For most of us who love the jumping game the pinnacle of the racing year takes place over four days each March is a delightful corner of Gloucestershire, near a small village called Prestbury - the meeting more widely known after the name of the nearby town – Cheltenham.
It is a recent innovation to move the Festival to four days, some still wish it was spread over three days and that having the extra day dilutes the Festival. I don’t think it does, the extra races are competitive handicaps and they give an opportunity for decent horses to run at Cheltenham, who would not otherwise get a run.
Indeed it could be argued, over the years, some of the lowest rated horses to have run at Cheltenham have run in the Championship races. Races in which they have no chance of winning, but are entered solely for the vanity of their owners.
Anyway that is by the by, we have a four day festival and I have relished every moment of it – well almost all.
On the equine front we have seen more than out fair share of shocks with some very fancied runners being turned over – even in the Championship races in which Binocular and Kasbah Bliss were turned over in the Smurfit Kappa Champion and Ladbrokes World Hurdles respectively. Being beaten fairly and squarely by Punjabi and Big Bucks respectively.
Of course the other two championship races went to the stars, with Master Minded winning the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, albeit with a below par performance but still winning by seven lengths. The runner-up’s performance was also a particularly emotional one with ten-year-old Well Chief overcoming a near two year absence.
The Totesport Gold Cup also produced an emotional 1-2. Kauto Star put in a near faultless performance to become the first horse to regain the Cup. Equally emotional was Denman coming home in second place, finally showing he has seemingly recovered from his cardiac problems and his dire performance at Kempton was a one off.
After the race it was one of those occasions where the runner-up received as many cheers as the winner.
Of course looking ahead it raises, assuming trouble free preparations, the potential of a decider between Denman and Kauto Star – what a prospect?
Away from the Championship races there were some inspirational performances.
Tony McCoy getting Wichita Lineman home on Tuesday showed why he is the greatest jockey – no other jockey would have got the horse home.
In the preceding race Forpaddydeplasterer received one of those welcomes that only the Irish can provide and you would have to have a heart of stone not to have been pleased for connections.
Appropriately on Thursday, Ladies Day, Venetia Williams had a magnificent 277/1 double with Kayf Aramis and Something Wells and , for good measure, she also trained the runner-up of Something Wells race.
We also saw some future stars – Dunquib was a very impressive winner of the Bumper, arguably the best performance of the four days.
The Queen made a rare visit to Cheltenham on Friday mainly to see her runner Barbers Shop compete in the Gold Cup. Of course there was not a Royal winner – imagine the response had there been one!!
Despite the credit crunch the crowds were not down that much and betting turnover was pretty much as expected.
The Cheltenham crowds are legendary with a massive Irish invasion. The black stuff flows – literally most of the puddles in the village were spilled stout as opposed to water.
The good aspect is although the beer flows the atmosphere is still pretty good, somewhat noisy though.
There was a band performing in the Guinness Village – they were situated pretty close to the media centre and I have to say their set was pretty good – first time around. However when you hear the set about six times a day over four days it does lose its attraction.
The queues, of course are legendary, especially for the toilets – the golden rule don’t drink too much and have excellent bladder control!!!
One improvement this year is the traffic control seemed a great deal better than in previous years – it only took 40 minutes to get away from Cheltenham on the Friday!!!
Now, of course, life returns to normal – it doesn’t mean, of course, we can’t start discussing next years Festival.
So, who will win the 2010 Gold Cup?
It is a recent innovation to move the Festival to four days, some still wish it was spread over three days and that having the extra day dilutes the Festival. I don’t think it does, the extra races are competitive handicaps and they give an opportunity for decent horses to run at Cheltenham, who would not otherwise get a run.
Indeed it could be argued, over the years, some of the lowest rated horses to have run at Cheltenham have run in the Championship races. Races in which they have no chance of winning, but are entered solely for the vanity of their owners.
Anyway that is by the by, we have a four day festival and I have relished every moment of it – well almost all.
On the equine front we have seen more than out fair share of shocks with some very fancied runners being turned over – even in the Championship races in which Binocular and Kasbah Bliss were turned over in the Smurfit Kappa Champion and Ladbrokes World Hurdles respectively. Being beaten fairly and squarely by Punjabi and Big Bucks respectively.
Of course the other two championship races went to the stars, with Master Minded winning the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, albeit with a below par performance but still winning by seven lengths. The runner-up’s performance was also a particularly emotional one with ten-year-old Well Chief overcoming a near two year absence.
The Totesport Gold Cup also produced an emotional 1-2. Kauto Star put in a near faultless performance to become the first horse to regain the Cup. Equally emotional was Denman coming home in second place, finally showing he has seemingly recovered from his cardiac problems and his dire performance at Kempton was a one off.
After the race it was one of those occasions where the runner-up received as many cheers as the winner.
Of course looking ahead it raises, assuming trouble free preparations, the potential of a decider between Denman and Kauto Star – what a prospect?
Away from the Championship races there were some inspirational performances.
Tony McCoy getting Wichita Lineman home on Tuesday showed why he is the greatest jockey – no other jockey would have got the horse home.
In the preceding race Forpaddydeplasterer received one of those welcomes that only the Irish can provide and you would have to have a heart of stone not to have been pleased for connections.
Appropriately on Thursday, Ladies Day, Venetia Williams had a magnificent 277/1 double with Kayf Aramis and Something Wells and , for good measure, she also trained the runner-up of Something Wells race.
We also saw some future stars – Dunquib was a very impressive winner of the Bumper, arguably the best performance of the four days.
The Queen made a rare visit to Cheltenham on Friday mainly to see her runner Barbers Shop compete in the Gold Cup. Of course there was not a Royal winner – imagine the response had there been one!!
Despite the credit crunch the crowds were not down that much and betting turnover was pretty much as expected.
The Cheltenham crowds are legendary with a massive Irish invasion. The black stuff flows – literally most of the puddles in the village were spilled stout as opposed to water.
The good aspect is although the beer flows the atmosphere is still pretty good, somewhat noisy though.
There was a band performing in the Guinness Village – they were situated pretty close to the media centre and I have to say their set was pretty good – first time around. However when you hear the set about six times a day over four days it does lose its attraction.
The queues, of course are legendary, especially for the toilets – the golden rule don’t drink too much and have excellent bladder control!!!
One improvement this year is the traffic control seemed a great deal better than in previous years – it only took 40 minutes to get away from Cheltenham on the Friday!!!
Now, of course, life returns to normal – it doesn’t mean, of course, we can’t start discussing next years Festival.
So, who will win the 2010 Gold Cup?
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