PART I
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2015
DAY THREE
FEATURING THE WORLD HURDLE
THURSDAY 12 MARCH 2015
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Uxizandre and his stable lass pose for the
photographers following the horse’s win in the Grade 1 Ryanair
Chase Once again I was up at
04:00. I showered, washed and dried my
hair and applied my make-up. Breakfast
was two Weetabix, with fruit – raisins, blueberries, and a banana – plus two
slices of buttered toast. Apart from
eating a few grapes and tomatoes with my lunch when at work, I tend not to
eat much fruit except as part of my breakfast meal. In contrast, I love vegetables; Brussel
sprouts are probably my favourite, and I’ve recently discovered curly
kale. And I love runner-beans if
fresh, not frozen. Peas and carrots
are a regular part of my diet; Choc won’t eat carrots, very strange as they
are inoffensive! The weather forecast had changed
again. It was now due to be dry today
and wet tomorrow, Gold Cup day.
However, I wore my black faux sheepskin jacket today, because it would
keep me warm and would also keep me dry if it rained after all. Again I wore three thermal t-shirts – pink,
purple and bright pink, mauve cardigan, bright purple fleece, black fleece
gillet, my silver-grey rear hem detail BHS skirt, multi-coloured brushed-cotton
River Island scarf, and black/white horse design cowl which had proved so
useful the previous day. The jewellery I selected was my
Chaotic Rainbow Violetfire necklace and earrings, the same roomy Next handbag
I would use all week. Today’s footwear
was my pair of black leather and suede Hotter ‘Cannes’ style boots. They
are very comfortable, with a wedge heel.
To brighten up my outfit, the tights I chose today were pinky/purple
in colour. However, I had to make a
last minute change because I caught my heel on an ‘invisible’ tack on the stairs and laddered the heel. It’s not the first time this has happened
but I can’t find the tack! Fortunately
I had an identical pair, so I wore those instead. In hindsight it wouldn’t have mattered
because my heels would not have been on show ... but I would know! Having got into the swing of
rising early during Cheltenham week, I left home today at 06:08, my earliest
yet. Again I drove through St Albans
city centre before continuing on to Hemel Hempstead and joining the A41
bypass via Two Waters Way. Upon
reaching Aylesbury I decided to travel via the southern ring-road today; this
is because there was a very slow-moving vehicle ahead of me and the driver
thereof decided to take the northern ring-road. Close to the town centre I had to negotiate
a dust cart blocking my lane but, apart from that, I reached the far side of
Aylesbury without problem. The southern ring-road passes
the Waterside Theatre where I went to see Annie Get Your Gun last summer, and
the main Aylesbury railway station. On
the western outskirts of Aylesbury there is a second railway station; that
one serves a new housing estate which is being developed nearby. My route took me close to this station too;
I took the opportunity to overtake a heavy goods vehicle by using the middle
lane at the traffic lights on the A41.
I arrived at Bicester at 07:10
but, despite being earlier today, traffic appeared to be heavier on the
stretch of A41 dual carriageway leading down to Junction 9 of the M40. This being the case, I decided to follow
the locals and drive through the village of Wendlebury. There are traffic calming humps at the
beginning and end of the residential area, and the lane follows a number of
right-angled turns, there’s a bridge over the M40 too; the vehicles ahead
soon put distance between themselves and me.
Not surprising really, as they know the route far better than I
do. Eventually I reached a
T-junction; I waited for a number of vehicles to pass before turning right and
joining the A34 southbound carriageway.
It was no surprise that traffic was queued around the Peartree
Interchange as it had been on the previous two days also. Eventually I eased my way out and joined
the queue to travel down the final section of the A44 to reach the Wolvercote
roundabout. At this point I turned
right and headed out of Oxford. It was
07:45. My journey took me past Burford
just after 08:00. There were no problems during my
journey along the A40 and, when I arrived at Cheltenham’s Sixways junction,
it took just two traffic-light changes before I was able to turn right and
drive up Greenway Lane. As is always
the case these days, I descended Harp Hill and turned right at the bottom,
into Priors Lane. A further right turn
took me into Bouncers Lane, at the end of which I negotiated two
mini-roundabouts in order to enter Tatchley Lane. This thoroughfare soon becomes New Barns
Lane; at the far end of which is a roundabout outside the main entrance to
the racecourse. I drove across into Swindon Lane
and entered the bottom field. Today,
as I was earlier than on the two previous days, and Thursday is one of the
two relatively quiet Festival days, there were a few spaces available close
to the top of the slope. I was
directed to park therein. Excellent, I
had finally made it into the bottom field!
It was 08:38. I ate two cheese rolls, and
inserted my contact lenses before I put on my coat and boots and set off to
the turnstiles. Whilst I was sitting
in the car, an car alarm sounded a couple of times at the bottom of the
field. The gates opened early today,
at 10:20. Having purchased a
race-card, I set off down the concourse to visit the ladies’ loos. Having got under control the amount of
liquid I took on board early morning, I wasn’t desperate to spend a penny
today! I then walked across to the
steppings above the Winners’ Enclosure. Being World Hurdle Day,
highlights of previous races were being played on the large screen to the
farside of the Parade Ring. One of the
races was the 2006 renewal; My Way De Solzen the victor, ridden by Choc. Again, to get warm, I decided to undertake
another visit to the Tented Shopping Village.
As mentioned yesterday, the wares on display were aimed at the country
set. I don’t do and could never do
tweed. But I did see a lovely print of
a painting which I’d love to own; the original was there too, but far far too
expensive ... unless I won the lottery.
Today’s pre-race guests,
interviewed by Martin Kelly, included Paul Nicholls, David Williams of
Ladbrokes, and Simon Clare of Coral.
The latter was taking part in the St Patrick’s Derby charity race at
the end of the card. Simon is the PR
Director of Corals, 44 years old and had learnt to ride in September
2014. He’d also lost a lot of weight,
reducing from 12 stone 12 lbs to 11 stone 3 lbs. It would be impossible for me to ride in a
horse-race as I weigh far too much these days, with no hope of losing any I
fear. As
you know, I (almost) never bet apart from the National Lottery and
occasionally on the Grand National, but I decided to take on the challenge of
selecting a horse to finish in the first four (in other words, each-way) of
23-runner Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Final. After all, there’s no fun if there’s no
challenge. So The Tourard
Man became my one and only bet of the 2015 Festival; his price 20-1. I
knew that Alan King was keen for the horse to get into the race (ie. not balloted out), believing him to have a good
chance; I’ve also seen the horse run well a number of times in qualifiers on
TV. And I recall Alan saying earlier
in the season that they needed to run The Tourard
Man regularly because he becomes dangerous when too fresh! I popped across to the Tote
betting office situated to the rear of the concourse above the Winners’
Enclosure; it being the nearest because I had been loitering on the steppings
above it. The middle-aged lady who
took my bet wished me luck; I had told her I rarely bet. I headed down to the course-side
rails in plenty of time in order to reserve my usual position close to the
half furlong mark. All of today’s
races, and tomorrow’s too, were run on the New Course. Here are details of today’s
non-runners: Race Horse and Trainer - Penalty - Reason 1:30 THE TULLOW TANK (IRE), trained by Ms Sandra Hughes
(Ireland). Waived Vets Cert (Infection) 2:05 CLOSING CEREMONY (IRE), trained by Emma Lavelle. Waived
Going (changed since declaration) 3:20 DEDIGOUT (IRE), trained by A. J. Martin (Ireland). Waived
Vets Cert (Coughing) 4:00 BOBCATBILLY (IRE), trained by Ian Williams. Waived Self
Cert (Not Sound) The favourite for the first race
was Vautour, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh; price 6-4. Having left the horse-walk, the
horses cantered across the racecourse before entering the all-weather strip
which runs around the top bend in order to reach the two and a half mile
starting gate within the mid-course chute.
The jockeys took their mounts to look at the first fence within the
chute, then bypassed it to circle around on the course ahead of the race;
they jumped just two of the three fences therein.
And
then they were off. The runners were led
away by Irish Saint with Vautour upsides; Colour
Squadron was at the rear of the field; Ptit Zig jumped out slightly to his right as they cleared the
first fence. They headed over the Old
Course to approach fence number two; at the back of the field Apache
Stronghold reached for the fence but cleared it without problem. The
runners now headed across the intersection with the New Course and downhill
to the far corner; Vautour was the clear leader,
from Irish Saint, Valseur Lido, Ptit
Zig, Splash Of Ginge,
Tango De Juilley, Apache Stronghold and Colour
Squadron. Ears pricked and with an
upright head carriage, Ruby’s mount was bounding along at the front of the
field. The runners jumped fence number
three without incident and headed to obstacle four; Vautour
put a short stride in on take-off just to put himself right. The
field joined the New Course immediately having jumped this fence and
continued their journey up the home straight.
Vautour put in a big leap at the next, and
at the next one also. The leader was a
couple of lengths ahead of Irish Saint as they turned away from the main
grandstands and headed up the hill in front of the Best Mate Enclosure. Having
entered the back straight, Irish Saint drew alongside the leader as they
headed to and cleared the next fence.
The following obstacle is the water-jump, which they all jumped in
their stride. Valseur
Lido reached for the open-ditch but landed without problem. The leading duo continued to race
side-by-side as they cleared fence number ten; Apache Stronghold was
currently at the back of the field. They
negotiated the dog-leg turn before approaching the final open-ditch. Vautour
out-jumped Irish Saint at this one; further back in the field Splash Of Ginge was a little slow here and subsequently ridden away
from the fence. Again the Nigel Twiston-Davies runner was less convincing than his rivals
at the plain fence before the far turn and he received a reminder for this
troubles; Ryan Hatch’s mount was now one from the back of the field. Apache
Stronghold had made noticeable progress on the outside of the field by the
time they reached the difficult fence at the top of the hill. Ptit Zig put in a short stride here and hit the top of the
fence; he nodded on landing but survived.
There were further reminders for Splash Of Ginge
as they headed down the hill. Vautour led over three
out, from Apache Stronghold, Irish Saint and Valseur
Lido; at the rear of the field, Colour Squadron made an error here. Ruby headed towards the final turn; his
mount the only horse which was still travelling well within himself. Another flying leap at the second last by
the leader put even more pressure upon his rivals as he continued to move
away from them. Apache Stronghold, Valseur Lido, Irish Saint and Ptit
Zig joined battle to fight it out for the minor
honours, with just the final fence between Vautour
and certain victory. Yet
another almighty leap at the last and Ruby’s mount was heading up the run-in
to record a victory of 15 lengths over his nearest rival; the jockey standing
in his irons to salute the crowd at he crossed the line. The two other Irish representatives had
beaten off the GB challenge and were neck and neck as they approached the
winning post; the verdict went to Apache Stronghold by a short-head over Valseur Lido.
Three lengths back Irish Saint claimed 4th by a neck from Ptit Zig. The remaining three cantered over the line
a distance behind. Ruby
was thrilled with the horse, slapping him with joy. Horse whisperer Gary Witheford
says don’t slap or pat horses, you should stroke them! When interviewed after the race, Ruby was
on cloud nine.
I
remained beside the course-side rails following the race. Race 1 - 1:30pm. THE JLT NOVICES' STEEPLE CHASE (CLASS 1) (Registered as The Golden
Miller Novices' Chase) (Grade 1) The
Stewards held an enquiry into the use of the whip by Paul Carberry,
the rider of APACHE STRONGHOLD
(IRE), placed second, from approaching the second last fence. Having heard
his evidence and viewed recordings of the race, they found him in breach of
Schedule (B)6 Part 2 in that he had used his whip above the permitted level.
The Stewards suspended Carberry for 2 days as
follows: Thursday 26 and Friday 27 March 2015. The
favourite for the next event was Regal Encore, trained by Anthony Honeyball, ridden by AP McCoy and owned by JP
McManus. As eluded earlier, Alan King
had a runner in this race, The Tourard Man. The
starting gate for this 3-mile event was at the beginning of the back straight,
with two circuits to travel. This
being the case, the runners cantered across the racecourse having exited from
the horse-walk and headed up the all-weather track in front of the Best Mate
Enclosure. Having
had their girths checked, the runners congregated into a group, heading back
down towards the home straight in order to turn and make an orderly approach
to the starting gate.
Bygones
Sovereign had remained separated from the others, and been held close to the
starting gate. As the other 22 runners
approached, he was released and joined them on the outside the field; then,
as they set off, his claiming jockey Michael Heard urged him forward to
overtake those ahead of him in order to lead them into the first flight,
which he did. In fact he was around four
lengths clear from Trustan Times, Junction Fourteen
and Brother Brian as they cleared it. Call
The Cops hit the flight and maybe The Tourard Man
too; as a result, a panel was flattened by the time second favourite Edeymi arrived at the obstacle and he seemed to be a little
surprised by this and landed slightly awkwardly. Bygones Sovereign continued to take them
along at a good pace, remaining a few lengths clear of his rivals. In next to no time the runners had cleared
the following two flights and arrived at the dog-leg turn. At the rear of the field was Peckhamecho. The
runners jumped another hurdle before reaching the far corner and heading down
the hill. Trustan
Times and Junction Fourteen continued to dispute second place, from Brother
Brian and Call The Cops, behind these Unique De Cotte;
the latter being one of the three JP McManus runners in the race. The Tourard Man
followed closely behind these. Towards
the rear of the field were On The Bridge, Katkeau, Dawalan, Edeymi, Henryville, Dolatulo, Run Ructions Run and Peckhamecho. Having
reached the bottom of the hill, the field jumped hurdle number five; Trustan Times was a little awkward here, landing on all
fours over it. Regal Encore was still
noticeably keen to the rear of mid-field as they travelled towards the
sweeping bend into the home straight.
By this point, Bygones Sovereign’s lead had been reduced to less than
two lengths. The runners continued up
the home straight, cleared the one flight therein before heading away from
the grandstands and up the hill. Heading
up in front of the Best Mate Enclosure, Brother Brian was now travelling at
the leader’s quarters, Junction Fourteen and Trustan
Times continued to dispute third position.
The field was now travelling in one large group as they entered the
back straight once more. They
continued over flights seven, eight and nine without suffering
casualties. Whilst
doing so, Bygones Sovereign continued to lead, from Brother Brian, Trustan Times, Junction Fourteen, Call The Cops, Unique
De Cotte, Big Easy, The Tourard
Man, Join The Clan, Pineau De Re, Knight Of Noir,
Regal Encore, Spirit of Shankly, Aqalim, Sybarite, Dawalan,
Henryville, Katkeau, Edeymi,
Dolatulo, Run Ructions Run, On The Bridge and Peckhamecho. As
they approached the dog-leg turn, Richard Johnson encouraged his mount along
for a few strides to ensure he got a good position when the inside rail
commenced once again. The
runners cleared one more flight before heading around the far turn; the first
runner to drop off the back of the pack and lose touch was On The
Bridge. As they turned the bend,
Bygones Sovereign finally lost his place at the head of affairs as Brother
Brian took over the lead. In third position
Trustan Times received reminders, with Call The
Cops travelling well in fourth, behind these were The Tourard
Man, Unique De Cotte, Join The Clan and the
weakening Junction Fourteen. They
cleared two out, now with many rivals lining up to challenge Brother Brian as
they headed to the home turn; notably all three McManus runners were
travelling just to the outside of Call The Cops and Trustan
Times. Initially The Tourard Man and the improving Henryville appeared to be
stuck in a pocket behind them as they entered the home straight. However a gap appeared between Join The
Clan and Regal Encore, allowing Henryville to make his move; in contrast, The
Tourard Man continued to be blocked in behind
Brother Brian, Call The Cops and Unique De Cotte. Finally
Brother Brian began to fade, but not before he’d wandered across to close a
possible gap between himself and the David Pipe runner. Heading to the final flight and disputing
the lead were, far side Call The Cops, nearside Henryville and centre Unique
De Cotte; the latter landed marginally ahead as the
jockeys began their drive towards the line.
However, Call The Cops proved to be the stronger and went on to win by
1¾ lengths. Unique De Cotte finished 2nd, with the staying on The Tourard Man just getting the better of Henryville by a
neck to claim 3rd. Yippee,
my bet had come in, each way.
It was Andrew Tinkler’s
second Festival success, his first being Greenhope
in the Grand Annual in 2006.
There was a sole Irish raider, Edeymi, trained by Tony Martin and he finished 18th. Anyway
The Tourard Man had finished 3rd so, for an
each-way outlay of £10, I received back £28.50! Although if he’d won, I’d have got a whole
lot more. Race 2 - 2:05pm. THE PERTEMPS NETWORK
FINAL (A HANDICAP HURDLE RACE) (CLASS 1) (Listed Race) No Stewards Enquiry. I remained beside the course-side
rails ahead of the next race. The favourite for this race was the Gordon
Elliott-trained Don Cossack, ridden by Bryan Cooper. Alan King had two representatives in this
event, Balder Succes ridden by Wayne Hutchinson, a
7-1 chance and Uxizandre ridden by AP McCoy priced
16-1. The latter was wearing a visor
for the first time today. Having left the horse-walk, the horses cantered across the racecourse before entering the all-weather strip which runs around the top bend in order to reach the two and a half mile starting gate within the mid-course chute. As this race began at the beginning of the chute, the jockeys took their horses to look at the demonstration fence on the in-field and, having had their girths checked, they circled around the Cross-Country birch island fence.
Then
they were off, first time. To the
inside of the track Uxizandre led them away; he
needs to lead, otherwise he sulks.
Centre was Hidden Cyclone, just marginally behind, with Double Ross
upsides to the outside. One of the two
greys, Ballycasey ridden by Ruby Walsh, was held up
in rear. There were no errors at the
first fence. However,
at the second, Balder Succes blundered badly;
jockey Wayne Hutchison going to the buckle-end of his reins as a result and
losing his position too. I wonder if
the horse lost his concentration because Eduard jumped across to his left
just in front of him. Uxizandre led the field across the Old Course, before
they cleared fence number three; Hidden Cyclone was a little awkward here and
gave Double Ross to his outside a bump too.
Balder Succes and Ballycasey
travelled at the rear of the field. The
runners traversed the New Course and headed down the hill to the far
corner. AP’s mount continued to lead,
from Hidden Cyclone, Double Ross, Don Cossack, Eduard, Ma Filleule,
Foxrock, Third Intention, Wonderful Charm, Taquin Du Seuil, Johns Spirit
and Wishfull Thinking, with Ballycasey
and Balder Succes disputing last place. The
horses entered the home straight and soon approached fence number four; Taquin Du Seuil wasn’t fluent
here. The runners continued to fence number
five, the leader three lengths in advance of his rivals; there were no
problems at this fence and, having landed over it, they joined the New Course
before heading up towards fence number six.
Hidden
Cyclone who had gained on Uxizandre on the run to
this fence, made an error here and lost ground; now he was disputing second
place with Don Cossack to his inside and Double Ross to his outside. By the time they’d jumped the obstacle in
front of the grandstands, Third Intention had dropped almost to the back of
the field, just Ballycasey behind him. Uxizandre continued clear
of his rivals as they climbed the hill and entered the back straight for the
one and only time. Hidden Cyclone had
regained the clear second spot, followed by Don Cossack, Double Ross and
Eduard. The leader flew the next
fence; back in the field Foxrock was less than
fluent. Hidden Cyclone was a little
bit awkward at the water-jump; back in the field Foxrock
was now beginning to struggle. The
following fence was the first of the open-ditches; Taquin
Du Seuil made an error here. The admirable mare Ma Filleule
was now disputing second place with Hidden Cyclone, Don Cossack, Double Ross
and Eduard. The leader got a little
close to the next, a plain fence; at the back of the field Ballycasey put in a short stride and hit it, but
survived. Having
negotiated the dog-leg turn, Uxizandre flew over
the second-open ditch, whereas Don Cossack pecked on landing over it and
dropped back to fifth place. The
runners continued to the top of the hill, the leader put in some nifty
footwork to meet the next in his stride.
Having made an error early in the race, Balder Succes
was now being ridden along near the rear and Double Ross had dropped back
noticeably through the field. The
runners headed around the far bend to approach the tricky fourth-last
fence. Johns Spirit hit the fence and,
back in the field, Taquin Du Seuil
blundered yet again and momentarily lost his hind-legs upon landing. Wishfull Thinking
was pulled up before the fence. And
still the Alan King second-string continued to lead as they headed down the
hill to the third last fence. He was
pursued by Ma Filleule, Hidden Cyclone, Eduard and
Don Cossack; Johns Spirit was a few lengths off these, with the remainder all
struggling. Uxizandre has to race on
left-handed courses, because he has a tendency to jump out to his left. On this occasion, he got a little close to
the wing of the third last and dislodged it; it did not stop his momentum
however. Ballycasey
was pulled up before this fence. The
runners were soon heading into the home straight, with the grey mare just
over a length behind him and Hidden Cyclone travelling at her girth. Also in the leading group were Johns
Spirit, Eduard and the ridden along Don Cossack. Uxizandre cleared the
penultimate fence well, as did Ma Filleule, but
there was some serious scrimmaging behind them as Johns Spirit edged to his
right and Hidden Cyclone edged to his left; this resulted in Don Cossack
being hampered as a result and he made a serious error. Hidden Cyclone then began to fade, which
left Eduard to join battle with Richie McLernon’s
mount for third position. Ma
Filleule came under pressure as they headed to the
last fence; and she still needed to make up the two length deficit with the
leader. Having cleared the final fence
it became clear that Uxizandre still had fuel in
the tank as he stayed on well to the line to win by 5 lengths. Despite things going against him early in
the home straight, Don Cossack rallied on the flat to claim third 3¼ lengths
back, with Eduard in 4th having made an error at the last, Johns Spirit 5th
and Hidden Cyclone 6th. Balder Succes plugged on to take 7th. Having
pulled up at the top of the run-in, all of his colleagues congratulated the
Champ on his excellent win. Daryl
Jacob, who had been riding Third Intention, also patted Uxizandre
and pulled the horse’s ear too. The
photographers congratulated him as they took their shots; AP was then
interviewed by Rishi Persad
of Channel 4 Racing.
With
AP having ridden his 31st Cheltenham Festival winner, at his final one before
his season-end retirement, and for Alan King too, I had to return to the steppings above the Winners’ Enclosure to see him arrive
back. Thursday being one of the two ‘quiet’ Festival days, it didn’t prove
difficult to get there before he’d arrived back; besides, I’d set off to make
the trek as soon as he’d crossed the line!
Due to weight of numbers, sometimes it’s a choice between horse-walk
celebrations and Winners’ Enclosure celebrations; you cannot do both. AP
was welcomed back to the sound of loud applause as he made his way across the
Parade Ring to enter the Winners’ Enclosure.
There were three cheers for AP too.
When
interviewed by Stewart Machin of RUK, AP said the
horse had run away with him for the first mile and a quarter/mile and a half
and he’d been worried that he’d not have the stamina to see out the
distance. He said Uxizandre
jumped fantastic and was always going forward, which resulted in his rivals
getting into trouble because they couldn’t keep up with him. Race 3 - 2:40pm. THE RYANAIR STEEPLE
CHASE (CLASS 1) (Registered as The Festival Trophy Steeple Chase) (Grade 1) The Stewards held an enquiry into possible interference both
approaching and at the second last fence. Having heard their evidence and
viewed recordings of the race they found that JOHNS SPIRIT (IRE), placed
fifth, ridden by Richie McLernon, had interfered
with DON COSSACK (GER), placed third, ridden by Bryan Cooper, who in turn
interfered with HIDDEN CYCLONE (IRE), placed sixth, ridden by Andrew J.
McNamara. The Stewards found McLernon in breach of
Rule (B)54.1 and guilty of careless riding in that he manoeuvred right handed
when insufficiently clear of DON COSSACK (GER) causing that runner to be
severely checked shortly before take off, which in
turn resulted in HIDDEN CYCLONE (IRE) becoming unbalanced when contacted on
the hind quarters. They suspended him for 4 days as follows: Thursday 26,
Friday 27, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March 2015. Wayne Hutchinson, the rider of BALDER SUCCES (FR), unplaced,
reported that the gelding hit the second fence and was never travelling
thereafter. That’s it for the first half of my Day 3 diary
... Click here to read Day 3 Diary Part II |
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