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Photos From The Day

Mr & Mrs Boyle elected to send themselves to Coventry (quite literally) the night before Oscara Dara stepped up to class 1 company and therefore it was a slightly nervous hotel breakfast that was taken whilst checking Google Latitude to check on Mr Garton’s progress up the motorway to join them for onward travel to Liverpool.

The journey to the course was smooth aided by both the early scheduled arrival and the owners and trainers car park label.  On parking up however, all were surprised to see Peter Ashdown’s car directly in front of them.  Without any accreditation it was a mystery as to how he had gained entrance!  A quick text confirmed that Ashdown and Dale had managed to convince the local constabulary that they were part of the media and had a “load of gear” to be unloaded.  We had been warned about the local “try-it-on” merchants but they obviously were not expecting these two southern scallys to play them at their own game!

Entry to the racecourse was smooth although it quickly became apparent that Ladies Day at Aintree was a bit different from Ladies Day at Cheltenham.  At Cheltenham, the dress is very best “country” smarts, whereas at Liverpool, the general consensus seems to be to dress how you would if you were attending a wedding on a warm summer day!  It was all a bit surreal for a winter horse race meeting, but normality was soon restored when the Boyle & Garton party met up with the Ashdown & Dale group and the Carstairs crowd in the rather excellent owners and trainers facility above the paddock for a nervous discussion of the day’s possibilities.  All agreed that 2 miles was likely to be on the sharp side for Oscara Dara, but there was still a hope that he would “do a Sandown” and surprise his more illustrious rivals.

Phil, Sarah, Tony and Dave decided to pass some time and get rid of some nervous energy by going and walking the track.  An owners badge is a great excuse to go and get up close and personal with some of the Grand National fences and having visited Red Rum’s grave, the water jump and the Chair, we checked out the last hurdle and wondered whether Oscara Dara might be jumping that in front in a couple of hours time!  It was worrying to note however that the ground seemed pretty firm underfoot and some more rain would have been nice.

We were joined by three very lively Irish chaps from the Forpadydeplaster ownership group and some healthy banter was exchanged, before the explorers made their way back to the bar to calm the nerves.

Out to the pre parade ring in plenty of time, it was a busy period for the Henderson team with three runners to saddle.  Oscara Dara was obviously seen to be probably the third string, by Nicky and his staff, but their really was no way of knowing how good he might prove to be and Alex reported that he was in great form.  It had to be said that Oscara was looking terrific and he was the first of the Henderson runners to head to the paddock.

First hiccup of the day came when the jockeys joined us in the paddock where we found all were wearing an Alder Hey charity logo over the top of their sponsors logos.  The guys at Priocept are generous in their sponsorship of Oscara Dara and despite the fact that it was a good cause, they were inevitably going to be disappointed not to get some national TV exposure on such a big day.

Before we knew it the jockeys were on and heading out to the course and it was time to fight the crowds to get to the Owners and Trainers viewing on the top of one of the stands.  Thankfully the little lighthouse style staircase was quickly climbed and we were out on the viewing deck in plenty of time.

In no time, the tapes were up and it was immediately clear that the pace was going to be slow which was bad news for Oscara Dara who would have wanted stamina to factor.  Nothing was prepared to drive the pace however and the field was packed tight with Oscara losing his position on a couple of occasions.  There were many with chances as they turned for home and as they quickened, Oscara Dara looked to go with them fairly easily and as he moved up there were a couple of strides where the owners hopes were raised…

But as quick as the hopes were raised, they were dashed again.  A second kick from Prospect Wells, Darlan, Captain Conan and Vulcanite had Oscara off the bridle and dropping back and it suddenly looked like prize money might be in doubt.  The injection of pace was short lived though and it became clear that the four in front were no longer moving away.  As they began to tire, our lad’s stamina started to come through and he began to reel Vulcanite back as they jumped the last.  The race was over as Nicky had secured a 1-2 with Darlan and Captain Conan, but BG Racing owners and indeed Nicky himself were still eyes on the track as Oscara Dara battled back past Vulcanite to secure a creditable 4th place and suddenly it was all hands on deck to get back to the unsaddling enclosure!

4th meant a spot in the winners enclosure and Oscara Dara arrived there at about the same time as the owners did.  David Bass confirmed that the trip was too sharp and that he felt that Oscara would also prefer slightly softer ground as he had changed his legs on several occasions.  David reported that much as we had seen, Oscara Dara had covered the first kick of speed, but could not go with the second one, but both he and Nicky were adamant that we should be delighted with the result given that this was only his second run over hurdles.  Nicky also seemed keen to try to find one more race before the end of the season probably over 2 miles 4 furlongs and preferably on softer ground.  Just to rub this in, it promptly started raining!

The final remaining task was for Tony to get himself on TV and he completed this as we crossed out of the winners enclosure by looming up behind Tony McCoy during his BBC post race interview on our way back to the Owners and Trainers to debrief!

All were agreed that whilst the result was disappointing from one perspective, it was also hugely encouraging from another.  It has to be noted that the dream when you buy a horse is to go to the big festivals and this is a dream that many do not realise, but here we were at Aintree at the Grand National meeting with a horse that had just visited the winners enclosure.  This is what it is all about and it is something that we should all remember as you never know when you might get the chance to experience it again!