My memories of the Cheltenham Gold Cup

For months, the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival dominates the racing landscape.

Forget Royal Ascot, the Derby and even the Grand National – nothing captures the imagination more than those magical four days in the Cotswolds in March, where the biggest prize of the lot is the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Imagine, then, being closely involved with not just a runner in the race, but one with a leading chance. Then imagine it all going wrong in a matter of seconds.

Here, Press Association Sport racing journalist Ashley Iveson shares his memories of what might have been for Kemboy, a horse part-owned by his parents, Janet and Neil.

It undoubtedly sounds a bit of a cliche, but to have a runner in the most prestigious race in National Hunt racing really is the stuff of dreams.

We spent the summer thinking of what the new season might hold for Kemboy, who is trained by Willie Mullins in Ireland, but to think he could end up being a Gold Cup horse was total pie in the sky – so far removed from what could be considered reality.

It was not until a jaw-dropping victory at Leopardstown over the Christmas period that Cheltenham really came into focus.

It was a long three months of excitement, nerves and anticipation for us and other members of the Supreme Horse Racing Club – mostly just hoping that he remained in good form and that we could get him there in one piece.

Having spent the first three days of the Festival busily reporting on the action as it unfolded, it was not until Friday morning that it really hit home – we, as a family, are about to watch our diminutive horse take his chance on the biggest stage of all.

My parents have been involved with horses for a long time, but nothing close to this.

Drinks at breakfast time were required to settle the nerves, and the anticipation stepped up a gear on entering the pre-parade ring around 40 minutes before the race.

It is always a fairly tranquil place down there, as the horses are saddled up and prepared for battle, but you could cut the atmosphere with a knife as owners of all the horses involved gathered their thoughts.

Along with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson – part-owner of the leading British hope Clan Des Obeaux – we made our way to the busy parade ring itself to greet our Grand National-winning jockey David Mullins.

Kemboy had made much of the running when winning on his most recent outing, but Mullins suggested he would ride a more conservative race on this occasion.

With that we wished him good luck and he and Kemboy exited the parade ring before parading in front of the stands and making their way to the start.

By this stage hearts were pounding as we stood staring at the big screen, with a few press-room colleagues approaching to offer last-minute words of encouragement and good luck.

A few seconds later, the tapes went up and the roar from the grandstands could be heard as the 16 runners headed down towards the first fence.

Kemboy was tight on the rail and moving with his customary zest when he appeared to jump the fence fine, only to stumble badly a few strides later and give Mullins no chance of keeping the partnership intact.

What followed were at least a few seconds of disbelief – had this really happened? After almost three months without a day going by without thinking of Kemboy hopefully going for Gold Cup glory, was it really all over already? Sadly, it was.

Then came some sense of relief as having seen red-hot Triumph Hurdle favourite Sir Erec suffer a fatal injury just a couple of hours earlier, racecourse commentator Simon Holt said: “I’m happy to report Kemboy is absolutely fine, and he’s getting a cheer from the crowd as he races up the run-in.”

Almost numb with shock, we watched the rest of the race and applauded as Al Boum Photo – Kemboy’s stablemate – roared up the famous hill in front to provide our trainer with a first Gold Cup success.

While Al Boum Photo returned to the acclaim of the crowd, Kemboy and his devoted groom Ruth Dudfield came back to the unsaddling enclosure riderless, but absolutely none the worse. Which, of course, was the main thing.

We all gave him a pat as Ruth attempted to hold the horse, who was still so obviously full of energy and primed to race.

He was then taken away to be washed off and that was it. The Gold Cup was over for another year.

Consoling drinks followed as we tried to come to terms with what had just happened, but what could anyone say?

Comfort was taken from the fact we still had our horse, unlike the poor connections of Sir Erec and Invitation Only – another of Kemboy’s stablemates who fell in the Gold Cup and could not be saved.

A couple of days later and the disappointment is still hard to take, but we have now started to look forward to potential trips to Aintree and Punchestown next month and the show goes on.

And who knows, maybe we’ll get another tilt at the Gold Cup in a year’s time. The dream is still alive, which is what it is all about.