Ruby Walsh: Never mind the noise, Cheltenham will always deliver
FULL HOUSE: Absurde, with Paul Townend up, on their way to winning the BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle last year. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
It has been 29 years since I made my first journey to the Cheltenham Festival, and there have been all sorts of peaks and troughs since. Gold Cups and Champions Hurdles, winners and losers, fallers, and visits to Cheltenham General or the orthopaedic unit in Gloucester Hospital.
You never know what's in store once you get to go, but 2001, when Foot And Mouth struck, and the gates never opened was the lowest point for the great venue. 2021 wasn't much better; only a few hundred working at the venue watched Rachael Blackmore sweep all before her during the covid lockdown period. But absence made the heart grow fonder, and that year created a boom in 2022 that Cheltenham Racecourse is still paying for.
