Football on scoresheet thanks to Fergie and Redknapp
CHELTENHAM felt more like Wembley yesterday as the Festival turned into a game of Football Manager with both Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp winning their first races at the Cheltenham Festival.
With Sam Allardyce and Bryan Robson watching on in the winner’s enclosure there was a football focus to proceedings as Ferguson did the double – winning the Pertemps Hurdle Final with the Paul Nicholls-trained, Harry Cobden-ridden 25-1 shot Monmiral and the Ryanair Chase with Dan Skelton’s 17-2 chance Protektorat, ridden by the trainer’s brother Harry.
On the day the British hit back – they outscored Irish horses five wins to two – Redknapp’s name was chanted from the terraces around the winner’s enclosure after the Ben Pauling-trained 8-1 shot Shakem Up’Harry carried his colour to victory in the Trustatrader Plate Chase.
Ferguson did the double twice with Manchester United in 1994 and 1996 but the man renowned for his granite-like uncompromising professionalism in football looked almost overwhelmed by his wins.
The Scot, who shares ownership of both horses with friends Ged Mason and John and Lisa Hales, said: ‘I’ve waited a long time for this but that was fantastic. What a jockey, deary me, he was brilliant.
‘It has been probably 20 years that I’ve wanted to have a winner here as when I first started [in racing] I just had Flat horses and no National Hunt ones.
‘I got interested in the jumps with Ged and John. It 100 per cent makes it more enjoyable having a winner with friends. Everyone looks forward to Cheltenham, while on the Flat you have the Derby. These two events are unsurpassed.
‘It’s special here, it’s like the Derby or the FA Cup final and I’ve waited a while to experience this. A lot of people who buy horses have never had a winner, never mind here. It’s a feeling of elation.
‘Of course it’s not the same as winning at football, that was my life, I was immersed in that, this is what I do for pleasure so it’s a different feeling. I don’t have to worry about it, I leave that to the trainer.’
Ferguson and his racing pals are enjoying quite a time on the racetrack. Spirit Dancer, the Flat horse the former Old Trafford supremo also bred has won races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia this winter, bagging almost £1.5million in prizemoney.
But a win at the Festival cannot really be measured in monetary terms. That showed in the reaction of Redknapp who reflected that his love of the sport, fostered during his playing days at West Ham United, is probably in his genes.
Shakem Up’Arry was named after Redknapp’s time managing the Hammers when a fan used to sit behind him and shout ‘Shake ‘em up, Arry’.
‘I can’t believe we’ve done it. He travelled so well and jumped the last and I thought “please don’t stop now”,’ said Redknapp.
‘Racing has been a big part of my life. I grew up at West Ham as a player where we had a team of punters, that’s how it was back in those days. We all loved a bet, we all loved racing.
‘I’ve been lucky to have got into racing as an owner and when you buy horses you dream of having a winner at Cheltenham.
‘My old nan was a bookie’s runner down our street in the east end and she used to get locked up every day for taking bets! To be here now in this position is incredible.’
The win of Protektorat, who fended off the dangerous challenge of favourite and 2023 Ryanair Chase winner Envoi Allen to win by four lengths, was justification of Dan Skelton’s decision to drop the gelding back to the shorter, and easier, Ryanair Chase after he had twice come up short in the Gold Cup.
Skelton hopes that race will be on the agenda next season for his Grey Dawning, who won the Turners Novices’ Chase after seeing off Ginny’s Destiny by two lengths in one of the more exciting finishes of the week.
It took Skelton’s tally to the week to four wins, not enough to match Willie Mullins, who still has six wins after drawing a blank, but still pretty impressive.
Skelton said: ‘I can’t believe it. We all plan to do this as trainers but it doesn’t come together that often.’
“This is what I do for pleasure, it’s different to football”