 |
|
Horse Racing Meetings Article # 2 The Cheltenham Festival Overview of the Festival I suppose I am a little biased when it comes to the Cheltenham Festival. As I do not live too far away, I have spent many a great day at this famous race course. I have even had my son ring me from the course asking me for my advice on racing tips, now how's that for cheek! There are generally 25 races throughout the week of the Cheltenham Festival. It may be fair to say that of all the major race meetings, this is the one that is the most hotly contested. When you're looking at your horse racing tips for Cheltenham, you can be expected to trawl through some 500 horses who are competing for prize money that in 2008, was in excess of £3 million. In terms of what we would call big races, the week kicks off with The Champion Hurdle, which is on the Tuesday. If you go to the course on a Wednesday you will be able to see the Queen Mother Champion Chase, with World Hurdle featuring the following day. Of course, Cheltenham's equivalent to Aintree's Grand National occurs on the Friday, with the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race that I have been fortunate to see (and profit from) many times. A Unique Atmosphere Having lived in Gloucestershire for many years, I know exactly what the local atmosphere is like as the first day of the festival approaches. The streets of Cheltenham full of the Irish, ensuring that many hundreds of thousands of pints of Guinness will be sunk, either in celebration or commiseration. Of all the events that I have been to, it would be hard to better the thrill that you get when watching a huge field tearing around the challenging course. It has seen some dramatic climaxes in the past, with the energy-sapping climb up the hill to the finishing post. Cheltenham Festival History I have had many bets on horse racing events in my time, but few would match the drama of the ones ran at the Festival. History tells us that there have been epic battles in the past, with the Gold Cup contests in the 1960s between the great Arkle and Mill House. In more recent years the spectacular and wonderful sight of the popular, Desert Orchid, will forever be remembered, and with her wonderful victory in 1989 the entire nation was besotted with the beautiful grey. And last and certainly not least, who could ever forget the great Best Mate, and his hat-trick of Gold Cup wins in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Unfortunately, the 2008 Festival will be remembered for not only the immense performance of Denman en route to winning the Gold Cup, but the gales that meant that day two had to be abandoned. The high winds aside, the Festival was still a success, and given the nature of Denman's victory, you can bet that Kauto Star will be out for revenge in 2009. I look forward to seeing you all there in future years! Article Author: Cliff Thurston
Click On The Link For More Horse Racing Articles Or How About My Free Horse Racing Tips For 21 Days
|