THE St Patrick’s Day Massacre. That’s how I described day two of the Festival after the Irish won six of the seven races, taking their score to 11 at the halfway stage.
Not that I was complaining. I may be a Gloucestershire boy but I backed Put The Kettle On and took great pleasure in calling her home in front for TalkSport listeners.
In a normal year there must be over 600 media personnel at the Festival. This year there’s not much more than 25 and I know I am privileged to be among them. In terms of outside broadcast, ITV is mob-handed and the Racing TV team is pretty big but the representation from (BBC) 5Live and TalkSport is way down. I’m also doing RTÉ Radio.
Cheltenham is my Mecca. My first sporting memory is of Arkle winning the 1965 Gold Cup. Driving through the gates this week I am as excited as any other year. That Cleeve Hill backdrop, all those Festival memories come flooding back. I love this place with a passion. But of course this year everything is different.
I am commentating from a perch in the grandstand, just in front of the main press room. Even with no crowds I don’t find it a struggle to inject atmosphere into my commentaries.
The strangest bit is just after the race; the walk back to the winner’s enclosure seems to take an age without the people cheering. You’ve heard of the loneliness of the long distance runner. Well, this is like the loneliness of the Covid Cheltenham winner.
It just shows you how we desperately need the crowds back.
I am back in my hotel room by 7pm, weighing up the food delivery options. There is nowhere to go and nobody to socialise with.
Cheltenham is a ghost town this week. The local economy will have lost millions - it’s reminiscent of the foot-and-mouth year of 2001.
The only thing that’s the same as other years is the early morning exercise on the track.
On Wednesday I got to the racecourse at 7.30am and I came upon three horses having a pick of grass at the winning post. One of them was Honeysuckle and I had my photograph taken with her. It was a wonderful moment.