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“title =” Cheltenham Festival: Guinness Village scenes like this will be missing “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017 / 03 /17/18417-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017/03/17/18417-medium.jpeg “data-br- m = “https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017/03/17/18417-large.jpeg” data-br-w = “https://www.rp-assets.com/ images / news / 2017/03/17/18417-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017/03/17/18417-large.jpeg “onclick = “return false; “>
By Richard Birch
The 2021 Cheltenham Festival will be unique. The four-day extravaganza typically draws crowds exceeding 60,000 each day, but current coronavirus restrictions mean the stands will be sadly empty this year. Here, Richard Birch explains ten things we won’t miss out on by not being able to attend. . .
Ten things we will miss
1. The roar of the crowd as the ribbons are raised for the start of the supreme novices’ obstacle: a genuine moment that bristles at the back of your neck.
two. Somehow managing to run into all those people we met at previous festivals, whose names we don’t even know, despite the huge crowd, and having deep and meaningful conversations late into the night about what a good coach Willie Mullins is.
Should bettors side with Willie Mullins’ favorite on the Supreme or not?
3. That pure adrenaline rush when you’ve backed up the winner of a major race and find your legs taking off in the direction of the paddock, rather than the pay queue, even though you had no intention of going there.
Four. To be able to tell people for years to come that ‘I was there’ when Honeysuckle won his first Champion Hurdle and A Plus Tard ended Al Boum Photo’s dreams of immortality. Damn this pandemic.
John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)
“title =” Paul Townend celebrates amid a Cheltenham crowd after last year’s Gold Cup “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images / news / 2020/03/01/76081-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/03/01/76081-medium.jpeg ” data-br-m = “https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/03/01/76081-large.jpeg” data-br-w = “https: //www.rp- assets.com/images /news/2020/03/01/76081-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/03/01/76081 -large.jpeg “onclick =” return false; “>
5. Get up close and personal with the equine jumping stars, who we’ve been totally obsessed with from the moment the last festival ended 12 months ago. They are our friends and heroes too.
6. Spending the better part of a week away from wife / husband / kids in the company of like-minded people who just want to back the horse racing winner.
The must-race every day of the Cheltenham Festival
7. Vigorously hug or shake the hand of someone you’ve never met before with pure unbridled glee after you’ve both yelled home the winner.
8. Being completely oblivious to everything else that is happening in Britain and the rest of the world during the four days. Cheltenham is wonderfully all-encompassing.
Pool
“title =” Empty stands have become a feature of British and Irish racetracks during the pandemic “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images / news / 2021 /03/05/89263-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/03/05/89263-medium.jpeg ” data-br- m = “https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/03/05/89263-large.jpeg” data-br-w = “https: //www.rp- assets.com/ images / news / 2021/03/05/89263-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/03/05/89263 -large.jpeg “onclick =” return false; “>
9. Not having a cell phone signal for four consecutive afternoons, seemingly the only time of year when people somehow have to get by without their various devices.
10. The moment you walk out the gates after Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ latest handicap hurdle blast and realize it’s all over for another year.
1. Getting stuck in traffic on the way to the track, not being able to find your car at the exit, and then getting stuck in traffic once again when you have done so, so you will miss the first graduate race in Swindon or the start in The Espinos as a result.
two. Having to pay exorbitant prices for a fancy burger and fries that you quickly discover is far less tasty, and ten times more expensive, than a local high street Big Mac.
3. Drunks who think they are funny, aggressive drunks, and drunks who won’t stop bumping into you because they are barely able to stand up.
Four. Scammers who claim to have “ inside information ” around your car upon arrival and who try to separate you from the prepared before you have walked through the doors. How I long to go back to the days when he was offered a “lucky white heather, sir.”
5. Desperately trying to find an ‘absent’ bookmaker before the start of Stayers’ Hurdle who places cash bets on the four-mile Hexham, and then trying to locate a TV screen showing Sky Sports Racing footage of the track from Northumberland.
6. Credit card bills coming in early April with Cheltenham expenses for the week.
7. Try to see over the head of a six-foot giant that has been planted in front of you in the last minute before a race takes place in which you have invested a fortune.
Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
“title =” The Cheltenham betting ring on the opening day of the 2019 festival “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/ 2020/10 /07/83346-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/10/07/83346-medium.jpeg “data-br -m = “https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/10/07/83346-large.jpeg” data-br-w = “https://www.rp-assets.com / images / news / 2020/10/07/83346-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/10/07/83346-large. jpeg “onclick =” return false; “>
The Cheltenham betting ring on the opening day of the 2019 festival
Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
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