Tuesday see’s the start of the Cheltenham Festival, a week in which thousands of race fans travel from afar to watch the best horses, jockeys and trainers at one of the best courses in the UK.
For most, it is the pinnacle of the racing calendar and for lifelong racing fan and Slimbridge AFC assistant manager Tom Deakin, “the Cheltenham roar is on another level all together.”
“The atmosphere around the whole town is just a buzz. The whole atmosphere, especially on course, there is nothing like it.
“I’ve been to Wembley for the NFL, been to football finals, been to Hillsborough and those atmospheres are unreal, but then the Cheltenham roar is on another level all together“, he added.
There are many reasons why racing fans love the sport, from the thrills of winning to following your favourite horses. For Deakin, his love for racing stemmed from a very early age.
“I started watching racing when I was about three or four. My grandad bought me a rocking horse and it grew from there. He used to record the racing on a VHS tape every Saturday afternoon and I would then watch it when I went up to my Nan and Grandad’s every week.
“The first festival I went to I was 16, I missed school that week to go because it got to that point where I was like ‘I want to go and I needed to go’, that’s the best part of 18 years I’ve been going now.”
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The competitive nature of the sport is something Deakin has taken a liking to and the preperation and research that goes into his experience is impressive.
“I like the working out as well, trying to work out who’s best at the weights, who’s well in, who’s better prepared for it and whose form is better.
“I’ve got a book with the fields written in it. I’ve got my system that I work with and I’ve highlighted which ones I like, which ones I think have no chance and which ones that have got a chance. I’ve got about 10-12 pages in this book, I can’t get enough of it.”
With over £600,000 worth of prize money available to win for the Gold Cup race alone, it is clear to see why there is such a buzz watching the races unfold.
“Everybody and their dog this week will probably have Fecile Vega, Jonbon, Constitution Hill, Energumene, Delta Work, Galloping Des Champs, Shishkin all somewhere in multiples. Everyone will do it because they’re the ones that everyone knows.”
Deakin, however, has revealed he won’t be following the crowd and is hoping it doesn’t come back to haunt him.
“This could be bite me in the a*se mind! But I’ve got Green Book for the Pretemps, Celebre D’Allen for the Plate and Beauport for the Kim Muir.
“Green Books is 25/1, Celebre D’Allen is 33/1 and Beauport 10/1, I’ve put them in a patent and if they come in then you won’t hear from me again.”
Champion Day kicks the festival off tomorrow with the first race at 13:30 and the feature race of the day, the Unibet Champion Hurdle, at 15:30.
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