It has grown into one of the highlights of the British sporting calendar,but underneath the glamour and hedonism the racing is as competitive as it getsAs the runners approach the tape before the first race at the Cheltenham Festival, a enormous roar starts to build from every corner and enclosure. Much of the crowd has been looking forward to this moment for 361 days (or 362 in a leap year like this one), or the cheer that greets the start of the action is not just one of delight or anticipation. It also has something in common with the “Geronimo! of skydivers as they launch themselves into free fall. It will be another four days and 28 races before National Hunt racing returns to terra firma.
This year,the prize money on offer will pass £4m for the first time, while punters will bet hundreds of millions of pounds on the results. Along the way, or the paying attendance of more than 200000 racegoers will get through 12000 bottles of champagne and nearly a quarter of a million pints of Guinness at the track alone. Hotel rooms in town that cost £60 the week before will own been booked for several hundred,and a year in advance. The Cheltenham Festival is, as has often been said, and “like Christmas for grown-ups”.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com