PART I
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2016
DAY FOUR - FEATURING THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP
FRIDAY 18 MARCH 2016
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A first Cheltenham Festival winner for trainer Harry Fry; the victor in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle is Unowhatimeanharry ridden by Noel Fehily This should have been the final
one of 4 days at the Festival for me but, with the exhaustion issues
experienced this year, it was in fact the final one of 3 days; I had spent
Thursday at home in an effort to recharge my batteries. I felt like an old phone battery which will
charge up to 100% but then quickly drain to zero through overuse! I’d reset my alarm clock for an
early start; once again I’d slightly miscalculated and the alarm sounded just
before 04:00! Never mind, better too
early than too late – the latter is the stuff of many nightmares. I was lucky with the clock battery too,
although I did test it at the time, for it had to be replaced the following
week. Anyway, once awake, I had a
shower, washed and dried my hair, applied my makeup and ate a breakfast of
two Weetabix, with blueberries, raisins and banana. Bearing in mind I was feeling
very patriotic as always, and probably even more so bearing in mind the
Ireland were leading GB 11-10 as regards the BetBright Cup after Day 3, I
endeavoured to chose a suitably coloured wardrobe today. Not that I’d ever wear green to the races,
knowingly, as I consider it to be unlucky.
Besides, although I love greens at the ‘blue’ end of its spectrum, such as viridian, I really don’t like
yellow-greens. So, I wore a plum-coloured
thermal t-shirt; grey t-shirt with brushed interior; cherry red ‘heatgen’ polo-neck top; the ‘old-stager’ which is my ribbed, cerise
coloured frill-edged cardigan (the label states magenta); cobalt blue fleece
and black fleece gillet; brown tights and burgundy jeggings; grey tweed
double-frill hem skirt (my new racing wardrobe mainstay); dark teal
anorak-style coat; grey/turquoise woollen hat, knitted the previous day;
cream-coloured loopy scarf – I couldn’t find the red one, as I didn’t dig
deep enough into one of my many bags of hand-knitted scarves; long, striped,
M & S wristwarmers; black Hotter ‘Cannes’
boots; black/grey M & S handbag; and, last but not least, a pair of
UniqueDichoric earrings – the black/silver/blue/purple ones. I was ready to depart at
06:20. Usually I’d be paranoid about
missing an early departure time on Gold Cup Day, but Wednesday had taught me
that I could still get to Cheltenham in reasonable time, provided I didn’t
mind waiting in a number of rush-hour traffic jams! Besides, last year, I’d actually arrived
too early on the final day; and I’d also now become resigned to the fact that
my favourite car park, the lower field off Swindon Lane, was now staff only, sadly. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr In fact I’d decided to park in
the north car park again today, because it really didn’t matter what time I
departed from Cheltenham or arrived home on the final day; besides, since
Choc’s retirement, I also didn’t need to turn up at Kempton Park the
following day either! Having arrived home too late on
Wednesday evening to fill my car’s petrol tank and also having missed the
opportunity on Thursday too, because I was too tired, although I did walk
down to the supermarket at 08:00 instead, I had to pay a visit to the
forecourt before I begin my journey to Cheltenham. I was also hopeful that my
headlights would be okay today, because the previous day I’d checked the
manual and discovered that there is a ‘level
of dip’ dial; 0 for minimum when a light load, and 4 for maximum when a
heavy load. I checked and discovered
that the dial was set to 4 ... that meant they were dipped to maximum when I
was the sole person in the vehicle, with no luggage. No wonder I couldn’t see the road
properly! I had now reset them to
zero. It was strange really, as the
lights had been okay on the previous occasions I’d driven during hours of
darkness – Christmas Day to visit my younger brother in Bedfordshire, to
Kempton Park on Boxing Day and the following day too. I’d also worn my night vision glasses on
those occasions, and the vision through those was good too – unlike earlier
this week! So the question is – did I
change the dial accidently, without knowing what it was? Or did the servicer do it during the car
service? Who knows. All I know is that it had caused me an
absolute nightmare of stress, during my drive home on Tuesday, and it was not
much better on Wednesday evening either. Having filled up the tank, my
journey then took me through the City centre before I then headed to Hemel
Hempstead. As always I negotiated the
‘Magic Roundabout’ before heading
along Two Waters Way to get to the A41 bypass; I’d reached the eastern side
of Aylesbury by 07:00. With no delays
today, I soon headed around their
ring-road (designated the A4157) to get to the western side of the town, in
order to re-join the A41. Two cars
were pulled to the side of the road by the Rabans Lane turning, their drivers
having a discussion nearby; they’d had a prang. I continued on the A41, heading
for Oxfordshire. The driver of a Range
Rover cut me up at one of the sets of traffic lights on the stretch of road
outside the new housing estate; a typical bully in a big car, they think they
own the roads and have absolutely no manners whatsoever. It wasn’t my fault he’d selected the
slowest moving queue, but he was determined to overtake and gain the
advantage over a mere Fiesta; mine.
But the drivers which really hack me off are those which pull out from
sideroads, forcing me to brake, when there’s an absolutely clear road
immediately behind me; all I can think is that they cannot see any further
than the end of their own stupid noses!
I’d reached Bicester by 07:32
and, for the third time this week, there was barely a queue at the traffic
lights above junction 9 of the M40.
Friday mornings are often the quietest weekday for road traffic and
this was no exception, for me. There
were no delays on the A34 and, when I headed down the slip-road at the
Peartree Interchange, traffic was moving around the roundabout freely. I drove down the A44 dual
carriageway, towards the Wolvercote roundabout, the queue was tailing back to
just past the traffic lights denoting the first sideroad. The roadworks at the Wolvercote junction
had no effect on vehicles travelling west, apart from reducing the speed
limit to 30mph for a short distance.
The journey across the Cotswolds went smoothly. It had been drizzling rather
than raining, with windscreen wipers set on intermittent mode, since I’d left
home. However, upon entering the
stretch of the A40 between the end of the dual carriageway and Burford, which
heads along a ridge, this became fog.
But it wasn’t a problem; although, in hindsight, I wonder if my
headlights remained on as, because it was now daylight and they were still
set to ‘auto’, they’d probably
turned themselves off. Whoops! I just can’t win ... Regardless, I reached Cheltenham
without a problem. As always, having
reached the Sixways junction, I headed up Greenway Lane, down Harp Hill,
turned right into Priors Road, and right into Bouncers Lane. Having decided upon the north car park
today, at the far end I turned right in order to drive through Deep Street
and High Street and continued along the B4632 to reach Southam. I then turned left, to enter Old Road;
shortly afterwards I turned left again into Southam Lane and meandered along
to the entrance of the north car park.
The driveway is a long one but,
eventually, I reached the gateway donating the entrance to the public car
park. It was possible to pay for
parking on the day, but cost less if paid for in advance, which I did. I showed my parking docket to the lady
steward and she directed me to head up the hill to find another steward who
directed me to a parking space over to my left. Despite the car park being in the shadow of
Cleeve Hill, I couldn’t see it due to the fog!!! It was 09:10. Anyway, I ate two cheese rolls
before I put on my coat and boots ready to walk to the North Entrance; it was
09:30. I also took my new hat with me,
along with my waterproof one, in a gym bag.
I heard shouting as I was locking my car; a couple of guys were f’ing
and blinding a short distance away. I
presume they were both ticket touts, perhaps arguing about territory. As I’d decided to head to the turnstiles at
an early time today, I was near the front of the queue. Whilst I was waiting, I saw
Choc, Hector and their entourage heading past the turnstiles, already inside
the main enclosure. I also noticed AP
McCoy holding a conversation with someone manning the Owners & Trainers
desk. Lady jockey Lizzie Kelly exited
the racecourse entrance in order to make a phonecall, it being a restricted
area inside. I noticed a number of people
had already purchased their racecards – but I didn’t notice anyone selling
them at the entrance today! The doors were opened at 10:30
as scheduled, my bag was searched by one of the security men manning the
entrance. He joked that I needed a
large bag in which to carry all my winnings!
Once inside I purchased a racecard for £4 from the kiosk closeby,
before heading to the ladies loo. I
then returned to the steppings above the Winners’ Enclosure; I soon spotted
Choc and Hector loitering on the terrace outside the Weighing Room. Alan King also stopped to pass the time of
day with Choc and Hector. As I was making notes in my
notebook, I was accosted by a representative from the Gloucestershire Echo;
the young journalist interviewed me briefly and took a photograph of me
too. However, I then discovered Choc
had disappeared whilst I wasn’t looking!
The mist had begun to clear, and by 11:20 I noticed Cleeve Hill was
now visible. As I’d never previously ventured
onto the newly constructed terrace above the Winners’ Enclosure, I thought
I’d do a quick tour. I climbed the
steps close to the trophy room, before taking a number of photographs from
the vantage point, and returning via the steps which lead down to the main
concourse. I
also went for a walk around the Shopping Village, before returning via the
main concourse; I coincidently followed Alan King and his wife and daughter
up the hill, and passed by trainer Charlie Mann; the latter had one of his
arms in a sling! Shortly
afterwards, having returned to the steppings above
the Winners’ Enclosure, I met up with
fellow Choc fan Sally Meek for a chat; it’s always good to see someone I
know, especially when we can talk about Choc to our hearts’ content. She was accompanied by her husband again
this year. We said our farewells prior
to the start of racing, saying that we’d probably meet up again when the BetBright Cup was presented at some point during the
afternoon. Choc
did reappear in vision some time later on, only to check out again as he
headed in the direction of the Guinness Village, accompanied by a male
companion (not Hector). Martin Kelly’s guests today were
Ted Walsh, father of Ruby, and Andy Stewart; the latter spoke about his involvement
with the Victoria Pendleton Foxhunter challenge; he owns the horse she rode,
Pacha Du Polder. I headed down to the course-side
rails well ahead of racing, in order to reserve by usual position close to
the half furlong post. There was a cold
breeze again today, so I had to put my new hat on shortly afterwards! For the record, the route between the two
grandstands, which leads to the Club Lawn area, remains a wind-tunnel! The favourite for the first race was the Aidan
O’Brien-trained Ivanovich Gorbatov,
owned by JP McManus and ridden by Barry Geraghty;
price 9-2. Alan King had three runners
in this race, namely Gibralfaro ridden by Wayne
Hutchinson and sporting the McNeill Family silks, Sceau
Royal ridden by Daryl Jacob sporting the first string Munir/Souede silks and Who Dares Wins ridden by Richard Johnson
sporting the Henry Ponsonby silks. Paul Nicholls had five representatives – firstly
Clan Des Obeaux ridden by Noel Fehily,
in the two shades of green with white of part owner Paul Barber, the silks
made famous by Denman (the horse was also part-owned by Potensis
– ie. Jared Sullivan). Secondly, Connetable
sporting the pink and purple colours of part-owner Chris Giles and ridden by
Sam Twiston-Davies.
Thirdly, Frodon also part owned by Potensis and presumably sporting the blue and orange
silks of the other part-owner.
Fourthly, Tommy Silver, again part-owned by Potensis
and this time sporting Jared Sullivan’s red and pink colours; ridden by
Jonathan Burke. Finally, Zubayr, sporting the blue and white silks of a Mr PJ Vogt
and ridden by Nick Scholfield … the
Authorized-sired horse had been purchased for an astonishing 380,000 euros last summer, but had won Kempton’s Grade 2 Adonis
Hurdle on his one and only appearance since. JP McManus had a mere two representatives, the
aforementioned Montjeu-sired Ivanovich
Gorbatov sporting the first-string silks, and
Consul De Thaix trained by Nicky Henderson and
ridden by Mark Walsh. There was one
representative for Gigginstown, the filly Apple’s
Jade. One for the Ricci’s, the filly
Let’s Dance. And two for Simon Munir/Isaac Souede, the aforementioned Sceau
Royal and also the Willie Mullins-trained Footpad. There was also Leoncavallo for Bloomfields. That
left just Big McIntosh for trainer John Ryan.
A total of 15 runners. In other words it wasn’t a race for ordinary
owners; it was a race for multi-millionaires with money to burn! At this point I need to put my New Course hat on
as, having missed Day 3 due to exhaustion, this is the first race that I will
describe which is run of the New Course.
Ahead of the race, Choc and Alan
King’s Assistant Trainer, Ollie Wardle, went to join a group of people who
were standing upon the home straight, and Sally saw him at close quarters as
he did so; their route had taken them down the horsewalk. Being
run over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong, the horses cantered up the
all-weather horse-walk in front of the grandstand before heading back down
the turf and re-entering the all-weather strip to continue their journey to
the starting gate at the far end of the home straight.
And they were off, to the roar of the Gold Cup
Day crowd. The field was led away by
Big Mcintosh ridden by Mattie Batchelor,
closely followed by Let’s Dance and Who Dares Wins; at the rear of the field
was Footpad (not easy to identify as Ruby was wearing the wrong coloured
second-string Munir/Souede
cap – it was red!). Having cleared the first flight, the leader soon
went a number of lengths clear of his rivals and remained so as they headed
up the home straight towards the next.
He was pursued by Who Dares Wins, and the filly Let’s Dance. Behind these travelled Clan Des Obeaux, alongside the Gigginstown’s
filly Apple’s Jade. These were
followed by Sceau Royal, Ivanovich
Gorbatov, Frodon, Zubayr, and Gibralfaro to the
stand-side. In line behind these five,
were Consul De Thaix, Leoncavallo, Connetable and Tommy Silver; still bringing up the rear
was Footpad three or four lengths adrift of his rivals. There were no noticeable errors as the runners
cleared the second obstacle before bearing left and heading up the hill in
front of the Best Mate Enclosure. Turning
into the back straight, Let’s Dance was disputing second position with Who
Dares Wins and Clan Des Obeaux. All fifteen competitors jumped the next
flight in their stride before heading along to flight number four; Apple’s
Jade had now joined Let’s Dance and Clan Des Obeaux
to dispute second place, with Who Dares Wins having dropped back behind
these. In contrast, Gibralfaro was now taking closer order on the outside of
the field. The runners continued to flight number five
where, again, there were no issues in the jumping department, although two
from rear Consul De Thaix was niggled along having
jumped it. However, by the time they’d
negotiated the dog-leg turn, it became apparent that a couple of the other
runners were not travelling as well as their jockeys would have liked; namely
Connetable and Tommy Silver to the rear of the main
group. Footpad was still in rear,
although travelling okay; I think he may be an awkward customer, as he was
the only hooded runner in the field! Heading to the top of the hill, the leader had
been reeled in by the time they jumped three out; his advantage now just half
a length over Apple’s Jade. Connetable was the smoothest as they cleared it. The still tightly packed field had soon
reached the far corner of the track, with Apple’s Jade now alongside Big
McIntosh, followed by Who Dares Wins, Let’s Dance and Gibralfaro
disputing third position. Behind these
was Clan Des Obeaux in sixth, followed by Sceau Royal with Ivanovich Gorbatov and Frodon; Zubayr was behind these, from Leoncavallo, Connetable, Consul De Thaix,
Tommy Silver and Footpad. Big McIntosh was soon swallowed up by his rivals
as they galloped down the hill towards the penultimate flight led by Apple’s
Jade, with Gibralfaro and Let’s Dance her nearest pursuers;
Gibralfaro made a mistake at this flight. Meanwhile, as they headed towards the home
bend, Apple’s Jade continued to lead, from Let’s Dance to the inside and Gibralfaro to the outer, Clan Des Obeaux,
Who Dares Wins with little room against the inside rails, Ivanovich
Gorbatov, Frodon, Zubayr, Sceau Royal, Consul De Thaix, Leoncavallo, Connetable,
Tommy Silver and Footpad. Big McIntosh
had now tired and was a number of lengths in rear. It became a cavalry charge as the runners entered
the home straight, with Apple’s Jade continuing to lead. Ivanovich Gorbatov had now mastered Let’s Dance, and Ruby in his
inimitable style had begun to scythe his way through runners to the far side
and was gaining on the leaders. As
they approached the final hurdle, it became a battle between Gigginstown and JP McManus, as the Aidan O’Brien runner
gradually gained upon the game filly. The leaders both jumped it well and in unison,
but Ivanovich Gorbatov
was too strong and he pulled away to win by 1¼ lengths at the line. Footpad completed in 3rd, 6 lengths away;
having to make up the distance from last place had proved an impossible
task. Seven lengths further back,
Let’s Dance just held onto 4th by a neck from Leoncavallo. The Paul Nicholls ‘massive’ claimed 6th, 7th and 8th, with Clan Des Obeaux, Tommy Silver and Frodon. Gibralfaro was
the best of the Alan King-trained runners in 9th. It was a record-breaking 5th winner in this race
for jockey Barry Geraghty. However Apple’s Jade would soon gain revenge over
her conqueror when winning the Grade 1 Anniversary 4-year-old Hurdle at
Aintree … and also a win over both Let’s Dance and Ivanovich
Gorbatov at Punchestown
when she triumphed in the Grade 1 Champion 4-year-old Hurdle too! She is very very
good, despite the fillies and mares weight allowance. There were four Irish-based runners in the race
and they had finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
So, with the home team thinking they’d got some pretty useful
juveniles this year, it had just been proven that they were below par when
compared to the Irish horses. I know
Alan King was particularly gutted. If you don’t already follow the exploits (and
weekly videos) of Wocket Woy (aka Mr Muddle) and
his pal Nobby (aka Ya Hafed), along with roving reporter Batch (Mattie Batchelor) and the Producer (Marc Goldstein) then you
really ought to take a look at this link http://wocketwoy.co.uk/ Research
tells me that Konstantin Ivanovich Gorbatov
was a
Russian post-impressionist painter.
I
didn’t venture away from the course-side rails, mindful to retain my place
ahead of Race 4, the Gold Cup. Reports from the Stewards’ Room: Race 1 - 1:30pm THE JCB TRIUMPH HURDLE
RACE (CLASS 1) (Grade 1) Following public comments made after the
running of race one, the Stewards afforded Aidan O’Brien, the listed trainer
of IVANOVICH GORBATOV (IRE), the winner of this race, and DRACO, a runner in
race two, an opportunity to explain the training arrangements of both horses.
Joseph O’Brien was also interviewed. Aidan O’Brien explained that both
IVANOVICH GORBATOV (IRE) and DRACO are trained from a satellite yard, which
is licensed in his name and overseen by Joseph O’Brien. He said that the
operation of the satellite yard is carried out by Joseph O’Brien. This is
done through consultation with him. Joseph O’Brien added that he is in the
process of obtaining a Trainers Licence with the
Irish Turf Club and once this process is completed he will have several
horses transferred to be trained in his name. The Stewards noted their
explanations. The joint-favourites for this event
were the JP McManus-owned Great Field, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden
by Barry Geraghty, and Wait For Me, trained by
Philip Hobbs and ridden by Richard Johnson; price 7-1. Alan King had a runner in this race, Montbazon to be ridden by Wayne Hutchinson. He’d just snuck into this massively
oversubscribed handicap as number 26 of 26; he’d returned to action at
Newbury the previous month following a lengthy absence to run well in the Betfair Hurdle. Being
run over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong, the horses cantered up the
all-weather horse-walk in front of the grandstand before heading back down
the turf and re-entering the all-weather strip to continue their journey to
the starting gate at the far end of the home straight.
And then they were off, at the first attempt,
despite it being a maximum field of 26!
It was a short run to the first flight, with Sternrubin
to the inside, Great Field and Fethard Player the
first to rise as they cleared it. One
of the runners, obscured in mid-field, trashed one of the panels, possibly
Devilment or Sizing Tennessee. Henry
Higgins cleared the obstacle in last place. Barry Geraghty was
unable to restrain the joint-favourite Great Field, and he’d soon pulled his
way into a clear lead, from Sternrubin and Zamdy Man; Fethard Player now
followed these. Another horse with a liking for front-running, Starchitect travelled behind these, followed by Bentelimar and Montbazon. Stable-mates Francis Of Assisi and
Devilment were alongside Sizing Tennessee, with Draco to the inside; behind
him was 2014 Fred Winter winner Hawk High, to his outer Kayf
Blanco, the Barber/Potensis runner All Yours,
Superb Story, and former Champion Bumper winner Cheltenian
to the outside. The fancied Blue Hell was to the far side in the next wave of
runners, along with John Constable, Some Plan, Ivan Grozny and Dicosimo; just behind these were Mad Jack Mytton, Cardinal Walter, Modus, Wait For Me and Henry
Higgins. The leading quintet cleared the second flight
without incident. However, just behind
these, Montbazon took off too early and pitched on
landing as a result; this threw jockey Wayne Hutchinson over his left
shoulder and into the path of the massed hoards behind him. The jockey ended up quite some distance
from the obstacle, as he tumbled along beneath hooves. Not what you need when due to ride Smad Place in the Gold Cup later in the afternoon. Those badly hampered by this incident were
All Yours and Mad Jack Mytton. Wayne Hutchinson remained motionless as the
runners galloped away. Great Field continued to lead, from Sternrubin and Zamdy Man as
they headed up the hill in front of the Best Mate Enclosure. The loose horse, now travelling to the
outside of the main group, decided to peel away from them, barely making the
top turn and trashing one of the plastic rail supports in the process. Montbazon had
decided not to be one of the herd and turned around to trot back from whence
he came; Travelling Head Lad Matt Howells and his stable lad soon caught
him. Meanwhile, Great Field continued to lead, from Sternrubin and Zamdy Man; the
latter hit the third flight. The
runners headed to the next, where Dicosimo decided
to paddle through the hurdle and thus departed, that was Ruby out of the
race; the horse had also fallen fairly early on in Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle the previous month. Danny Mullins had been riding the horse on
that occasion and sustained a fracture to a kneecap. There was no change at the head of affairs as
they cleared flight number five, although the field was now more strung out
and Modus had lost touch at the rear of the field. They negotiated the dog-leg turn shortly
afterwards. Great Field led from Sternrubin, Zamdy Man and Fethard Player.
Behind these were Starchitect, Francis Of
Assisi, Cheltenian and Sizing Tennessee. Having jumped the next, the runners soon
reached the top of the hill before heading around the sweeping turn and down
the slope to the penultimate flight.
Or at least it would have been the penultimate flight had the final
one not been cordoned off due to medics attending to Wayne Hutchinson. Sternrubin
now led the way, from Zamdy Man, Fethard Player, Great Field and Cheltenian. Behind these Francis Of Assisi, Starchitect and the improved Superb Story. Fethard Player
was now alongside Sternrubin as they cleared what
was now the last flight but there were many others, in fact most of the
field, within just a handful of lengths of this leading duo. So, as they straightened out upon entering the
home run, it was Superb Story which had swept through between the two leaders. There was a steward leaning over the rails
to the nearside and he was waving a chequered flag to notify the jockeys to
bypass the last. The Dan Skelton
runner spearheaded the field as they negotiated the ‘chicane’ between the steeplechase fence and the omitted hurdle;
initially Fethard Player stayed with him but, as
they approached the line, Superb Story began to pull away and he won by 2½
lengths at the line. It was Dan
Skelton’s first Cheltenham Festival winner; also the first for his brother and
jockey, Harry. The jockey was
ecstatic. Sternrubin
just held on to 3rd position by a head from Wait For Me; so that was 3rd and
4th places for trainer Philip Hobbs. A
neck away in 5th was Starchitect, and Francis Of
Assisi was 6th. Twenty-three finished,
including the tailed off Modus. Great
Field had been pulled up before jumping the revised last flight. Wayne Hutchinson was okay, although a bit sore;
he was able to ride Smad Place in the Gold Cup,
which was the next but one race. Superb Story had been especially laid out for
this race, having last been seen when finishing as runner up to Old Guard in
the Greatwood Hurdle at the Open Meeting in
November. He only just made it into
the race, at number 25! Sadly Cheltenian went
wrong at Haydock Park during a race in early May,
and was euthanized as a result. L Montbazon had two further
runs over hurdles before the end of the current season, during April at
Newbury and Kempton Park, but seemed totally out of love with the game by
then. Perhaps it was time to pull
stumps on his racing career and find something more interesting for him to
do, rather than persevere with a horse who’d been susceptible to injuries
throughout his career and was now 9-years-old.
Again I decided to remain beside the course-side
rails following the race. Reports from the Stewards’ Room: Race 2 - 2:10pm THE VINCENT O'BRIEN
COUNTY HANDICAP HURDLE RACE (CLASS 1) (Grade 3) The Stewards held an
enquiry into the use of the whip by Harry Skelton, the rider of the winner,
SUPERB STORY (IRE), from the by-passed final flight of hurdles. 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 Skelton for 4 days as follows: Friday 1, Saturday 2,
Sunday 3 and Monday 4 April 2016. The favourite for this race was Shantou Village,
trained by Neil Mulholland and ridden by Richard Johnson; price 7-2. Presumably this was a result of finishing
as runner-up to Yanworth on Festival Trials Day in
late January. The unbeaten Barters
Hill was the second favourite at 4-1.
Martin Keighley was due to have a runner in this one, but Solstice
Star was withdrawn, due to the ground being unsuitable. Willie Mullins had 7 runners in this event
… over a third of the field in fact! The starting gate for this event is at the beginning
of the back straight, with almost two complete circuits to travel. Upon exiting the walkway, the horses
crossed the home straight to canter along the all-weather strip which runs to
the outside of the top bend to reach it.
And then they were off, first time. The runners were led away by the
front-running Barters Hill, with the Wylie’s Up For Review restrained to the
inside; also prominent were Atlantic Gold and Allysson
Monterg. The
keen racing Up For Review was the first to rise at flight number one. The runners headed over the second, with
the dark grey Bachasson bringing up the rear; there
were three other greys, the lightest of which was the dappled Aurillac, and a roan named Fagan. There were a number of clumsy jumps at the third
flight, noticeably from Definite Outcome.
Having cleared the first three obstacles, the runners headed around
the dog-leg turn to approach the fourth.
Barters Hill and Up For Review disputed the lead, from Atlantic Gold, Allysson Monterg, Definite
Outcome, Champers On Ice, Jonniesofa, Aurillac, Gangster, Bleu Et Rouge, Hit The Highway, West Approach, Shantou Village, Fagan, Balko Des Flos, Long Dog, Unowhatimeanharry, Open Eagle, and Bachasson. Having reached the far corner of the track, the
runners then headed down the hill to the fifth flight. As they approached it, Long Dog went wrong
and, as a result he fell; his jockey was Ruby Walsh. He appeared to have broken his near
foreleg. Meanwhile the race continued,
with the remaining 18 horses safely negotiating the hurdle before entering
the home straight; Barters Hill continued to lead, narrowly. They jumped the flight in front of the stands
before heading up the hill in front of the Best Mate Enclosure. The field was still closely grouped and all
of the runners seemed to be travelling okay. The prominent Champers On Ice
hit the first flight in the back straight, Open Eagle did too and, having
lost his place, Hit the Highway wasn’t fluent. The runners headed to the next where, having also
drifted back through the field, the JP McManus-owned Rouge Et Blanc hit the
top of the flight and fell; hampered by this departure were Unowhatimeanharry and Bachasson. Fortunately Barry Geraghty
wasn’t struck by any flying hooves.
The remaining 17 runners headed over the next, with Champers On Ice now taking second position
despite having flattened a panel within the flight. They negotiated the dog-leg turn, with Bachasson and Hit The Highway now struggling at the rear
of the field. Barters Hill was being
pressed by both Champers On Ice and Allysson Monterg as they jumped three out; the grey was travelling
the best of these three and the latter landed awkwardly over it. Near the rear of the field, West Approach
didn’t jump the flight very well either.
Barters Hill and Champers On Ice continued to
dispute the lead as they headed around the far turn, from Allysson
Monterg, Balko Des Flos, Jonniesofa, Gangster,
Shantou Village, Open Eagle, Unowhatimeanherry, Aurillac, Bachasson, West
Approach, and Fagan; the remainder could be discounted by this stage of the
race. There was some confusion from the commentary
position as to whether the runners would be able to jump the penultimate
flight having headed down the hill towards it. This was due to the incident involving Long
Dog on the previous circuit. However,
standing to the inside of the track and with his saddle slung over his arm,
Ruby Walsh gesticulated to his colleagues to instruct them to jump it. There was a steward positioned close to the
green screens which had been erected around the stricken Long Dog but,
fortunately, he’d been moved to the outside of the track to allow the runners
to continue upon their intended route. Having jumped the flight, Champers On Ice now
held a slight advantage over Barters Hill, but the latter continued to fight
on. Having made up ground on the run
down the hill, Unowhatimeanharry was now
challenging the Gigginstown duo of Balko Des Flos and Gangster for
third position. The runners headed
into the home straight and were soon on the run to the final flight. There was no surprise that Barters Hill was
still battling with Champers On Ice for the lead; meanwhile Unowhatimeanharry was continuing to close under a strong
drive from Noel Fehily, with Fagan staying on from
miles back to race up the stand-side rails and he was currently in fourth. Barters Hill was edging to his left as they
reached the last, taking Unowhatimeanharry with
him; the latter made a mistake but it didn’t stop him from assuming the lead
shortly afterwards. Barters Hill continued to drift left, stumbling slightly
as his path was crossed by the leader.
Noel’s mount hung to his right as he headed up the hill to the line,
with Fagan keeping straight and true with the nearside rail to guide him. Despite this final challenge, Unowhatimeanharry
kept on well to the line, to win by 1¼ lengths from Fagan. A further 1½ lengths back, Champers On Ice
completed in 3rd, and the ever-game Barters Hill was a 1¾ lengths 4th. It was a first Cheltenham Festival winner
for trainer Harry Fry; although he had been deeply involved with the training
of Rock On Ruby when that horse won the Champion Hurdle in 2012. So, in consecutive races, former Paul Nicholls
Assistant trainers had won their first Cheltenham Festival events – namely
Dan Skelton and Harry Fry. Long Dog’s demise had brought the
horse fatality tally to six so far this Festival with 4 races to go; Niceonefrankie having been a fatality on Thursday.
Once again
I retained my position beside the course-side rails. Reports from the Stewards’ Room: Race 3 - 2:50pm THE ALBERT BARTLETT
NOVICES' HURDLE RACE (CLASS 1) (Registered as The Spa Novices' Hurdle Race)
(Grade 1) The Stewards noted that
the winner, UNOWHATIMEANHARRY, had shifted quickly right handed after landing
over the last flight of hurdles, interfering with BARTERS HILL (IRE), placed
fourth, but after viewing a recording of the incident they were satisfied
that it neither involved a riding offence nor improved UNOWHATIMEANHARRY’s
placing. It
later transpired that Barters Hill had not been sound just three days prior
to the race, with connections racing against time to get him fit. Trainer Ben Pauling admitted that, had he
been able to turn back the clock, he would not have run his star charge
today; he believed that the horse was feeling the problem when he hung to his
left on the run-in. That’s
it for part one of my diary ...
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