THE F E S T I VAL 16-19 March 2020 F EATURE PAUL TOWNEND
STORY OF THE FEST I VAL™ Paul regales his friend and fellow jockey, Patrick Mullins, with the tale of the biggest four days of his career. From a first day he had Paul Townend
far from dreamt of, to making history in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, it was a week that left Paul Leading Jockey of The Festival
TUESDAY
Power tight? What if he had done that, ended up in front around the home bend and Blackmore had pounced on him at the last and beaten them? Where was he o to so early, would have been the question. Why did he think an experienced Gold Cup winning jockey would leave a gap the size of the Golden Gate Bridge on his inside at Cheltenham? No. The only way he could have shut the door was to have rolled forward after the second last to cover an eventuality that nobody expected. He rewinds, pauses, fast forwards it over in his head until he is happy that he made the right decisions for the correct reasons in the split seconds they happened. Day one was over but there were three days more to go and Chacun Pour Soi tomorrow. An hour has passed. He gets up and heads into the kitchen, hoping Anna has pizza on. It’s chicken. Three more days to go.
Willie’s banker. A majority of Ireland’s banker. Despite Lady Buttons irritating them for most of the early part of the race – “my instructions are to sit on your girth” her jockey had answered to a question at the start as to whether he was trying to ride both horses – Townend had seen Honeysuckle put into a pocket before the second last and was quietly happy with his view of clear air. Just don’t panic, don’t get there too soon he had told himself. Take a lead into the straight and go then. Copybook. Suddenly, he realises Robert Power is taking the scenic route around the bend and that the blue and white of Honeysuckle is slipping through on the inside. His sense of victory disappears like smoke through his ngers. He takes a breath and rewinds the race in his mind. Should he have committed straight after the second last and kept
“Now Paul Townend should have shoved Robert Power in and closed the door on Honeysuckle there and make her come back around, instead Rachael Blackmore gets a dream run through… Close the door. Worry about it afterwards but close the doors.” Paul Townend walks into his rented house and closes the door behind him. He mumbles something at his beautiful Italian girlfriend Anna and walks out to the garden. She lets him go. He starts replaying the day through his mind. It had started poorly. Asterion Forlonge had jumped drastically right all the way, Cash Back had fallen while Cilaos Emery had run well to nish fourth in the Unibet Champion Hurdle. All three were situations he was happy he couldn’t have inuenced dierently though. Benie Des Dieux was the one that mattered on the day however. His banker.
8 THE F E S T I VAL TM PREV I EW MAGAZ I NE
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