DIARY – HUNTINGDON – SUNDAY 05 OCTOBER 2008
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I was carrying out family duties so was unable to
attend the Fontwell Park fixture on Saturday 04
October, where Choc had three rides (Potemkin, Keltic
Lord, and Head to Kerry. Choc’s fourth ride, Miss Carroll,
was withdrawn, as rain had caused the going conditions to change). But no winners for Choc – Potemkin finished
2nd, Keltic Lord 4th, and Head to Kerry 2nd in
their respective events. However by Friday evening it had become apparent
that Choc would be at Huntingdon on Sunday 05 October, having been
double-booked earlier in the week for rides at Uttoxeter. Huntingdon is relatively close to home,
taking me around an hour to reach, so I decided I’d have another day at the
races, despite the weather forecast being dire for the weekend. Unfortunately I had to go alone to the races
again. I did ask my friend Mark if
he’d like to come along, but he wished to catch up with his shopping, having
been out for most of Saturday following his favourite football team who had
played an away game at Basingstoke. Sunday dawned wet and windy but, as the gates
opened at 12:10, it gave me plenty of time to do my washing, take a shower,
log on to the internet to check the racing news, and update and amend a few
of my website pages in preparation for its forthcoming launch. Having checked off the contents of my bags to
ensure I’d not forgotten any items, I set off from home at 11:15. I’m notorious for taking anything I think I
might need, including the proverbial ‘kitchen sink’ – just ask my friend
Denise about the items I would pack in preparation for my annual visits to
the Wimbledon tennis tournament. My journey took me around the country lanes to
join the A1(M) near Welwyn Garden City. The driving conditions were pretty bad as
there was much surface water on the motorway.
The journey is very easy, follow the A1 to within a mile of the
racecourse, down the slip-road to a roundabout, joining the A14 heading east,
and then shortly afterwards bear off to the left and into the racecourse
entrance itself. As it was a cold, wet, blustery day, the
attendance was relatively small – especially when compared to August Bank
Holiday Monday. This made the drive to
the parking area extremely easy, although I was early too, having arrived at
around 12:15. Unfortunately my car got
very mud splattered due to the rutted driveway, so would need to be washed
the following weekend. Having changed
from my trainers into my flat boots (I had to be careful about my choice of
footwear whilst the scar on my foot was healing – the scar is barely an inch
long but lies along the top of my tendon where a pair of shoes can easily rub
– hence the source of the original problem) and not forgetting my large
purple and green ‘Wimbledon’ umbrella, I locked my car and headed to the
entrance to pay my £15 admission fee and purchase a race-card. Today’s meeting also hosts the annual Mascot
Grand National, sponsored by John Smith’s.
It appeared that all the competing mascots had congregated in the Winners’
Enclosure, with a few in the Parade Ring too.
The familiar voice of Derek Thompson could be heard over the address
system as he interviewed many of the competitors from the Winner’s Podium
prior to the event. I walked over to
watch them and to listen to his amusing(?)
comments. Not all the mascots
represented a football team; some represented charities, and others, leisure
centres. There were 75 entries listed
in the race-card. The Mascot Grand National was advertised to start
at 13:10 but it soon became apparent that it would be run earlier than
expected as the competitors exited the paddock and started down the track to
the racecourse and the spectators were encouraged to take their place in the
stands. The mascots paraded down the
course past the stands to the start, which was just after the last flight of
hurdles. Poor old Bertie
Bassett, representing Cadburys, fell over and had to be helped to his feet
even before he had passed the stands on his way to the start! Dirty tactics were positively encouraged, so much
so that one of the likely contenders for the title was tackled as he jumped
the final obstacle. As he was only
slightly impeded by this attack, he ran on to take second or third place. For his pains, the ‘attacker’ suffered
worse and needed to be helped to his feet. The winner, with a clear round (and a clear run)
was last year’s winner, Wacky Macky Bear
representing Saffron Walden Town Football Club. (Not Wacky Backy as Tommo had evidently
called him last year, causing a little embarrassment in translation!) The victor and the vanquished mascots made their
way back to the grassed area in front of the Weighing Room, where a
presentation and photo session took place.
Every competing mascot received a medal. As the weather was wet and windy, I decided to
take my place high up in the stand to await the first race. Unlike my first visit to Huntingdon on
August Bank Holiday Monday, there was a viewing screen located in centre
course on this occasion. I was therefore
able to watch pictures of the Racing UK Team presenting from paddock side and
the broadcast from Paris of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe fixture. This included the Prix de l’Abbaye,
which degenerated into a farce when one of the stalls failed to open and the
remainder of the field was unsure if there was to be an official recall. One unfortunate horse, the Hungarian entry,
raced all the way to the line before pulling up. The race was rerun at 17:15, but three
entries were withdrawn. British entries
finished second (Moorhouse Lad) and third (Borderlescott), but the jockeys reported that the edge
had been slightly taken off their mounts following the false start. The unbeaten filly, Zarkava,
won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
– despite her trainer being very downbeat about the going conditions when
they interviewed him on At The Races that morning. Anyway, back to the matter in hand. Choc was scheduled to ride in four races, a Juvenile Hurdle at 15:15 aboard Joshua; a Handicap Chase at 15:50 aboard Thistlecraft; a Novices’ Hurdle at 16:20 aboard Motorjm; and a Handicap Hurdle at 17:20 aboard Dillay Brook. In
the event, Choc’s final ride was withdrawn as the
ground conditions had changed from good, to good to soft on both the hurdle
and chase courses. The water jump and
the open-ditch in front of the stands were omitted from the chase track too. The first race of the day was a Handicap Hurdle,
won by Will the Till, trained by Evan Williams,
ridden by Donal Fahy. Second was the favourite, Mister Wiseman,
and third Oenologue. I decided to go to the Winners’
Enclosure/Parade Ring to watch the horses came back, and then view those
preparing for the second race. The second race was a Novices’ Steeplechase. Ellerslie Tom
jumped very erratically, sometimes out to the left, and tried to slam on the
brakes at the fence at the end of the home straight first time around.
However, on the wet ground he just slide towards the fence and decided to
take off and jump it. Eventually he
appeared to have totally lost his confidence and was pulled up. One of the fancied runners, Hypnotic Vibes
ridden by Christan Williams, pulled up lame. The race was won by the grey, Albinus,
ridden by Darren O’Dwyer. Having returned to the Winners’ Enclosure/Parade
Ring after the second race, I was now very much looking forward to Choc’s first ride of the day. The rain had stopped, but there was a stiff
cold breeze blowing. I thought my
winter coat would keep me warm, but it didn’t. I should have known better, as many a year
I’ve queued at Wimbledon, in the middle of summer, wearing a coat and have
felt cold! I spotted his mount, Joshua, being led around the
ring. He was tossing his head around,
and eventually he was taken into one of the closed boxes to be saddled up. Choc came into the paddock with the other
jockeys, and stood in clear view whilst receiving his instructions. When it was time to mount, he came towards
me and stood almost within touching distance waiting for the horse to
approach, whence he was legged up into the saddle. At close quarters I noticed his blonde hair
was just beginning to grow long enough to peep out beneath the back of his
helmet. Choc was one of the last to leave the paddock so
I walked around to the stand and took my place quite high up on the terrace
and watched him canter past on his way to the start at the end of the back
straight. It was a Juvenile Novices’
Hurdle. Santa Clara set off in front,
jumping erratically, but at least she didn’t catapult her rider into the air
as she’d done at Plumpton a couple of weeks
ago. Joshua travelled well for most of
the race, but latterly Choc was pushing hard, and his mount stayed on to
finish fourth. The race was won by Dontpaytheferryman, trained by Evan Williams, ridden by
Christian Williams. When I walked around to the Winners’ Enclosure I
passed a tall slim blonde lady, whom I recognised to be Choc’s
fiancée, Meally, on her way towards the Weighing
Room having viewed the race. Choc
returned to fourth spot in the Winners’ Enclosure, unsaddled and spoke to the
connections before returning to the Weighing Room. The horses soon appeared for the next race, this
time Choc was riding Thistlecraft in a Handicap
Steeplechase. I glanced around and saw
that Meally was perched, precariously, on the
railings at the top of the viewing platform.
The jockeys came into the paddock, mounted and set out for the course. Again I took my place in the stand, in time to
see the horses canter past, then turn around to canter away to our left to
reach the start at the beginning of the back straight. Then they were off. Thistlecraft made
a mistake at the last fence down the back straight, slipping and stumbling on
landing but Choc survived this error.
He was pushing his mount along by the time he reached the end of the
back straight second time around, but the horse did okay as he finished
fourth, just touched off on the line for third, by Cool Roxy. The race was won by Loita
Hills, ridden by Richard Johnson. As Choc had finished fourth again, he returned to
the Winners’ Enclosure to unsaddle once more.
My mobile had rung whilst I was watching the race, although I’d left
it unanswered, so I checked to see who it was and made a phone call to home. Evidently the satellite receiver had been
turned off accidentally and I’d lost some of my race recording -
typical. Luckily, however, this had
been reset once the channel details had been researched in Satellite
Week! Panic over. I turned my attention to the Parade Ring once
more, and I noticed that Meally had again arrived
to watch Choc. Then, and this is
totally against my shy and retiring nature, I plucked up courage and decided
to approach her to introduce myself as Choc’s
super-fan, the one who had been mentioned on the Eclipse website as biding in
advance for a lock of Choc’s hair. I asked her to thank Choc for agreeing to
my request for a lock. She asked my
name, and I went on to say that I enjoyed reading her first NagWAG diary, and asked her if it was to be an ongoing
journal. Yes, a fortnightly diary blog
was planned. I explained that I had been taking some photographs for a Choc
Thornton ‘appreciation’ website I planned to set up shortly, and that I hoped
Choc wouldn’t mind – she thought it would be fine by him. She is very sweet, and has large strikingly
blue eyes. By the time I had returned to the side of the
Parade Ring, the horses were going out onto the racecourse and it was time to
return to the grandstand once more. Choc’s mount in this race was Motarjm,
who I’d seen him riding at Stratford Upon Avon in June. Unfortunately, on that occasion, he’d been
brought down at the last flight by Sendani (ridden
by Tony McCoy) when challenging for the lead.
The horses cantered by the grandstand on their way to the start, which
was at the end of the back straight. Motarjm
travelled well during the race, in 5th place at first then, by the end of the
first circuit he had moved up into 3rd place.
He was still in third place when he made an error at the second last,
and faded into 6th just on the line.
Flagstone, trained by Martin Keighley, was also competing in this
race. I enjoy reading Martin’s blog,
which he updates almost daily. Occasionally Choc will get a mention – like
Choc having donated his ‘heavy duty’ washing machine to Martin’s training
operation when he no longer needed it following his house move in 2007! I returned to the Parade Ring, and saw Choc
return to the Weighing Room after dismounting in tree lined area to my right. Despite Choc having finished his rides for the
day, I decided to stay for races 6 and 7 on the card. The 6th race was another hurdle race, the
second division of the Novices’ event.
Upon reaching the start, one horse’s bandages had become dangerously
loose, and this resulted in them being removed completely and the horse
withdrawn. Luckily it was outsider, Pat Will. However, the grey mare, Argento Luna then decided she didn’t wish to join the
others as they approached the tape, instead she
appeared to prefer the company of the withdrawn animal. Finally she was trotted in, Dominic Elsworth jumping onboard and finding his stirrups as the
field raced away. It was fortunate as the mare went on to win the race
impressively. The skies cleared and the sun came out just in
time for the last race, although this made viewing difficult as the stands at
Huntingdon face west! The race was
uneventful and was won by Orchard House, again trained by Evan Williams,
ridden by Christian Williams. A treble
for Evan, and a double for Christian. After the schedule had been completed there were
two pony races planned, the first of which I stayed to watch. One young girl was lucky to escape injury
when her pony reared up in the Parade Ring, and she slipped off its
back. I noticed Carl Llewellyn was
watching the pony races from the raised disabled platform. One bookie was even taking bets on the
runners. By this time the traffic was flowing easily away
from the course so I set off for the car park and home. The sun, being low in
the sky, caused a problem with visibility as I approached the racecourse
exit. The journey home was uneventful and it was almost dark by the time I
reached home, being around 19:00. |
