On the sort of crisp, bright day that Cheltenham festival regulars love, artists Emily Johnson and Andy Owen-Smith were to be found in a gallery in the Montpellier area of the Regency town, putting the final touches to an exhibition celebrating the power of the horse and the hustle and bustle of race day.
“There’s real sense of excitement in Cheltenham,” said Johnson. “I’ve been dropping off flyers in the hotels and they are all packed.” Owen-Smith agreed: “I think there’s pent-up demand for the festival; the town can’t wait for it.”
Last year’s festival took place behind closed doors because of Covid. In 2020 it was staged under a cloud as the Covid crisis loomed, and it came to be regarded by many as a super-spreader event.
This March, racegoers and townsfolk are embracing the prospect of four days of sport – and partying – with particular fervour.
Andre Klein, the racecourse’s community engagement manager, said tickets had been snapped up faster than ever before. “Gold Cup day [Friday] was sold out in mid-January and Thursday sold out shortly after that,” he said.
Klein has been touring the Gold Cup around workplaces, schools and venues in the town. “There’s a real sense of anticipation. That first roar on Tuesday will be very special.”
The festival is an annual riot of colour and life that for many signals the start of spring. Royals and aristocrats rub shoulders with reality TV stars, footballers, farmers and excited gaggles of fun-seekers.
Warwick
1.35 Pilsdon Pen
2.12 Lac De Constance
2.45 Galice Macalo
3.20 Guillemot (nap)
3.55 Boughtbeforelunch
4.30 Hyland
5.05 Bold Reaction
Bangor-On-Dee
2.02 Discko Des Plages
2.38 Wouldubewell (nb)
3.13 Harbour Lake
3.48 Kayfast Warrior
4.23 Latitude
4.58 Grey Skies
For some, the focus is to try to take money off the bookies but many others are there simply to sink as many pints of Guinness or glasses of champagne as possible.
Thousands of Irish people make the pilgrimage to Gloucestershire and extra flights have been put on to bring in punters from Dublin, Shannon and Cork to Bristol and Birmingham.
Lindsey Holland, who runs the Cleeve Hill hotel near the course, said her regulars were bitterly disappointed that they couldn’t come last year. “It’s lovely to be welcoming back old friends again. This is the first week for months the hospitality industry has been able to go at it full throttle,” she said
Despite last year’s hiatus, Holland said most Cheltenham businesses had survived. Only one of a 45-strong collective of independent hospitality businesses – a small restaurant – has shut down. “People have proved to be very resilient,” said Holland.
Jon Pullin, the new clerk of the course at Cheltenham, said on Sunday that the fields for the opening day of the track’s Festival meeting on Tuesday are “very competitive … with numbers of runners comparable to or higher [than] recent years” – even though the National Hunt Chase, the final event on the card, has attracted just seven runners, its smallest field this century.
For the second year running, 10 will go to post for the Champion Hurdle, which is in line with the 10-year average, while a 12-runner field for the Mares’ Hurdle is the second-largest in the last five years. An 11-strong field for the Arkle Trophy is also well ahead of the five runners in 2021, as well as the 10-year average of 8.2.
However, the seven-runner field for the National Hunt Chase is the first in single figures this century, for a race which attracted 26 runners in 2002 and has a 10-year average of 16.5. The Supreme Novice Hurdle, meanwhile, has nine declared runners, one more than in 2021 but well below the 10-year average of 15.7.
Direct comparisons with last year’s Festival are potentially misleading, as owners were banned from attending due to Covid-19 restrictions. This may have persuaded some owners with unfancied or so-called “social” runners to bypass the meeting.
However, the small field for the National Hunt Chase, which has attracted just two runners from British stables, will still come as a surprise to many punters – not least when the idea of expanding the meeting to five days is again being floated in some quarters.
The going for the first day of the Festival, meanwhile, is expected to be good-to-soft, after plans to continue watering the track were put on hold following 4mm of rain overnight on Saturday. No further rain is forecast for the track until Wednesday, while Thursday and Friday are expected to be dry and mild.
"We'll monitor conditions and see how much it dries before making any decision on any further watering,” Pullin."Given where we are currently and the forecast ahead, we will be somewhere around good-to-soft for the start of the meeting.
"There is a little bit of rain on the radar for Wednesday at the moment, so we are keeping an eye on that. At the moment it looks like 2-3mm and then Thursday and Friday are looking dry, bright and sunny and temperatures up to 14C.” Greg Wood
Cheltenham borough council said it was expecting the 2022 festival to bring in more than £100m to the local economy. “It will be a very different feel to last year,” said Victoria Atherstone, the cabinet member for culture, wellbeing and business. “From hotels and restaurants through to taxi drivers and shops, the economic ripple effect from the festival week extends far beyond the racecourse.”
So many are grateful the festival is back. It is a money spinner for organisations such as Cheltenham Tigers rugby club, which charges racegoers to park at its site and provides breakfasts and beer. “It’s our biggest fundraiser,” said its chair, Steve Ratcliffe. “We’ll be serving our first pint of Guinness at about 9am on Tuesday.”
Lynn Garritty, an on-course bookmaker, has painted her nails in the colour of jockey silks to mark her return. “I haven’t done that before but thought it was worth a special effort this year,” she said. “Everybody is buzzing about the festival.”
A day off well spent - the countdown to the Cheltenham Festival begins with new nails #jockeyssilks 😍😍 absolutely love them 🐎🐎🐎 pic.twitter.com/jWJn8WZmaK
— Lynn Garritty (@l_pawley) March 5, 2022
Back in Montpellier, Dawn Evans, a signwriter, was completing a picture of a bottle of Irish whiskey on the shopfront of John Gordons wine and spirits bar.
At the James of Montpellier gentlemen’s outfitters, staff were doing a brisk trade in tweed suits, ties and pocket squares. “Young people like to dress up as if they are country folk,” said the salesperson Graham Ellis.
There are some doubters, of course, who point out that Covid has not gone away. Paul Hodgkinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats on Gloucestershire county council, said: “We are seeing a rise in Covid cases across the country following the government’s decision to abandon all safety restrictions.
“The sad fact is that hospitalisations from Covid in Gloucestershire are back up to levels not seen since the height of the pandemic last year. There is no doubt that the full races are bound to spread the virus further.”
The doubling of the town’s population throws up other safety issues. Police are carrying out extra patrols aimed at keeping women and girls safe. Licensing officials are clamping down on unlawfully operated taxis and private-hire cars.
And this year there will be signs of the war in Ukraine. The Jockey Club, which owns and runs the racecourse, is raising money for the people of Ukraine and renaming a race the Ukraine Appeal National Hunt Chase, while the horse Lisnagar Oscar will be ridden by a jockey in the colours of the Ukraine flag on Thursday.
Previous winner LISNAGAR OSCAR will run in these custom silks in next week's @paddypower Stayers' Hurdle in support of Ukraine.
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 11, 2022
Red Cross Ukraine Appeal: https://t.co/RmHtvhtU6Y pic.twitter.com/7AEK6iUmnG
At the Shamrock pub in Cheltenham, the landlady, Caroline Morrissey, was flying the flags of the Irish counties Galway and Laois. “It was very strange not having the Irish here last year,” she said. “It will be wonderful to welcome everyone back.”
