Another spellbinding Cheltenham Festival draws to a close
and racing fans will have twelve months to wait for the next instalment of ‘The
Greatest Show on Turf.’
Racing fans leaving this year’s meeting will have a number
of fantastic memories to take away from Prestbury Park and though the
bookmakers edged the final day of proceedings, there was plenty of joy for
punters in the betting ring.
So much was said about the returning champions installing
fear at bookmaker pitches all over the Cotswolds, but it was only Big Buck’s
that was up to the challenge and Paul Nicholls’ superstar made it an incredible
four World Hurdles on the bounce.
William Hill make Big Buck’s 5/2 to never be beaten over
hurdles again and it was a performance that will live long in the memory of
Festival goers.
The same cannot be said for Hurricane Fly who is 6/1 (Stan James) for the 2013 Champion Hurdle after finishing third in Tuesday’s feature,
while Sizing Europe couldn’t make it a hat-trick at the Festival in the
Champion Chase.
Equally Long Run was made a massive 12/1 for the 2013 Gold
Cup by BetVictor and there will be plenty of people that believe he will find
it hard to hold off the challenge of the likes of Sir Des Champs and Bob’s
Worth at next year’s meeting.
The greatest cheer of the week came for legendary chaser
Kauto Star is heartbreakingly pulled up on the first circuit of Friday’s
feature. After weeks of will he or won’t
he after a heavy fall when schooling, Ruby Walsh was never travelling aboard
the twelve-year-old and he was applauded by a packed crowd as his race came to
an end.
However, the story of the week came in the shape of a
massive gamble which saw one of Nicky Henderson’s stable lads land a £1million
payout after successfully nailing five horses in an ante post accumulator. The youngster placed a £50 bet on Henderson’s
Simonsig, Bob’s Worth, Finian’s Rainbow, Sprinter Sacre and Riverside Theatre
all winning at the Festival and there were jubilant scenes on course after the
latter was coaxed to victory by this week’s star jockey, Barry Geraghty.
Now let the countdown to the 2013 Cheltenham Festival begin,
just 361 days to go…