Emotional afternoon as BBC commentator Hunt calls poignant Cheltenham showpiece
HIGH EMOTIONS: John Hunt and his daughter Amy, prepare to present the winning trophies for the Support The Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup Handicap at Cheltenham Racecourse. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire
It was a poignant afternoon for commentator John Hunt at Cheltenham on Saturday.
It may have been business as usual for Radio Five's voice of racing, who was high in the Cheltenham grandstand as he stoically called home Faye Bramley's Glengouly in the afternoon's feature race.
However, there was clear emotion in the air at the end of a week he described as "eventful, tough and joyful" as he joined daughter Amy on the rostrum to hand over the weekend's biggest prize.
"It's been a very eventful week but as soon as the flag goes up (as a commentator) you have to be on the case," said Hunt.
"I'm so thrilled for Faye whose horse devoured every single fence.
"Amy is the epitome of resilience and strength. All my girls were built of that same thing.
"It's been eventful, tough and joyful. I first came to Cheltenham with my dad in 1982 and it's an honour to be here."
It was on Monday Cheltenham revealed it's feature of the two-day December meeting would be renamed the Support The Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup Handicap Chase named in honour of the fund set up in memory of Hunt's wife Carol, and daughters Hannah and Louise who were murdered in their home last July.
The racecourse also hosted a Winter Wonderland fundraising event on Thursday which was attended by a number of well known names from both racing and the wider sporting world and an online auction with numerous prizes to bid on has all helped raise over £250,000.
On Saturday, Hunt outlined not only steadfast commitment to this new charitable venture but also detailed the role sport has played in combating the struggles he has faced since the tragic day his life changed forever.
Speaking to ITV, Hunt added: "I was returning to work but had no feel for it at all really.
"It was important for me to get going again and with Amy we share many phrases of encouragement together and one of them is that, in our situation, you have to go through the uncomfortable to become more comfortable. I realise that was, and still is, our mantra that we're living by.
"With regards to work, it has only really been this summer that I have begun to reawaken a little bit. My connection with sport, and horse racing, it is only slowly coming back but the more days I do like this are really important for me."
On the fund, he added: "We'll take a little bit of a breath now and let the new year come and go, but I can assure everyone that come the new year we are going to really focus on helping those who need it most.
"Obviously we lost our three amazing girls and there are a lot of amazing girls and women out there who are struggling so badly right now and in our small way we can demonstrate going into the new year that we are on their side and we can happily back that up with hard cash to help them out now."
