Memories are made at Cheltenham As the excitement builds on the eve of another Cheltenham we all have our own favourite memories from Festivals gone by. For a select few it is the memory of riding, training, breeding or owning a Festival winner, but for the majority of us these memories are more likely to be linked to winning bets we struck on the horses. The opening day of the 1989 Cheltenham Festival remains the peak memory in my life as a punter. My First Taste of Cheltenham Success That was the last time there was no Irish-trained winner at the Festival and was also the year I got my first full time job within the racing industry, working in the office of a premium rate telephone company owned by a group headed up by JP McManus. People would dial in to listen to race commentaries, race results and daily tips. One of our resident tipsters was a guy named Chris Munce. He had good contacts in Toby Balding's stable and for weeks in advance of Cheltenham that year had been telling me that a horse called Beech Road had a big chance in the Champion Hurdle. The horse had been sent novice chasing earlier that season, but had taken a terrible fall at the January meeting at Cheltenham. He had looked in trouble for a while with screens erected around him, but thankfully he had only been badly winded and eventually got back to his feet. From then on Beech Road reverted back to hurdles and by the time Cheltenham came around Munce had nothing but good reports. A Modest Budget with Big Dreams Cheltenham was only a three-day Festival back then and I had squirreled away £60 to cover my betting for the week, £20 for each day. On that faithful Champion Hurdle Day in 1989 my main bet was £5 each-way on Beech Road in the big race. I did a number of other smaller bets with my remaining tenner, including a speculative 10p each-way yankee. Article highlights: In 1989, I placed a 10p each-way yankee bet that nearly turned £2.20 into over £43,000 Three of my four selections won at odds of 25/1, 20/1, and 50/1 The final selection finished fourth, but I still won over £3,300 This remains my most memorable Cheltenham experience The Yankee Unfolds The Yankee kicked off with Sondrio, an eighth-year-old second string of Martin Pipe's in the Supreme Novices Hurdle. He won at 25/1 with Jonothan Lower in the saddle. Next up was Waterloo Boy ridden by Richard Dunwoody and trained by David Nicholson in the Arkle Novices Chase. He won at 20/1. He went on to become one of the best two-mile chasers of his generation. Back in those days the Champion Hurdle was the third of six races on the card and not surprisingly I had included my tip, Beech Road, in the 10p each-way yankee. Ridden by Richard Guest he won at 50/1. So, with the first three legs of my bet up, I had £3,127 coming back and a similar amount going on to my final selection. I had also won a further £300 from my each-way single bet on Beech Road. The Nail-Biting Finale The fourth horse named Hypnosis ran in the final race of the day, The Grand Annual, a 17-runner handicap chase. Hypnosis was a consistent 10-year-old that had built up a sequence of runner-up finishes prior to the Festival and was ridden on the day by Graham Bradley. He was the shortest-priced runner in my yankee at odds of 12/1. Back in those days only the first four races at Cheltenham were broadcast live on TV and I had to wait for what seemed like an eternity to listen to an audio commentary on the final leg of my bet. A series of jumping errors midrace shuffled my selection back to the rear of the field, before Hypnosis stormed home from the second last to finish a gallant fourth and added another £200 to my haul. Of course if he had won it would have been life-changing for 23-year-old me. I would have collected £43,500 which wasn't far off the price of a 3-bed semi in Dublin in those days, but as near misses go it was still a spectacular day's punting. Looking Ahead to This Year's Festival Looking ahead to this week's action I know I'll never repeat the fluke of 1989, but it won't stop me trying to take a few quid off the bookies all the same. The likes of El Cairos, Saratoga, Dinoblue and Teahupoo will form the spine of the team of horses representing my betting interests this time around, but I will also be rolling the dice on a few Hail Mary plays. Most likely a few small each-way multiples on horses like: Grand Geste (National Hunt Chase) Minella Sixo (Pertemps) Apolon De Charnie (Triumph) Ndaawi (County) Zillow (Martin Pipe) All in the futile hope of recreating the excitement of my most memorable Cheltenham bet, but also acutely aware that it takes discipline to finish ahead of the bookies after four long days of the most competitive racing action of the year. Win, lose or draw, I still intend to try to savour every minute of it. Every Cheltenham winner is special to somebody and it is important to remember that, especially when your own bet goes down.
