Another memorable Cheltenham Festival draws to a conclusion on Friday with the eagerly awaited renewal of the Gold Cup the highlight of the week.
It was deemed a “score draw” between the punters and the layers heading into the final day of the Cheltenham Festival after football encroached heavily on racing’s pitch on day three
Gordon Elliott notched back-to-back victories in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle as Teahupoo stormed up the Cheltenham hill for Festival glory.
Protektorat proved dropping back in trip was no issue when producing a brilliant display to claim the Ryanair Chase for the red-hot Dan Skelton team at the Cheltenham Festival.
Sir Alex Ferguson enjoyed not one but two Cheltenham Festival winners in an unforgettable afternoon on Thursday.
With a cohort of racing fans once again calling for Cheltenham to return to a three day Festival I thought it might be a bit of fun to take a break from all the form study and look back at what Cheltenham was really like when the Festival was done and dusted by Thursday afternoon.
The last time Cheltenham had a three day festival was way back in 2004. It was the same month the smoking ban came into force in Ireland and self-confessed punter Bertie Ahern was Taoiseach. It was also a time when Irish racing had plenty of friends in high places with Charlie McCreevy the Minister for Finance and Joe Walsh the Minister for Agriculture.
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from north west England, Lancashire to be precise. I lived near a place called Lancaster which is near the Lake District. I've been involved with horses all my life. I grew up with them and did pony club, did riding club and did British eventing and British dressage. I was quite successful and did that all through school. I did quite well in my A Levels and I was supposed to go and do Marketing and Advertising at Lancaster University. I had a really good horse at the time and I decided I would take a gap year and event her. While I took my gap year, I went and worked in a local plumbing and heating company in the accounts department. I ended up doing that for two years. I deferred my entry for a year and then I got the bug of earning a bit of money and decided not to go to university! So I took another gap year but, while working in that company, I kept my horse in a livery yard. In the livery yard I became really good friends with a girl called Rebecca Menzies. She kept her horses on the livery yard and we became best pals.
Rebecca went off to work for Ferdy Murphy as his racing secretary. I used to go up at weekends and go racing with Ferdy. The guy that owned the livery yard was called Walter Gott and Becky was very good friends with him. He owned horses with Ferdy and he actually owned a horse called Granit D'Estruval who won the Irish National (in 2004). I got into racing through Rebecca Menzies and Walter and I decided that I would go and work for Ferdy. I went in as a stable-staff member and I didn't have a clue about racing. I remember the first time I got on a racehorse I thought I was riding short and the horse bolted with me. I came back down the gallop and Ferdy told me to put my irons up 10 holes and I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I learned a lot through Ferdy and over time I became a barn manager. I looked after some really good horses like Kalahari King and Watch My Back. I had a good string of horses and I was there for four and a half years and I really enjoyed it. The crowd that were there at the time were like one big family and we always used to go out together. It was just a lovely place to work. He was a brilliant man and nearly every year I was there he would have one lined up to win a handicap at Cheltenham.
CHELTENHAM DAY 4 TIPS GOLD CUP DAY
Emma Nagle and Gavin Lynch preview all the action from day 4 of the Cheltenham Festival 2024, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Watch for some cracking tips and analysis!