St. Patrick's Day at Cheltenham

The luck of the Irish has shone through on day three of the Cheltenham Festival. A. P. McCoy has won the Ryanair Chase on Albertas Run and Ruby Walsh remained in the spotlight, winning World Hurdle with Big Buck's. 

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year rode Albertas Run to victory, despite a course invader running onto the track. Albertas Run's trainer Jonjo O'Neill spoke to BBC Radio 5 straight after the race, expressing "We work all year for cheltenham, it's a magical week. Everyone's having a great time and it's great to be part of it". 

This was only the beginning. The main event of the day - The World Hurdle was won by Ruby Walsh, who certainly hasn't been keeping quiet during the festival. On "Ruby Tuesday" he won a hat-trick of races, but Walsh was extremely complimentary of his steed. "He's an aeroplane, you can't fault him. I knew it would be tactical but this horse no longer needs to be kept behind, he can stretch in front".

 There was a tense moment between Big Buck's and challenger Grands Crus, ridden by Tom Scudamore, but Walsh ultimately was the first past the post. 

Scudamore gracefully accepted a very worthy victor: "It was a great advert for racing. We've beaten by a great horse. The best compliment we can pay Big Buck's tonight is he knows he's been in a good race and will sleep well tonight. We'll try chasing next year". 

Winning trainer Paul Nicholls admitted "The best horse won on the day but it was an awesome performance by both horses. I think that's arguably Big Buck's career best".

Cheltenham has provided a very memorable St. Patrick's Day, but theres still plenty more to come on its final day. A. P. McCoy had hoped he would ride Binocular in Tuesday's Champion Hurdle, but will ride Kempes in tomorrow's Gold Cup - "You have prepared all year for this and everyone in the stables has done their utmost so you are praying nothing goes wrong... And when it all comes right it is just unbelievable. The cheers you receive can't be beaten". 

Perhaps citing the 'luck of the Irish' isn't appropriate. These sportsmen are clearly focused and ambitious, just as The Wild Geese were. Congratulations to both and lets see what tomorrow brings. 

Luck of the Irish on "Ruby Tuesday"

Cheltenham got off to an electric start yesterday and turned out to be a really great day for the Irish. 


Already being dubbed "Ruby Tuesday", day 1 saw Irishman Ruby Walsh win a hat-trick! Walsh upset the bookies when he won the day's main event - the Stan James Champion Hurdle - with Irish horse Hurricane Fly. He followed up this astounding victory with two more. First with Quevega and then Al Ferof. 


Its thought that Walsh's achievements have won punters £10 million in total. David Williams from betting agency Ladbrokes explained, "This time last year we were drinking champagne after all the favourites lost on the first day - now we are on bread and water".


In response to winning the Champion Hurdle, a jubilated Walsh said: "There are ups and downs, good days and bad days in racing. I've been close a few times in the Champion Hurdle - I think I've been second twice - but on paper this was the best ride I had". Congratulations to this Man of Action. 

Cheltenham 15th-18th March

The Cheltenham Festival is fast approaching. Between 15th-18th March owner, trainer and jockey will be putting their hearts and souls into 27 races. This year marks Cheltenham's centenary  - 100 years in a permanent location, proving the festival has come a long way since its beginnings and now has an overall winnings of £3,415,000.

The Cheltenham Festival attracts a very large number of Irish people and is an exciting prelude to St. Patrick's Day celebrations. This adds to the unique atmosphere. Clare Balding outlines this perfectly, "Ask people why they love Cheltenham and they will talk of the craic, the magic, the camaraderie of shared pleasure and pain".

This celebration kicks off today, "Centenary Day", which will remember the extensive history of Cheltenham and its evolution from from humble beginnings to over 200,00 people cheering the "Cheltenham roar". 

The event has already had many shocks - the latest being last years winner of the Stan James Champion Hurdle being left out of the line up. Previous champion Binocular withdrew from the Hurdle after testing positive for medication used to treat an allergy earlier in the month. Binocular's trainer, Nicky Henderson explained, "As we were getting close to the most important race of the year, I thought it prudent to take a precautionary test which, devastatingly, has shown to be positive. We have therefore reluctantly had to take the BHA's advice that the only reasonable course is not to confirm the entry and he has consequently been withdrawn from the Champion Hurdle".

At The Wild Geese Irish Whiskey we're keeping our eye on Hurricane Fly, who will now be ridden by Ruby Walsh and as always will be looking out for the extraordinary - Men of Action.