The Marlborough Million
The Marlborough Million
by Justin Chryster
Almost 12 months have passed since 20,000 people gathered on the Marlborough Downs to witness the 1998 Marlborough Cup. During this time major developments have taken place behind the scenes including the sanctioning of Timber Racing and The Marlborough Cup by The Jockey Club. The most exciting development though has been the creation of The Marlborough Million.
Ever since The Marlborough Cup was established it has been the aim of Konrad Goess-Saurau to turn the race into an International Event. Right from day one there has been a strong association with The Virginia Gold Cup, from whence the $100,000 World Timber Championship was borne, and the idea of linking up The Marlborough Cup with a race at Punchestown has been in the pipeline for some time. So the concept was there, but it needed something more. An extra sting in the tail, a catalyst to spark peoples imaginations.
After researching and studying European cross-country races a small deposition set out from Marlborough to take a look at Le Grand Cros de Craon - a £42,000 cross-country race run over 4 miles at Craon, France. Watching the race from the centre of the course as the horses swept passed, and jumped an extreme cross-country course it was clear that this was the course, the sting, the final element needed had been found. But this was just the beginning, the horizon still a distant sight. The next step was to see what the trainers thought of Craon. So Dai Williams, Mark Pitman, Ian Balding, Nicky Henderson and Enda Bolger flew into France to offer their valued judgment. After walking the course and inspecting the obstacles the general consensus was that including a race on this course would give The Marlborough Million that unrivalled edge. The give away sign to all who were present at Craon that day was Enda Bolger's sheer enthusiasm. His colleagues half expected him to requisition a hunter from a nearby field and have a pop round.
Now following Craon coming on board, Punchestown announced that The Punchestown Cup would be their leg of the challenge, to be run over their famous banks course with the addition of some timber fences. So after months of tireless work, endless phone calls, International deliberation, and the accumulation of enough air miles to keep a family in holidays for life, The Marlborough Million was becoming reality. For the first time ever racing organisations of the four most important racing and breeding nations in the world, together with the organisers of the most demanding race in each of these countries, had agreed to run a Championship Series to commence in the year 2000 - The Marlborough Million.
The four race series incorporates two timber races (The Marlborough Cup and Virginia Gold Cup) and two cross-country races (The Punchestown Cup and Le Grand Cros de Craon), the most challenging form of racing, and is only open to the best and most experienced International horses and jockeys. The prize money for the series is calculated on a point basis: -
Points need not all be gained in a calendar year, but within any 12 month period. For winning each race in the series:
Any horse that completes all of the races in the series automatically earns £5,000. For this year, as a taster of what is to come, a Three-Nation Challenge has been established encompassing The Marlborough Cup, Le Grand Cros de Craon and The Punchestown Cup, with generous bonuses up for grabs. A £30,000 bonus for winning The Marlborough Cup and either of the other two races, and a £100,000 bonus for winning all three. With the addition of The Virginia Gold Cup in the year 2000 The Marlborough Million will be complete.
As to whom will be shouting the loudest as the field climbs up the hill at Marlborough, jumps the last at Punchestown, sweeps round the final turn at Craon, or runs for home in Virginia, remains to be seen. One thing though is for certain. The Millennium is just around the corner and celebrations will abound the world over. For some inexplicable reason they've even built a Dome to mark the occasion. Well the nonsense of governments is not something we should ever be amazed by, and anyway they can keep their Dome. We have something of greater excitement and importance to look forward to when the new Millennium unfolds. The Marlborough Million is coming to town, and we are about to witness the greatest racing challenge the world has ever seen.
Click Here
or send an email to
joynext@field-galleries.co.uk
to be notified when the next issue
of the magazine is published
If you wish to get in touch about another matter then please use the contact form
The Marlborough Cup Preliminaries