THE NOVEMBER MEETING 11-13 NOVEMBER
course stages the first of its three contests of the season – the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase. There was a popular local success in this contest in 2021 when the Martin Keighley-trained Back On The Lash justified 4-1 favouritism under Sean Bowen. Such is the competitive nature of the action at the Home of Jump Racing in November, winners are hard to obtain, particularly for those trainers who lack the resources of the leading stables. So there was no more emotional success throughout the season at Cheltenham in 2021/22 than when 33-1 McAlpine handed Irish trainer Philip Rothwell success in the Valda Energy Novices’ Handicap Hurdle. It had been 15 years since Rothwell had last been in Cheltenham’s winners’ enclosure, back when Native Jack landed the Cross Country Chase at The Festival in 2006, and the County Wicklow handler was overcome by emotion to be back on such hallowed ground. Rothwell says: “This is special. It was 15 years ago I won the Cross Country and didn’t think it would take 15 years to get back here! I love it and it means so much – it’s my favourite place in the world. “I love standing on the front and get a huge thrill out of it. I have been second a few times and obviously had the Festival
FIRST RUN IN 2009, THE SHLOER CHASE HAS QUICKLY DEVELOPED INTO ONE OF THE EARLY-SEASON TARGETS FOR THE VERY BEST TWO-MILE CHASERS
successes including the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Last year’s winner was West Cork, who defied an absence of some 631 days thanks to the combination of trainer Dan Skelton and his jockey brother Harry. It proved to be a memorable afternoon for the Skeltons, as they also landed the day’s feature race over fences, the Shloer Chase, with Nube Negra. One of the most recent additions to the race programme at Cheltenham, first run in 2009, the Shloer Chase has quickly developed into one of the early-season targets for the very best two-mile chasers, with Sprinter Sacre (2015) and Put The Kettle On (2020) both going on to claim the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at The Festival later in the same season. Not only does The November Meeting provide plenty of clues ahead of The Festival, it also serves up some of the best action on the track all season.
winner here – I would love another one. We are a small yard and to have a winner today is very special. I know it was 15 years because two days before the Cross Country victory my daughter was born! ” Sunday is Family Fun Day and has a very relaxed feel with plenty on offer for the whole family and the chance to get some Christmas shopping bought in good time. On the track, Sunday’s highlight is the ultra-competitive Unibet Greatwood Hurdle, run in honour of Helen and Michael Yeadon’s Marlborough-based charity, Greatwood, which does such amazing work for retired racehorses. Taking place over an extended two miles, this high-class handicap was inaugurated in 1987 when it went to Celtic Shot, a horse that captured the Champion Hurdle later in the same season, a feat matched by Rooster Booster in 2003/04. Another good winner was Sizing Europe, who later excelled over fences with
20 KALENDAR
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