The Phenomenon that is Cheltenham Racecourse
Horse Racing: The appetite for Cheltenham just keeps getting bigger.
Oli Harris returns to the track with another opinion piece. Today’s subject matter; The mecca of jump racing, the home of National Hunt, Cheltenham Racecourse.
Caveat. I previously worked in Horse Racing, so perhaps I may exaggerate a little with some of my adjectives, but I have no link with Cheltenham or indeed jump racing, so I would hope this is a pretty balanced piece.
I am lucky enough to have been to pretty much every major and minor sporting event you can think of and have had good and bad experiences all over the world watching sports.
From my expensive and painful season ticket at Spurs to the final of the Western Open Rackets at the Racquet Club of Chicago, I’ve taken it all in. I have favourite venues like Fenway Park, and those that I really didn’t get on with like the MetLife Stadium.
Cheltenham Festival - 1935
It may sound a bit odd but sometimes the sporting event itself only really enters your head once it has actually started.
Until that point it is about the stadium or the course, or the court or the track; the build up, the atmosphere, the crowd and the journey there. So many things attack our senses before the actual sporting action begins, it is almost the bigger and most memorable part of the day.
Certainly, I have been to Twickenham many times and have very little recollection of the rugby, but I can certainly remember the fun in the car park, the train home, the absurd outfits.
However, there is one venue that for me combines the pre-action, the actual action and the post-action like no other; Cheltenham Racecourse.
I attended the November meeting this weekend, with family and friends, which is the first time I have visited the course outside of the Festival. I expected it to be busy but perhaps a little subdued due to the inclement weather, and the jumps season being in it infancy.
I was wrong. And how so.
The Build Up
I was forewarned by the packed train (2 carriages, good planning GWR) from Swindon to Cheltenham Spa, with high-spirited groups of women and men dressed in their finest winter clobber.
If further proof were needed, the queues for the buses and taxis were long but they moved, and the humour from visiting racing fans from Ireland and various parts of the UK kept it entertaining.
The course itself is a vast monument to the jumps game. The backdrop to the track instantly transports you to a time when horses jumped over hedges through fields, from spire to steeple, over water and fences.
You are undoubtedly there to watch horses and their riders do spectacular things.
A Photo from the Cheltenham main stand on Day 1 of the Festival in 2019 - ‘the roar’ is about to take place.
The unique thing is that the essence of the build-up lies between black lines of print in racecards and newspapers.
Inside headphones with podcasts and previews, and on phones with videos and interviews. Everyone is looking and hoping for the same thing, some incredible bit of information or tip that no-one else has picked up on!
The Winner! The expectation is added to by the ever-present booze and the promise of leaving that little bit richer.
Cheltenham - A special venue
This amazing combination of venue, build-up, action, socialising and memory-making is what makes the place so special.
And with my racing hat on, what I particularly like and am proud of is that it is a place for people from all walks of life.
Sure, with a certain leaning towards those that like country pursuits, the famous shopping village will bear testament to that, but the crowd is diverse.
The crowd is engaged and the crowd is HAVING FUN. This is not just for the lads, it’s not just for the hen dos or purely for racing aficionados. It’s for everyone.
From the mass of people watching from the stands to those who seek refuge in lounges and boxes, they are united by the anticipation of the race, of the swing of the hill and the relief of the finish line.
They are watching the same thing and drinking in the atmosphere which they created.
Don’t even get me started on the post-racing action… you can see a picture below for a taste of that.
Action continues off the track in the Centaur at Cheltenham
It is a truly special venue, and one that we can all be rightly proud of, and if you are ever asked by people from overseas of an event or venue to go to that is a truly amazing British day out, tell them to go to Cheltenham.
