The "Cabbage Patch" in the morning

Although I have lived only twelve miles from Cheltenham for several years now I had never been to a race meeting there until this year. This year, for your delectation, my husband, Steve and I were asked to go there to witness the most important meeting in the National Hunt calendar, The Cheltenham Festival, unfortunately there was an immediate problem - there were simply no tickets to be had other than in the 'Cabbage Patch' a nickname given to the course or 'Courage Enclosure' at Cheltenham. 'Enclosure' is certainly an accurate description of the railed area opposite the Tattersalls' Grandstand and presented us with many limitations. Namely, we were unable to visit the paddock, saddling and winning enclosures or to see any fences! However, we were able to get to the finishing line, soak up the atmosphere and, most importantly, lay on our bets!

The "Cabbage Patch" in the afternoon!

Another "fortunately" was that a good friend of ours was able to get accreditation and has very kindly let us use some of his photographs (as well ours) for this article. Many Thanks, Iain!

So what is all the fuss about? Well, to begin with, it is about the cream of Britain's bloodstock fighting it out in twenty championship races over three days. For the last fifty years the Irish have been sending their greatest jumping horses over to Prestbury Park to battle it out with the "Brits"; and with the Irish horses has come an ever increasing band of Irish punters and supporters, nowadays leading to a virtual siege of Cheltenham for the three days of the meeting.

You can forget booking into any hotel, motel or Bed and Breakfast within a ten mile radius of Cheltenham for next years festival - every single room will have been booked up by the people staying there this year!

Into the stables

Looking back in history, Ireland's first win came with Prince Regent, an eleven year old horse who had been unable to compete at the meeting at a younger age due to the Second World War. Prince Regent stormed home in 1946, and later on his trainer Tom Dreaper would have an even greater horse on his hands, the illustrious Arkle.

When we arrived at Prestbury Park, at about 11 o'clock in the morning, the race course was pretty deserted, although there were already several ticket touts desperate to buy spare tickets. Tickets for the more salubrious parts of the course were available from the touts but for a price that made me wince and keep my hands firmly in my pockets!

Because there were not many people about we were able to find our bearings within the "Courage" Enclosure. The bookies were just setting up their pitches and we were able to look down on the entire course, beautifully lush and green for the occasion with the impressive Cleeve Hill, on which many of the horses are trained, providing an impressive backdrop. It seemed impossible that the vast stretches of grandstands would ever be filled, but within half an hour of the first race everywhere a body could be there was one!

Katarino wins the Elite Racing Club Triumph Hurdle

The Irish were already buzzing after a thrilling one-two in the opening days major race, the Smurfit Champion Hurdle. Istabraq, who is owned by one of the racing world's great personalities, J.P.McManus, first came to the Festival two years ago when he annihilated the rest of the field in the Supreme Novices Hurdle. Last year he did the same in the Champion Hurdle and this year he did it again.

"He is Brilliant!" said a jubilant Charlie Swan, his Jockey. "He got the last two flights a little wrong, but he really picked up turning into the straight." Istabraq's trainer, Aidan O'Brien decided that the 4-9 odds offered for his first string didn't offer much reward so he put his stablelad's money each way on his second string, Theatreworld who duly finished second for the third year in a row. The huge French Holly held England's hopes, but yet again Istabraq was too much for him and when the Irish gelding quickened the pace French Holly had no reserves in the tank and had to settle for third place. It is the aim of every National Hunt trainer, jockey and owner to have a horse running at the Festival and it is their dream to have a winner.

For J.P.McManus the dream was to come doubly true when Khayrawhani gave J.P. victory, albeit a very narrow one, in Wednesday's Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle. In fact, J.P's green and gold colours were going to feature in the placings no less than five times. This race proved a complete whitewash for the English contenders with Irish trained horses filling the first 5 places.

Anzum holds off Le Coudray and Lady Rebecca in the Bonusprint Stayers Hurdle

On St Patrick's day (Wednesday) the Irish were less lucky with another of their bankers, Nick Dundee. He had come to Cheltenham with a huge reputation and was set off the firm favourite at 5/4. All was going to plan until the third last. Nick Dundee and outsider Looks Like Trouble had left the other runners in the next field and it looked as if Looks Like Trouble would have difficulty in maintaining such a strong pace, when Nick Dundee seemed to fail to take off when asked. A distraught Norman Williamson (Jockey) ran to catch the unfortunate gelding who appeared to have broken his leg; however he was later able to put the leg to the ground and latest reports are that he will recover sufficiently to enjoy a (hopefully) happy retirement, but sadly we will never see him on a racecourse again. He was a horse with immense and largely unfulfilled promise so this is a considerable loss to the racing world.

Desert Orchid on parade before the Gold Cup

Looks Like Trouble, whose trainer Noel Chance won the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Mr Mulligan, returned to the winner's enclosure through a stunned silence, a sad greeting for a winner who had left the opposition standing. Noel feels that Looks Like Trouble has more class and pace than Mr Mulligan, so get your money on now for next year's Gold Cup! One of the stars of the whole meeting was Barton, winner up of the Sun Alliance Hurdle. Trained in Yorkshire by Peter Easterby this was as a star performer for the English. He was ridden by Lorcan Wyer for whom he was a long overdue Festival success. So much so that this popular jockey was acclaimed by his fellow riders who queued up outside the weighing room to applaud him. Barton is a lovely, well made chestnut who all being well should have a glittering career ahead of him - but surely over the larger obstacles, although there was talk of him taking on Istabraq next year in the Champion Hurdle.

I am glad to say that betting on a regular basis is not one of my weaknesses, otherwise I would be a great deal poorer than I am now, especially as I am always attracted to horses carrying very long odds. Very occasionally this does come off and I feel the warm glow of smug satisfaction and a few tenners in my back pocket, but I am fully aware of the fact that there is no such thing as a poor bookmaker and that horse carrying long odds usually have three legs or something more dramatically wrong with them! However, I am pleased to say that Looks Like Trouble was carrying my each way bet, and already has my cash for next year.

One of the best bits about "being there" is being able to browse along the bookies pitches picking up the bargains. Not being able to see the horses in the paddock or cantering down to the start I had to rely on the information given in the Timeform Race Card and, my own scientific method of picking winners, i.e. whether or not I like the horses name and his/her jockeys colours!

See More Business takes the Gold Cup

In the first race of the day, the Triumph Hurdle, the favourite Katarino romped home much to the delight of the masses, and one bookie romped home with my cash! Much of the Irish money had been on J.P.McManus's Afarad who only managed to come in third.

Irish luck seemed to be turning in the second race when another favourite, Le Coudray looked to be coming home ahead of the field in the Bonusprint Stayers Hurdle. Although Frenchbred, Le Coudray was owned, trained, ridden, backed and cheered home by Irishmen, but their cheers died in their throats as their banker was pipped at the post by the outsider Anzum, who was returned at 40/1, one of the longest placed winners in the races history. Anzum is by Ardross, now sadly deceased, but he was a classy horse and fortunately seems to have left some excellent individuals behind for our enjoyment over the coming years - not least the brilliant winner of the Scottish Grand National 'Young Kenny'.

By now I was beginning to be glad that I am a woman. The Cabbage Patch was absolutely packed for the showcase race, The Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase. Shoulder to shoulder, people jostled for the prime places - the front row at the bookies pitch, the front row at the finishing post and the front row at the bar. As I say, it's sometimes good to be a woman, because at Cheltenham old- fashioned manners still hold good and through an ocean of men I was able to pass like Moses through the Red Sea.

Yet again the Irish had produced the ante-post favourite, Florida Pearl, in what was widely considered to be one of the strongest Gold Cup fields for years.

Ben Pullock on Castle Mane leads the field over the first in the Foxhunters Chase

The Winning Line's popular grey, Teeton Mill was carrying the English hopes. Winner of nine out of his ten starts, including two grade one wins in his last two starts - the King George VI Chase and the Mitsubishi Shogun Ascot Chase, hopes were high that he might emulate the panache of that other legendary grey, Desert Orchid. Indeed Desert Orchid led the parade of runners ahead of two other previous winners Master Oats and Mr Mulligan. Coming out on to the track it was obvious that "Dessie" knew exactly where he was and it was all that his lass could do to keep him from streaking off down the home straight. It was wonderful to see him looking so magnificently well, but had yet to show his best form this season.

Another grey in the race, Senor El Betrutti already had two "Gold Cup"s under his belt, the Murphy's Gold Cup and The Tripleprint Gold Cup and had finished fourth in this race last year. Suny Bay, runner up in the last two Grand Nationals, completed the grey triumverate but sadly none were to feature in the final shake-up.

The Paddock

There was a tremendous roar from the stands as the twelve horses surged away from the starting tape, heading for the first of twenty obstacles. A muted groan of disappointment could be heard all around the course as Teeton Mill was pulled up at the tenth. He had been jumping with all his usual panache until he most uncharacteristically made an error at the fenced at the top of the hill. Although he did not fall he had slipped a tendon off his hock. His career had been dogged by injury and was finally over. For yet another 'favourite' retirement beckoned and without a doubt some of the excitement of the race went with him. As they approached the winning post two horses were neck and neck but neither had been particularly fancied, One, the 1997 King George VI Chase winner See More Business, had appeared to have gone off the boil in his more recent races, and the other, the unfancied Go Ballistic had been sent off at odds as long as 100/1. As they reached the post See More Business gained the upper hand and finished ahead by a length and a half. See more Business was trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by his brother-in-law Mick Fitzgerald. Before the start of this years meeting Paul had never saddled a winner at the Festival, by the end of it he had saddled three - Call Equiname in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, Flagship Uberalles in the Guinness Arkle Chase, and - his crowning glory, the Gold Cup! I had been told to expect a 'wall of sound' to hit me across the course from the Grandstand but instead it was a relatively subdued cheer that greeted the first two - both relative outsiders - home.

The Gold Cup

My conscientious stalking up and down the Bookie's pitches to obtain the rare 100/1 offered for Go Ballistic rather than the more common 66/1 had paid off and we would go home with more money than we had arrived! And Ireland's hopes? Sorry Florida Pearl was a distant third. Hot on the heels of the professionals, the amateur riders went out onto the course to ride the same track and distance in the Christie's Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup. Last year this race was won by Joe Tizzard, the young eighteen year old who has just turned professional and who drove home the American owned Flagship Uberalles to victory in the second race of this year's Festival. Castle Mane, unbeaten in his seven starts won the race this year under Ben Pollock. Sent off the second favourite, Castle Mane's white face led the field from start to finish leaving the 23 strong field struggling in his wake. The favourite, Elegant Lord, running in his fifth Christie's, was a distant second. Yet another to run in the famous 'JP' colours, he did however compensate admirably later at Aintree winning the Foxhunters in brilliant fashion. Regrettably, we left the course before the last race, desperate to beat the crush. Having certainly enjoyed our day out we were left with one lasting impression - to really soak up all of the Festival atmosphere you need to book early and book the best tickets you can!

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