361 days to go…

And so we say farewell to the Cheltenham Festival for another year.

Here are some random thoughts:

• the whole experience was life-enhancing
• the company of friends is one of the best things in life
• Margaret’s pie is simply the best
• Cheltenham racecourse is rather cruel to have a ‘Ladies’ Day’ in early March when some mares dressed as fillies are baring quite a lot of flesh at a time when I am pulling my Barbour jacket closer to me
• Quevega won her race in amazing style – coming to the last she looked beaten and then it was as if Ruby Walsh had found the turbo button and she shot up the hill to be the first six-time winner of races at the Festival (I was there for all six)
• the Barn Owl above Brockhampton was my first of 2014
• we drank some good wine and were caught out by a bottle of white masquerading as a red – unnerving!
• plans were made to produce a racing blog
• a butterfly flew over the heads of thousands watching the Champion Hurdle – I think it was a Peacock or a Small Tortoiseshell
• I learned that since, say, WWII, cigarettes have got weaker and alcoholic drinks have become stronger – an interesting contrast
• the morning mists scuppered our attempts to break our record for numbers of Buzzards seen between Eynsham and the racecourse
• A successful Yankee can be turned into a new coat in the twinkling of an eye – can’t it Sally?
• my enjoyment of a bacon baguette was slightly diminished by watching a friend, of usually impeccable taste and discernment, tucking into a bacon and egg bap with plastic cheese and mayonnaise. Even now, the thought of it makes me shudder
• I chatted to a trainee equine vet over a delicious Indian meal and learned about horses and owners
• replacement car radiators are now made of plastic, apparently
• an Eynsham garden produced five finch species each morning over breakfast including my first 2014 Siskins (I don’t get out much)
• it’s not at all galling to back three horses to win the Champion Hurdle and for them to come 2nd, 3rd and 4th – not galling at all.
• even after the winter we have had, Cheltenham watered the course for the last couple of days – we find it difficult to get the management of water right
• the death toll for horses over the four days was three – too many. Each year I hope that it will be lower or zero but it seems it is not to be
• Friday was carnage for jockeys too – best wishes go out to Ruby Walsh and Daryl Jacob
• it’s a good job that next year isn’t a leap year or else there would be an extra day until the next Festival
• and…because you will ask…I made a small loss on Day 1, a larger loss on Day 2, an even larger loss on Day 3 but a stonking profit on Day 4 (and yesterday evening’s blog will show you, largely, why) which made it a winning Cheltenham.  It was, financially, a winning Cheltenham (rather to my surprise considering where I started this morning) but it was, in terms of joie de vivre, a hugely winning Cheltenham.

 

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