Following the Irish rout at last week’s Cheltenham Festival, the British have been left scratching their heads as to what went so badly wrong. Rachael Blackmore alone, won more races than the entire British cohort, with the Prestbury Cup score ending with an embarrassing five British winners – while Blackmore contributed six to Ireland’s record 23 successes. Only two of the 15 Grade 1 races, over the four days, […]
Tag: Cheltenham Festival
Gold Cup 2021: Who is Jack Kennedy? The 21-year-old jockey who made history aboard Minella Indo at Cheltenham
Minella Indo has won the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup, ridden by Irishman Jack Kennedy. Kennedy, 21, has won four races at this year’s Festival, but the pinnacle of which was the Gold Cup for Henry de Bromhead on Friday afternoon, helping the trainer to become the first to win the Champion Chase, Hurdle and Gold […]
Gold Cup 2021: Minella Indo goes down in Cheltenham Festival legend for Henry de Bromhead
Minella Indo won the 2021 Gold Cup at Cheltenham Festival for Jack Kennedy and trainer Henry de Bromhead. The 8-year-old fought off a valiant effort from A Plus Tard and Rachael Blackmore to win by 1 1/4 length. Favourite and winner of the two previous Gold Cups, Al Boum Photo, never mounted a close challenge […]
Cheltenham Festival Day Four: Another Irish Winner as Colreevy and Paul Townend win the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase
Colreevy ridden by Paul Townend completed a enthralling win in the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase. The eight-year-old mare trained by Willie Mullins pulled away from Shattered Love, also trained by Mullins, to win by half-a-length to seal a another victory for the Irish trainers. So far this week, Ireland have had 22 winners to […]
Live Blog: Build up from the Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup day and updates from Forest Green Rovers, Aston Villa and Birmingham City
Good afternoon and welcome to the ParkLife Sport live blog. It’s Gold Cup day! The biggest day of the Cheltenham calendar and we’ve got a fantastic day of sport lined up. We’ll bring you live updates from all the races throughout the day, as well as news from Aston Villa, Forest Green Rovers and Birmingham […]
Horse racing is morally questionable but it’s importance to local economy comes above that: Comment piece
Horse racing has been morally dubious at the best of times and as time goes on it partly remains a sport still in the dark ages, a time before professionalism. The questionable treatment of the horses, drug use and being a sport built around gambling, however in the name of the “greater good”, I must […]
Cheltenham Festival: How things stand in the Prestbury Cup
As the third and penultimate day of Cheltenham racing is upon us, the festival has once again proved to the world why it holds such a special place in the hearts of horse racing fans. This year’s meeting has already provided some key talking points; day one proved to be a historic one as […]
Cheltenham Festival 2021: the absence of spectatorship and its impact on the betting industry
For the first time in its 161-year history, the Cheltenham Festival has been taking place behind closed doors, with no fans allowed to attend this year due to COVID-19’s presence. A year on from last year’s race week, which was promptly followed by the first of three national lockdowns in the UK, public health has […]
Cheltenham Festival day two: Sky Pirate wins the Grand Annual Chase
Nick Schofield rode to Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase glory on Sky Pirate, beating odds-on favourite Embitterred (9/2) in the process. Rachel Blackmore, who was riding Joseph Patrick O’Brien’s horse, was unseated for the third time today only 24 hours after becoming the first-ever female jockey to win the Champion Hurdle at […]
Cheltenham Festival 2021: Put The Kettle On wins the Queen Mother Champion Chase
Aidan Coleman rode to Queen Mother Champion Chase glory on Put The Kettle On, stunning Chacun Pour Soi in the process. The Willie Mullins horse was the overwhelming favourite at 4/6, but came third to Henry De Bromhead’s 7-year-old (9/1) and Nube Negra (11/1) in second. Put The Kettle On was amongst the front of […]