Cheltenham Wraps Up
The four-day Cheltenham festival (subject of Bill Barich’s new book, “A Fine Place to Daydream” — more on that next week) ended today, with Irish jumper War of Attrition winning the Gold Cup. “He was something else. He jumped each fence absolutely impeccably. I knew he had plenty in the tank from the way he pinged the last two,” said jockey Conor O’Dwyer. Favorite Beef or Salmon “turned in another lifeless effort” and finished eleventh.
This year’s festival was marred by a high death toll among runners. Five horses died of injuries on Thursday, three in one race alone, bringing the total number of horses killed to nine over the course of the festival, the highest fatality rate since 1996 when 10 died. The Jockey Club has already announced it will investigate the deaths and review safety procedures.
More: “A sub-standard Cheltenham, in the absence of Kicking King, Trabolgan and Feathard Lady? Forget it.”
