have given fantastic exposure for Boodles. Our brand colour is pink and against the green of the turf it really stands out, particularly when you see it on TV. Both people who are interested in horseracing and those that currently are not have really noticed it and that is why we are doing it. “Sponsoring at Cheltenham is a great way to entertain our existing customers and we are also trying to turn the heads of people who don’t know us. I’ve become a great fan of sponsorship as it really is a fantastic opportunity for a company like ours to grow our brand – in many ways it is better than advertising. It is of course all gut feeling but I feel it really has helped put us on the map with people who didn’t know us.” Wainwright also experienced joy as owner at the Home of Jump Racing in the 2022/23 as a member of The Footie Partnership, with Ga Law winning the
Paddy Power Gold Cup – the highlight of The November Meeting. Although he thinks the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup is probably out of reach, he is hoping to see the seven year old back at Cheltenham this season. He concluded: “Ga Law was entered for the Gold Cup in 2023 and ended up running in the Ryanair Chase. He didn’t run badly in that when finishing fifth, beaten nine and a half lengths, but was then pulled-up in the Bowl at Aintree behind Shishkin on his final start of the season. “We’ll see about this season - he’s probably not quite top-class but he won the Paddy Power last season which was great and gave us a day to remember. “He was supposed to be running in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree in 2021 but got injured and then had to miss all of the following season. Our trainer Jamie Snowden said then we
should aim at the Paddy Power Gold Cup when he came back last season and it was great that such a long-haul plan all worked out so brilliantly. I’ve been in racing long enough to know that success is rare, so to win the Paddy Power was very special and a moment to savour. “We’ll see what this year brings. He has only run twice at Cheltenham and won the Paddy Power and finished a good fifth in the Ryanair. He has good stamina and likes the hill. “We could maybe look at going for the Paddy Power again but we could also look at stepping him up to three miles and could try and find him a race over three miles at Cheltenham in the first half of the season. He’s rated 154 now so would be lugging a fair bit of weight around. He is just in that place at the moment where he is below Grade One class but at the top of the handicap so we’ll see how he gets on.”
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