Wed, Mar 12, 2025 page6

• Cheltenham retains magic, despite spectator decline

  • AFP, DUBLIN
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  Crowds might have declined in the past two years, but for those with runners at jumps racing’s most prestigious meeting, the atmosphere at the Cheltenham Festival is like being in “the Colosseum,” trainer Jamie Snowden said.

  The deafening “Cheltenham Roar” from spectators was to get its first rendition yesterday and bring the curtain up on 28 races over four days — climaxing with the blue riband of steeplechasing the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

  With prizemoney of nigh on ￡5 million (US$6.44 million) it is an annual battle — Cheltenham has been its permanent home since 1911 — between the best the English hosts have in their yards against the formidable array of Irish talent.

  

  Jockey Paul Townend rides Absurde, left, to victory in the County Handicap Hurdle on the final day of the Cheltenham Festival in England on March 15 last year.

  Photo: AFP

  For Snowden, who is likely to have five runners this week, it is what sets it apart from other festivals, like the three day Grand National meeting.

  “I suppose it is the best taking on the best in a wonderful cauldron,” Snowden said. “It is the equivalent of the Colosseum without the blood.”

  Irish trainer Henry de Bromhead achieved the remarkable treble of sweeping the three most prestigious races, the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2021.

  The 52-year-old has, like Snowden, been dazzled by the festival since they were children.

  “People tune in from all over the world, I know it is a cliche, but it is our Olympics, the best competing against each other,” he said. “It is when the spotlight is being shone on our great industry.”

  It is not just on the track where rich pickings lie for the winners, but the local area, which welcomes tens of thousands of British and Irish racing fans. The most recent estimate of the festival’s economic impact on Cheltenham and the surrounding area was ￡270 million.

  Nevertheless, the rise in the cost of living has played a role in the fall in attendance over the first three days, Gold Cup day the exception in being sold out.

  A day out at Cheltenham does not come cheap, with entrance alone to the enclosure with the best view of the finish line costing ￡100 on Gold Cup day and a pint of Ireland’s most famous export Guinness is more than ￡8.

  Benidorm in Spain has bizarrely become a cheaper option for the week for increasing numbers of Cheltenham fans, who can drink considerably cheaper beer and bet at the same time.

  Although they would miss out on the unique atmosphere of the packed stands, the good natured banter between Irish and English spectators and the horses racing with The Cotswolds forming a gorgeous backdrop.

  “The Festival is made by the spectators,” Snowden said. “I mean I go as a fan, not just as a trainer, as I want to watch the best of England and Ireland compete.”

  “The ambience in the racecourse Village with Irish and British spectators alongside each other is very special, it has a real buzz about it,” he said.

  Snowden and De Bromhead caught the Festival bug early, with the former’s first visit for Desert Orchid’s Gold Cup win in 1989 and the latter’s a memorable day in 1993.

  “It was a massive one as it was the year Fissure Seal won for my father,” De Bromhead said.

  De Bromhead, who would have 15 to 20 runners, said starting out and having runners on a rainy night at an unglamorous festival racecourse seems a long way away.

  “You just want to have a winner, then progress from there and maybe once you achieve that get to those festivals, Cheltenham especially is the ultimate goal,” he said.

  Snowden, who has 60 horses and is enjoying a successful season with 45 winners, said winning at the festival is “wonderful the more you have the more you want.”

  So far, he has had two more winners than he did as a talented amateur jockey.

  “The closest I came to winning was when I fell at the last in the four mile Handicap Chase,” he said. “I ended up in the hospital instead of the winners enclosure.”

  On Friday, Galopin des Champs is to join a select club if he makes it three in a row in the Gold Cup.
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