Liam Clarke has been to the festival every year since Davy Lad won the Gold Cup in 1977.
It’s too busy and it’s always been not as good as the other days in terms of racing,” says Clarke. Travel is always a hazard when it comes to global events and Cheltenham has been no different over the years. Many patrons still say the schedule adjustments were not always for the good of the action on track. “We would have a few drinks together beforehand to get our day started but we are a bit more sensible now. They might as well go to a pub back home and watch it on TV. The whole group has ties to the horse racing world. Long nights spent there with visitors from Cork, Carlow and just down the road continue to live long in the memory. “It has been the same group of lads going for that long, 45 years together. “Other guys might go and spend their day in the bar falling around drunk and might not see a race. The Newbridge crew shuffle in through the big blue door and nestle themselves in. The Best Mate statue has stood at Cheltenham since 2006. Jim Culloty rode it – an Irish jockey – so it was truly special to witness that,” he recalls.
The increased popularity of the Festival has boosted the local economy and led to greater scrutiny of horse racing.
The Festival is also the best chance that racing gets all year to draw a clear line between betting – where thought and effort can be rewarded, and the bookies occasionally beaten – and the mindless, fixed-margin gaming, on slots and casino games, that simply drains away a punters’ money, bit-by-bit. The impact on the betting industry, and thus on racing, is potentially immense. And Cheltenham is also, quite unashamedly, a racing festival that revolves around betting. A raging case of festival fever is one thing; the level of delirium required to pay £190 a night to bed down in a metal box is clearly quite another. The British Horseracing Authority has invested significant amounts of time, effort and cash into efforts to reduce the fatal injury rate in National Hunt racing over the past 15 years, with considerable success. In much the same way that the Economist’s Big Mac Index can track the relative value of currencies, the gouging on
Owned by businessman Sean O'Driscoll, the gelding will have huge Cork support in the Stayers Hurdle.
The Mares Hurdle is very hot this year with Honeysuckle and Epatante, but she is a very good mare and won this race last year.” Michael O’Sullivan will ride, and he is a brilliant young rider." "He’s been flawless all season and will take all the beating in the Champion Hurdle. Luccia is an obvious choice for the Mares Novice Hurdle and will take all the beating and is a horse that Nicky Henderson has done some job with. "We run a lovely horse called Tahmuras in the Supreme Novice Hurdle who is trained by Paul Nicholls. She runs in the Mares Hurdle on the opening day and her preparation has gone very smoothly.
With Cheltenham taking centre stage in the sporting world tomorrow (Tuesday), local eyes will be firmly fixed on Mighty Mo Missouri, a Mount Temple-owned ...
At the time of going to press Mighty Mo Missouri is generally a 28/1 shot. The horse made its racecourse bow in a flat race on Galway Plate day in Ballybrit last June. The syndicate members are from Mount Temple and surrounding hinterland.