DIARY – CHELTENHAM
SHOWCASE MEETING – DAY 2 – PART I
SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER 2014
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The new grandstand is under construction This was my first outing to the
races since Sandown Park on Saturday 26 April and my first of the 2014/2015
season. I’d made arrangements to
attend this fixture with my friend Lesley ages ago, fully expecting that Choc
would be back in action following the neck and back injuries he sustained on
the penultimate day of last season, 25 April. However his return had been delayed, it
having been discovered during a check-up at the end of September that his T1
vertebra had not fused completely.
Prior to this he’d been riding out at the Alan King yard but was
advised to stop until further notice; it was reported that his next check-up
was scheduled for late October. Colleague Wayne Hutchinson had
also missed most of the summer due to an injury sustained on 18 May, but his
recuperation from hip surgery went smoothly and he was able to return to
action on 02 October. Having completed my backlog of
diaries by mid-June I had just been ticking over since then waiting for Choc
to return. However, my favourite
jockey had wasted no time in finding himself a new girlfriend during the
summer months, a petite blue-eyed blonde named Jennie Prust who hails from
Birmingham. He also posted numerous
photographs of William on facebook and twitter during his absence; William
loves to dress up as a knight in armour and spends much of his time playfully
attacking Choc! By mid-October I was entering my
own busy ‘holiday period’, with 12
days annual leave to use before year-end.
With this in mind, I’d booked the preceding Friday and the following
Monday as holiday too, fully expecting to go racing to Cheltenham on Saturday
and to Kempton Park on Sunday. But, in
light of Choc not having returned yet, my proposed Sunday outing was
cancelled. And, as it transpired, Alan
King had no runners at the Sunbury track anyway. Friday was spent at home, all
day. I was determined not to go
shopping, even though I fancied buying a new handbag. Why is it that despite owning numerous
bags, they are never the right size or the right colour for the immediate
requirement? I ironed four skirts, not
knowing which one I’d choose to wear the following day. During the afternoon I watched Racing UK’s
coverage from Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst others. I turned in at 23:30; rising at
06:30. I washed and showered, dried my
hair and applied makeup. Breakfast was
two croissants and two slices of brown buttered toast. I drank just one large cup of tea, as I
didn’t wish to be caught short before arriving at Cheltenham! The prevailing weather was
currently mild for the time of year, but with the prospect of heavy rain
showers at any time. It’s always
better to be too warm than too cold, so wearing a raincoat didn’t seem to be
an option for Cheltenham. It was a
choice between my mauve BHS jacket and new dark teal-coloured anorak style
coat. I chose the former. Lesley would later be pleased with my
choice too, as I was very easy to spot in the crowd! Taking no chances I wore two
thermal vests, pink and violet in colour.
A black ribbed frill-edged cardigan; lavender fleece; lavender, white
and black skirt; purple tights; my old faithful black mocassin-style wedge
shoes, also taking my burgundy boots as reserve; multi-colour River Island
scarf, old but a favourite. Also my
Remnants of Rainbows necklace and matching earrings. I was ready to leave home at
09:10 and took three bottles of water, plus four cheese-filled submarine
rolls with me too. My outward journey
took me via Harpenden Common, the Redbourn bypass, under the M1 at Junction
9, past Flamstead and Markyate; at the latter I was stopped by the traffic
lights being on red. I noticed a new
housing development to the west of the main road, I’d not seen that before;
perhaps it’s been hidden behind trees that are now losing their leaves. I’ve taken an aversion to
driving through the housing estate in Dunstable, over numerous speed bumps at
20 mph or at least not using the route on both the outward and inward legs of
my journey; it certainly doesn’t do my car’s suspension any good. This being the case, I chose to turn left
and drive through Kensworth, across Whipsnade Heath and past the Zoo. A sharp right-hand turn outside the gates
thereof is followed by a downhill stretch of road to descend the escarpment
of the Chiltern Hills. At the following T-junction I
turned right onto the B4506, went straight across at the roundabout on the
Dunstable Road and headed for Eaton Bray; taking care to avoid any motorists
who might stray onto my side of the carriageway as the road wended its way
towards the village. Having driven to
the far end thereof, I arrived at Lesley’s House at 09:45; the time we had
agreed. Lesley’s friend Chris was to
accompany us to the races today; they had been to the theatre in Aylesbury
the evening before to see Rigoletto.
It was their first experience of opera and they found it easy to
follow due to subtitles and will willingly go again to another! Anyway, having picked them up from
Lesley’s home we set off upon the outward journey to Cheltenham. The route took us via Billington
and the Leighton Buzzard bypass to Wing.
Heading out of the town we encountered a long stretch of unmadeup road
surface; the top dressing of tarmac had been removed prior to replacement but
there was no sign of any highway repair vehicles in the vicinity. Fortunately the oncoming carriageway was
the worst, with all of theirs having been disturbed, but it stretched to only
half way across mine. I wouldn’t be
returning via this route, especially after darkness had fallen. Having reached Aylesbury and
taken the ring-road around to join the A41, we set off in the direction of
Bicester, via Waddesdon. I recall
Chris having conversations on his mobile phone at various points during the
journey; he was in the process of trading in his van to buy a car. The road conditions were damp at this
stage, with someone walking on the grass verge underneath the railway bridge
just to the west of Aylesbury. Lesley
said “Mind the puddle”. Talk about the
‘pot calling the kettle black’ ...
I’m always getting splashed by vehicles driving through big road puddles when
walking in my home City and vow not to do it to others. Whoops, I hope I didn’t splash him! The trip went smoothly from
there to Bicester; it was only 10:40 but roadside signs were warning visitors
to the Bicester Shopping Village that the car-parks were full already. I’ve never been there, but Lesley has. At the far end of the bypass I turned left,
heading down the final stretch of the A41; we were held up by a red light at
the junction prior to the large roundabout, before heading down the next
section of the dual carriageway to the M40 junction. The road surface has been re-tarmaced since
my visits to the Cheltenham Festival in March and the trees and shrubs
surrounding the far end, cut back. We negotiated the junction
without having to stop for a red light and entered the A34 dual carriageway;
traffic on the opposite side of the road was slow moving, an ambulance was
seen a little further along it. An
accident perhaps? We left the main
road at the Peartree Interchange, driving down the dual carriageway to reach
the A40; it makes a change to travel at normal speed down this stretch of the
road, it’s one of my major bottlenecks during Festival week ... come to think
of it, it’s my only bottleneck! Mind
you, even on this occasion, a park and ride bus caused the traffic lights
near the far end of the road to change to red to afford it priority over
normal traffic. We turned right at the
roundabout and headed out across the Cotswolds on the A40, my favourite part
of the journey. There were no delays;
I got caught briefly at the first set of traffic lights encountered but our
journey along the Witney bypass and to Burford went smoothly, as did the next
section to the Cirencester/Stow road.
The next part of the drive took us past the rebranded Puesdown Inn and
down the dual carriageway at the beginning of the escarpment. As always, a number of impatient drivers
overtake at this stage; but you have to be careful as the road soon narrows
to single file once more and, around a right-hand bend, arrives at a set of traffic
lights marking its junction with the Gloucester Road. The lights were on red. Once they’d turned to green, we
set off along the Andoversford bypass, passing the Murco petrol station on
the left just prior to a sharp right-hand turn. Not long after passing through the next
traffic-lit junction, the road turns to the left and descends past the
Dowdeswell Reservoir to Charlton Kings.
It was 11:40 when we arrived at the Six Ways junction where I
indicated to turn right. Despite me
lining up in the correct lane and within the road markings, it was fairly
tight squeeze for a large lorry driving in the opposite direction whilst I
waited. I headed up Greenway Lane at
the second change. Having driven
through the two chicanes we reached the T-junction with Harp Hill; the far
end of Greenway Lane seriously needed repairs to the road surface, it was
awful. I drove down Harp Hill and took
a right turn at the ‘longabout’; we
got caught by the traffic lights outside Tescos but were soon on our way
again. Turning right into Bouncers
Lane I noticed a flower-stall situated outside the cemetery gates at the
beginning of the thoroughfare; good idea.
Soon we had arrived at the mini-roundabouts at the end of Prestbury’s
Deep Street. After a brief delay
caused by a queue of traffic exiting ahead of us, our route then headed along
Tatchley Lane and into New Barn Lane.
Craftily, a speed camera vehicle was parked upon the verge of the
road, close to the incline where there is a tendency to increase speed; but
it was spotted by the road users ahead of me and was not a problem on this
occasion. Having negotiated the two
mini-roundabouts near the far end of New Barn Lane, I reached the large
roundabout outside the main entrance to the racecourse. I drove straight across into Swindon Lane,
a number of vehicles heading in the opposite direction turned into the lower
field car-park ahead of me. Soon it
was my turn. I was instructed by a
steward to park to the left, as it turned out on the flat part of the field
rather than the slope; I pulled up midway along the row of stationary
cars. I put on my shoes, fleece, scarf
and jacket, and we each picked up a bottle of Evian from the rear seat before
Lesley, Chris and I set off to the main entrance; we exited the car park via
the steps beside the Evesham Road, then walked up the footpath to opposite
the gated entrance. The ticket kiosks
had been set up on the gravel area between the main road and the racecourse
driveway, instead of upon the bridge as is usually the case at this
fixture. I joined the queue to buy a
ticket and Lesley and Chris joined the ticket collection queue. I purchased it using a credit card and we
were soon ready to cross over the driveway and enter the racecourse precincts
via the turnstiles within the Centaur building. We’d arrived just in time, as a fairly long
queue had now formed at the ticket selling kiosks. Having progressed through the turnstiles we
exited onto the concourse via the doors to our right, only to realise that
race-cards were being sold from the counter inside the Centaur. We re-entered the building and Lesley
purchased a race-card for each of us.
The main sponsor today, and mentioned on the front cover of the
race-card, was Masterson Holdings, owners of Balder Succes amongst
others. We then exited onto the
concourse once more and walked down the slope towards the Parade Ring. I was disappointed to discover my usual
loos were no longer available for use ... the adjacent men’s loos were, but
not the ladies. We went in search of
ladies loos within the main grandstand ground floor; we found the men’s, but
even one of the stewards on duty mis-directed us in our search for the
ladies! We eventually found them one
door further down and the cubicles were pleasantly large, unlike those in my
usual haunt on the other side of the concourse where I always had to struggle
to negotiate the door! More
information than you needed ... sorry!
I have used these particular posh loos before, but not since my first
Festival and had obviously forgotten where they were! Anyway, having re-joined Chris
we went in search of coffees, a kiosk was located just outside the door,
beside the main concourse. Having
purchased these, we continued down the concourse, turning right to head
beneath the steelwork which has been constructed to provide the backbones of
the new grandstand. It was a pleasant
surprise to find that the new walkway is wider than the previous bottleneck
and will hopefully provide a faster passage between the courseside rails and
the Winners Enclosure/Parade Ring, even during the Festival. Having reached the lawn, we
settled upon one of the benches to drink our coffees, after which I returned
to the ladies loos to wash my hands because they felt sticky; this time I
entered the ground floor of the grandstand from the racecourse side. I met up with the guys briefly before we
split up for a few minutes; I headed down the lawn in front of the cordoned
off new grandstand, hoping to view the new horse-walk at close quarters. It has been realigned as part of the
development and sweeps down beneath a new bridge which will provide
pedestrian access between the main concourse and the plaza below the Parade
Ring when the horse-walk is in use. I was soon rejoined by both
Lesley and Chris and, having taken photograph mementos of our day, we headed
back up the lawn before returning to the area above the Winners’ Enclosure
ahead of the TRC (Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre) demonstration which
began at 13:00. Five horses were
parading, namely Genial Genie, Thisonesforeddy, Koleleria, Abby Express and
Heathyards Pride. A couple of the
horses came from the late Reg Hollinshead’s yard, namely 18-year-old Genial
Genie who had raced 46 times on the flat, winning £25000, and 14-year-old Heathyards
Pride who raced 51 times and won £90000.
Thisonesforeddy raced on the flat 71 times, the 9-year-old won
£21000. Abby Express ran on the flat
and over hurdles 13 times but had no form; the 13-year-old mare Koleleria
raced 12 times on the flat in Holland and also had no form. Matt Howells, Alan King’s
Travelling Head Lad, arrived at around 13:20 to deliver today’s silks to the
Weighing Room. I also noticed Sam
Thomas at some stage early in the afternoon; he’s not completely given up
riding, but is now in the process setting up his own yard at Northleach in
the Cotswolds. I spotted Joe Tizzard
too, he retired towards the end of last season. The TRC horses were getting
quite excited by the time they exited the Parade Ring; probably recalling
their racing days. The off time of the
first race was 14:00, and the runners soon appeared in the Parade Ring. To ensure we gained a good vantage point
prior to the race, we set off early to find a place beside the course-side
rails; we were more or less opposite the ½ furlong post, my usual haunt! Races at the Showcase fixture
are run on the Old Course, thus when heading up the home straight the runners
were close to the standside. The
mid-course chute was not being used for this meeting so a number of the starting
points were located in unexpected places, along with the fact that the Old
Course is a shorter distance in circuit than the New Course. New rules have recently been introduced
whereby the jockeys are required to line their horses up further away from
the start line and travel at no faster than a jog towards the tape too. This has resulted in race four today being
extended in distance by half a furlong and thus includes an additional
obstacle too. AP McCoy was out of action
during the Showcase having originally been injured at Worcester on Thursday
09 October. He had returned to riding
the following Wednesday and rode a treble at Huntingdon, followed by a
further winner at Wetherby the next day too; but had then resigned himself to
the sidelines once more (he returned to action on 25 October). However, by the Showcase, he had attained
his mid-October goal of 150 winners with the aim of riding 300 this
season. As a result of his absence, in
the first race Barry Geraghty would ride the JP McManus representative In The
Rough. The starting gate for the first
event was located part-way down the home straight so, upon exiting the
walkway, the horses cantered up the all-weather gallop in front of the
grandstands before turning and heading down the turf and re-entering the strip
to finish their journey to the start.
As they were to jump just one hurdle in the home straight before
setting out on two full circuits of the track, the runners began the sedate
and very organised walk in to the starting gate prior to what is the home
turn; they had used the previous flight to demonstrate to their mounts the
task ahead. The favourite for this race was
the Paul Nicholls-trained, Sam Twiston-Davies ridden, Vivaldi Collonges at
5-4. The larger Thedrinkymeister was
taken to the front of the group by his jockey David Bass, briefly jig jogging
sideways as they prepared to begin.
Then
they were off, with the Kim Bailey runner leading the way; he was followed
by, line across the course, Bally Beaufort and Shantou Tiger, with Vivaldi Collonges to the outside.
Behind these was One More Tune to the inside, to his outer In The
Rough; Man Of Plenty was at the rear. The
leader, with ears pricked, cleared the first flight with no problem, as did
his six rivals. They then veered off
to their left, headed up the hill and into the back straight for the first
occasion. The field was already well
strung out, with around ten lengths from first to last. The runners successfully negotiated flight
number two. There
was a difference of opinion as to where the best ground could be found; Sam Twiston-Davies took his mount Vivaldi Collonges
to the outside, as did Barry Geraghty and Paul Moloney on Man Of Plenty.
The leader, Shantou Tiger and Bally Beaufort took the shorter route
around the inside; in rear Nick Scholfield aboard
One More Tune couldn’t make up his mind one way or the other and steered down
the middle initially, until joining those on the outer approaching flight
number three! Having
negotiated the dogleg turn, the runners approached flight number four; Thedrinkymeister held a one length advantage over Vivaldi
Collonges at this point and, by the far corner,
these two held probably a seven or eight lengths advantage over the third,
Shantou Tiger. One More Tune continued
to bring up the rear, some fifteen lengths adrift of the leaders. The
leader bowled on down the hill to the next flight, still to the inside of the
track, with a narrow advantage over the Paul Nicholls runner to the
outer. The field also cleared the
sixth without incident and, having completed one circuit, headed into the
home straight once more. The runners
jumped flight number seven in their stride, although One More Tune was a
little slow at the rear. Travelling
up the hill to begin the final circuit, the runners had closed up, a group of
five leading the way, still headed by the Kim Bailey runner at this stage;
the other two just three and five lengths behind respectively. It became a little bit of an effort for Thedrinkymeister as they turned into the back straight,
Vivaldi Collonges now taking the lead; again his
jockey steered the latter wide. They
cleared flight number eight, and the long-time leader soon found himself in second to last position; Bally Beaufort was
being pushed along too by this stage. By
the time they’d jumped flight number nine, the Kim Bailey runner had been
passed by all six of his rivals and would be pulled up before the next. The horses which had been steered to the
outside of the track, namely Vivaldi Collonges, In
The Rough and Man Of Plenty, were all travelling better than their
rivals. Although still at the rear of
the field, One More Tune was also going better than Bally Beaufort and
Shantou Tiger; the former also wider on the course. The runners negotiated the dogleg turn and
jumped flight number ten without problem.
Vivaldi
Collonges was going well within himself as he
reached the far turn; he was around four lengths clear of his nearest rival
In The Rough, the latter closely followed by the white-faced chestnut Man Of
Plenty. The horses headed down the
hill for the final time; Sam Twiston-Davies’ mount
still leading the way followed, Indian file (or do I have to call it Native
American file now?), by In The Rough, Man Of Plenty and, at a distance, One
More Tune. These four had remained
around three metres from the outside rail in their progress down the slope
and over the third last flight; the remaining two, who had taken an inside
line throughout the race, continued to lose ground, with Shantou Tiger’s
jockey calling it a day after the flight. Heading
over two out, In The Rough was just a length behind the leader, Barry
Geraghty manoeuvring his mount to the inside to get a clear view of the
flight. Heading around the final bend
the race, barring incident, was to be fought out between these two. Sam steered his mount to the nearside rail,
with Barry to his nearside; they galloped to the final flight. Vivaldi Collonges
still held a length’s advantage as they cleared it; they both jumped the
flight well. The
jockeys began their drive to the line, with Barry going for his whip first;
he’d struck his mount four times before Sam raised his riding aid. Initially it appeared that the long-time
leader had the upper-hand but, by the time they’d reached the ½ furlong marker,
In The Rough had drawn upsides him.
They continued to fight to the line, with In The Rough staying on
slightly the better and winning by half a length. The first and the second had drawn well
away from the remaining runners, with Man Of Plenty eased up to cross the
line 26 lengths behind the second and One More Tune a further 37 lengths back
in fourth. The only other finisher,
Bally Beaufort was recorded as a very distant last (is 99 lengths the maximum
possible?). The
jockeys of the first four had obviously done their homework regarding going
conditions; they had all taken an outside line where possible and it had paid
off despite having to cover more ground.
The
starting price of the winner was 9-4, the second favourite.
The
race over, we headed back to the Parade Ring area to see the placed horses
return. At this stage I didn’t worry
about watching from the steppings above the
Winners’ Enclosure. And it was
definitely far easier to manoeuvre amongst the spectators heading through the
passageway between the Arkle Bar and the new
stand. With the horse-walk taking a
wider sweep as a result of the re-development, it also affords a slightly
longer time to get from the course-side rails to the vicinity of the Parade
Ring/Winners’ Enclosure. Today
I had time to see the winning rider return along the all-weather strip, or at
least as far as the position where I was standing at the half furlong point,
and walk back to the Parade Ring before they’d even entered it via the
horse-walk ... and I wasn’t even route marching it. Mind you, with the increased numbers
attending the Festival, this may not be quite the case in March! Chris
set off to collect his winnings, he’d selected the winner. No surprise there then! I
spotted young Freddie and Harry Keighley ‘riding’
the wall surrounding the Weighing Room.
They were wearing their miniature silks – Freddie was dressed in
Champion Court’s colours, and Harry in the green and gold of JP McManus. Soon
it was time for the second race of the day; Martin Keighley had a runner in
this one, top-weight Champion Court, today ridden by Tom Scudamore. The favourite was Johns Spirit at 5-1, last
year’s winner. We
returned to the course-side rails in plenty of time to see the horses exit
onto the racecourse. The starting gate
for this event was mid-way down the back straight, with one plain fence and
an open-ditch to negotiate before the far turn; this being the case the
horses headed across the home straight and cantered up the all-weather strip
around the top bend on their journey to it.
A
two mile four furlong race will usually begin in the mid-course chute, but
not today; it was unusual to see the horses milling around in the back
straight ahead of their race. There
are a number of streams which cross the racecourse, and one brook travels to
the outside of the back straight at this point; the tell-tale signs being
willow trees and a small wooden bridge to carry the footpath which follows
the line of the racecourse! Yep, I’ve
just checked my Cheltenham map. I love
maps!
The
horses approached the line steadily, angling to the outside of the open-ditch
as they approached the gate. Then they
were off, with Champion Court to the inside and Sew On Target leading the
way; Claret Cloak brought up the rear.
All eleven runners cleared the first fence without incident; they then
headed around the dogleg turn to approach the second fence, the first of the
open-ditches. Heading
for the obstacle, Champion Court and Sew On Target led, from Astracad, Bennys Mist, Ackertac, Workbench, Persian Snow, Ericht, Croco Bay, Johns Spirit and Claret Cloak. There were no noticeable jumping errors at
the fence. Having reached the top of
the hill and turned the far corner, the runners galloped down the slope to
the third. Martin Keighley’s charge
cleared the fence ahead of the field; close to the rear Croco
Bay made a slight error, tell-tale tufts sticking up from the usually smooth
horizontal line of the fence. Do I
still presume that the aprons of the Cheltenham fences are dressed with
plastic fronds as they were when I walked the course with Choc in December
2008? Anyway, I digress. The
horses headed into the dip and up the slight incline to negotiate the bend
and enter the home straight on the first of two occasions. Having been moved into the home straight a
number of seasons ago in an effort to reduce the number of casualties at the
fence, the next obstacle remains a fairly short distance from the turn;
Persian Snow made a slight error here, having got a little too close to
it. Champion
Court continued to hold the advantage, jumping the next big and bold,
although out to his right. Turning
away from the stands, Tom Scudamore administered a
back-hander to his mount; the field headed towards the uphill fence where,
once again, ‘Champ’ jumped to his
right. Still bringing up the rear of
the field were Croco Bay, Johns Spirit and Claret
Cloak. Turning
into the back straight, the Martin Keighley runner was urged along to keep
ahead of his rivals. The runners
headed over the next fence, all eleven were still standing although Workbench
did drag his hind-legs through the obstacle.
The following fence is the water-jump, which they all cleared without
four faults. By this stage of the
race, Sew On Target had dropped back through the field noticeably. There was no change at the head of affairs
over the next, an open-ditch; at the rear of the field Claret Cloak made an
error. Clearing
the following fence the order was Champion Court, Ericht, Ackertac,
Astracad, Bennys Mist,
Persian Snow, Workbench, Johns Spirit, Sew On Target, Croco
Bay and Claret Cloak. The runners
headed around the dog-leg turn for the last time and approached the final
open-ditch; at the rear of the field Claret Cloak ‘left’ his hind-legs in the ditch, losing momentum. He definitely needs to brush up his jumping
of this type of fence. The
field continued their journey to the top of the hill; Champion Court still
holding the advantage over the field by a couple of lengths although Tom was
working quite hard aboard his mount.
They turned the far corner and headed downhill to the third last; Ackertac took off almost upsides the leader, the latter
jumped out to his right once more. By
this stage Sew On Target was beginning to lose touch at the rear of the
field. The
runners headed into the dip for the final time, the long-time leader in
danger of being swallowed up as many of his rivals put down their
challenges. They turned the final
bend, with Richard Johnson sending his mount Persian Snow into the lead; he
was followed through on the wide outside by last year’s victor Johns Spirit. The Philip Hobbs runner was just a length
up as they cleared two out. They
headed towards the last, Johns Spirit held for the moment. However, Richard’s mount leapt the last big
and bold, too big in fact and he lost momentum as a result; Richie McLernon was now on level terms. The
battle was now joined and the race to the line had begun. Despite his best efforts, Persian Snow
could do no more, the Jonjo O’Neill runner
gradually extending his margin over his rival to one length at the line. Ericht completed in third, 6 lengths back;
with Astracad a further 1¾ lengths back in
fourth. Champion Court completed in
7th place. All eleven completed, with
Sew On Target trailing in last.
It was another winner for Chris; he set off to collect
his winnings whilst Lesley and I returned to the area beside the Parade Ring
to see the placed horses arrive back. It was soon time for the third race of the
day. This race marked the return after
a summer break for last season’s Triumph Hurdle victor, Tiger Roll. He re-opposed Calipto,
who had finished 4th in that particular race, his jockey having suffered a
broken stirrup leather. The Paul
Nicholls runner would be ridden by new stable jockey Sam Twiston-Davies
today and was favoured to reverse the tables having been allotted a 4lbs
advantage on ratings; he started at odds of 4-5 on, with Tiger Roll at
15/8. The race being run over the extended two miles
distance, the runners cantered up the all-weather strip in front of the
grandstands before heading back down the turf and re-entering the gallop and
heading down to the far end of the home straight. We had returned to the course-side rails
well in advance of the runners cantering by.
The four-runner field milled around within the
holding pen to the inside of the bottom bend until shortly before the off
time. They then walked out onto the
course and away from the starting gate briefly; the plastic rail was replaced
to cordon off the area once more. Having turned to face the right direction, Sam
led the runners in, at a sedate walk, he was followed by Tiger Roll and Ballyglasheen; Violet Dancer living up to his name at the
rear of the group as he jig-jogged sideways in.
The
tape was raised by the starter and then they were off ... or rather they weren’t
... with the jockeys reluctant to get the race underway. As Calipto had
been leading the runners in towards the tape, Sam eventually decided it was
time to break into a gallop and begin the race; they were off. They
headed to the first flight, the Paul Nicholls runner leading the way from
Tiger Roll, followed by the white-faced nose-banded Ballyglasheen,
with the quite keen Violet Dancer bringing up the rear. They cleared this obstacle without incident
and continued the journey up the home straight to the second; ears pricked Calipto jumped this in his stride, Tiger Roll rapped the
top gently, Ballyglasheen didn’t touch a twig and
Violet Dancer hit it in rear. Heading
out into the country for the one and only time it was Indian file, with Sam’s
mount leading by four or five lengths from the Irish challenger, Ballyglasheen was three lengths behind him, with Violet
Dancer five lengths in rear. The
leader steered a route wide of the rail to ensure the ground was less
disturbed; the other three followed suit.
As he’d done during the previous race, Sam took an outside line over
the first in the back straight, he mount was slightly less than fluent but it
didn’t affect his momentum; Violet Dancer in rear jumped it awkwardly. Having
reached the fourth flight, it was Tiger Roll’s turn to hit it; the chestnut
wasn’t too fluent at the flight either.
The runners soon headed around the dogleg turn; Calipto
had increased his lead gradually and was probably 10 lengths clear of his
nearest rival as he jumped the next flight, although he did make a slight
error at it. By the time the runners
had reached the far bend, Violet Dancer had joined Ballyglasheen
to dispute third position. The
field headed downhill to the next, with Calipto’s
advantage slightly diminished and Violet Dancer now in a clear third
position; the latter was a little awkward at the flight. The runners continued to the second last;
the leader appeared to be travelling better than Tiger Roll at this point
although, having jumped it, Sam did glance through between his legs to see
where his rival was. Calipto still held an
advantage of a number of lengths as they galloped around the final bend and
into the home straight. Jamie Moore
aboard Violet Dancer glanced behind at this point to check up the position of
the fourth. Just one more flight to go
and the long uphill climb to the line between Calipto
and victory. However, Sam began to
push his mount along as they approached the last; the first sign of distress
signals. He was still two or three
lengths ahead as they cleared it; both the leader and Tiger Roll weren’t
particularly fluent. After
the last Calipto began to wander slightly, he was
tired; perhaps Tiger Roll still had a chance of claiming the prize. Both jockeys drove their mounts to the
line; the Irish challenger is very tenacious, he puts his head down and
battles. And Tiger Roll began to get
the upper hand as they approached the line; he won by half a length. The
first and second had put distance between themselves and their two rivals, 19
lengths in fact; Violet Dancer had tired as he galloped up the hill and he
was collared close home by Ballyglasheen.
We
returned to the area beside the Parade Ring to see the horses arrive
back. At
some point during the mid-afternoon action Lesley spotted the Doughnuts shop
located above the Winners’ Enclosure and popped off to buy six ring
doughnuts, two each. They were really
nice, and she brought back napkins too, although the sugar did drop everywhere
and had to be dusted off clothing. ... click below to continue reading: Click here for photos – Redevelopment and TRC Demonstration Click here for photos – Races 1, 2 & 3 |
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