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.
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.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before