Every winner I have had has stayed in my memory forever. From my first ever Festival winner in 2011, courtesy of Sizing Australia in the Cross Country, to my first Championship race win with Solwhit's World Hurdle.
The winners that win in tight finishes are always sweet. First Lieutenant's nail biting finish in the 2011 Neptune when beating the future Champion Hurdle winner Rock On Ruby and Balthazar King's Cross Country success last year are fine examples of this.
Equally, the victories where your horse sluices up are simply a joy to behold. Cue Card's front running display in the Ryanair two years ago was poetry in motion.
This is not a gloatfest by any means; some winners are cherished because you need them so badly. My only winner of 2012's Festival was Sir Des Champs in the Jewson, which is obviously now known as the JLT.
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| Sir Des Champs and Davy Russell after his win in 2012. |
All the days, weeks and months stewing over ante-post bets, the countless minutes spent watching weather forecasts to monitor ground conditions, the endless preview nights and the Twitter chatter. It all comes down to THAT RACE. If your horse crosses the line in first place, the outpouring of emotion is palpable. The tension, angst, excitement that is pent up inside you is released. Until the next race this...
So whether you're a fist pumper, air puncher, hi-fiver, hand waver, knee slider, shape thrower, celebratory singer, manic screamer or uncontrollable weeper OR all of the above, just make sure you cherish every winner you have.
Here's hoping you have many winners this week and, in the process, form eternal bonds with those horses that cannot be broken.
Happy Cheltenham Punting!
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