PART II
DIARY – CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2018
DAY TWO
FEATURING THE QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE
WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018
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The winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase; Altior trained by Nicky Henderon Click here to read my Day 2 Diary Part I It was now time for the feature event
of the day, the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
The favourite for the feature event, was the
Nicky Henderson-trained Altior, ridden by Nico de Boinville; he was the
evens favourite. Douvan
had returned to Cheltenham, despite having not raced since he sustained a
pelvis injury at last year’s Festival.
The decision to run him today was taken when Ruby agreed to ride him
... but in light of events earlier in the afternoon, that plan had gone to
pot and Willie’s son Patrick now took the ride instead. There was one grey of course, Politologue. Whilst watching the race, owner Rich Ricci paces
up and down, away from everyone; he’s a nervous owner! Once the pre-race parade was over, the ten
runners cantered back down the turf to enter the all-weather strip and canter
to the starting gate at the far end of the home straight.
And then they were off, at the first time
of asking, and on their way to the first fence led by Ar
Mad and last year’s winner Special Tiara.
All nine runners flew the first fence and were soon heading to the
second; the pace was hot, as would be expected in the 2-mile Champion race,
especially with this particular duo leading the way. Ar
Mad jumped away to his right as they headed over the second; in his younger
days, trainer Gary Moore had refused to run his charge on left-handed
courses. The runners galloped across
the gravel track and through a gap in the plastic rails in order to enter the
Old Course circuit ahead to fence number three. Special Tiara led from Ar
Mad, behind these travelled Douvan, Charbel, Altior, the grey Politologue, Min, Ordinary World and God’s Own. Special Tiara took off well before the fence but
landed okay regardless; Ar Mad brushed through the
top of it. The runners continued to
the fourth, where Charbel was a little untidy. Last year’s winner was five lengths clear
of his rivals as they swung left-handed to head up the hill in front of the
Best Mate Enclosure. However, unlike
his previous four efforts, Special Tiara decided to put in a short stride
before the next and got very close to it, losing much of his momentum. As a result, his advantage over his now nearest
rival, Douvan, was only a length. Having turned into the back straight for the one
and only time, the runners continued their journey down the hill to the
sixth. The leaders jumped this okay,
but Charbel took off long and low, hit the fence
and fell. Ordinary World managed to
side-step both the fallen horse and jockey.
Both faller and jockey appeared fine following the mishap. The remaining eight horses continued to the
water-jump, where Douvan jumped into a narrow
lead. The following fence was the
first of two open-ditches. Patrick
Mullins’ mount totally out-jumped Special Tiara at this one. Noel Fehily
switched his mount to the outside, behind the leader as they continued to the
next, a plain fence. Having cleared this one, Douvan
was now three lengths clear of his rivals; Special Tiara led the main group
narrowly, from Politologue, Altior,
Min and God’s Own. Ar
Mad was being pushed along, one from the back of the field, and Ordinary
World soon overtook him. The runners
continued around the dog-leg turn, with Douvan
leading the way. However Douvan took off
far too early at the next, the final open-ditch; he paddled, went through the
top of it, almost landing on his knees as his nose ploughed into the
ground. Patrick Mullins was thrown
over his head and Politologue travelling in his
wake, appeared to be caught across the neck by a flying hind-leg; fortunately
it didn’t appear to affect the grey’s momentum. In contrast, Min was squeezed for room and
his momentum interrupted as a result.
Fortunately Altior had been travelling to
the inside of the field and remained unaffected by this departure. Politologue
now held the advantage as the runners continued to the top of the hill, from
Special Tiara to his inside and God’s Own to his outer. Altior was close
up in fourth position, Min in fifth.
These five were clear of Ordinary World; Ar
Mad had been pulled up after the fence, he was reportedly lame. Both Douvan and
Patrick Mullins had got to their feet and were seemingly fine. This left six horses to turn the far corner and
head down the hill to three out; Politologue
continued to lead from God’s Own. As
they approached the fence, Nico de Boinville began to niggle at Altior;
he wasn’t travelling as well as some, or as well as might be expected at this
stage of the race. The grey still held
a narrow lead as they jumped it.
Ordinary World had made progress to the outside of runners prior to the
fence, and Special Tiara dropped out having jumped it. This left God’s Own to take a narrow advantage
over the grey as the runners headed to the home turn, with Min between
Ordinary World and the urged along Altior against
the rails just behind them. The
leading five were all in with a chance as they headed into the home straight
on the run to the penultimate fence; in fact they were now the only five
still going, as Special Tiara had been pulled up. Having found himself behind a wall of horses
turning in, Nico de Boinville
switched the favourite to the outside, behind Politologue,
God’s Own and Min; and it was the latter who rose
first over two out. Now in the clear, Altior went up a gear and was alongside the Willie
Mullins runner as they jumped the final fence. The leading duo then travelled neck and
neck for a few strides, but Altior had soon gained
the upper hand; head down, he stormed up the run-in to the line. His winning margin was officially seven lengths,
but it looked more; Nico de Boinville
stood up in his irons as he crossed the line, to wave his whip in the air. Meanwhile runner-up Min,
crossed the line a further 11 lengths in front of God’s Own, with Politologue 4th and Ordinary World last of those to
finish. Altior
had been successful at his third consecutive Cheltenham Festival and remained
unbeaten; the ground didn’t suit today, but class is permanent. And despite of a couple of setbacks this
season too. This was the 60th
Cheltenham Festival winner for trainer Nicky Henderson … a record breaking
number … until later in the week when Nicky’s record was broken by Willie
Mullins. Booooooooooooooooo.
Reports from the Stewards’ Room regarding this race – see link
at bottom of this page It
was time for me to venture away from my vantage point above the Winners’
Enclosure; I headed into the centre of the racecourse to watch the Cross
Country race. The favourite for the Cross Country race was the The Last Samuri, trained by Kim
Bailey and ridden by David Bass; price 11-4. Also taking part was last year’s winner, Cause Of
Causes; a triple Festival winner already – the NH Chase in 2015 and the Kim
Muir in 2016 being his other triumphs.
Tiger Roll returned to the Festival too and was seeking his third win
– he’d won the 2014 Triumph Hurdle and the 2017 NH Chase. There were 7 Irish competitors, 5 British and 4
French raiders. There were only 30
fences to jump, with the usually twice-jumped Aintree fence was being
omitted. Obviously the starting gate for
the race was situated in the middle of the racecourse. This meant the horses crossed over the home
straight upon leaving the horse-walk to head up in front of the Best Mate
enclosure to reach it.
And then they were off, with the Rooney’s second
string Beeves leading the 16 horses over the first fence; a bank with
hedge. The horses subsequently swung
left-handed on their way to the second, a ditch with railed hedge (2). The blinkered Beeves continued to lead the
way, ahead of the Rooney’s The Last Samuri, and
Bless The Wings. The latter drew
alongside and was then marginally ahead as the runners cleared the Birch
Island fence (3); the leading duo choosing the outside of the two options at
this one. The following obstacle would normally have been
the Aintree fence; but omitting this, the runners headed around the outside,
to the right of the wing, before turning left to continue to a bank with
hedge (4 ex 5). The sixteen runners
streamed over this one, before crossing over the racecourse chute and
encountering a double-bank with hedges (5 ex 6) at the other side thereof. The next obstacle was the Glenfarclas
barrels (6 ex 7), after which the runners swung right-handed in order to
cross over the down-hill stretch of the Old Course. At the far side they encountered a double
bank with a hedge on top (7 ex 8).
Having taken another right-turn, Bless The Wings continued to lead
from Beeves, Tiger Roll, Cantlow and The Last Samuri as they headed up the hill to the Timber rails (8
ex 9); Cantlow hit these. The field turned right again to head back across
the Chute on their way to the next, a railed hedge (9 ex 10). The horses cleared this okay, although
Saint Are had to be urged along having jumped it. Shortly afterwards the runners crossed the
Old Course circuit and subsequently headed downhill, bearing right latterly
on their approach to the following fence, a ditch with rails fronting a hedge
(10 ex 11); this had a slight drop on the landing side. Bless The Wings and Beeves continued to lead the
way as the runners headed to another hedge, described as a pole/railed hedge
(11 ex 12); it appeared to be quite a ‘loose’
barrier, with debris strewn on the landing side once it had been jumped. The horses headed across the Chute once
more, with Tiger Roll and Cantlow tracking the
leading duo, followed by The Last Samuri, Vicomte Du Seuil, Chic Name, Federici, Urgent De Gregaine, Josies Orders, the mare Belamix
Dor, Auvergnat, Urumqi,
Saint Are, Cause Of Causes and Hurricane Darwin. The runners were now heading to the bank fence
(12 ex 13). However, despite having
finished as runner-up last year and also winning over the course last
December, not to mention other excursions over the fences, Bless The Wings
managed to catch a foreleg as he jumped onto the bank, totally losing his
footing as a result. Fortunately the
others managed to avoid the prostrate horse, and successfully cleared the
subsequent hedge with drop beyond. The
only one inconvenienced was last year’s winner Cause Of Causes who had to
steer around Bless The Wings; the latter having got to his feet. This left Beeves alone on the front end; he
seemed a little unsure as the ground fell away towards the water-jump (13 ex
14) but, having backed off the fence, cleared it okay and remained
ahead. Bless The Wings was okay and
had galloped after his rivals. The
runners subsequently swung left-handed to head through the massed crowds on
their way to the cheese wedges (14 & 15, ex 15 & 16). The remaining 15 runners cleared this
without incident, the loose horse bypassing the fences. The competitors had now completed the long first
circuit, and swung left-handed once again in order to reach a ditch with
railed hedge (16 ex 17); this had already been jumped as fence 2 on the first
circuit. Beeves continued to take them
along, from Cantlow and the loose horse. The runners swung left-handed yet again,
the loose horse now in front of the field.
After a long run across the infield, the horses encountered the bank
once more (17 ex 18); this time at a 90 degree angle to previously. Bless The Wings made no mistake on this
occasion, his jockey Davy Russell could be seen walking away from the earlier
incident as they passed by! The runners then continued across the Old Course
circuit to reach the double bank with hedge on top once again (18 ex
19). Beeves remained at the head of
affairs as they swung uphill again. On
this occasion, their route took them right-handed and over a ditch with
railed hedge (19 ex 20). The runners
then swung quickly right-handed again, to continue back across the Old Course
circuit in order to return to the in-field.
The following fence was a big hedge with a drop
on the landing side (20 ex 21). The
Last Samuri jumped it upsides the long-time leader,
with the latter pecking on landing.
Saint Are and Belamix Dor
were pulled up before jumping it. The
remaining runners continued across the in-field, soon turning right in order
to approach the water-jump for the second time. The main group of runners was still closely
packed; just Hurricane Darwin and Cause Of Causes trailing them. Beeves led the runners over the water (21 ex 22),
from The Last Samuri, Tiger Roll, Cantlow and Urumqi.
Having exited the dip denoting the stream, the horses swung
left-handed to head in front of the enclosures once more. The next fence was a double spread hedge
(22 ex 23) which they all jumped okay; their second circuit was now complete,
with just one more to go to the line. The long-time leader was being pushed along as he
headed towards and over the bank with hedge (23 ex 24). The runners continued to swing left-handed
before straightening out on their run to a ditch with railed hedge (24 ex
25). This would be the third time the
competitors had jumped this particular fence; in fact it is the only fence
which is jumped three times. The
following fence was the Birch Island fence (25 ex 26); Beeves, The Last Samuri, Josies Orders, Vicomte Du Seuil and Cause Of
Causes took the right-hand option, the others the left-hand one. The route then took the runners across the
beginning of the Chute, before they had to bypass to the outside of the
Aintree fence; a sharp left-hand turn then followed. Tiger Roll had now joined Beeves at the
head of affairs, followed by The Last Samuri, Chic
Name, Cantlow, Urgent De Gregaine
and Auvergnat.
The runners continued to a bank with hedge (26 ex 28); Tiger Roll
out-jumped his rivals at this one and had a clear advantage as they headed
across the Chute for the final time. The runners continued on to a double bank with
hedges (27 ex 29), with Tiger Roll gradually
increasing his lead over his rivals.
The following fence was the Glenfarclas
barrels (28 ex 30); the leader was travelling well and this was putting
pressure on his rivals as they streamed out behind him. The pursuers were led by Chic Name and The
Last Samuri, followed by Auvergnat,
Beeves and Urgent De Gregaine. The competitors soon reached the main racecourse
circuit, turning left-handed to now continue upon the Old Course proper. Tiger Roll was still travelling well as
they cleared the first of two stuffed hurdles (29 ex 31). Although his rivals had closed some of the
deficit, they had been under pressure to do so. The leaders continued into the home
straight, with Urgent De Gregaine endeavouring to
lay down a challenge to Tiger Roll; The Last Samuri,
Chic Name and Auvergnat were staying on, but at one
pace. The leading duo headed down to the last flight,
with Tiger Roll getting in a little close to it; however, the French raider
jumped a little left and stumbled slightly on landing over it. Thus, try as he might, Urgent De Gregaine was unable to close the deficit upon the Gordon
Elliott-trained runner as they galloped up the hill to the line. Tiger Roll had won by 2 lengths having
stayed on gamely all the way. The Last
Samuri completed in 3rd position, with Auvergnat 4th, Chic Name 5th, Josies
Orders 6th and Beeves last of the finishers; the remainder having pulled up. Tiger Roll didn’t return to the Winners’
Enclosure, he went straight back to the stables; horses’ welfare being a
priority at all times. It was a third win at the Cheltenham Festival for
the 8-year-old Tiger Roll, having won the Triumph Hurdle in 2014 and the
long-distance National Hunt Chase in 2017.
Amazingly, he would also go on to win the 2018 Grand National,
partnered by Davy Russell!!! He’s a
very talented tiddler! It’s just a shame he’s owned by Gigginstown! Following his fall from Bless The Wings, Davy
Russell was stood down for the remainder of today; he would have to pass the
doctor on Thursday before being permitted to ride.
There’s always a delay for the spectators
who have ventured into the centre of the racecourse; they have to wait until
all of the horses have left the track before being allowed to cross back to
the stands-side once more. Reports from the Stewards’ Room regarding this race – see link
at bottom of this page The favourite for the Fred Winter
Juvenile Handicap Hurdle was the Dan Skelton-trained Nube
Negra ridden by Harry Skelton; price 15-2. Alan King had one runner in this race, Lisp
ridden by Wayne Hutchinson. There was
one grey, Mercenaire. Having left the Parade Ring, the competitors
initially cantered up the all-weather strip in front of the grandstands on
their way to the 2-mile starting gate at the far end of the home
straight.
And then they were off, with Lisp bringing up the
rear as they did so. Prominent heading
to the first were the nose-banded Eureu Du Boulay, The King Of May, and the dark grey Mercenaire; also Turning Gold, Act Of Valour and, to the
inside, Knight Destroyer. Eureu
Du Boulay jumped slightly to his right over the flight,
almost bumping into Turning Gold and squeezing out Mercenaire;
all of the runners did, however, clear it safely. The youngsters then
continued on the long journey up the home straight, joining the Old Course
circuit, on their way to obstacle number two.
Knight Destroyer and Eureu Du Boulay were disputing the lead now, from The King Of May,
Turning Gold, Act Of Valour, and Padleyourowncanoe. These were followed by Look My Way, Casa
Tall, Mercenaire, Oxford Blu,
Mitchouka now with Mark Walsh aboard, Eragon De Chanay, Nube Negra, Esprit De Somoza,
Style De Garde, Embole,
Grand Sancy, Veneer Of Charm, Mastermind, Solo
Saxophone, Lisp and, finally, Brave Dancing.
Mercenaire jumped the flight awkwardly and
slower than his rivals. The runners subsequently swung left-handed to
travel up the hill in front of the Best Mate enclosure and into the back
straight for the one and only time; Lisp brought up the rear as they did
so. The horses then bowled along
downhill to the third flight with Knight Destroyer continuing to spearhead
the field. However, the leader got a
little low, kicked out the orange protective strip, skewed in the air and
fell. Obviously this caused a great deal of
inconvenience to those travelling in his slipstream; those badly affected were
Look My Way, Mitchouka and Oxford Blu. At the rear
of the field, Lisp fell in a separate incident; it just wasn’t Wayne
Hutchinson’s day! Fortunately both
horses and riders were up okay following the incident. This left Eureu Du Boulay in the lead, from Turning Gold and The King Of May
as they continued along the back straight on their journey to the fourth
flight. Travelling at the rear of the
field, Brave Dancing didn’t jump this one fluently. The runners subsequently negotiated the
dog-leg turn on their way to the next.
Although Look My Way had managed to retain his position following the
third flight incident, both Mitchouka and Oxford Blu had dropped to the back of the pack. Mercenaire was
probably travelling the least well of all; he was being pushed along and also
received a reminder. Eureu
Du Boulay, The King Of May and Turning Gold jumped
the next in unison, after which The King Of May took a narrow advantage; the
Richard Hobson runner was now being pushed along and soon began to drop back
through the field. This left The King
Of May and Turning Gold to lead the runners around the far bend, from Look My
Way, Nube Negra and Act
Of Valour; behind these were Padleyourowncanoe and
Casa Tall. The King Of May still held a narrow advantage as
the runners jumped the third last. Padleyourowncanoe stepped on one of the panels and
flattened it. Nube
Negra was travelling strongly towards the inside of
runners as they headed down to the penultimate flight; King Of May and
Turning Gold were continuing to hold the advantage towards the centre of the
track. Act Of Valour was still there,
as was Padleyourowncanoe; joining these from
further back were Veneer Of Charm for Gordon Elliott and Style De Garde for Nicky Henderson. Four abreast initially, Nube
Negra went on as the runners entered the home
straight. The King Of May had now
dropped back, with Veneer Of Charm and Style De Garde
coming through either side of Turning Gold and Act Of Valour as they headed
to the final flight. Veneer Of Charm
took the lead prior to the obstacle, although he had wandered around on the
approach. He just nudged the top of
the hurdle as he cleared it, a length or so in front of Nube
Negra. Jack Kennedy then drove him out as he headed up
the hill towards the finish; again he wandered off a straight course. The jockey switched his whip to his right
hand, gave him one crack, before switching it back to the left hand
again. In fact the horse was hanging
away in the opposite direction to the whip-hand each time. However despite this, he continued to run
on well, winning by 3 lengths at the line.
Style De Garde came
through on the run-in to claim 2nd, with Nube Negra 3rd and Padleyourowncanoe
4th. Turning Gold was 5th, Solo
Saxophone 6th, Eragon De Chanay
7th, Look My Way 8th, Act Of Valour 9th and King Of May 10th. There were 14 finishers; the remaining 6
were pulled up, including Eureu Du Boulay. The winner had been beaten by Mitchouka
a couple of starts ago but, today, having been seriously inconvenienced at
the third flight, Mark Walsh said his mount was never travelling after that;
he was pulled up after two out having made an error. It was now 5-1 to the Irish on the day … with
just the bumper to go …
Reports from the Stewards’ Room regarding this race – see link
at bottom of this page I
ventured across to the Pre-Parade Ring for a brief period, before returning
to the steppings above the Winners’ Enclosure once
more. Despite the Irish always having a strong hand in
the bumper, the favourite was Acey Milan, trained
by Anthony Honeyball and ridden by Aidan Coleman;
price 9-2. There was one runner of interest, the Jamie
Snowden-trained Thebannerkingrebel, ridden by Gavin
Sheehan. There was one grey, Volcano. With the starting gate located at the
far end of the home straight, the horses cantered up the all-weather strip in
front of the main grandstands before heading down the turf and re-entering
the gallop to reach it.
And then they were off, with Carefully Selected
poaching a good lead, the starter having let them go when well behind the
tape. Spearheading the main group were
Acey Milan and Know The Score; to their outside the
hard-pulling Nestor Park. Bringing up
the rear in the early stages of the race were Relegate, The Big Bite, Colreevy and Mercy Mercy Me. The route up the home straight took the runners
through an empty set of hurdle wings and across a sanded track before they
joined the Old Course circuit and headed through a second set of empty hurdle
wings. Carefully Selected continued to
lob along at the head of affairs, under Danny Mullins deputising for the
injured Ruby Walsh, as the field swung left-handed to head up the hill in
front of the Best Mate enclosure. Acey Milan spearheaded the remainder of the field, with
the mare Relegate now bringing up the rear. Having turned into the back straight, the runners
headed downhill initially, with no change at the head of affairs. Acey Milan
continued in second position, from Know The Score, Dashel
Drasher and Nestor Park. The runners headed through two further sets
of empty hurdle wings as they progressed along the back straight. The order, heading around the dog-leg turn was
Carefully Selected, Acey Milan, Know The Score, Dashel Drasher, The Flying
Sofa, Nestor Park, Rhinestone, Felix Desjy, Tornado
Flyer, Seddon, Stoney
Mountain, Jaytrack Parkhomes,
Blackbow, Doc Penfro
squeezed against the inside rails, Volcano, Crooks Peak, Didtheyleaveuoutto,
Mercy Mercy Me, The Big Bite, Arch My Boy, Thebannerkingrebel, Colreevy
and Relegate. The 23 runners continued on their journey up the
hill to the far corner of the track; there was still no change at the head of
affairs, although the deficit had been reduced. The field swung left-handed, before continuing
down the hill. With the pace now
quickening, Doc Penfro, Crooks Peak and Thebannerkingrebel found themselves outpaced; they had
dropped to the rear of the field and soon became detached. The race was definitely on as the runners headed
around the home turn, with Carefully Selected continuing to hold the
advantage, over the hooded Gigginstown runner Felix
Desjy, also Acey Milan,
Rhinestone, Know The Score, Tornado Flyer and Seddon. As Know The Score and Seddon
began to fade, Relegate, Blackbow, Didtheyleaveuoutto and Mercy Mercy
Me also began to lay down their challenges to the long-time leader. The latter two’s challenges soon petered out but,
as they headed through the final set of empty wings, Relegate and Blackbow had now joined Flexi Dejsy,
Acey Milan and Tornado Flyer as they endeavoured to
chase down the long-time leader.
Having been out in front since the off, Carefully Selected appeared to
be losing concentration as the line approached; he wandered off a straight
line, edging to his right, under a left-hand drive. The leader continued to hang right, despite Danny
Mullins switching his whip to his right hand; meanwhile Relegate continued to
gain, although drifting left under a right-hand drive. Having reached the stand-side rail,
Carefully Selected now stayed on but it was too late; the Katie Walsh-ridden
mare had won by a neck at the line.
Tornado Flyer finished 3rd, 3¼ lengths behind them. It didn’t make any odds to the trainer
Willie Mullins, as he’d trained the first three! The best of the home team was Acey
Milan in 4th, for trainer Anthony Honeyball and
jockey Aidan Coleman. Blackbow, again for Willie Mullins was 5th, Felix Desjy for Gordon Elliott 6th, Colreevy
for Willie Mullins 7th and Mercy Mercy Me for
Fergal O’Brien 8th. The final Irish
representative, Rhinestone, finished 9th for Joseph O’Brien. The Irish had 7 of the 23 runners, with
all of them home in the first 9!!!
Although, surprisingly, Willie Mullins hadn’t won the race since 2013. That being said, the ground probably didn’t help
the Brits; Bannerkingrebel was actually pulled up,
having suffered from breathing issues on unsuitable ground. That was my sole bet of the Festival
wasted! It was mentioned that the winner could have run
instead at Sandown Park the previous Saturday, in the Mares’ listed bumper;
Relegate is a daughter of Flemensfirth. Tornado Flyer is related to Hurricane Fly …
I suppose, in hindsight, the name suggests that!
Reports from the Stewards’ Room regarding this race – see link
at bottom of this page Having held a narrow lead at the end of day one,
the Irish had seriously outpointed the GB team today; a whitewash prevented
solely by the wonderful Altior.
Ruby Walsh had been taken to hospital following
his fall during the second race of the day and initial reports suggested that
he might have re-broken his leg; the same injury he’d just recovered from,
having returned to action less than a week previously. The original injury had occurred the
previous November. Regardless, he was
sidelined for the remainder of this Festival.
I started my car at 18:20 today and, once again,
was stuck in a queue to leave; in contrast to yesterday, I had decided to
travel down the right-hand route within the car park. However, having finally exited the first
gate, the roadway queue did move more quickly. Once outside the gate, it was a clear run until
Priors Road, close to the Bouncers Lane junction. I subsequently headed up Harp Hill and into
Greenway Lane as usual but, today, there was a long tail-back from the
traffic lights at Six Ways; it was probably the longest queue I’d ever
encountered at this location. Too many
people appear to have discovered my ‘quick
getaway’ route! Anyway, I eventually escaped Cheltenham at 19:10
and arrived back at my hotel at 19:55.
I then settled down to a Pot Noodle, chocolate biscuits and a
chocolate bar! Having spent my time on the steppings
today, apart from venturing out into the centre of the racecourse for the
cross-country event, my Hotter boots proved far easier to clean than my
snow-boots had been the previous evening. |
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STEWARDS REPORTS – Cheltenham Festival (Index) PHOTOS – Cheltenham Festival Day 2 (Index) |
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