On the opening day of last year’s Cheltenham Festival, there was a vague notion that things might be about to get worse with regard to this Coronavirus thing that was seemingly becoming more prevalent.
By Thursday, after Champions League matches had taken place in packed stadia across Europe as well, the fact of having gone there, in all innocence, was being held up as the mark of someone who was potentially going to return as a ‘superspreader’.
They were difficult times and we could not have imagined at the time that the outcome of the virus would be to turn our global society on its head and leave us locked down away from friends, family and colleagues for a year and counting.
It also took may lives and caused great anguish and distress. But it wasn’t ever the fault of Cheltenham and it is a measure of our resilience as a sporting population that one year on the tapes will go up at Prestbury as they always have done, apart from the year of Foot and Mouth and in times of war.
It will of course take place in front of empty stands, and with stable staff drawn mostly from friends in England to reduce the number travelling from Ireland and having to quarantine on their way back.
In the frame of a TV screen though, the passions and the drama of the Champion Hurdle, the Gold Cup and the 26 other races over four days will be as dramatic, and as distracting as they ever have.
For some, it will be the bet, for others the sporting excellence, for a rare few, the opportunity to watch a horse you own a part of fulfill a dream.
Different reasons to enjoy and a way to escape the sameness of the everyday.
Be forgiving if a call rolls over onto the answering machine this afternoon, or if the regular zoom call is postponed until next week.
Cheltenham takes place physically in England but spiritually it is a quintessentially Irish affair. It’s a chance to stand up and show that we can be Champions in a sporting context, that we really can be the best in the world.
Today it is a day when a woman, Irish of course, Rachael Blackmore, can become the first of her gender to ride the winner of one of the great races in the sport, the Champion Hurdle.
She is competing on a level playing field with the very best of her male colleagues, and on a female horse, Honeysuckle, to make things even more portentous.
If you have no love of racing, it is still worth tuning in for this.
The action gets underway at 1:20 this afternoon. Six races will be broadcast live on Virgin Media One.
The Irish have a great chance of a great start.
For what it’s worth, and with all the caveats that the vale of your investment can go down as well as up, here are our selections for the day ahead…
1320: Blue Lord
1355: Shishkin
1430: HappyGoLucky
1505: Honeysuckle
1540: Concertista
1615: Busselton
1650: Remastered
Sport for Business Partners
