Cheltenham Festival 2022 is fast approaching and it’s sure to be another exciting occasion with four days of elite racing scheduled to take place.
The festival is popular all over the world, with fans everywhere looking to take advantage of tips and detailed analysis from experts like oddschecker’s Andy Holding when placing wagers. It is also a hugely popular event locally for both punters and purists, attracting fans from Cheltenham itself as well as the nearby towns of Swindon, Bristol, Bath and Oxford. As one of the biggest events to take place nearby, Cheltenham Festival is extremely important for the town of Swindon, and there is a long history between the two towns when it comes to the festival.
Proximity
The proximity of Cheltenham Festival to Swindon is one of the main reasons for so many Swindonians attending the festival every year as there are only thirty miles between the two towns which, making getting to and from Cheltenham fairly simple. Drivers can enjoy scenic routes with A-roads that take you through the beautiful Cotswolds in a journey that should take around an hour, while Cheltenham racecourse provides sufficient parking spaces for racegoers, so there is no need to worry about where to leave your car. For those who don’t drive, there are regular trains which run directly between the two centres, with the racecourse only a 12-minute walk from Hyde Lane Station in Cheltenham. There are also buses that run both ways as well as a shuttle service that takes people from Cheltenham town centre to the racecourse. This proximity and the ease of transport means race fans from Swindon often make last-minute decisions to go to the festival, usually only for a day, providing they can secure tickets at short notice.
Swindon History at the Festival
In its 160-year history Cheltenham Festival has always counted on a number Swindon representatives competing at each edition. From trainers to jockeys, Swindon has an illustrious history in the competition with many legendary horse racing figures ensuring their legacy in the sport through stellar performances at The Festival.
John Francome
John Francome, who raced in the 70s and 80s, raced more than a thousand winners over his career including 10 victories at Cheltenham. His first win at The Festival came in 1975, when he won the National Hunt Handicap on King Flame. One of his most famous victories came in 1978 when he won the Gold Cup riding Midnight Court. His best year at The Festival, however, was 1981 when he won the Champion Hurdle, The Stayers’ Hurdle and the Grand Annual on three different horses. This spectacular performance earned him the Leading Rider award that year and helped raise the profile of horse racing in Swindon. He is one of the few jockeys who have had 10 or more Cheltenham Festival winners, an illustrious list which features the sport’s most iconic riders. Despite his hugely successful career, he was never able to replicate his Cheltenham form anywhere else and is known as “The best jockey never to win the Grand National”, suggesting there may have been something special about competing so close to Swindon for him.
Alan King
Despite being born in Scotland, Alan King is a Swindon horse racing legend due to the fact his stables are situated in the borough, at Barbury Castle. His stable has produced 15 Cheltenham Festival winners with his first coming in 2006 with Voy Por Ustedes in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and My Way de Solzen in the Stayer’s hurdle. Voy Por Ustedes went on to win The Queen Mother Champion Chase the following year, when Katchit and My Way de Solzen also recorded wins for his stable. He matched this feat of three winners in 2008 with Katchit in the Champion Hurdle, Nenuphar Collonges in the Spa Novices Hurdle and Old Benny in the National Hunt Challenge Cup. In 2013 the stable celebrated a 1-2 with Medinas taking first place and Meister Eckhart in second. The sustained success of King’s stable has brought numerous horse owners and breeders to Swindon for his services, bringing revenue and fame to the region in the process. His stables are set to have a number of representatives at this years festival, so there’ll be plenty of runners for Swindonians to get behind.
Wayne Hutchinson
Wayne Hutchinson is a recently retired jockey who was based in Swindon as Alan King’s main rider for most of his career. He retired in 2019 after a stellar career which spanned over 20 years with almost 800 National Hunt race winners, and a further 11 in flat racing. Hutchinson joined King’s stable at 21 as an understudy to legendary jockey Robert “Choc” Thornton, becoming the stables number one jockey after Thornton was forced to retire in 2015. While he won many races at different courses throughout the country, the highlights are his two Cheltenham wins, the first of which he achieved by three-quarters of a length with Oh Crick in the 2009 Grand Annual Challenge Cup. The most dramatic and unexpected of his wins also came at The Festival when alongside Medinas he won the 2013 Coral Cup, despite being heavily unfancied at 33/1.
Festival Fever
Cheltenham Festival brings millions of pounds to the town through the huge amount of tourism that the festival draws in. Horse racing fans from all over the world attend The Festival, with many of them spilling over into nearby Swindon which is great for the town’s hotels and businesses. During the festival, it’s not uncommon to see restaurants and pubs advertising Cheltenham-related specials to entice customers. This creates a buzz around the town that gets everyone in the mood for the big occasion, even those with little or no interest in horse racing. Some locals have named the feeling around this time “Festival fever” and it certainly gives the town a vibrance only bettered when the England Football team do well in a major tournament. All of this makes March a great time to visit Swindon, both for racegoers and anyone who wants to enjoy the town at its best.
