Cheltenham Runners and Riders Highlight 2008

With the Cheltenham Festival over for another year this week has seemed very “flat”. The time has been spent enjoying the recordings on my Sky+ box of Channel 4′s excellent coverage of the meeting. Even when the second day was abandoned the program they put out to “kill” time was highly entertaining. We then had the feast of six races from the course on Thursday and Friday. For me the highlight of the meeting was the performance of Inglis Drever in the World Hurdle. He showed what a tough horse he is by winning his third World Hurdle. The record books show that no other horse has achieved this, although Baracouda and Crimson Embers who both won two came close to making it three. Baracouda’s attempt in 2001 was foiled by the meeting being cancelled due to foot and mouth. He won the subsitute race at Sandown and then proceeded to win the Stayers Hurdle in 2002 and 2003. He also finished second in 2004 and 2005. In 2005 he was beaten by the new kid on the block, Inglis Drever.
Crimson Embers won the race in 1982 and 1986 and was unlucky in not being awarded the race in 1985 after being badly hampered by his stable companion on the run-in.
Inglis Drever missed the race in 2006 due to a tendon strain in his near-fore. It shows what a tough horse he is to come back from that and what a great job the Howard Johnson team have done with the horse, especially his devoted lass, Ginny Wright, seen in the picture chasing Inglis Drever up the Cheltenham hill. Who knows he might well be back in 2009 to make it four wins.

For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".