THE RACE TO CHRISTMAS Christmas comes but once a year, and so does Cheltenham’s classic December meeting, The International
WITH CHRISTMAS JUST around the corner, there’s even more reason to celebrate on December 15 with Cheltenham’s winter frolic: The International. From festive family get-togethers to work Christmas parties, this Cheltenham favourite is the place to enjoy high-calibre racing this holiday season. Few will forget the 2017 International, when two old campaigners gave their all at the highest level, putting the year to bed with a bang in the main event of the day: the Unibet International Hurdle. It was a difficult race to predict on paper, with new Irish hope Melon being made the favourite. Melon might have been half the age of both My Tent Or Yours and The New One, but neither of the veterans were ready for their pipes and slippers just yet. At first it looked as if Nigel Twiston- Davies’ The New One would create history by becoming the only four-time winner of the Grade Two event as he attempted to defend his lead from all-comers. My Tent Or Yours, though, so often placed at the highest level and never a winner at the course before, found something extra in the final stages and beat his venerable rival by a length and a quarter. “You don’t see horses that can come back and do battle like that at his age,” said an emotional winning trainer, Nicky Henderson. “That was a true race, and he deserved that after three seconds in the Champion Hurdle.” The New One had been conceding 6lb to My Tent Or Yours, but his jockey Sam Twiston-Davies said: “I’m not sure I could feel happier after finishing second.” The Caspian Caviar Gold Cup provided handsome compensation to Guitar Pete, who was hampered early on in the previous month’s BetVictor Gold Cup. It was a breakthrough triumph for his conditional rider Ryan Day, while trainer Nicky Richards’ renowned late father Gordon had landed it three times. All of the winning connections gave their sympathies to those involved with Paul and Clare Rooney’s Starchitect, who suffered a fatal injury when looking to be in full control of the race. Another ‘old-timer’, 10-year-old Gino Trail, taught a lesson to his younger rivals in the Junior Jumpers Handicap Chase for trainer Kerry Lee. Disappointing in last place but bowing out safely for a happy retirement with Gary Moore was the 2014 Queen Mother Champion Chase hero Sire De Grugy. The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle lived up to its name as its winner, Kilbricken Storm, took the final at the Festival and looks a
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