Another little royal hearts
IT may have been Ladies Day but six- year- old Archie McCoy stole the show at Cheltenham yesterday after joining Zara Tindall to watch his favourite horse romp to victory.
The Queen’s granddaughter then presented the trophy to little Archie, son of 20- times champion jockey AP McCoy.
He watched with Zara as Champ, a horse stabled at his family’s yard for nine months, won the RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase.
Zara’s mother Princess Anne was also at the racing festival as was the Duchess of Cornwall, who was sporting a familiar look.
She wore the same polka dot dress as last year, although this time she teamed it with a different coat.
Camilla has taken on the late Queen Mother’s role as chief royal supporter of jump racing.
Stringent
And she was there to the trophy for The Queen Champion Steeple Chase.
Camilla was among a host of famous faces at the races, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Clare Balding and TV host Charlotte Hawkins.
Stringent hygiene measures have been put in place amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The festival began on Tuesday with more than 60,000 racegoers arriving, down almost 7,000 on last year.
More wash basins and hand sanitiser stations have been set up with a number of signs reminding racegoers to wash their hands.
Ian Renton, regional director Cheltenham and the
Racegoer Anne Gilder wore a mask present Mother
South West for Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “We had a fantastic first day here yesterday with seven brilliant races which reminds us what the sport is really about.
“All the measures we put in place were well used by racegoers and we were topping up our hand sanitiser gel stations all day long. “The racegoers heeded the advice we gave to ensure that hygiene was kept at a maximum.”