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Photos From The Day

Video of the Race

Probably the day we all dreamed of when getting into ownership dawned bright, clear and considerably warmer than the previous two days.  An early start to the course for Phil who was co-ordinating the car park meeting to dish out tickets and socialise.  For the first time in Oscara Dara’s career, all of the various members of the partnership were represented at the course.

Parked up in the members car park, the first issue was that Sarah and Tony were running late and their car was bringing the helium balloon we were planning to use to make finding the car easier.  This necessitated several explanatory phone calls and a couple of search and rescue missions as people started to arrive.  It was great to get everyone together and the excitement was building as the tickets were distributed.  The badges for paddock and admission had Oscara Dara’s name and colours printed on them, a great keepsake from the day.

We made our way into the course and Tony, Sarah and Phil decided to walk down the track to check the ground.  There was some give underfoot, but the ground did not feel soft and this was reinforced when the official going was changed to good to soft (good in places).

Before long racing was underway, but before the Ryanair Chase, the excitement was too much and most of the partners found themselves watching from the lawn bar patio in order to make a quick dash for the pre parade ring.  Alex and Oscara Dara arrived at the same time as most of the owners and Alex showed his nerves making a real struggle of unwrapping and putting on his official Ladbrokes groom’s jacket!  Having calmed him down, thankfully Oscara Dara was showing no nerves at all whilst being saddled and heading for the paddock.

The pre race formalities seemed to rush by, with David Bass met and given about 20 different sets of instructions from different owners and before any time seemed to have passed it was time to watch the race.  Several of the owners opted for the unique viewpoint of standing on the Old Course the other side of the rail from the final hurdle, a “money cant buy” location for watching a Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 race.

After the initial lack of enthusiasm to make the pace on the part of the jockeys, Bassy settled Oscara Dara in 4th place with plenty of daylight around him.  He settled well and jumped nicely for the first circuit and was still in position at the top of the hill although David was looking a tad more urgent than the other jockeys.  Coming down the hill, Oscara came under pressure and dropped off the leading five runners although he was staying steadily in sixth place.  As they turned for home it was clear that he was not going to take a hand in the finish but he could still pick up prize money.  This was exactly what he did!  Staying on all the way up the hill, he even reeled in part of the deficit as he came past the line 6 lengths behind the 5th horse and 10 lengths off the photo for third.

The owners had to be pleased with this result and Nicky seemed delighted with the run although he was understandably disappointed as stable mate and favourite Oscar Whisky was pulled up in behind.  David reported that he had stayed well and run a good race.

In the money and with hope that he could be competitive at this level in the future, Oscara Dara’s owners left the day happy, having had a brilliant experience.