
winner.
I decided to leave after the fifth race; I
couldn’t face being stuck for ages in traffic queues. This year, the final two races had been
transposed on the card. The favourite for the penultimate race of the day
was A Plus Tard, trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore; price 5-1. Alan King had a runner in this race, namely Good
Man Pat ridden by Wayne Hutchinson, but he pulled up before two out. And the favourite claimed the prize; a runaway
win by 16 lengths over his nearest rival.
The favourite for the marathon event of the
Festival was Ballyward, trained by Willie Mullins
and ridden by son Mr Patrick Mullins; price 9-4. There was one runner of interest; namely the
tongue-less Skipthecuddles, trained by Graeme
McPherson and ridden by Miss Lilly Pinchin. The race became extremely controversial, with
only four of the 18 runners completing the course. Five were pulled up, eight fell and one
unseated its rider. It was carnage; in
fact, the favourite Ballyward lost its life as a
result of a fall at the 17th fence.
Stewards’ enquiries were held into a number of incidents. The race was won by the Ben Pauling-trained Le Breuil, ridden by Mr Jamie Codd.
Skipthecuddles unseated his rider at the 4th fence
but returned home safe.
The scores on the doors for the Prestbury Cup showed that Ireland currently had a narrow
lead over the home team:
And my placepot results:
As already confessed, I left early today; in fact
early every day. Having left after the
5th race, and thus exiting the car park before 17:00, there were no holdups
whatsoever! Despite it being the start of the rush-hour, I
had a completely clear run through Prestbury and
out of Cheltenham; via my favoured route of Harp Hill and Greenway Lane. Normally, I’d head along the A40 all the
way to the Minster Lovell roundabout before taking a left turn and heading
through the town of Witney to reach my hotel which is situated on the
A4095. However, today, I decided to
take a left-turn, at the traffic-lights junction upon the Andoversford
bypass, following the A436 towards Bourton-on-the-Water
and Stow-on-the-Wold beyond. My
Magical Mystery Tour was nothing to do with Choc I hasten to add; I was just
curious about something else!!! Anyway, having found what I was seeking, without
a hitch, I headed back down the A44, through Woodstock, before taking a
right-hand turn at a roundabout to continue upon the A4095 through Bladon (which is where Winston Churchill is buried) and
Long Hanborough to reach my hotel. It was almost dark by now but, despite
approaching the entrance driveway from the opposite direction to usual, and
bearing in mind that I don’t have a satnav, it
still proved easy to find! Having booked in, I headed to the Lodge where my
room was located; the same room as last year.
I had to take a bit of a detour around the grounds, as a coach was
blocking the direct route to the Lodge car park! As always, it took a number of journeys to
transport my worldly belongings from my car, including my muddy Hotter
boots. I was already embarrassed by
the filth stuck to my car – however I’d finally learnt my lesson – never clean
one’s car prior to going to the races, and especially not Cheltenham
races! Cleaning it when I get home is
a far more sensible solution! My evening meal was a chicken and mushroom Pot
Noodle; so that’s £300 for three nights’ stay including ‘as much as you want to eat’
breakfasts, and £3 for three evening meals of Pot Noodle! There were also warnings of high winds overnight;
this meant a course inspection early on Wednesday morning. It didn’t prove an issue for me, tucked up
snugly in my hotel room; although I did read on social media that one racing
fan found it difficult to sleep due to rattling windowpanes whilst staying at
a country pub! |