THE FESTIVAL 2017 MEDIA GUIDE

More documents

Recommendations

Info

1950 Cottage Rake, trained by Vincent O’Brien in Co Tipperary, Ireland, won the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the third time in succession. His exploits were the starting point of the Anglo-Irish rivalry that is now a good-natured feature of The Festival and marked by the BetBright Prestbury Cup. In those immediate post-war years, there was a definite political edge to it. 1951 The Festival’s first day was run in appalling conditions and the stewards called off the rest of the meeting because of snow and flooding. The major remaining races were again transferred to the April meeting. Manicou was the first runner in Royal colours at The Festival. Watched by his owner The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Elizabeth, he finished last of six in the Gold Cup. The beneficial effect on Jump racing of the Queen Mother’s interest cannot be overstated and on her name was added to the Two-Mile Champion Chase title to commemorate her 80th birthday (1980) 1954 The first live television coverage of The Festival took place on the BBC, with Peter O’Sullevan commentating. Viewing figures over the three days peaked at nearly 1.4 million, with 2.8 million watching the evening highlights. Public interest in Jump racing was on a roll during the fifties, as it was with other equestrian sports like show jumping. Lester Piggott rode his only Jump winner at The Festival, taking the Birdlip Selling Hurdle on Mull Sack, trained by his father Keith. The 19-year-old, who won 20 Jump races, was following a family tradition; his father, uncle Victor, grandfather Ernie and great-uncle Charlie – who trained on Cleeve Hill – all were successful at Cheltenham. Three months later, Piggott rode the first of his nine Derby winners, on Never Say Die, and went on to become an 11-time Flat champion jockey. 1955 The last year a seller was run at The Festival. The opening contest of the meeting was the Birdlip Selling Hurdle, whose winner Ahaburn was bought in for 950 guineas. One day of The Festival was abandoned because of snow. 1957 The commercial era began at Cheltenham with the first running of the Hennessy Gold Cup at the November meeting. The race, which transferred to Newbury after three years, was worth £5,272 to the winner Mandarin, making it to that time the most valuable purse ever offered at Cheltenham. The winning horse of the previous season’s Gold Cup had received £3,996; the 1958 renewal offered £5,778. 1958 Work started on the construction of a second track in view of the grandstands to complement and take pressure off the existing main course. Part of it was used for the Gold Cup for the first time. 1959 The National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase was run for the first time and won by Quita Que, a 10-year-old who was trained in Ireland by Dan Moore and ridden by Bunny Cox. 1960 The Mackeson Gold Cup replaced the Hennessy at the November meeting. Its winner’s purse of £4,385 (taken by Fortria) made it the third most valuable prize of the season at Cheltenham, after the Gold Cup (£6,043) and Champion Hurdle (£5,211). The inaugural race was over two miles, increased to two and a half miles in 1967 and half a furlong further in 1991. The race retained its initial backing – initiated by Bill Whitbread, whose family brewery had started racing’s first modern commercial sponsorship in April, 1957 with the eponymous Gold Cup at Sandown Park - until 1999, first under the Mackeson brand and then Murphy’s. Shirt-maker Thomas Pink supported the race between 2000 and 2002, while Paddy Power was the backer from 2003 to 2015. BetVictor became the new sponsor in 2016, when the handicap chase was won by Taquin Du Seuil who collected a first prize of £91,120. A new grandstand was opened in the Tattersalls enclosure, at a cost of £125,000, and the members’ lawn was extended, the first stage of a rebuilding plan. The weighing room was underneath the Festival Restaurant and the winner’s enclosure above the parade ring. 1964 In the face of real threat from property developers, the future of the course - a 350-acre site on the edge of an expanding, up-market population centre - was assured with its purchase for £240,000 by a newly-formed consortium that became Racecourse Holdings Trust. Although its sporting presence was strong at the time, the course had limited assets and so was open to attack. There was even talk of The Festival moving to Sandown in the event of Cheltenham disappearing under roads and houses, as would Birmingham, Hurst Park and Manchester during the sixties. The financial brain that saved the racecourse belonged to Johnny Henderson, late father of The Festival’s leading trainer Nicky. Henderson senior enjoyed racing as a hobby but was a stockbroker by profession and used his City expertise to put together Racecourse Holdings, a taxadvantageous scheme for its investors. Ten years later The Jockey Club became sole owner of RHT, a non-profitmaking company, and Cheltenham is now one of 15 tracks under the Jockey Club Racecourses banner. 1964 also brought the first sponsorship at The Festival, the Totalisator Champion Novices’ Chase (formerly the Broadway Chase, now RSA). 1965 As the redesign of the running tracks continued, the National Hunt Chase loop that took the runners behind and to the right (facing the finishing straight) of the grandstand after a mile was abandoned. The race’s start moved to one of the newly-built sections of track in the infield; the spur of the track to the left of and behind the grandstand where it used to start remained in use for other races until 1977. The Old Course is used for the meetings in October and November (The Showcase and The Open) and for first two days of The Festival and the New Course, regarded as the more demanding, for the meetings in December (The International), January (New Year’s Day & Festival Trials Day) and April and the last two days of The Festival. Antiar was The Queen Mother’s first and only winner at The Festival, taking the Spa (now Stayers’) Hurdle the day after his owner’s Worcran finished third in the Champion Hurdle. The Queen Mother was a regular attendee of The Festival. 16
ARKLE FACTS Form figures; 341104-1111111-11311111-113111-11111-212 Born; April 19, 1957, Ballymacoll Stud, Dunboyne, Co Meath, Ireland. His sire was Archive and his dam Bright Cherry. Colour; Bay. Breeder; Mary Baker. Sold; Goff’s Annual August Sales - Ballsbridge, August 4, 1960. Arkle, at the time un-named, was lot 148 and had a reserve of 500 guineas. He was sold to Tom Dreaper for 1,150 guineas on behalf of Anne, Duchess of Westminster. Her purchase was subsequently named Arkle, the name of a mountain on the Duchess’ estate in Sutherland, Scotland. Race record; Starts: 35; 1st: 27; 2nd: 2; 3rd: 3; 4th: 2; Unp: 1. His career runs included 26 chases (22 wins), six hurdle races (four wins), two bumpers and one Flat race (one win). Total career earnings; £78,464 5s 6d (around £1.25 million today). Owner; Anne, Duchess of Westminster (b1915 - d2003). Trainer; Tom Dreaper (b1898-d1975). Jockey; Arkle was ridden predominantly by Pat Taaffe (b1930-d1992). Taaffe partnered Arkle 28 times, including on all the horse’s 26 chase outings, and was successful on 24 occasions The other jockeys who rode Arkle were Mr Mark Hely-Hutchinson (twice), Liam McLoughlin (three times - one win), Paddy Woods (once - one win) and T P Burns (once - one win). First race; Lough Ennel Maiden Plate (a bumper - National Hunt Flat race), Mullingar, Ireland, December 9, 1961. Started 5/1 and finished third under Mark Hely-Hutchinson. First win Bective Novice Hurdle, Navan, January 20, 1962. Started at 20/1 and ridden by Liam McLoughlin. First outing and win in Britain; Honeybourne Chase, Cheltenham, November 17, 1962. Started the 11/8 favourite and won by 20 lengths under Pat Taaffe. Cheltenham Festival wins; (four - Pat Taaffe rode on each occasion). March 12, 1963 - Broadway Novices’ Chase (RSA Chase) 4/9 Fav, won by 20 lengths. March 7, 1964 - Cheltenham Gold Cup 7/4 2nd Fav, won by five lengths. March 11, 1965 - Cheltenham Gold Cup 30/100 Fav, won by 20 lengths. March 17, 1966 - Cheltenham Gold Cup 1/10 Fav, won by 30 lengths. Cheltenham; Arkle ran six times at Cheltenham, with his only defeat at the Home of Jump Racing coming on December 12, 1964 in the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup over 2m 5f. With top-weight of 12st 10lb, the 8/11 favourite finished a close third, beaten a length and a short-head by Flying Wild (10st 6lb) and Buona Notte (10st 12lb) in this valuable handicap chase. Other major victories; (all ridden by Pat Taaffe) Power Gold Cup, Fairyhouse (1963). Hennessy Gold Cup, Newbury (1964, 1965). Thyestes Chase, Gowran Park (1964). Irish Grand National, Fairyhouse (1964). Leopardstown Chase, Leopardstown (1965, 1966). Whitbread Gold Cup, Sandown Park (1965). Gallagher Gold Cup, Sandown Park (1965). King George VI Chase, Kempton Park (1965). SGB Chase, Ascot (1966). Betting; Started at odds-on in 22 of his 26 chases. His shortest-ever starting price was 1/10 in the 1966 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Biggest weight carried to victory; 12st 11lb in the Milltown Chase at Leopardstown in February, 1963. Diet in training; Oats mashed up with at least two eggs and a couple of bottles of Guinness. Longest winning distance; a distance - 1965 King George VI Chase, Kempton Park. Timeform; Arkle is rated the best chaser of all-time by Timeform, with a rating of 212. His one-time stable companion Flyingbolt is next on 210, with Arkle’s old rival Mill House and Kauto Star both achieving 191. Nickname; Himself. Final Race; King George VI Chase, Kempton Park, December 27, 1966. Second to Dormant, finished lame. Died; May 31, 1970, Bryanstown, County Kildare. Was humanely put down as a result of extreme stiffness and lesions in both hind feet. Originally buried at Bryanstown, his remains were exhumed in 1976 and his skeleton was put on display at the Irish National Stud. Commemoration at Cheltenham; The bronze statue of Arkle created by local artist Doris Lindner was unveiled at Cheltenham by the Duchess of Westminster in 1972. It currently stands near the parade ring. The Cotswold Chase, the championship event for two-mile novice chasers, was re-named the Arkle Trophy in 1969. The Arkle Bar in the Club Enclosure is the most famous racecourse bar in Britain. Cheltenham Media Guide <strong>2017</strong> 1966 Arkle captured the Gold Cup for the third successive year. The highestrated chaser of all time, he became a household name. Racing was a key part of the BBC’s outside broadcast schedule of sports. (See above) 1968 Fort Leney’s Cheltenham Gold Cup success meant that Tom Dreaper, who won five Gold Cups with three horses, became the winning-most trainer in the race. His other winners were Prince Regent (1946) and Arkle (1964, 1965 and 1966). The Triumph Hurdle was run at Hurst Park and transferred to Cheltenham in 1965 on the closure of the London course. The race originally took place at Cheltenham’s April Meeting but was moved to The Festival in 1968. 1969 The Arkle Novices’ Chase, the two-mile novice chasing championship race at The Festival, was inaugurated with its current title, after Arkle’s three wins in the Cheltenham Gold Cup (1964-66). In its first year, the race was worth £1,365, and was won by Chatham (10/1), trained by Fred Rimell and ridden by Terry Biddlecombe. It was known as the Cotswold Chase before 1969. 1970 Tom Dreaper had the best record of any trainer in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, winning six runnings with Fortria (1960 and 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), Muir (1969) and Straight Fort (1970). 1971 L’Escargot won his second successive Cheltenham Gold Cup. Trained in Ireland by Dan Moore for Raymond Guest, the American ambassador to Ireland between 1965 and 1968, the chaser was ridden by Tommy Carberry. L’Escargot went on to victory in the 1975 Grand National, beating Red Rum. What is now the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle was introduced to The Festival as the Aldsworth Hurdlle. 1972 The value of the winner’s prize in the Cheltenham Gold Cup nearly doubled to £15,255. The Stayers’ Hurdle, known as the World Hurdle between 2005 and 2016, was introduced with the current race conditions. Before 1972, the equivalent race was known as the Spa Hurdle. 17
Page 1 and 2: THE FESTIVAL 2017 MEDIA GUIDE
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME The build-up to this year
Page 5 and 6: A general view of the Vestey Bar at
Page 7 and 8: BRITISH RACING HAS A DUTY OF CARE T
Page 9 and 10: BETBRIGHT PRESTBURY CUP BRITAIN VER
Page 11 and 12: THE MCCOYS RECOGNISING JUMP RACING
Page 13 and 14: Cheltenham Media Guide 2017 mile co
Page 15: JON RICHARDSON THE OLD MAN 7th OCTO
Page 19 and 20: Cheltenham Media Guide 2017 1997 A
Page 21 and 22: INCREDIBLE UNMISSABLE £10 FREE NO
Page 23 and 24: laying plans for the 12 months ahea
Page 25 and 26: THE FESTIVAL IN FIGURES Cheltenham
Page 27 and 28: Cheltenham Media Guide 2017 and tur
Page 29 and 30: CALL US FOR CHELTENHAM BETTING NEWS
Page 31 and 32: Cheltenham Media Guide 2017 TIMICO
Page 33 and 34: Queen’s Prize at Kempton Park and
Page 35 and 36: Eborneezer (1961) and trained Bula
Page 37 and 38: Cheltenham Media Guide 2017 37
Page 39 and 40: THE FIRST RACE AT THE CHELTENHAM FE
Page 41 and 42: The only horse since to have won th
Page 43 and 44: CHELTENHAM & SOUTH WEST SYNDICATE S
Page 45 and 46: ecognised start of the race that is
Page 47 and 48: WE ’ RE NOT HORSING AROUND PROUD
Page 49 and 50: short history, with three wins apie
Page 51 and 52: LEADING JOCKEYS AT THE FESTIVAL Rub
Page 53 and 54: William Alexander Baring Bingham, w
Page 55 and 56: at Cheltenham for 26 years altogeth
Page 57 and 58: of supporting races. The first Coun
Page 59 and 60: Bookmakers in front of the See You

THE FESTIVAL 2017 MEDIA GUIDE

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?