Foyled again

BEFORE and during Cheltenham I am asked to appear on a number of radio stations throughout the country, setting the scene for the week and days ahead. This is always enjoyable and over the years I have built up a good relationship with a number of outlets.

One station that I enjoy appearing on is BBC Radio Foyle and last Friday night I previewed the week ahead on their nightly sports programme. In the course of the piece I was asked about the possibility of Ireland winning as many races as we did in 2017 – 19 against nine for the home side. I elicited surprise from the presenter when I suggested we might even go one better, even saying that I felt we could go through the card on Thursday.

Imagine my surprise when we faced into the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase with six wins on the board, and a number of fancied runners. The bubble was burst when Noel McParlan won on Missed Approach, beating Patrick Mullins and Jamie Codd on Irish challengers Mall Dini and Squouateur. So close!

New tricks

LAST Sunday provided me with a strange sensation as I headed to the newsagent to buy my copy of The Sunday Business Post. Contained within was a feature on me, penned by racing devotee Ed Micheau. It is a very different experience being the subject matter rather than the interviewer!

However, Ed had put me at ease during the week when he visited the office to conduct the interview and I had nothing to fear.

Indeed, I even picked up a trick or two for my future interviews and look forward to adopting some of Ed’s approaches.

Drop the Paddy

A PERSONAL crib I have with the week is the need to name Thursday’s meeting as St Patrick’s Thursday. The racecourse announcer went further on occasions and even remarked on some of the events happening “on St Patrick’s Day”.

While it is flattering in one sense to think that the Irish contribution to Cheltenham’s success story is acknowledged, there is really no need to move St Patrick’s Day from its normal March 17th date. When the meeting falls on that day, then it is appropriate to brand the day.

Strong sale

WELL in excess of £3 million changed hands and the vast majority of that works its way back into Ireland. This is good for the people selling horses, and a lot of this money will make it back into the sales rings in the spring and summer at the store sales.

Special congratulations to Camilla Sharples on her success with the sale of Borris House point-to-point winner Andy Dufresne for £330,000 (approximately €370,000). A report on the sale is published on page A38.

Bet on Ruby for quick return

I WAS shocked to meet Ruby and Gillian Walsh on a staircase at Cheltenham on Thursday. Unfortunately Ruby has had more experience of crutches than he would like to and he bounded up the steps like a teenager. I immediately set about getting odds on how quickly he would be back in the saddle!

Packing them in

WEDNESDAY and Thursday saw record crowds of 58,932 and 66,384 in attendance, while the opening day saw the second-largest first day crowd ever, with 66,109. Yesterday was a sell-out with 70,000 due through the gates. That means some 260,000 over the four days.