Monday 12 March 2012

Cheltenham: to the lengths of the earth I will go


Twas the night before Cheltenham and all through the house
Could be heard Hannah clicking on Festival updates with her laptop mouse.

Okay, I won’t go on. Poetry has never been my strongest point. But there’s something about this time of year that has such magic to it that you can’t help wanting to be poetic. People have written songs about this racing Festival before! Cheltenham is my Christmas (and birthday until I hit 30). For any of you who don’t believe how magical this festival can be, have a look at these youtube clips here then ask yourself ‘Has anyone made a song about the golf Masters?’






The cherry of Cheltenham for me is Friday, Gold Cup Day. Or on a more personal level, it is Kauto Star Day. I was working it out this morning – in the eleven years I’ve lived in England I’ve missed two festivals: the first was the year I arrived and I didn’t even know of it’s existence (the year Best Mate won his first of three Gold Cups), the second was when I was backpacking around Australia and believe me I did my damnedest to see it. I was working on a stud in New South Wales called Coolmore.
There was no chance of taking time off since I was a temporary studhand and where would I go? We were out in the middle of the Hunter Valley – my television set in my digs couldn’t even pick up Neighbours or Home and Away never mind an international channel in the early hours of the morning. Since the stud was owned by some Irish people I thought it was worth giving it a try and approaching them to see if they would record it on their state-of-the-art satellite system.
I trembled in my boots as the lowly studhand approached the big Irish magnate. I was shown sympathy but told it wasn’t possible. So instead I watched what races I could find on youtube the following day. Those were the lengths I would go to watch the festival.

And since Kauto Star’s introduction I haven’t missed one. I have always taken time off work to watch it. I threatened to quit my job when they wouldn’t let me take those days – am I bordering on obsessive? Perhaps, but when it comes to seeing how much Kauto Star and the festival mean to me, you see what extremes I am willing to go to.

This year, my dilemma involves university lectures. If I stay the good swotty student then I’ll be missing the first and last days of the Festival. I have a full day of seminars and lectures and writing groups on Tuesday and I have a presentation to perform for my second filming project on Friday. Tuesday, we also have the Supreme Novice’s Hurdle (maybe not the biggest race of the festival but great to see what we have to look forward to in the future), the Arkle Chase (with a very competitive renewal starring Sprinter Sacre v. Al Ferof), and the Champion Hurdle (I have invested interests in this race because my beloved Zarkandar runs in it – I don’t mean he’s literally mine – but if you read my previous post Nagsto Niches you’ll understand my attachment to him. And he, the young pretender, is up against the old champion Binocular and reigning champ Hurricane Fly.

And then Friday, of course, is just about the Gold Cup for me – I don’t even know what the rest of the card is. All I know is that Kauto Star will be lining up for the sixth time in this race (and possibly the last) in an attempt to win his third Gold Cup. He’s up against Long Run who beat him into third last year same time, same place, but this season Kauto has trumped Long Run in two out of two clashes. Why is he still the underdog? Possibly because he is 12 compared to most of the other runners who’s age averages out at 8 or 9. He also had a nasty fall while schooling the other day. But he seems to be back to 100% now and I have a stupid amount of faith in him.

So that’s how my timetable clashes. Important things will be missed either way. I’ll feel very guilty if I bunk off uni for the races but I will not be able to forgive myself if I miss Cheltenham. I have compromised with myself. Since we’ve now got Virgin Tivo, I’m going to record Tuesday’s action and go to uni. In return for not watching it live I am taking Friday off to watch Kauto canter to victory. The presentation will have to wait until next week. Sorry tutors.

And that pretty much is what the next week holds for me. I’m finding it exceptionally difficult to focus on anything else other than the Festival so the writing of Giving Chase has been put aside for now. After losing my USB stick I am having to retype Keeping the Peace (which is, in a way, a good thing because it’s forcing me to micro-edit) but it’s also put me against the clock if I’m to manage the April release deadline. Another reason why I’ve decided to take a sabbatical from Giving Chase is because I’m currently reading Ruby, the autobiography of champion jockey Ruby Walsh. Since Giving Chase focuses on the lives of two jockeys in particular, I thought it would be a good way to research the more personal side of the sport on top of the broader research which I’ve done.
Needless to say, there’s way more to it than I’d anticipated and I think I’d better stock up on jockey and trainer autobiographies before carrying on with my blinkered take on being a jockey!

I won’t be posting until after Cheltenham so I’ll say where my ‘money’ is going over the next few days (these are not tips by the way!).
Day One: Arkle Chase – Sprinter Sacre; Champion Hurdle – Zarkandar.
Day Two: RSA Chase – Grand Crus.
Day Three: World Hurdle – Big Buck’s. 
Day Four: Triumph Hurdle – Baby Mix; Gold Cup – Kauto Star.

Wish me (and them) luck!