What a day! It started with the alarm going off at half four to make the 7am flight from Belfast City to Birmingham. The flight was full of pilgrims heading for the annual celebrations in the west country. It was all new to me though and the excitement was heightened with fear when our plane swayed from side to side in the wind as we made our descent. Having survived that, I had to negotiate English motorways and about a million roundabouts as I drove towards Cheltenham in very heavy rain. After a quick drop off at my AirBNB, I headed for Prestbury Park. There's free parking along the road at the train station and they run shuttle buses from there to the course. The rain was still coming down heavy as I boarded the bus at midday and I thought I'd be there in plenty of time to grab something to eat, finish picking my horses for the day and get myself into a good spot to film the famous cheltenham roar before the first race of the festival. However, to get to the racecourse, you have to go through the centre of the town and the traffic was hectic. We travelled a mile in half an hour so at 12.45, most of the bus disembarked and joined the hundreds walking the last mile or so to try and get there for the roar. When we arrived, I was half expecting there to be a massive queue to get in but I was in, in no time and finally I was at the Cheltenham Festival.
The horses were already being paraded and I wanted to get out to the course but didn't know where to go. I asked a woman selling programs where to go to watch the races but she didn't understand, heard the Irish accent and said "yes there's loads of bars out there". I eventually found my way out front and went down the hill as far as possible to get a video of the crowds in the stands cheering the start of another festival. It just so happened that the rail I was standing at was also where the horses came out onto the course. As they streamed out, I looked back up at the now packed stands and got ready to film. There was a roar in anticipation of the roar, another one for them lining up and then a groan as the Starter called them back after a false start.
Klassical Dream was almost sulkily hanging his head low from that moment until well into the race, when it finally commenced. It was a terrific field with 5 or 6 in with serious shouts. Ruby had a lot to handle with his horse early on but he overcame it. They hit the front 2 out and then Walsh drew his whip like a Knight unsheathing sword from scabbard and the field lay slain in his wake, as he rode away with the victory. Ruby Tuesday? Willie Wonderland maybe as Mullins second Jockey Paul Townend won a very open Arkle on Duc Des Genievres as Gordon Elliotts favourite Hardline could only finish seventh while Glen Forsa and Kalashnikov unseated their riders and Lalor was pulled up. Nicky Henderson got off the mark for the week in the Ultima with Beware the Bear and the day got even better for the bookies when the only 3 horses anyone was talking about for the Champion Hurdle all failed to live up to the billing. Buveur D'Air fell, Apple's Jade fell away badly and Laurina couldn't stay with Gavin Cromwells very impressive Espoir D'Allen who beat perennial placer Melon by 15 lengths.
There was more drama in the Mares Hurdle as Ruby Walsh and odds on favourite Benie Des Dieux did an Annie Power by falling at the last with the race at their mercy. Roksana took advantage to earn a Cheltenham winner for the Skeltons. The sun had been out for about an hour at this stage casting long shadows so I wonder if the horse maybe jumped a shadow and that caused her to fall. Benie Des Dieux was the banker of the day and there were many people, myself included stood with head in hands. I only got looking properly at the first two races of the day but I missed my note that the 2019 Arkle winner Duc Des Genievres was beaten by A Plus Tard at Naas in December. Rachael Blackmore was an easy 16L winner for Henry DeBromheads horse in the Close Brothers Novice Handicap Chase. The finale was a 4 mile, amateur rider, lung buster fought out by Jamie Codd and Barry O'Neill on Le Breuil and Discorama respectively. It was nip and tuck as the pair of them went over the last, they were neck and neck as they approached the line but Le Breuil got his head in front to win for Ben Pauling. They were 2 of only 4 finishers from a field of 18 with the Willie Mullins trained Ballyward suffering a fatal fall to end the day with the full range of emotion for the Champion Trainer.
Not a great day financially as I only had one winner, Klassical Dream, but it was a fantastic days racing and with (hopefully) 3 more days (there's a chance Wednesday could be abandoned and moved to Saturday due to Storm Gareth) to come, there's plenty of time to explore the rest of what's on offer at the home of National Hunt Racing. Things to do for the next day: get there early, have my horses picked properly, do a place pot.
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