85-year-old trainer and 18-year-old jockey steal the show at Cheltenham
Racegoers on day two of the Cheltenham Festival. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA
An 85-year-old trainer and an 18-year-old jockey stole the show on day two of the Cheltenham Festival as the aptly named A Dream To Share, sporting the famous green and gold silks of JP McManus, stormed to victory in the finale, the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.
It was a first Festival success for veteran Dungarvan trainer John Kiely who himself was still riding out until covid made its unwelcome presence felt.
“I've spent my life in racing, you never think as a youngster you'd get to be in this hallowed spot.
“It’s a lovely game and it was really proven yesterday with the reception Honeysuckle got. Everybody to a man was behind Henry (de Bromhead) and the outfit. It’s wonderful to have this win at this part of my life.”
A Dream To Share was bred and previously owned by RTÉ and ITV presenter Brian Gleeson and his wife Claire and ridden to victory by their son John.
“It's tremendous,” Gleeson Sr said. “Cheltenham Festival, with your son riding, in those colours and trained by a maestro in John Kiely — it's nearly a book!
“The horse was named by my wife Claire. We always say everything good in life is worth sharing and this horse we always thought was good.
Having won twice on day one, Willie Mullins saddled another brace, highlighted by Energumene retaining the feature race, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, in the hands of Midleton jockey Paul Townend.
The Carlow trainer and Townend will have been thrilled to see Energumene bounce back to his brilliant best after a lacklustre effort in defeat on his previous visit to Cheltenham in January.
The memory of that defeat didn’t stop punters from steaming into Energumene and he was sent off the well-backed 6-5 favourite to retain his crown.
With rain-softened conditions in his favour, Energumene duly did just that and he was followed home by Irish raider Captain Guinness, trained by Tuesday’s hero of the hour, Henry de Bromhead, who later saddled 22-1 shot Maskada to victory in a handicap chase.
In victory, Maskada gave Cork jockey Darragh O’Keeffe a first Festival success.
“It’s an amazing place,” O’Keeffe said of Cheltenham, “and to come over with a few rides is a great privilege. I was just touched off last year in the Coral Cup, and then I was touched off here in the Paddy Power as well — I was starting to get nightmares about this place. I’m just grateful to Maskada’s owners for putting me up. She loved the conditions out there today and jumped super all the way around. It’s brilliant.”
As was the case on day one, the Irish had five winners on the day to stretch their Prestbury Cup lead over the hosts to 10-4 at the halfway point.
The Mullins-trained and Townend-ridden Impaire Et Passe got the Irish off to a flyer in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle before the Gordon Elliott-trained Delta Work won the Glenfarclas Chase in the hands of Keith Donoghue.
One of the two British successes even had an asterisk as Patrick Neville, who trained The Real Whacker to victory in the Brown Advisory Chase, only moved to England from his native Limerick in 2021.
But at 10-4 up, we can probably afford to let that victory stand as an English one.
