Festival Fever - The Irish At Cheltenham

Anne Holland’s latest book ‘Festival Fever’ would make the perfect Christmas present for anyone with a passion for the National Hunt game in general or Cheltenham in particular.

In her new book, Holland brings us a celebration of the Irish love affair with Cheltenham and takes the reader on a journey from the heady days of Vincent O’Brien and Arkle, through the Golden decade of the 1970s when Irish trained horses won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on six occasions and right up to date, describing the incredible atmosphere of the 2017 Festival, and Ireland’s record-breaking haul of wins.

The 1980s was when Cheltenham Racecourse first actively encouraged and nurtured the Irish involvement - Cheltenham organisers were working to entice Irish over. The Iran-Iraq war dominated the headlines, not Cheltenham, so in order to get coverage they ran special supplements in all the papers and gave press accreditation to many (even those with the most spurious of links!). They also brought British journalists over to Ireland to meet jockeys and trainers e.g. visiting Aidan O’Brien’s stables, therefore developing a great relationship between jockeys, trainers and press. Free racecards began to feature in newspapers in the 1980s, making the festival more popular. Travel grants were also offered to connections for Irish runners which worked to bring up attendance from Ireland (still rising every year) and therefore more Irish winners!

The book is filled with stories and anecdotes about the Irish association with the Festival such as the year a truck turned up on the Saturday after the Festival to collect trophies won by Willie Mullins as there hadn’t been enough room in his car to fit them all in or the intriguing tale of the ‘Mayor Of Buttevant’ who presented a winner’s trophy in the 1990s.

Foot and Mouth disease, high winds and ‘Fire And Brimstone’ — Rev. Francis Close in the 1800s was so outraged by the goings on at Cheltenham - drinking, gambling et al - that he described it as the ‘Devil’s Work’ and organised a group to throw rocks and stones at both racegoers and jockeys in 1829 — all threatened the Festival at different stages.

‘In March, each year the land level in Ireland rises a few feet, because everyone’s left for Cheltenham.’

The superstars of the racetrack, horses such as Annie Power, Brave Inca, Hardy Eustace, Hurricane Fly, Quevega, Sizing Europe, Moscow Flyer and of course, ‘Himself’ — the greatest of them all, Arkle, all get worthy mentions.

The stories of the great races — the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Champion Hurdle, the Ryanair Chase and the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the epic test of stamina that is the Stayers’ Hurdle, and the biggest race on the calendar, the Blue Riband of Steeplechasing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The big players: the incredible courage of jockeys like Ruby Walsh, AP McCoy, Barry Geraghty, Adrian Maguire, Noel Fehily and Paul Townend; the never-ending belief of the owners, breeders and trainers — from big names such as Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, Henry de Bromhead, Jonjo O’Neill and Mouse Morris to smaller players such as Robbie Hennessy and the now retired Colm Murphy; the unsung heroes of Cheltenham: the stable lads and lasses, the racing secretaries, and of course the punters, the thousands who travel long distances to create the Festival’s unique, electric atmosphere, and add their voices to the Cheltenham roar.

ANNE HOLLAND has written numerous books related to horses and horse-racing, including The Grand National: The Irish at Aintree, In the Blood: Irish Racing Dynasties, Kinane: A Remarkable Racing Family, Winners All: Favourite Racehorses Through the Years and Arkle: The Legend of ‘Himself’, all published by The O’Brien Press. She was also a successful amateur rider.

Available now in all good bookshops and on www.obrien.ie