FEATURE OPINION
As excitement builds for the next Cheltenham Festival, Joshua Stacey recalls some of the thrills of the one just gone and anticipates the carnival yet to come NO SLEEP ’TIL CHELTENHAM!
A rapturous, euphoric sense of excitement is usually brought on as the last-placed finisher crosses the line in the previous year’s Martin Pipe, intensifying gradually, before entirely absorbing all thought processes from mid-January and then spiralling out of control during the month of March. Will the storms in America affect the ground for the Unibet Champion Hurdle? Why did Willie Mullins wear a yellow tie at Leopardstown today? Do the British have a squeak in the Prestbury Cup? Steady, Josh. That’s when I know I’m too far down the rabbit hole. Despite February being just 28 days, Cheltenham fanatics will know it’s the longest month of the year by a good way. Tossing and turning like a kid on Christmas Eve, mind in circles after consuming each bit of vital information the preview night circuit has to offer. Every possibility analysed to the bone. Sometimes I wonder what’s the point even running the races, as I’ve already got the answers. I’m usually not the biggest fan of alarms, but the one on the Tuesday of Festival week can’t come soon enough. Bouncing out of bed without hesitation, deprived of sleep – but luckily, Festival
we’re raring to go. This year didn’t disappoint, as four days of racing magnificence blessed the thousands assembled at Prestbury Park. Energumene gave Willie Mullins his first-ever victory in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase – one of ten winners for the leading trainer. Yes TEN, coming from just 28 races – how do you put that achievement into perspective? The master trainer’s all-conquering base in Leinster saddled the same number of Cheltenham winners as England,
adrenaline is the greatest facemask of all. Shower, shave and I’m galloping out the door. A brisk walk up to the racecourse with a spring in my step. One by one, racing enthusiasts emerge, and suddenly the lone walk has turned into a march, all soldiers desperate to get off to a profitable start in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Through the gates accompanied by another brisk walk to the paddock. Yep, that’s how I remember it. Quick pit-stop in the Guinness Village, the Irish in fine voice once again, and
12 KALENDAR
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker