It’s been an honour and a privilege, says Claisse
SIMON Claisse described his 22 years at Cheltenham as “an honour and a privilege” as he enjoyed his final day as clerk of the course on Sunday.
Claisse first began working at the home of National Hunt racing in 1999 and has since overseen 20 Cheltenham Festivals – a tenure that has coincided with the eras of great horses such as Best Mate, Kauto Star, Istabraq and Sprinter Sacre.
Away from the track, Claisse was instrumental in establishing the Tattersalls Cheltenham Bloodstock sales and the Jockey Club South West syndicate, as well as acting as a member of the judging panel for the annual McCoys awards.
However, he announced that he would be stepping down from the role earlier in the year and on taking charge at Prestbury Park for the final time, Claisse admitted to conflicted emotions. He said: “(I’m feeling) inevitably a bit mixed, it’s been 22 and a bit years – it’s been my life.
“I felt in the summer it was the right time. I’m still at an age where I can go off and pursue other interests.
“I want to reiterate the point I’ve made many times in the last few months – it’s been an honour and a privilege to play a part in not only the development of the racecourse, but the success of the Festival too.”
Claisse presided over some key moments in Festival history, but also faced significant challenges – not least when the meeting was called off in 2001 due to foot and mouth or when the Wednesday of the Festival was cancelled when high winds damaged some temporary structures.
However, Claisse pinpointed the 2021 Festival – held behind closed doors – as the biggest challenge of his Cheltenham tenure as an ‘Irish bubble’ was created at the track to ensure the raiding party could compete in a way that minimised the threat of spreading Covid-19.
He said: “I won’t miss the anxiety – you know, have we irrigated enough, have we put on too much, is it going to freeze? I won’t miss that side of it, but I will clearly miss all the people I’ve worked with.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have brilliant support teams, particularly the racing function, but also other colleagues across the business who look after all the other bits.
“I think that really struck home at this year’s Festival when we had the disappointment of no owners and no race-going public, (but) we were able to deliver what was needed to get the Irish contingent to come over by creating an ‘Irish bubble’. That was (my biggest challenge).”
Claisse’s final November meeting certainly did not pass without its dramas, with Friday’s two-runner novice chase attracting all the headlines as Mr Drogo and Gin On Lime both hit the penultimate obstacle, with only Rachael Blackmore’s skill in maintaining her partnership with the latter saving the day.
Claisse said: “My colleagues said the things I hadn’t experienced in 23 years were a walk-over or a race with no finishers, and having escaped the walkover, I was thinking we weren’t going to have any finishers. Bless Rachael, she came to our rescue!”
Claisse expects to miss the thrill of Cheltenham in the future.
He added: “This place gets to you. Sprinter Sacre coming back into this winner’s enclosure in 2016 – it’s spine-tingling stuff.”