The magic of Cheltenham Festival

Every time the Cheltenham Festival looms, I recall a remarkable experience. It was already 25 years since Dawn Run’s recovery from a seemingly impossible position to win the Gold Cup of 1986, becoming the only horse ever to add victory in our greatest steeplechase to a triumph in the Champion Hurdle, when, for my Festival history, I interviewed her jockey.

Jonjo O’Neill took me through every stride of the race as if it had been the day before: ‘We were flying down the hill and
I could hear them coming behind us. I thought we’d gone a right gallop and couldn’t believe they were so close to us. We jumped the third last and they were jumping up my backside and I thought, “Jesus, if we don’t ping the second last we’re going to get beat.” She did ping the second last but they passed me as if I was stopped. I thought, “Oh, we’re beaten,’ so I left her alone for a few strides. Then, just between the second last and the last, I could feel her filling up and I thought, “We ain’t done yet.”… she came up the hill like a tyrant.’

‘Magic’ was the word he used several times during our conversation. Some might say that the 1986 Gold Cup was ‘just a race’ but don’t believe them. Ever since that day, Jonjo, who himself nearly lost a leg to racecourse injury and battled through cancer, has met people who have told him what inspiration Dawn Run’s feat gave them when they have been down in their lives.

As I write we can’t even be sure, thanks to coronavirus, that there will be a Festival in 2020 but what with that scourge and the ravages of storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge how badly we need the Cheltenham gathering and the kind of lift it gave us last year.