Happy Hunt revels in Cheltenham glory
A life in the fast lane is beckoning for Simon Hunt and The Giant Bolster after Saturday’s scintillating success at Cheltenham.
Six days earlier, the enthusiastic Kingsthorpe-based businessman sped from the Old Scouts rugby club car park in Northampton to the parade ring at Towcester in a show of support and loyalty to a band of fellow owners with trainer David Bridgwater.
Yet the adrenalin rush was magnified a thousand times at Prestbury Park in the 2m 5f Murphy Group Chase when his own pride and joy demolished nine opponents with a breathtaking display of jumping and galloping from the front.
The performance was made all the more precious by the knowledge it buried the memory of three high profile falls over fences in the past year.
Defining the extent of the thrill of seeing your horse roared to victory by thousands of revved up race goers seems almost as great a challenge as the schooling work carried out by the Cotswolds-based Bridgwater team in conquering the jumping gremlins.
That particular plague contributed to non-completions for The Giant Bolster in last season’s RSA Chase at Cheltenham and again at Aintree, before a soft early departure in November’s Paddy Power Chase.
Yet Hunt gave the feeling of euphoria a worthy shot when he said: “There is a lump in your throat and the hairs on your neck stand up.
“To watch your horse jump around Cheltenham and smash the field to bits and win by 17 lengths is fantastic. It was all a fabulous day.”
The fact Hunt can reflect on the anti-climax of the first fence Paddy Power exit when Tom Scudamore was bumped from his mount to leave a rider less Bolster earning ironic cheers, all added to the potent mix.
The Black Sam Bellamy gelding is still only seven, and it seems the only way is forward. Hunt said: “I was not surprised at the way The Giant Bolster won as we knew he had the capability to do that.
“It is all credit to Bridgy’s team: the trainer himself, his wife Lucy, brother Gary, the schooling work of Yogi Breisner and the jockeys who have ridden him.
“Tommy Phelan works at the yard and rode the horse on his comeback run over hurdles at Chepstow. You could not meet a more enthusiastic lad.”
Hunt insisted on retired rider Rodi Greene being present in the winner’s enclosure, something which spoke volumes for the whole bonding experience.
A surreal day which began with a text message and a 5.15am conversation between trainer and owner as neither could sleep, ended with fulsome celebration and the surreal experience of making the top 10 global Twitter trends.
“We stayed at the same hotel in Cheltenham as last year when he also won at that meeting and a lot of the same crowd were there,” said Hunt.
“If they didn’t back him then, they did this time. I had to give up at 2am but I think some were still going at 4am.
“My wife Liz and I looked in at the yard on the way home on Sunday and I had a couple of pints in the Queen Adelaide in Kingsthorpe.”
The Giant Bolster is now expected to run in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton on February 25, en route to a possible Cheltenham run.
Having already been given entries for the Gold Cup and the World Hurdle, other options are the JLT Speciality Handicap Chase and The Byrne Group Plate.
Aunt could be joined at Cheltenham in March by Harpole-based owner Mick White who was one of the first people to send him a congratulatory text on Saturday.
As well as planning a return to the County Hurdle for the Gordon Elliott-trained Dirar, a race in which he ran seventh last year, White could also be represented by Eight Is My Number during the four day jamboree.
The six year-old has not been seen on a course since finishing fourth in a chase at Dromore in November, but has had a breathing operation and was even given an initial entry at Towcester this week.
However, the plan is for him to run at Ayr on Monday after which entries have been made for both the RSA Chase and the Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase at the Festival.
The green shoots of recovery were apparent in the Edgcote yard run by Alex Hales this week when Salut Honore scored in the 2m 6f handicap chase at Uttoxeter on Saturday, with Royaume Bleu finishing second on the same card.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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