DIARY – SANDOWN PARK SEASON FINALE
SATURDAY 28 APRIL 2018
|
The star of the day ... Altior, winner of the Grade 1 Celebration Chase My racing calendar had now arrived at the final
day of the 2017/2018 National Hunt season.
This would be my tenth racecourse outing of the season, following on
from the Saturday of Cheltenham’s November fixture, the final day of
Newbury’s Winter Carnival (ex-Hennessy Gold Cup Day), all four days of the
Cheltenham Festival, all three days of the Aintree Festival, plus Sandown
today. I’d missed Kempton Park on
Boxing Day this season, having developed a streaming cold on Christmas Day. L This left me one shy of my hoped-for total of 200
racecourse visits since my first, on this day in 2008 to Sandown Park; that
was in the days when it had been a mixed jumps and flat card, and had
included a jumps jockeys versus flat jockeys’ flat race too! I’d seen Choc ‘in the flesh’ that day for the very first time. I’d counted the Newbury ‘electrocution’ incident abandonment,
as there was one race that day, but not the rain-related Cheltenham total
abandonment in December 2008 when Lesley and I had walked the soggy
racecourse with Choc. Anyway, as has been the case for the past three
years, Lesley accompanied me to this end of season fixture. I’d purchased Premier Enclosure tickets on
the day they went on sale – they were offered at a reduced price of £25 each.
J Although it was less than two weeks before
the meeting before they arrived; by which stage I was almost panicking! After a mini heat-wave the previous week, the
weather had returned to its usual unpredictable self; the day would be colder
than expected for the end of April, with one or two showers into the
afternoon too. The previous day had
been wet, as it was during the early hours of Saturday too. Today’s outfit was 2 x Prussian blue thermal
T-shirts, a lilac thermal T-shirt, a blue M & S cardigan, a lilac fleece,
navy blue gillet, silver-grey jeggings
with black tights underneath, a grey herringbone-patterned fishtail with side-frill
M & S skirt, a llama print infinity scarf, a teal-coloured padded BHS
jacket, a pair of black Hotter ‘Danville’
ankle boots, and mauve ‘Defea’ Kipling handbag.
I’d arranged for Lesley to pick me up at
09:45. I was just preparing to wait
outside my house, when I received a text message to say she was just filling
up her petrol tank en route, somewhere on the A5! I delayed going outside for a few minutes,
as it was chilly. She eventually arrived
at 10:15, by which time I must have covered a fair distance pacing up and
down, as you do! We headed out to the London Colney
roundabout, via Highfield Park, before continuing
down the dual carriageway to reach junction 21 of the M25. Being mid-morning, the motorway was quite
busy. We didn’t encounter any holdups
until junction 12; this was due to traffic joining from the M3, but this soon
dispersed. We left the M25 at junction 10, after which we
continued up the A3 towards London. We
left this road at the second junction, heading down the slip-road to the
roundabout, before turning left to head towards Esher. As it was just after 11:00, traffic was
beginning to tailback from the town centre.
As we wanted to park within the racecourse
itself, in the free car parking area, we continued ahead at the traffic
lights situated at the top of the high street, entered the one-way system and
crossed the A244 at Esher Green to enter More Lane. Now heading downhill, we subsequently
turned right to enter the racecourse itself.
We continued along the driveway, and over the
racecourse crossing. The matting which
covers the roadway, and forms part of the racecourse once covered further, is
not easy to drive across; in fact it’s a peculiar sensation because the
vehicle wants to head off in a diagonal direction rather than continue straight
ahead! Once on the other side, we journeyed
along the driveway to where a steward was standing; he was directing us to
enter the small tarmaced area across from the Golf
Centre. This area was filling fast,
but we were directed to park adjacent to the flat 5-furlongs straight; a
large 4x4 had parked just before us, but at a crooked angle. They subsequently moved to a location
nearby, with another vehicle taking its place. Having left the car, we walked up the sloping car
park to the main driveway, where we turned right to continue our journey to ‘gazebo’ which denoted the entrance to
the Premier Enclosure. A visitor ahead
of us was asking about purchasing a ticket; he was instructed to head back
down the driveway, to the other racecourse crossing point, where he would be
able to buy one from the ticket kiosk nearby. Our tickets were scanned and I purchased our
race-cards before we crossed over the racecourse upon the white plastic
pontoons which currently protected the racing surface. Having reached the other side, we turned
left in order to walk along beside the rhododendron walk, before turning left
again and entering the Grandstand enclosure.
We stopped opposite the podium which had been erected ahead of today’s
year-end prize giving ceremony. Lesley headed off to the cash machine, and to buy
refreshments too; I declined the latter, as it’s difficult to drink tea or
coffee from flimsy plastic cups when ‘on
the go’ without making a mess – last year I’d spilt coffee on the cuff of
my cardigan! I was people watching whilst waiting for Lesley
to return; I saw Ed Chamberlain, Oli Bell, Luke
Harvey, Richard Johnson, Nico de Boinville, Cornelius Lysaught,
and Francesca Cumani. The latter was accosted by a number of
race-goers as she walked towards the entrance to the Parade Ring; they wanted
to take selfies with her! I want a selfie
... with the lovely Tom Stanley ... and maybe Jeremiah McGrath too! Teddy the Shetland pony also put in an
appearance today; he’s two years old. The Parade of Champions commenced at 12:30. Appearing this year were the recently
retired Cue Card, the retired Sire De Grugy, the
Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River, the King George VI chase winner and
Gold Cup runner-up Might Bite, the 2017 and 2018 Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air, the Betfair Chase winner Bristol De Mai and, finally, the
winner of this season’s Tingle Creek and Melling
Chases, Politologue. It’s a pity that Terrefort
and the recently retired Smad Place didn’t make an
appearance in the Parade. And, of
course, it’s been a while since a southern UK-based horse has won the Grand
National; perhaps next year there’ll be one to appear in Sandown’s Parade
too. Cue Card remained in the Parade Ring whilst the
first of the prizes was announced; he’d won the Sandown Park Special award
this year. Richard Johnson was
presented with the trophy for the Jump Jockeys’ Championship, by a member of
the Commonwealth gold winning netball team; she was very tall and Lesley
suggested she’d play goal attack or goal defence. Richard subsequently presented the
Conditional Jockeys’ trophy to James Bowen, son of Peter, and brother of
jockey Sean and hunter-chaser trainer Mickey too. The Champion Trainer title trophy was presented
to Nicky Henderson, his fifth win, and the leading owner trophy to JP McManus;
JP is a good bloke, as his horses are placed with a number of different
trainers, in both Ireland and the UK.
I’m also in favour of the horses owned in partnership by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede; their
horses are trained in the UK, Ireland and France, so provide a living in all
three countries. They own the fabulous
Terrefort, who is trained by Nicky Henderson. I’d endeavoured to take photographs of the
presentations, but was hampered by the photographers who stood in front of
the podium, including one or two who stood on ladders! As the presentations were drawing to a close, I
noticed Meally Thornton walking towards the Parade
Ring exit point close to the grandstand; she was accompanied by two
blonde-haired boys who ran ahead of her.
They must have walked across in front of me whilst my attention was
diverted elsewhere. I can only assume
that one of the lads was William, but I cannot confirm this as I had only a
rear view and sadly didn’t see her or them again for the remainder of the
day. Presentations complete, I headed to the area
beside the rhododendron walk; Lesley went to place a bet, on Piton Pete in
the first, before joining me. John Powell of EPDS Racing passed by at one point,
stopping for a chat too; one of their syndicate horses, Stynes,
was running in the sixth race of the day.
Ian Popham also passed
by; I’d seen him at Cheltenham, and then again at Aintree, despite the fact
he was sidelined currently by injury. Later in the afternoon race-goers had stopped on
the concourse, as they’d heard parakeets, although I’m not sure they caught
sight of them too. We heard the
parakeets, but have grown accustomed to them ‘hanging out’ at Sandown Park.
I saw some birds, sitting on branches way up in the tree canopy on the
mound, but they didn’t look like parrots to me! At various points during our walks to and from
the race viewing area beyond the winning post, we would ‘mingle’ with trainers and connections I recognised, including
Paul Nicholls. The
joint-favourites for the first race were Ballymoy
trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by Daryl
Jacob, along with the Philip Hobbs-trained Show On The Road ridden by Richard
Johnson; price 13-2. There was one
grey in this race, namely Django Django ... so dark grey in fact that you’d never know he
was one at present! The
starting gate for the first race was at the far end of the home straight;
this being the case, the horses headed down beside the rails in front of the
grandstands to reach it. They circled
within a small enclosure to the inside of the hurdles course. Mont Des Avaloirs
and Jaisalmer remained apart from the others as
they took a final turn within the holding pen; they joined the others as they
exited onto the racecourse.
The
group headed away from the starting gate initially before turning back,
although there was a little bit of barging, with Jaisalmer
squeezed out as Ballymoy to his inside nudged the
rail. However,
the starter wasn’t ready or happy either, so the group was asked to take
another turn; Mont Des Avaloirs was kept away, to
the outside, of the others. The
runners trotted in and then they were off, to a nice even break with, to the
far side, Highway One O One and Kelpies Myth leading the way as they headed
towards the first flight. Also to the
fore were Notre Ami in the centre, and Enola Gay and Friday Night Light to
the near side. A
lovely jump from Kelpies Myth took him into a clear advantage as the runners subsequently
headed on towards the second flight.
All 20 runners cleared the next okay, although the first-time visored The New Pharaoh was ridden away from it; he’d
also been a little sticky at the first.
Bringing up the rear, as they headed up past the winning post with one
circuit to go, were Show On The Road, Piton Pete and Burrows Edge. Having
reached the top of the hill, the runners swung right-handed, crossed the
matting which now protected the roadway into the car park, before travelling
downhill and swinging right once again in order to enter the back
straight. Kelpies Myth with Highway
One O One to his outer, continued to cut out the running, from Jaisalmer, Going Gold, Notre Ami, followed by Ar Mest to the inside of The
New Pharoah; after these came Ballymoy,
Django Django, Enola Gay,
Oistrakh Le Noir, Grapevine, Equus
Amadeus, Act Of Valour, Friday Night Light, Mont Des Avaloirs,
Taxmeifyoucan, Show On The Road, and Piton Pete;
Burrows Edge continued to bring up the rear. Mont
Des Avaloirs made progress to the outside of
runners as they approached flight number three; Highway One O One led them over
this one. The horses continued down
the back straight, heading to the next; they all cleared this one without
incident, although Burrows Edge was three or four lengths detached in
rear. The runners jumped one more
flight before they crossed the steeplechase track; the crossing point today,
was located between the water-jump and the first of the railway fences. The
Chris Gordon-trained Highway One O One continued to spear-head the field as
they approached three out. Although
there were no serious errors at this one, three of the panels were looking
decidedly tatty as the runners headed away from it. Burrows Edge, in the familiar colours of
Michael Buckley, had improved his position, with joint favourite Show On The
Road, Piton Pete and Taxmeifyoucan all being niggled
along at the rear. Highway
One O One was still narrowly ahead as the runners entered the home straight;
to the inside his nearest challengers were Kelpies Myth and Ar Mest, to his outer The New Pharoah, Going Gold and Jaisalmer. As they continued to the penultimate
flight, Equus Amadeus began to lay down his
challenge, as did Act Of Valour to the near side. Going Gold and Mont Des Avaloirs
squeezed up Grapevine at this point; the former was under a right-hand drive
and definitely bumped Nico de Boinville’s
mount in the process and he dropped back as a result. There were no casualties at this hurdle. Highway
One O One continued to hold onto the advantage as they journeyed up the hill
to the final obstacle. Equus Amadeus and Mont Des Avaloirs
were still laying down a challenge to the leader, as was Act Of Valour;
however, it was Ballymoy that was making the most
progress at this point, to the inside of the runners. Act
Of Valour was just marginally ahead as the runners jumped the final flight. Daryl Jacob’s mount subsequently took over
the lead as the horses continued up the run-in to the winning post. This seemed to spur on the long-time leader
and he stayed on well, fighting off the challenge of Equus
Amadeus and Mont Des Avaloirs; Act Of Valour,
however, found no extra on the run-in. Ballymoy went on to win
by 1¼ lengths at the line, from Highway One O One, who completed three
quarters of a length ahead of Equus Amadeus, with a
further 1½ lengths back to Mont Des Avaloirs; Harry
Cobden’s mount had snatched 4th-place from stable companion Act Of Valour by
a nose. Sam Twiston-Davies
rode the latter, for owners The McNeill Family. The owners spread their horses around
different trainers these days, using not only Alan King and Tom George, but
also Warren Greatrex and Paul Nicholls. When
interviewed, winning trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies
said he thought the horse’s best distance will be two and a half miles going
forward, now that’s he settles in his races; he wasn’t sure what next
season’s plan will be, that’s up to the owners’ and their racing manager to
decide. It was three out of three wins
since a wind operation evidently! Mont Des Avaloirs is the name of a mountain in France … but translates as Mountain of Drains! It just hasn’t got the same ring about it in English!!! The Stewards held an enquiry into the argy-bargy which occurred at the penultimate flight; details
below.
With the race over, we headed back up the hill to
find a space beside the rhododendron walk so that I could take photographs of
the runners as they headed back. We
remained at our chosen location ahead of the horses appearing on the
rhododendron walk ahead of the next race. There was a sad postscript to Act Of Valour’s
career; he lost his life as a result of a fall during Haydock’s
Swinton Hurdle a fortnight later. RIP. Reports from the
Stewards’ Room: Race 1 -
1:50pm BALLYMOY (IRE) and GRAPEVINE (IRE) wore earplugs
during the race. This was the fifth running of the Oaksey Chase; the now-retired Menorah had one each of the
previous four races. Today, in honour
of the horse, the runners would compete for The Menorah Challenge
Trophy. And making a special
appearance today was Menorah himself; he was led around the Parade Ring,
before leading the runners down the walkway and being paraded on course in
front of the grandstands. In
retirement, Menorah is in the care of Champion Jockey and regular rider
Richard Johnson. As has happened before at this fixture, but not
in this race, there were six runners representing three trainers – Nicky
Henderson, Paul Nicholls and Tom George on this occasion. The odds-on favourite was Top Notch,
trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Daryl Jacob; price 4-5. He represented owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, the
owners and jockey having won the first race with Ballymoy. There was one grey in this race, Alcala; I’d
describe him as a very pretty ‘rocking-horse’
dapple grey! We subsequently headed down the hill and passed
between the Eclipse Pavilion and the main grandstand to reach our viewpoint
beyond the winning post. The horses had already headed to the starting
gate which was at the beginning of the back straight.
The
horses approached the tape at the walk, apart from Double Shuffle who was
jogging along to their outside. And
then they were off, with O O Seven, Top Notch and
Double Shuffle disputing the lead as the runners headed towards the first
fence; Saddler’s Risk brought up the rear.
Double
Shuffle led narrowly as they jumped the fence, but O O
Seven went on as they continued to the next.
However, he was a little bit slow over this one, which allowed Top Notch
and Double Shuffle to draw alongside once more as the runners headed to the
first of the open-ditches. Sadler’s
Risk was already detached by four lengths in rear. All
six runners cleared the fence in their stride, with O O
Seven going on again as the horses headed towards the water-jump; Saddler’s
Risk had reduced the deficit by which he trailed to just one length by the
time they cleared it. O
O Seven continued to spearhead the runners, ears
pricked, as they approached the first of the three railway fences. All six horses measured these well, with no
errors to report; they subsequently travelled into the far bend with no
change at the head of affairs. Having
then cleared the Pond fence, the runners entered the home straight, with O O Seven leading, flanked by Top Notch to his inner and
Double Shuffle to his outer. Art Mauresque held fourth position, from Alcala and Sadler’s
Risk. There were no issues at the
first obstacle therein, the runners then tacking across to their left in
order to take the open-ditch option at the next. Top
Notch drew almost level with his stable-mate as they cleared this, as O O Seven continued to demonstrate a preference to jump out
to his left. The gallop continued to
be a steady one as the runners headed up past the winning post with one
circuit now to travel. Having swung
right-handed, the runners crossed the carpeted roadway and headed downhill
towards the next, often tricky, fence; Alcala now travelled at the rear of
the closely packed field. Double
Shuffle, to the outside of runners, pecked on landing over this one. Having
turned into the back straight, all six runners cleared the next in their
stride. Saddler’s Risk had dropped to
the rear once more and soon began to lose touch with his rivals. The runners continued to the next, another
plain fence. Top Notch, who is
diminutive in size but certainly not in talent, cleverly put in a short
stride before this one in order to meet it correctly. The
following fence was the final open-ditch and O O
Seven continued to lead as they all negotiated this safely, although Sadler’s
Risk now trailed the field by five lengths.
The runners then hopped over the water-jump before travelling onwards
towards the three railway fences once more.
Alcala got a little bit close to the first of these but, other than
that, there were no errors to report. Double
Shuffle was being pushed along, in fourth position, as the field headed into
the far turn with just three more fences to negotiate. Sadler’s Risk had continued to this point,
but was pulled up before the Pond fence.
Top Notch jumped this fence upsides the long-time leader, with Art Mauresque shadowing their every move. Having
entered the home straight, Top Notch took a clear advantage once they’d
cleared the penultimate fence; currently travelling in fourth position,
Alcala pecked on landing over this one.
Thus Top Notch led them towards the final fence, with Harry Cobden
endeavouring to close the deficit aboard Art Mauresque. Daryl
Jacob’s mount jumped out to his left over the last, having done so to put
himself right. However, try as he
might up the run in, Art Mauresque was soon outpaced
by Top Notch as they headed to the line; the winning distance was 2¾
lengths. O O
Seven clung on to third place by a nose, over the plugging-on Double Shuffle,
having finished 10 lengths behind the runner-up. Alcala completed the course in last place,
weary at the end. Trainer
Tom George had earlier said that he’d never discovered the reason for Double
Shuffle running badly at Aintree; he’d been runner-up to Might Bite in this
season’s King George VI Chase and, of course, ran poorly again today too.
Having returned to the area adjacent to the rhododendron
walk, we remainder there ahead of the next race. The heavily odds-on favourite for this race was Altior, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico de Boinville; price
2-11. He’d won this year’s Champion Chase,
also this race last year too, when still a novice. In fact he was unbeaten over hurdles and
fences and was seeking his fourteenth victory today. Interestingly, Altior
ran in three bumpers at the start of his career; he won the first one,
beating Double W’s; he finished 3rd of 11 to Barters Hill in the next, and
6th of 13 to Bellshill in the last of these! There were no greys in this race. However, Cue Card was led out onto the
racecourse in order to parade in front of the grandstands ahead of this one. The starting gate for this race was at the far
end of the home straight, so the competitors cantered down past the
grandstands to reach it. Again Lesley
and I headed to the slope above the track, just beyond the winning post, to
view the event.
The
horses milled around at the start, Ar Mad at the
head of the group; the runners were waiting for Cue Card to exit stage left,
having paraded in front of the stands!
And, finally, the starter raised his flag and they were off. Ar Mad led the runners away, from Special
Tiara, Altior, San Benedeto,
Diego Du Charmil and God’s Own. The leader flew over the first fence, the
Irish raider slightly less fluent. The
runners then tacked across to the stand side en route to the second; the
first of two open-ditches. Ar Mad jumped this with plenty to spare, whilst Daryl
Jacob took a slight tug aboard Special Tiara to ensure his mount met it on a
good stride. As would be expected, Altior jumped it well too, whilst in rear God’s Own
skewed slightly over this one. The
Gary Moore runner had gone a number of lengths clear, but Josh Moore
restrained him slightly as they headed up past the winning past and this
enabled Special Tiara and the others to close some of the deficit. Having reached the top of the hill, the
runners swung right-handed, crossed the carpeted roadway, and galloped downhill
to the next. Ar Mad flew over this one too, whereas
Special Tiara stuttered into it and lost ground, enabling the others to close
upon him; God’s Own wasn’t particularly fluent here either. Having turned into the back straight for
the one and only time, Daryl Jacob’s mount closed upon the leader once
more. Ar Mad continued to jump with speed and
fluency, gaining ground at the next fence; meanwhile God’s Own was detached
from the back of the field by three or four lengths. The following fence was another plain one
and, once again, the leader was far more fluent than Special Tiara. In contrast at the next, the final
open-ditch, Ar Mad took it slower than his rivals
having put in a short stride just before it. The
runners galloped on towards the next, the water-jump; God’s Own had now begun
to close the gap. Having cleared this
in their stride, the six runners then continued to the first of the railway
fences; Ar Mad still with the advantage. However,
for some inexplicable reason, having jumped like a stag thus far, Ar Mad got far too close to the fence, breasted it and
crashed out of the race. Fortunately
San Benedeto was nimble, and sidestepped the fallen
horse, Josh Moore having been thrown clear.
This left Special Tiara in the lead.
As the horses galloped on towards the middle of the railway fences, Ar Mad tried desperately to get to his feet; he could
not. The
remaining five cleared the middle fence without incident, Special Tiara
leading from Altior, Diego Du Charmil,
San Benedeto and God’s Own. The latter had closed to dispute fourth
place by the time they cleared the third of the railway fences and were
entering the far turn. Special
Tiara continued to lead the way as the horses approached the Pond Fence, he
was flanked by Altior to his inside and Diego Du Charmil to his outer; these three jumped the fence in
unison. Nico
de Boinville sent his mount on as they headed
around the home turn and approached two out.
There was almost a coming together with Special Tiara, as Altior jumped out to this left over this one. Meanwhile, San Benedeto
was improving to the inside, but God’s Own landed in a bit of a heap, having
put in an extra stride before take-off. Nico changed his whip into this left hand
as the runners approached the final fence; he administered a couple of cracks
to his horse’s rump subsequently. San Benedeto was now Altior’s
closest pursuer and he was less than a length down as they jumped it. Initially,
the Paul Nicholls second-string was able to go with Altior
but, as he’d shown at Cheltenham, the ‘turbo
boost’ kicks in when rousted, and he drew away up the hill to win by 3¼
lengths at the line. God’s Own kept on
to take 3rd position after the last, a further 3¾ lengths further back. Special Tiara completed in 4th, the same
distance behind him. Diego Du Charmil completed in last place. It
was an excellent run from San Benedeto; he’d had a
98 day break having disappointed in January at Ascot. The winter ground did not suit him, and
Paul Nicholls said he’d be kept going over the summer; he’d also got a rating
of 155 having benefited from the Politologue
tripping incident at last year’s Aintree Festival. There
was an extremely sad postscript to the race; Ar
Mad’s fall proved to be fatal as he’d fractured a shoulder, his off-side one,
as a result of the fall. RIP. Josh Moore had also sustained a shoulder
injury, not his first – reported as dislocated at best.
Once
more we remained beside the rhododendron walk, having returned there
following the third race. Reports from the Stewards’ Room: Race 3 -
3:00pm ALTIOR (IRE) wore earplugs during the race. The
favourite for the feature race was Blaklion,
trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by his
son Sam; price 6-1. The partnership
had been brought down at the first fence in this year’s Grand National, run a
fortnight ago. The 2016
winner, The Young Master took part again, but he was ridden by Conor Shoemark today because
Sam Waley-Cohen couldn’t do the weight! I believe last year’s winner Henllan Harri was also an
entry, but failed to make the cut due to oversubscription today, the maximum
number permitted being 20. There had
been only 13 runners last year. Another
competitor was Domesday Book, his first run since
winning last season’s Kim Muir; also running was this year’s Kim Muir winner,
Missed Approach. There were
no greys in this race. Three runners
wore first-time cheek-pieces – Rock The Kasbah, Carole’s Destrier
and Step Back. The former had finished
6th in this race last year and had missed both the Cheltenham and Aintree
Festivals due to unseasonably soft going. Bigbadjohn was led down
the walkway; this was to avoid any repeat of the antics which had occurred in
the tunnel at the Aintree Festival! Evidently
there was confusion regarding the pre-race parade, with a number of horses
breaking the parade early; an explanation for this was given by the Clerk of
The Course Andrew Cooper in the Stewards’ Report below. The starting
gate for this race was at the far end of the home straight, with this and two
full circuits to travel. Meanwhile, Joe Tizzard
was stood immediately in front of us whilst we watched the race; the yard had
two runners in the event, namely Theatre Guide and Royal Vacation. He chatted to Coral’s Simon Clare; Corals
sponsor the Tizzard yard.
Step
Back had to be re-saddled at the start; jockey Jamie Moore doing the
business. It was a tiny saddle, as the
horse was carrying a mere 10 stone!
There were actually five horses carrying 10 stone. And
then they were off, first time. Up
with the pace were Rock The Kasbah and Carole’s Destrier
to the far side, and Missed Approach to the centre. All 20 horses cleared the first without
incident, although Sugar Baron was a little slow towards the outside, at rear
of the field. They
subsequently tacked across to the nearside in order to take the open-ditch
option at the next. Rock The Kasbah
and Missed Approach led over this one, from Domesday
Book, Present Man and Step Back. At
the rear of the field, Royal Vacation made an error; birch flew as a result. Heading
up past the winning post of the first occasion, with two full circuits still
to travel, Domesday Book held the narrow advantage
from Missed Approach, followed by Step Back, Rock The Kasbah, Present Man,
The Young Master, Carole’s Destrier, Blaklion, Benbens, Houblon Des Obeaux, Band Of
Blood, Minella Daddy, Regal Encore, Theatre Guide,
Relentless Dreamer, Rathlin Rose, Dawson City, Bigbadjohn, Sugar Baron and Royal Vacation. Having
reached the top of the hill, the runners swung right-handed and crossed the
carpeted roadway, before continuing downhill to the third fence; Missed
Approach had now taken up the running, with Step Back on the outside of
runners moving into second position on the approach to the obstacle. All of the runners cleared this one
well. The
horses then continued around the right-hand turn and into the back straight
for the first time. They streamed over
the first fence therein, with both Royal Vacation and Sugar Baron already
becoming detached at the rear of the field.
It was quickly on to the next, which they all negotiated safely. The following fence is another open-ditch,
at which Step Back took the lead. Next
up was the water-jump, which the leader skipped over, followed by Missed
Approach, Domesday Book, Rock The Kasbah, Present
Man and The Young Master. The runners
continued on to the first of the railway fences, which they cleared without
incident, although Adam Wedge aboard Relentless Dreamer subsequently had to
re-gather his reins. All
twenty subsequently negotiated the second and third railway fences
successfully, before heading into the far turn still led by Step Back. The leading group also comprised of Rock
The Kasbah, Missed Approach, Domesday Book, Present
Man and The Young Master; Carole’s Destrier and Houblon Des Obeaux spearheaded the
remainder. Not
much ever happens at the Pond fence … they all jumped it well, although there
was a collision between Houblon Des Obeaux and Theatre Guide; the former getting the better
of the argument. The runners headed
around the turn and into the home straight with one circuit now completed. In
the lead, Step Back continued to jump well as the field cleared the next;
bringing up the rear were Bidbadjohn, Sugar Baron
and Royal Vacation. The runners tacked
across to the nearside once more, in order to jump the open-ditch. Having jumped this one, Royal Vacation
received a number of slaps down his shoulder and Minella
Daddy, who had now dropped back through the field, received two strikes from
James Bowen’s whip. Meanwhile,
up front, Step Back continued to travel sweetly; he held a two or three
lengths advantage over Rock The Kasbah, followed by Missed Approach, Present
Man, Domesday Book, Houblon
Des Obeaux, The Young Master, Carole’s Destrier and Theatre Guide as the field headed up past
the winning post with one circuit to go.
Having
reached the top of the hill, they swung right-handed and crossed the carpeted
roadway once more on their journey downhill to the next fence. Band Of Blood landed awkwardly over this one,
with jockey Brian Hughes re-gathering his knitting afterwards. Carole’s Destrier
was slow, losing a number of lengths as a result, and Dawson City had to be
cajoled along having jumped it. Having
dropped to the back of the field, Minella Daddy was
pulled up before the next; it had been doubtful that he would stay,
regardless. Meanwhile,
Step Back continued to lead as the runners turned into the back straight for
the final time; Rock The Kasbah travelled at his quarters and these two had
clear daylight over their rivals. The
runners streamed over the first in the back straight, the next too. Houblon Des Obeaux had dropped back rapidly through the field and was
now disputing second last position with Royal Vacation; only Sugar Baron was
behind them. The
following fence was the final open-ditch, where Missed Approach made an
error. Step Back and Rock The Kasbah
continued to lead as the runners cleared the water-jump, from Present Man,
Theatre Guide, The Young Master, Missed Approach and Rathlin
Rose. The signs were looking ominous
for top-weight Blaklion and the JP McManus runner,
Regal Encore; in fact Richie McLernon pulled up the
latter before the next, which was the first of the railway fences. Having
jumped this fence, the present state of play was that Step Back continued to
lead, from Rock The Kasbah, Present Man, Theatre Guide, The Young Master, Rathlin Rose, Relentless Dreamer, Carole’s Destrier, Missed Approach, Dawson City, Band Of Blood, Bigbadjohn, Benbens, Domesday Book, Royal Vacation, Blaklion,
Houblon Des Obeaux and
Sugar Baron; it had seemed like a huge effort for Blaklion
to get over this one. The
eighteen remaining runners negotiated the final two railway fences safely,
although Bigbadjohn made an error at the second
one. The leading duo kicked-on as they
headed into the final bend, setting up a five lengths advantage over their
nearest pursuer, Present Man. He, in
turn, was clear of Theatre Guide, Relentless Dreamer, The Young Master and
Carole’s Destrier; this group was well in advance
of the remainder. Step
Back was still ahead as he reached the Pond Fence; his pursuers were strung
out, one by one, behind him. He
continued to draw away from Rock The Kasbah as he headed towards and over the
second last and no challengers were coming from further back either. His jockey, Jamie Moore, administered a few
taps with his whip approaching the last and his mount continued to respond to
his urgings. In
fact there was no sign of the leader stopping as he flew the final fence and
galloped up the hill to the line to win by an incredible 13 lengths. Rock The Kasbah completed in 2nd position,
14 lengths ahead of Present Man, who held on by half a length from Relentless
Dreamer, with Carole’s Destrier just half a length
further back in 5th. Dawson City was
6th, Theatre Guide 7th, The Young Master 8th, Houblon
Des Obeaux 9th, Band Of Blood 10th and Benbens 11th, last of the finishers. I believe Benbens
finished lame, as Aidan Coleman returned on foot along the walkway; there was
no sign of his mount. For
the record, Domesday Book, Missed Approach, and Blaklion were pulled up before the Pond fence. Sugar Baron, Royal Vacation, Rathlin Rose and Bigbadjohn
before two out.
We returned to the area adjacent to the rhododendron
walk following the race, so were able to watch the presentations via the big
screen which overlooks the Parade Ring; we then realised we’d followed the
owners as we headed down to the viewing area beyond the main grandstand – the
lady wore an unusual striped coat! The
winner is by Indian River, as is Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River. Reports
from the Stewards’ Room: Race 4 - 3:35pm Prior permission had been granted for the runners
for this race to Parade out of race-card order. The next race was a Grade 2
event. The joint-favourites being Wholestone, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies
and ridden by Daryl Jacob; also Call Me Lord trained by Nicky Henderson and
ridden by Nico de Boinville;
price 6-4. Both horses are owned by Simon
Munir and Isaac Souede. Jamie Moore replaced his brother Josh aboard the
grey Diakali trained by his father Gary; Josh having
sustained a a shoulder
injury, as had his ill-fated mount Ar Mad. The starting gate for this race was part-way down
the back straight; the horses would jump 3 of the four flights therein. This being the case, the competitors headed
up around the top bend to reach it.
Meanwhile, Lesley and I headed down the concourse to find a good
vantage point upon the slope above the track, just beyond the winning post.
And
then they were off, with Diakali and Old Guard leading
the way to the first flight; Lil Rockerfeller was close
up in third. Wholestone
almost matched strides with the Neil King runner, and Boite
along with Call Me Lord brought up the rear. The
closely packed field cleared the obstacle in their stride and continued down
the back straight to the next. Diakali led over this one, with Jamie Moore endeavouring
to anchor his mount as the runners headed across the chase course on their
way to the third. They all jumped this
one well, before continuing into the far turn; Wholestone,
Old Guard and Diakali disputed the lead. The
runners soon entered the home straight for the first time, and headed towards
the fourth flight; Old Guard jumped this one more slowly than his rivals and
was rousted along briefly by jockey Harry Cobden. Wholestone landed
marginally ahead when they jumped the following flight. The
horses continued to climb up the hill, passing the winning post en route with
one circuit now to travel. They
subsequently swung right-handed, crossed the carpeted roadway, before heading
downhill and turning into the back straight once more. The six runners were still well-grouped. Wholestone led the field
over the next, from Old Guard, Diakali, Call Me
Lord, Boite and Lil Rockerfeller. The grey began to lose ground on the way to
the following flight, and he found himself in last place having jumped it;
the leader had made an error here. It
was Old Guard’s turn to land awkwardly when the runners cleared the following
obstacle. Diakali
had now lost touch with the other five. The
horses continued on their journey to the third last, crossing over the chase
track as they did so. Lil Rockerfeller, having moved up to the outside of runners,
had subsequently left his mark upon the hurdle and was pushed along as they
headed away from it. They headed into
the final turn with five horses still in contention; Wholestone
led, from Old Guard, Call Me Lord, Boite and the
pushed along Lil Rockerfeller. Diakali would
come home in his own time. They
entered the home straight, with Call Me Lord to the inside, tracking Wholestone. Old Guard
was now under pressure, receiving encouragement. Having looked beaten, Lil Rockerfeller began to stay on between runners. Call Me Lord took up the running
approaching two out, with Wayne Hutchinson’s mount now his closest
pursuer. Wholestone
continued in third position, from Old Guard and Boite. Call
Me Lord continued to sprint away from his rivals as he headed towards the
final flight. However, he made a total
mess of this one; Nico de Boinville
didn’t expect him to put in an extra stride before take-off! However, the Nicky Henderson-runner still
had many lengths in hand despite this; his jockey glanced over his left
shoulder and pushed his mount out hands and heels to the line, easing down
close home. The winning distance was
16 lengths! Runner-up
Lil Rockerfeller finished 6 lengths clear of Wholestone and he, in turn, completed 8 lengths clear of
Old Guard; Boite was 5th and Diakali
6th. Daryl
Jacob congratulated the winning jockey but, presumably, it would be the last
time that he would choose another mount over Call Me Lord! There is one draw-back with the winner
however – he must run on a right-handed track. Call
Me Lord had won on this day last year; the first race on this card.
We didn’t go back to the Winners’ Enclosure
following the race. Reports from the
Stewards’ Room: Race 5 - 4:05pm Following the race, the Veterinary Officer
reported that BOITE (IRE), placed fifth, had lost its left-hind shoe. The favourite for the penultimate
race was War Sound, trained by Philip Hobbs and ridden by Richard Johnson;
price 9-4. Also taking part was Altior’s half-brother Silverhow,
trained by Colin Tizzard; he was formerly trained
by Nicky Henderson. He has the
tell-tale patch of white hair at the base of his tail, just like Altior – they must have inherited this from their dam,
Monte Solaro.
As mentioned earlier, there was also an EPDS
Racing representative in this event, namely Stynes
trained by Graeme McPherson and ridden by Kielan
Woods. He was returning to action
following 306 days on the injury sidelines; although the winter ground would
definitely not have suited him! There were no greys in this race. Having
spent time watching Stynes in the Parade Ring, and
then as he was led down the rhododendron walk, I completely forgot there were
other runners heading down to the racecourse behind him … so not all of the
horses were photographed! Doh! Heading down to our favourite vantage
point to view the race, we turned the corner to be confronted by the lovely
Tom Stanley interviewing trainer Oliver Sherwood. I stopped momentarily ... as you do ...
taking the opportunity for a rear view photo and a front view photo too, once
I’d decided upon my viewing position on the grass embankment beyond the
winning post! Sadly the interview wasn’t
one of those broadcast on RUK. Joe Tizzard was stood
behind us for this race. The starting gate for this event was just prior
to the first of the railway fences.
The horses headed across the in-field golf range and, of course, the
straight 5-furlong track, with yellow posts to guide them, in order to reach
the back straight.
And
then they were off, heading towards the first of the railway fences, with Ramonex spearheading the field. Stynes was
travelling to the outside of runners, tracking Silverhow. All eleven cleared this fence without
incident and Markov brought up the rear.
Having soon jumped all three of the railway fences, the field was
already quite strung out. Ramonex continued to
lead the way as they entered the far turn, from Midnight Shot, Monbeg Charmer, Silverhow,
Deauville Dancer, Stynes, Geordie Des Champs, Solighoster, Rayvin Black, War
Sound and Markov; the latter was a little detached from the others. The
runners continued to the Pond fence, which they all cleared well. Harry Cobden let Silverhow
stride on into the lead as they headed around the bend into the home straight
for the first time. Ten of the runners
jumped the next okay, the exception being Solighoster
who capsized on landing. However, both
soon got to their feet, uninjured, and Robbie Dunne would subsequently lead
his mount back. Silverhow continued to
lead the way, as the runners tacked across to their left in order to tackle
the first of the open-ditches. Ramonex blundered here; he’d left his hind-legs in the
fence, pitching James Bowen up his neck as a result. However, the partnership survived and they
continued to hold second position as the field headed up the hill towards the
line with one circuit now to travel. Heading
towards the top turn, Silverhow led from Ramonex, Midnight Shot, Deauville Dancer, Stynes, Monbeg Charmer, Geordie
Des Champs, Rayvin Black, War Sound and
Markov. The runners subsequently swung
right-handed, crossed the carpeted roadway and headed downhill to the seventh
fence; Markov had relegated War Sound to last place by the time they jumped
it. However, once in the back
straight, Richard Johnson’s mount progressed to the outside of runners and
Markov was demoted to the rear of the field once more. The
competitors having jumped two fences in the back straight, Midnight Shot now
found himself one from the back of the field and niggled along. The following obstacle was the final
open-ditch, with Harry Cobden riding his mount towards take off … one, two,
three, up! His mount had delivered
each time he’d been asked and he was two lengths clear of his nearest rival,
which remained Ramonex. They
continued to the water-jump, where the leader was a little bit clumsy; Rayvin Black had now progressed into second position,
with Geordie Des Champs in mid-field being pushed along for a few strides. Silverhow led the
runners over the first of the railway fences, followed by Rayvin
Black, Stynes, the pushed-along Geordie Des Champs,
and then Deauville Dancer. Ramonex had now dropped back through the field and only
had Midnight Shot and Markov behind him.
Having jumped the middle of these, he was then last. The
ten runners cleared the next and headed into the far turn; Silverhow, Rayvin Black and
Geordie Des Champs had set up a clear advantage over the remainder of the
field, which was currently led by Stynes. As the leaders continued towards the Pond
fence, Richard Johnson’s mount began to make good progress to the outside of
the field. Silverhow
had a length in hand as he jumped it, with War Sound now upsides Rayvin Black, disputing second position. Ramonex was
pulled up before the fence. Heading
around the home turn, a group of five had broken away from the others; namely
Silverhow, War Sound, Rayvin
Black, Geordie Des Champs and Deauville Dancer. Harry Cobden’s mount flew over the penultimate
fence, whereas War Sound wasn’t as fluent, with jockey Richard Johnson going
to the buckle-end of the reins as he landed.
Rayvin Black weakened rapidly after this
fence; leaving Geordie Des Champs and Deauville Dancer to pursue the two
leaders. Meanwhile,
Silverhow was powering his way down to the last
obstacle, where he jumped slightly out to his right in order to put himself
right. The Colin Tizzard-trained
runner then continued to stay on strongly up the hill all the way to the
line; the winning distance was 4 lengths.
War Sound had completed in 2nd, but had been no match for the winner
today, although he had stayed on up the hill.
Geordie Des Champs had completed a further 8 lengths back in 3rd
position, and Deauville Dancer claimed 4th, a further 3¼ lengths behind. Monbeg Charmer and Stynes had been pulled up before two out, leaving solely
Midnight Shot and Markov to follow the others home, in 6th and 7th places
respectively; they were closing rapidly upon the tired 5th-placed Rayvin Black at the post.
EPDS
were very happy with their horse’s run, as Stynes
had been out of action for many months, and the ground would not have been in
his favour today either.
Having
returned to our regular spot beside the rhododendron walk whilst the horses
passed by, we then headed further along, to where the unplaced horses are
unsaddled. I took a number of photos
whilst Stynes was attended to by his trainer. Reports from the Stewards’ Room: Race 6 - 4:40pm Permission was given
for MONBEG CHARMER (IRE) to go early to post. The favourite
for the final race of the 2017/2018 season was Soul Emotion, trained by Nicky
Henderson and ridden by Nico de Boinville;
price 5-1. Alan King had two runners
in this race, namely Wilde Blue Yonder ridden by Tom Cannon and Fidux ridden by Wayne Hutchinson. I had my only bet of the day, placed upon
Wilde Blue Yonder. He’d been plagued
by injury since his novice season in 2013/2014, but had also been Choc’s final ride at Aintree
back in 2014, so I’ve always have a soft spot for him. This was his fourth run this season, having
hit the frame – 334 – on his previous starts. Skipthecuddles (otherwise known as the ‘tongue-less’
horse) was another competitor, trained by Graeme McPherson and ridden by Kielan Woods. He’d
won four days previously, at Ludlow. Also, Ordo Ab Chao
was an entry; previously trained by Alan King, he was now trained by Olly Murphy. The
trainer said that Ordo
Ab Chao may be kept on the go during the summer,
having been lightly raced. Jumping is
on the agenda too. Olly
Murphy had clocked up 47 winners in his debut season. Aidan Coleman replaced the
injured Josh Moore aboard Wolf Of Windlesham. The starting gate for
this race was on the far side of the track, with one hurdle to jump before
the far corner. This being the case,
the horses cantered down past the grandstands to reach it. Once again, for the final
time today, Lesley and I headed down the concourse to find a suitable vantage
point near the top of the grassy slope just beyond the winning post. I have to say that Sandown Park is probably
one of the least suitable tracks for someone with a pelvis issue, or at least
my particular pelvis issue, due to the slopes encountered! I’m in pain when I walk on the flat, but it’s
even more painful when going up and down hills!!!
The
19 runners milled around, in an anti-clockwise direction at the start before weaving
through between a hurdle and the water-jump to reach the starting gate. However, they were a little too eager and
were requested to take another turn; it would now be a standing start. It was a little bit of the ‘Grand Annual’
mentality; on this occasion the jockeys were keen to ride the final winner of
the 2017/2018 season. The
first attempt to line up was a no go; the starter telling the jockeys to take
another turn. And then they were off,
finally. Four of the runners were
slowly away, having been short of room; these were Le Breuil,
Soul Emotion, Wolf Of Windlesham and Stamp Your
Feet. Meanwhile up front, Dashing
Oscar, Landin, Lough Derg
Spirit and Skipthecuddles led the way as they
safely negotiated the first flight. Heading
into the first turn, Skipthecuddles took up the
running, with Dashing Oscar and Landin at his
quarters. They were now followed by Zubayr, Wilde Blue Yonder and Lough Derg
Spirit; having been slowly away, Le Breuil had
joined this group, with the favourite tracking him through on the outside
too. At the rear of the field was Ballotin. The
runners had soon entered the home straight, for the first time, with Skipthecuddles leading the way, ears pricked. Dashing Oscar took a narrow advantage as
they cleared the second flight. He
continued to spearhead the field as they headed to the next, with Skipthecuddles, Landin, Le Breuil and Lough Derg Spirit
his nearest pursuers. Behind these,
from the far side, were Fidux, Wilde Blue Yonder, Zubayr, Mystic Sky and Soul Emotion. In the second half of the field travelled
Stowaway Magic, Enniscoffey Oscar, Destiny’s Gold,
Wolf Of Windlesham, Ballotin,
Jester Jet, Ordo Ab Chao,
Psychedelic Rock and Stamp Your Feet. With
no casualties thus far, the nineteen runners continued up past the winning
post and swung right-handed at the top of the hill. They continued over the carpeted roadway
and headed downhill before bearing right-handed once more in order to enter
the back straight for the final time. Dashing
Oscar had a half-length advantage as they jumped the first flight therein;
however, he made a mistake and Skipthecuddles then
took over at the head of affairs.
Dashing Oscar, who was being ridden by the trainer’s sister-in-law Aine O’Connor, rejoined the leader heading to the next,
only to be out-jumped once more.
Meanwhile, at the back of the field the JP McManus runner, Stamp Your
Feet, was beginning to lose touch. The
Graeme McPherson runner continued to lead as the competitors cleared the
sixth flight, before heading across the chase course on their way to the last
obstacle in the back straight. The
favourite, Soul Emotion, continued to travel on the wide outside of the
field. Skipthecuddles
had a narrow advantage as they cleared three out, from Dashing Oscar, Le Breuil and the Jeremiah McGrath-ridden Lough Derg Spirit! Near
the rear, Zubayr didn’t jump this one particularly
well and Stamp Your Feet continued to trail the field and would soon be
pulled up. The
tongue-less Skipthecuddles led the runners into the
home straight, his nearest pursuers remained Dashing Oscar and Le Breuil. Just
behind these as they headed towards two out were Lough Derg
Spirit, Wilde Blue Yonder, Mystic Sky and Soul Emotion. Wayne Hutchinson had angled Fidux to the inside and was beginning to make his
challenge too. And
it was Soul Emotion, to the stand-side, which rose in front over the
penultimate flight; Dashing Oscar took it in second position. Under pressure at this stage, Wilde Blue
Yonder stepped on the flight and took a tumble, literally; he’d fallen on a
couple of occasions as a novice (at Newbury and Ascot) when Choc had ridden
him. He’d have won on each occasion
too. Anyway
... back to 2018 … Soul Emotion continued to extend his lead on the run to
the final flight; Wolf Of Windlesham was staying on
well and had moved into second position at this stage. Fidux, Dashing
Oscar and Le Breuil headed the remainder, but the
tiring Skipthecuddles caught a leg on the flight
and also took a tumbling fall. Meanwhile
Soul Emotion galloped all the way to the line; it was a little reminiscent of
Altior earlier in the afternoon, and he won by 4
lengths. The runner-up Wolf Of Windlesham had pulled well clear of the others too, he
beat Fidux by 11 lengths who, in turn, had beaten
Dashing Oscar by a head. Le Breuil claimed 5th, Psychedelic Rock 6th, Jester Jet 7th
and Zubayr 8th.
Ninth was Enniscoffey Oscar, 10th Lough Derg Spirit, 11th Ordo Ab Chao, 12th Stowaway Magic; last of the finishers was
Mystic Sky. The others had pulled up. Wilde
Blue Yonder had got to his feet quickly, as had Tom Cannon; Tom managed to
catch hold of his mount’s reins but the horse wouldn’t stop, so he had to let
go again! Likewise, both Skipthecuddles and Kielan Woods
were quickly to their feet; the horse trotted off before breaking into a
canter in order to follow the herd to the line!
There
was a discussion on RUK, between Nick Luck and David Cleary, about the
problems of handicapping French import horses, such as Soul Emotion. This was his second run on British soil; he
won his first race over course and distance too. His initial rating had been awarded on his
record of one decent run and a number of moderate ones in France, and then
been increased by 12, to 137 after his win.
French imports have to start in handicap races evidently, due to the
nature of our racing programme ... oh well.
Winning jockey, Nico de Boinville,
said he’d stuck to the outside to get the better ground. I
guess it was fitting that the 2017/2018 Champion Trainer Nicky Henderson
would have 4 of the 7 winners today.
Owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede had three winners. And
it had been damp today, like much of the season, and freezing according to
Nick Luck too ... my friend Lesley would agree with him about that! I was pretty much okay having treated it, clothes-wise,
as a normal National Hunt winter’s day!!! Reports
from the Stewards’ Room: Race 7 - 5:15pm Having reviewed recordings of the false start, the
Starters were satisfied that no riders should be reported for contravening
the starting procedures. Following the final race, we stopped off beside
the rhododendron walk so that I could take photographs of the returning
horses, before we headed over to the Winners’ Enclosure; we stayed there
until the prizes had been presented ... although the winning jockey, Nico de Boinville, didn’t make
an appearance. There had been no winnings to collect today; both
Lesley and I had drawn a complete blank. L But at least Wilde Blue Yonder appeared to
be okay following his mishap, as did Skipthecuddles. Racing over, we headed into the reception area
within the main stand in order to visit to little girls’ room. The queue wasn’t quite as bad as might be
expected at the end of the day, only to the door! The loos had been refurbished since our
visit last April, with new cubicles being introduced; 12 in total, I believe,
four of which were situated beyond a doorway.
When it was my turn, I used one of these four ...more information than
you needed! The after-racing party ... featuring the Chip
Shop Boys ... had commenced so,
instead of heading through the main grandstand to reach the betting ring
beyond, we exited back onto the area adjacent to the Parade Ring and headed
back via the inbound route we’d taken at the start of the day. This meant heading down beside the
rhododendron walk, across the racecourse where only a few plastic pontoons
remained, through the gazebo and out to the driveway. We took a right turn and headed along to the
entrance of our parking area before turning left and continuing down the
slope to reach the car. Having eaten
two cheese rolls each, which I’d brought with me, we then began our journey
home; I believe we set off at 17:55.
We headed back across the racecourse, the tarmac
of the roadway now completely exposed.
A group of young lads were wandering along the driveway as we headed
towards the exit; we thanked them for moving to the side as we passed. There was a queue of traffic heading up the
hill towards Esher, so we decided to turn right in order to head in the
opposite direction, soon entering Lower Green Road. Having passed beneath the railway line, we were
delayed by oncoming traffic due to a narrowing of the roadway caused by
vehicles parked in this residential street.
At the subsequent cross-roads, we headed straight across into Weston
Green Road, where cottages to the left faced out onto a green on our right;
very nice. At the far end we turned left to head up Hampton
Court Way. We continued across the bridge over the River Thames, before
reaching the roundabout outside Hampton Court Palace itself. Having turned
left, there was a short holdup whilst traffic merged into one lane; this was
exacerbated by a cyclist riding across a pedestrian crossing ... this annoys
me, zebra crossings are for pedestrian use, not for cyclists. I noticed a blue plaque on one of the
nearby buildings – Sir Christopher Wren had once lived within; he worked at
Hampton Court Palace from 1689 to 1700.
We continued along Hampton Court Road, Upper
Sunbury Road, and Staines Road East; this took us past Kempton Park
racecourse latterly. There was a queue
of traffic tailing back from the roundabout beneath Junction 1 of the M3.
Once the traffic lights allowed, we headed up to slip-road to join it, having
negotiated cones which initially cordoned off the inside lane of said
slip-road. We travelled down the M3, before joining the
clockwise carriageway of the M25 to return to Hertfordshire. We left the motorway at junction 22 and
headed up the dual carriageway which bypasses London Colney,
before entering St Albans. Lesley dropped me off at 19:15. There was a minor panic with regards to
recording the RUK coverage, as there was no signal ... but I checked near the
end of the recording and it was okay; besides, once I’d reset the Sky box, I
recorded the highlights programme too.
I was a little disappointed though, as there were no interviews
included within the highlights; it appears RUK now cover too many racecourses
(there were highlights from Haydock Park and
Leicester too), so time is tight. When interviewed on RUK’s Luck on Sunday the next
day, the bet365 Gold Cup winning trainer, Mark Bradstock,
explained that he’d been obliged to
run Step Back in a race at Fakenham in order to
qualify his charge for today’s race; it was his third chase under rules. And, as he’d won that race, the rise in
handicap mark had also helped to gain entry into today’s oversubscribed
race. Mark explained that his horses jump well because
his son (Archie) and daughter Lily teach them to do so; cheap labour he
joked. He also mentioned that Step
Back has very flat feet, but his farrier had done
an excellent job in compensating for this.
Next season’s targets will be staying chases, with a possible tilt at
the Grand National. This
is a recording of Step Back’s appearance at Fakenham;
21 days previously. He’d won the race by
16 lengths: http://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Fakenham/07-April-2018/1635/ He was also asked about Coneygree. Mark
said the former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner’s rehab was progressing well; he
was doing gallops the previous week.
Connections are endeavouring to make one more comeback attempt, as the
horse is still in a good place, mentally; although he did say that, as Coneygree is still high in the ratings, there are few
race opportunities currently. Mark admitted to having a ‘thick head’ following the previous day’s celebrations! Ian Popham was a studio
guest on Luck On Sunday. He announced
his retirement on the programme; he was going to become a jockeys’ agent, his
main aim being to make Harry Skelton Champion Jockey! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Click here for Sandown Park photos (Index) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
