Tuesday, 31 December 2013

The International, Saturday 14th December


Saturday was the final day of racing at Cheltenham until New Year's Day and featured the Stan James International Hurdle, a Grade 2 race and usually the pointer for the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle ran at The Festival in March. It was won this year by The New One, trained by local trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies. I didn't watch the race as I was facing the other way at the time, trying to draw a segment of the crowd as they watched the race:




Earlier in the day I tried to concentrate on the betting as the punters scanned for good prices for the big race. The New One started at 2/5 odds on so the public were clearly in little doubt as to the race's outcome.


The weather was windy and horrible again on the Saturday; most of the food stalls lost their menu boards and a fair few spectators their hats.


As the light died I tried to get the orange glow of the bookie's electronic boards half-obsured by the mass of punters making their way to and fro:




At the end of the day I was not the only one resorting to the relative warmth (and safety from flying displaced objects) of the bars, although I got the impression some had been there a fair bit longer than I. A long clean-up job for someone:



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