PART II
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2014
DAY ONE
FEATURING THE CHAMPION HURDLE
TUESDAY 11 MARCH 2014
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Very happy scenes in the Winners’ Enclosure. The Alan King-trained Midnight Prayer, ridden by
Joshua Newman, has won the Terry Biddlecombe National Hunt Chase for Amateur riders and novice horses. Click here to read my Day 1 Diary Part I It was now time for the feature event of the day,
the Champion Hurdle. As with each of the feature events, there was a
pre-race parade; the horses exited onto the course and formed into number
order before the parade began. Members
of the police-force and a number of stewards had already lined up along the
edge of the racecourse, upon the all-weather strip, to deter anyone from
attempting to disrupt proceedings by climbing over the rails and running onto
the racecourse. The favourite for this event was Hurricane Fly,
trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh; the 2011 and 2013 winner
was priced at 11-4. Alan King had one
runner in this race, a 66-1 outsider Grumeti; on
this occasion the horse would be ridden by Wayne Hutchinson. The parade having finished, the horses cantered
down the turf and entered the all-weather strip to reach the starting gate at
the far end of the home straight.
Then
they were off at a blistering speed; there was a cheer from the expectant
crowd. The runners had soon reached
the first flight where, first to land, was Our Conor;
Hurricane Fly to the outside in second was not fluent and flattened a hurdle
panel with his hind-legs, Captain Cee Bee landed in
third between them. The horses
continued to head up the home straight at quite a pace; Our Conor now joined at the head of affairs by Captain Cee Bee. Hurricane
Fly pursued the leading duo, from the first-time hooded Jezki,
The New One to his inside, and to the wide outside Ptit
Zig. At the
rear of the main group were Grumeti and the very
keen My Tent Or Yours; outpaced in rear was Melodic Rendezvous. The
runners cleared the second flight; Grumeti now
began to find the pace a little tough too.
Our Conor and Captain Cee
Bee led the field up the hill and into the back straight; it was fast and
furious, they were certainly not hanging around. The latter took the advantage as they
headed to the third flight. But
disaster struck here for Our Conor, who clipped the
top, skewed in the air and fell. There
were tell-tale signs of serious injury; his limbs moving involuntarily for a
brief period after he’d crashed to the ground. The New One was in the wrong place at the
wrong time and was fortunate that the tangle of legs didn’t bring him down,
but he was severely hampered and lost valuable ground; Grumeti
narrowly avoided the prostrate jockey, who had fallen into his path. The
race continued, with Captain Cee Bee leading the
way; from Hurricane Fly, Jezki, Ptit
Zig and My Tent Or Yours in the main group. There was then a break in the field to Grumeti, The New One and Melodic Rendezvous. The Alan King runner wasn’t fluent at the
fourth flight. The field headed around
the dog-leg turn and faced up to the fifth flight, where My Tent Or Yours hit
this one, Jezki wasn’t particularly fluent and Ptit Zig made a bad error. Captain Cee Bee
powered on, around the far turn, with a two length advantage over Hurricane
Fly; Jezki travelled just behind him to the inside,
with AP McCoy’s mount still keen to his outside. The New One had now closed to within two or
three lengths of the leading group. They
headed downhill to three out. Captain Cee Bee still held a narrow advantage over Hurricane Fly
as the runners cleared the flight. Grumeti, in seventh position, hit the hurdle. The leaders headed to the penultimate flight;
where Hurricane Fly loomed up to the outside of the leader, and Jezki to his inner.
The New One appeared to be outpaced at this stage. Hurricane
Fly and Jezki were neck and neck as they rounded
the home bend; My Tent Or Yours taking advantage of a gap to the inside of
Captain Cee Bee to take third position as they did
so. Straightening up to approach the
last flight, Jezki assumed the lead, with My Tent
Or Yours soon his nearest challenger.
The former put in a more fluent jump at the last and they continued to
battle to the line; AP’s mount closing as they approached it. But it was too late, Jezki
held on the win by a neck. The New
One’s stamina had kicked in up the hill and he stayed on strongly to finish
3rd, just 2½ lengths back; the vanquished Champion completed in 4th. Grumeti finished
last of those which completed. AP
McCoy had chosen to ride the wrong horse; both My Tent Or Yours and Jezki are owned by JP McManus. The
vets were soon in attendance to treat the injured horse. They waited some time to see if Our Conor would get to his feet, but their patience was not
rewarded. It transpired that the young
potential star had injured his spine when he fell and they were left with no
option but to put him to sleep.
I
remained beside the course-side rails following the race. In all my visits to the Festival, I don’t
believe I’ve ever seen the Champion Hurdle winner return to the Winners’
Enclosure, nor the Gold Cup winner either.
It
was now time for Choc’s third ride of the day, his
mount being L’Unique. Quevega was
attempting to win this race for the sixth consecutive year; she was the 8-11
favourite. It was a cosmopolitan race,
with two representatives from France and five from Ireland. The
starting gate for this event was within the mid-course chute. This being the case, the horses cantered up
around the top bend having left the walkway leading from the Parade
Ring. The runners crossed the
racecourse and entered the in-field, taking a look at the demonstration
flight therein. There wasn’t quite
enough room between the wings alongside other horses on the first occasion
that Choc wanted to show the hurdle to his mount, so he took a turn and
returned once there was. The
main group of mares then cantered along beside the chute until they reached
the two mile four furlong starting gate, weaving their way through stationary
vehicles to enter the racecourse through a gap in the rails. Choc then had his girth checked before
heading onto the hurdles track in preparation for the off. There
were two of the three flights within the chute to be jumped for this distance
of event. I have to mention that I’ve
discovered an anomaly with the total number of flights, the map within the
race-card suggests 9 flights, as does the relevant results page on the Racing
Post website. However, commentator
Mike Cattermole stated 10 flights, and I counted 10 also! The confusion lies with flight number two,
which is very close to the bend at the end of the chute; I think there are
normally just two flights in the chute, as pictured on the Old Course track
map!
The
mares jogged towards the tape, Quevega three from
the outside of the group; she didn’t look particularly happy, ears back. One of the other Irish raiders, Jennies
Jewel, was broad-side on as the tape rose and then they were off. Leading the way to the first flight was
last year’s runner-up Sirene D’Ainay
representing France. Close up to her
outside was Highland Retreat. Having
successfully negotiated the first obstacle, the runners headed across the
main racecourse and then over the second flight before entering the far turn. Quevega travelled
to the rear of mid-field, accompanied to her inside by L’Unique. The
French runner, who has a low head carriage, led the runners into the home
straight and over the next; she got too close and almost flattened the
left-hand panel as a result. Highland
Retreat continued to be her nearest pursuer, from Little King Robin, Top Totti, Uddy, Jennies Jewel, Cailin Annamh, Epee Celeste sporting red blinkers, Cockney Sparrow, L’Unique, Quevega, Down Ace, Doyly Carte, Glens Melody, Pass The Time and Hidden
Identity. The
runners headed up towards grandstands, over the roadway, and merged onto the
Old Course before crossing flight number four. Having landed over it, Cailin
Annamh was a little bit squeezed for room between Uddy and Epee Celeste.
The field travelled up the hill and into the back straight; Highland
Retreat now matching strides to the outside of the leader. The runners headed to and jumped the fifth
flight without incident. The
leading duo held a three or four lengths advantage over their nearest rival, Little
King Robin, as they travelled towards the next flight; close on her heels was
Top Totti, then a break of three more lengths to
Jennies Jewel. The main body of the
field was a couple of lengths behind her, led by Cockney Sparrow and Uddy. Top Totti made a small error at the flight. The runners headed around the dog-leg turn
before clearing flight number seven; Little King Robin bunny-hopped this one. The
field had closed up upon the leaders by the time they travelled around the
far corner and began the journey downhill; in rear, Doyly
Carte and Epee Celeste were now detached from the main body of the
field. Glens Melody had made
eye-catching progress down the outside of the field to travel just a length
of so behind the leader as they jumped three out; she flattened this flight
but it didn’t really affect her momentum.
Quevega was in eighth
position as they headed to the penultimate flight. Choc was doing his best to keep tabs on the
undisputed Mares’ Hurdle Champion, and squeezed up the inside of Jennies
Jewel as the latter began to weaken. Sirene D’Ainay was finally let
down by her sketchy jumping here; she clipped the top and fell. Cockney Sparrow was hampered by the faller;
it was probably fortunate that L’Unique appeared to
be slightly outpaced at this point, for Choc found he had a split-second to
take evasive action and slipped through a narrow gap between the faller and
the rail. Meanwhile,
Little King Robin and Glens Melody led the runners into the home straight,
hotly pursued by Quevega. Highland Retreat had dropped back to fourth
position; Choc held the rail position to her inside around the bend. The diminutive Cockney Sparrow had lost
ground due to being hampered, and Hidden Identity had made progress to tag on
to the tail of the leading group of eight.
The runners headed up the hill towards the final flight. Glens
Melody, stable-mate to Quevega led narrowly over
the last. However, and not
surprisingly, Ruby drove his mount to take the lead on the uphill climb to
the line; they triumphed by three-quarters’ of a length. L’Unique kept on
under pressure to finish a further three-quarters’ of a length back in
third. Hidden Identity claimed 4th by
a short-head from Cockney Sparrow; the former was 4 lengths behind L’Unique.
A
record-breaking sixth Festival win for the Irish-trained 10-year-old; 2009 to
2014, all in this race. That’s my
entire Festival attendance covered!
This would be her final appearance at the Festival, as she was retired
to stud having finished as runner-up in the World Series Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival on 01 May. Will stable-mate Glens Melody take over the
mantle next year? Or maybe L’Unique following her very good showing today? I
set off to the Winners’ Enclosure specifically to see Choc and L’Unique return; Quevega played
just a bit-part to my favourite jockey and his mount!!! When Choc is around, a giraffe could
probably walk by and I’d barely notice!
It
was soon time for the penultimate race of the day; the race named in honour
of ex-jockey Terry Biddlecombe who passed away in
early January, on my birthday in fact.
This marathon race is usually run as the first event on the second day
of the Festival, but had been moved to Tuesday this year. There was a bit of juggling going on with
the races; the cross-country had been rescheduled as race 5 on Wednesday, the
Coral Cup moved forward to race 3 on Wednesday, the RSA to race 2, and the
Neptune to race 1. And all to
accommodate the Mares’ Hurdle as a televised race on terrestrial TV and still
keep race sponsors happy! Alan
King had a runner in this race, Midnight Prayer to be ridden by Mr Joshua
Newman; the amateur jockey had partnered Oh Crick in a number of races prior
to the horse’s recent retirement. The
3-1 favourite was Foxrock, trained by Ted Walsh and
ridden by daughter Katie (father and sister of Ruby, respectively). Martin Keighley also had a runner in this
race, the sole grey Merlin’s Wish, ridden by Mr Roger Quinlan. The
starting gate for this event was situated in the mid-course chute; thus,
having passed the grandstands on the first occasion, there were still two
complete circuits to travel.
Then
they were off, first time; the jockeys having approached the starting gate in
a much civilised manner! The first to
take-off at the initial jump was Beeves, followed by Merlin’s Wish; just
behind these, According To Trev got a little close
to the fence, his jockey shot slightly out of the saddle as a result. At the rear of the field, Suntiep wasn’t quite as fluent as the others either. Also at the rear, Living Next Door hit the
second fence; a stray piece of birch was subsequently sticking up from the
top of the fence and would require attention before the fence was jumped
again at the beginning of the following race. The
runners crossed over the main racecourse before travelling around the far bend
and into the home straight on the first occasion; although the jockey aboard
the leader seemed to experience slight difficulty in steering his mount
without swinging a little wider than necessary. The field faced up to and cleared fence
number four without incident. Beeves
jumped the fifth a little slowly, permitting According To Trev
to draw alongside him; Shutthefrontdoor made a
slight error here, and Herdsman to the outside of the field in seventh
position received a couple of backhanders from his jockey; although the
reason for this wasn’t particularly clear.
The
runners headed over the roadway and through the gap in the plastic rails to
join the Old Course. Travelling near
the rear of the field, Shotgun Paddy made an error at the next fence. Beeves had assumed the lead once more as
they jumped fence number seven and galloped up past the main grandstands
before heading up the hill. According
To Trev travelled in second position, from Firm
Order, Merlin’s Wish, Midnight Prayer, Rogue Angel, Herdsman, American Spin, Foxrock, Shutthefrontdoor, Milborough, Shotgun Paddy, Living Next Door, Adrenalin
Flight and Suntiep.
There
were no noticeable errors at the uphill fence. The runners headed into the back straight
and cleared fence number nine, where Foxrock was a
little slow. Heading over the
water-jump, According To Trev held the
advantage. The next fence was the
first open-ditch, which all the horses cleared without mishap. However, at the next having drifted back
through the field, Merlin’s Wish fell.
The remaining 14 headed around the dog-leg turn and towards the next
obstacle; another open-ditch. Herdsman
now led the way, from Beeves, According To Trev and
Rogue Angel. All the runners cleared
this one safely. Having
negotiated the far turn, Beeves took the advantage and led the field down the
hill to the next fence; in mid-field, Midnight Prayer made a mistake
here. Rogue Angel took the lead as the
runners headed into the home straight.
Just behind the leaders, to the inside of the field, American Spin hit
the next fence hard. There were no
noticeable errors at the next fence; the runners then headed past the
grandstands and up the hill towards fence number seventeen; Beeves and Rogue
Angel disputed the lead as they did so and Shutthefrontdoor
made a bad error here. According To Trev ran wide on the turn into the back straight and lost
ground as a result. The
horses set off down the back straight for the final time. Shutthefrontdoor
wasn’t fluent at the next fence, and slightly hampered Milborough
in the process. The following obstacle
is the water-jump; Rogue Angel and Midnight Prayer led the field over it,
with Beeves ridden away from the fence on landing, American Spin not very
fluent here. The Gigginstown
runner and Alan King runner held a very narrow advantage as they jumped the
penultimate open-ditch; Beeves retained third position, from Firm Order,
behind these were Foxrock who made an error and
Shotgun Paddy, with Herdsman to the outside of the field. Rogue
Angel led the field over fence number twenty one; yet again Shot Gun Paddy
was less than fluent here. His jumping
also poor as he cleared the final open-ditch.
The runners headed around the far turn and travelled downhill to reach
the third last fence. Rogue Angel was
still narrowly ahead over this one, from Midnight Prayer, Shotgun Paddy, Foxrock, Milborough, Shutthefrontdoor and Living Next Door. The
runners then headed towards the final turn.
To the inside Rogue Angel led the way initially, to the outside travelled
Shotgun Paddy; the meat in the sandwich was Midnight Prayer. In the first instance, Shotgun Paddy was
outpaced as Midnight Prayer went into the lead prior to negotiating the final
bend. But his rivals were still
snapping at his heels as he approached the penultimate fence, where Shutthefrontdoor made an error. The leaders headed to the final fence and,
yet again, Shotgun Paddy was less than fluent; this bought a little more time
for the Alan King runner. Back in
sixth position, the favourite also made an error here. The
horses began their journey up the hill to the line. Shotgun Paddy continued to gain upon the
leader as the winning post approached.
It was a very close finish. The
result was announced; Midnight Prayer had won by a neck. It was a triumph for an almost blemish-free
round of jumping, in sharp contrast to that of the runner-up. A fourteenth Festival triumph for the
trainer and the first for the 22-year-old amateur jockey; a late birthday present
for the latter whose birthday it was the previous day. Having
made an error two out, Suntiep continued to stay on
from the next county; he jumped the last in eighth or ninth position but ran
on strongly to claim 3rd place just a length and a quarter behind Shotgun
Paddy. Adrenalin Flight who also made
an error at the second last, completed in 4th, having drifted severely
right-handed on the run-in. The
Stewards enquired into the running of this duo. Merlin’s
Wish was fine following his mishap and, having galloped loose up the home straight
and past the winning post, was caught and led back.
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the horses arrive back. Alan
King was delighted to have won the race, but he did impart the news that the elderly
owner of the horse had been taken seriously ill earlier in the afternoon
having suffered a heart-attack.
However, John Reynolds was conscious and aware of the horse’s win
prior to going into surgery. NEWS FROM THE STEWARDS’ ROOM
FOLLOWING THE RACE:
WHY THEY RAN BADLY: There
were dual favourites, priced at 13-2, for the final race of the day; Art Of
Logistics trained by Dessie Hughes and ridden by
Bryan Cooper and Ericht trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Barry Geraghty. As
mentioned earlier, Baby Mix was a non-runner.
The
starting gate for this race was in the mid-course chute. Thus the horses exited the walkway and
cantered across the racecourse, up along the all-weather strip to the outside
of the uphill section of the track before heading across the racecourse and
entering the in-field ahead of the race.
There
was a short, last-minute delay when the Clerk of the Course, Simon Claisse, went to check that there was no problem with low
sun affecting the final two fences in the home straight. They certainly didn’t want a reoccurrence
of the problem which caused Balder Succes to fall
at the penultimate fence during a late afternoon chase at the Showcase
meeting in October.
The
all clear was given and then they were off; first time. Five horses rose in unison over the first
fence, from the inside Up To Something, Pendra,
Present View, Attaglance and the cheek-pieced
Buthelezi; the latter led over the second fence. Travelling at the rear of the field were
King Vuvuzela and Dursey
Sound. The runners headed across the
Old Course and over fence number three, after which they entered the far
bend. Buthelezi led from Festive
Affair, Up To Something, Attaglance, Grandads Horse, Ohio Gold, Pendra,
Present View, Manyriverstocross, Ericht, Ahyaknowyerself, Persian Snow, Close House, Art Of
Logistics, Gardefort, Buywise,
Tony Star, King Vuvuzela and Dursey
Sound. Having
entered the home straight, the runners negotiated the fourth fence without
mishap. However, to the inside of the
runners in mid-field, Ohio Gold took off too soon at the fifth and landed
with a jolt. The horse soon lost
ground and by the time the runners passed through the gap in the rails and
merged onto the Old Course, Joe Tizzard’s mount was
at the back of the field. He continued
to lose ground as they cleared the next fence. There was no change at the head of affairs
as the runners jumped fence number seven and travelled uphill to the next
fence. Festive
Affair joined the leader as they cleared this fence. Near the rear of the field Ericht made a
bad blunder having got too close to the fence; he dislodged the strip
situated part way up the apron in the process. Jockey Barry Geraghty
had to gather up his knitting as they travelled away from the fence; he
bumped his mount along in an attempt to keep him up to his task. The
field headed into the back straight and approached the next fence; Close
House made a mistake here. Having lost
touch with his rivals, Ohio Gold was pulled up before this fence. The following fence is the water-jump which
all the runners negotiated without problem.
Festive Affair now led; with Buthelezi soon losing his position and
dropping back through the field having jumped the open-ditch. Manyriverstocross was a little short of room as they
approached the next; a wall of horses ahead and to his outside and the John
Ferguson runner rapidly fading to his inside.
Festive
Affair, Attaglance and Present View led the field
over this plain fence; Manyriverstocross had found
himself a niche against the inside rail travelling around the dog-leg
turn. The horses jumped the final
open-ditch; Gardefort, on the outside of the field,
made a bad error here. The field headed
downhill, Festive Affair and Present View disputing the lead, from Up To
Something, Attaglance and Pendra. The horses cleared three out where, back in
the field, Close House made a mistake.
Festive
Affair began to struggle as they approached the final bend; Present View was
now sent into the lead, with Pendra under AP McCoy
soon in hot pursuit. Persian Snow was
squeezed out on the final turn as Ahyaknowyerself
and Attaglance jostled for the best position. Brendan Powell’s mount jumped the second last
ahead of Pendra to his inside and Ahyaknowyerself to his outside; Attaglance
was still in with a chance in 4th position at this stage. Buywise blundered
badly at this fence. It
was Pendra’s turn to blunder at the last; this left
Attaglance to mount the final challenge. Brian Hughes decided to steer his mount
towards the far side rail to do so, but unfortunately Present View drifted
across in that direction under a strong right-hand drive from his jockey. His route barred, Attaglance
was switched to the near side and he began to close with every stride ... but
time ran out. Present View won by half
a length at the line. A Stewards
Enquiry was announced. Pendra completed in
3rd, with Ahyaknowyerself in 4th. Buywise recovered
from his bad blunder at the penultimate fence to finish 5th. Persian Snow was 6th and Manyriverstocross 7th.
Gardefort took a nasty looking fall two out
but I believe he was okay, having stayed down for a while before getting up.
Having
taken a photograph of Present View and Brendan Powell as the partnership
passed by on their walk back to the Parade Ring; I then headed to the
Winners’ Enclosure for the final time today.
Following
the Enquiry, the result remained unchanged.
It was trainer Jamie Snowden’s first Cheltenham Festival winner and,
when interviewed for the second time and following the verdict, he was
tearfully emotional. Jamie admitted to
querying the handicap rating rise for the horse to 137, following his
charge’s triumph at Kempton Park the previous month. But he had to win that race in order to
qualify for a run in today’s event and, having now won by half a length, he
said the handicapper had been right.
NEWS FROM THE STEWARDS’ ROOM
FOLLOWING THE RACE: The
Stewards held an enquiry under Rule (B)11.6 into
possible interference on the run in.. Having heard their evidence and viewed
recordings of the race they found that the winner, PRESENT VIEW, ridden by
Brendan Powell, had interfered with ATTAGLANCE, placed second, ridden by
Brian Hughes, and that the interference had not improved PRESENT VIEW’s
placing. They ordered the placings to remain
unaltered. The Stewards found Powell in breach of Rule (B)54.1
and guilty of careless riding in that he allowed his horse to drift left
handed away from the whip. They suspended him for 3 days as follows: Tuesday
25, Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 March 2014. WHY THEY RAN BADLY: Everything
done and dusted for the day, with Choc having returned to the Weighing Room
after unsaddling his mount in the small paddock reserved for the unplaced
horses, it was now time for me to depart.
I
visited the loo in preparation for the long journey home and arrived back at
my car at 17:40. However I was unable
to actually move my vehicle until 18:35 due to the traffic gridlock within the
car park! There was a long tailback of
queuing cars all the way back from the Swindon Road entrance and up into the
top field and thus past my car; presumably this line of vehicles was
continually being ‘topped-up’ by
people who had parked in the bottom field entering the queue … because it
didn’t seem to go anywhere for ages. I
couldn’t actually back my car out of its space either, because there was a
line of stationary cars immediately behind me too, waiting to join the main
queue; also a car still parked in front of me. Initially I ate the two remaining cheese rolls,
plus a number of cheese straws from a newly opened packet purchased from
M&S. As time ticked by I became
more and more impatient with having to wait …I needed to get home in good time
as I had three more days like these ahead of me!!! Eventually the stewards directed cars from
the top field to turn right and drive along the track in front of the hedge …
heading for who knows where? Finally I was able to back out of my space and was
beckoned into the queue. I, too, was
instructed to take this right turn and, as it transpired, it initially led to
the entrance of a horse-box park surrounded by a very high hedge! I presume it must be the area where the
long-stay horse transporters are kept during the Festival, such as those
travelling over from Ireland. Taking a sharp left turn, followed by a sharp
right turn along the horsebox park perimeter, also with another high hedge to
my left, then finally through a gap in the hedge, I headed down a white
gravel track which had been laid across a field; the area to each side of
which was also a car park, but almost empty by this time of the evening. My queue of traffic had moved fairly quickly via
this route and, after two or three stop starts I had reached the road; the
gate being slightly to the west of the mini-roundabout at the top of Tommy
Taylors Lane. I don’t know what it is
about my face, but I always seem to be the first person who is stopped by the
traffic police from exiting the car park or a junction following a long batch
of cars, leaving me at the front of the next batch to exit when it became by
turn again! The traffic police then permitted cars to travel
around the mini-roundabout from the direction of Evesham Road, followed by vehicles
travelling up Tommy Taylors Lane, which included a white stretch limo. It was then my turn to go but I was not
permitted to turn left, so I headed westwards … which I think had been in my
mind anyway in order to avoid any delays at the far end of the Tommy Taylors
Lane route; Windyridge Road being my intended
destination. I’d only been along this stretch of the road once
before, on Day 2 of the 2012 Festival when the traffic police had managed to
ruin my quick escape, it taking me 40 minutes to escape from the Cheltenham
area on that occasion, having included what amounted to a circular tour of
almost the entire town! It transpired that the beginning of Windyridge Road is marked by another mini-roundabout,
thus making it very easy to spot. At
the far end of this was a T-junction where a left turn took me back in a
south-easterly direction. I turned
left at the next roundabout and left again at the following junction; I was
now on St Paul’s Road which runs along far end of the Tommy Taylors Lane route. The only disadvantage of the latter part of
this diversion was the number of vehicles heading in the other direction
which refused to give way despite vehicles being parked on their side of the
road not mine! Although, having said
that, further along the boot is on the other foot as the road narrows
considerably, making it impossible for two moving cars to pass due to parked
obstacles on my side of the road. Having rejoined my favoured Cheltenham exit route
I headed through Clarence Square to the traffic lights at the Evesham Road
junction. The problem here is that
pedestrians heading back from the racecourse refuse to take notice of the
fact that the traffic lights have changed to green and vehicles are now heading
straight towards them! This probably
arises because Clarence Road is a one-way system at this point so, having not
had to take into account traffic travelling from their left, they take little
notice of traffic from their right either!
Where the road splits into two a short distance later,
I headed to the left in the direction of the Prestbury
roundabout, where I turned right without delay, driving around Pittville Circus and entering Pittville
Circus Road to reach Hewlett Road where I turned left. This took me back to the ‘longabout’
where I turned left then right, and headed up Harp Hill before turning into
Greenway Lane to reach the Six Ways junction.
A left turn took me onto the A4 and I’d soon
exited the outskirts of Cheltenham, heading up past the Dowdeswell
Reservoir and continued my climb up the Cotswolds escarpment. This year there were roadworks
on the Andoversford bypass, but this didn’t seem to
affect the normal flow of traffic; presumably any delays would happen whilst
workmen were in action during the day.
Following a second set of traffic lights, where
the Gloucester road joins the A40, there is a dual carriageway allowing
faster vehicles to overtake those which are unable to climb this steep part
of the escarpment at speed. In other
words, this is where everyone jostles for a position before entering the next
section of the A40 where, except for small stretches it is impossible to
overtake with safety … although some idiots still do!!! Today I ended up travelling behind a ‘flincher’, in order words, someone
who would touch his brakes at any sign of a vehicle approaching from the
opposite direction; this can be a little wearing for the person travelling
behind. Not that I ever travel too
close to the vehicle in front, because I don’t, but because it’s difficult to
differentiate between a true hazard ahead or solely a vehicle minding its own
business travelling in the opposite direct.
The driver also regularly switched between dipped
and full beam headlights. Fortunately
I can see perfectly well without un-dipping my headlights … my problem is
glare from vehicles travelling in the other direction, regardless of whether
they use dipped headlights or not.
It’s a problem which arises for everyone as they age, unfortunately. Being later than anticipated my journey back to
Oxford and then onwards to the M40 passed without delay or incident. As this was the first day’s return journey,
there were absolutely no problems encountered with the monotony of motorway
driving, either on the M40 or the later M25; which I left at Junction 22. In previous years I’d visited the nearby
Sainsbury petrol station to fill up the tank before continuing the short
distance home but, now, my allegiance has transferred to the petrol station
adjacent to the Morrisons supermarket. This occurred last year when, wishing to
fill up the tank one evening following a journey, myself and a number of
other drivers were turned away because their computer system was down, thus
making it impossible for Sainburys to process
credit card purchases! This being the case, my trip took me back along
the road around the perimeter of a housing estate, where I encountered a fox
which appeared to have dragged a dustbin bag of rubbish into the gutter, the
contents now spilling out of the ripped bag.
Being after closing time of the store, the petrol
station’s forecourt was quiet when I arrived to fill up so took little time
out of my journey; petrol cost £25.30.
I arrived home at 20:55; not what I had expected on the first day of
Cheltenham, when this is usually the earliest day I arrive home during the
event! Supper was poached eggs on toast. I uploaded my photographs onto the laptop
for safekeeping, copied a number of website links into my blog in preparation
for writing an update the following weekend and turned in at around 10:30;
but not before recharging my camera and phone batteries too. I also made a list of the following day’s
runners in my notebook whilst logged on.
It’s a pity one cannot just plug oneself into a socket
to re-charge with energy too, as my re-chargeable battery is getting a little
bit old now! Having decided that I didn’t wish to park in the
top field again, I reset the alarm clock to its original time once more
before going to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Interestingly, I note from the map, that roads
leading off Windyridge Road are named after famous
racehorses – Arkle, Millhouse,
Pendil, Mandarin, Golden Miller, Cottage Rake,
Kerstin and Fortina. Photos - Cheltenham Festival Day 1 – Pre-Race
Action Photos - Cheltenham Festival Day 1 – Races
1 to 3 Photos - Cheltenham Festival Day 1 – Champion Hurdle Photos - Cheltenham Festival Day 1 – Quevega |
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