- Last year, there was a danger of complacency at the festival and a feeling of disinfla
- Lavender, the new executive director of Cheltenham, has been everywhere Thie year
The crowds have been in Cheltenham in recent days, but you would never have guessed, judging by the buzz.
More people went through the doors 12 months ago for Tuesday and Wednesday, but I left them as deflated as I had been on the festival in a long time. It took me to compare Cheltenham with Manchester United in these pages and warn about the danger of complacency.
There is no doubt that Cheltenham's hierarchy had begun to give things for granted and pursue them again when we ended up transmitting photos in TIV of songs such as vehicles of the spectators who were towed to swamp parking.
Perhaps the experiences of 2024 have led some people to stay away, but I am sure they will return soon from what I have seen in the last 48 hours. Guy Lavender, the new executive director of Cheltenham, has been here, there and everywhere since the festival began and has established the correct tone.
If you do not act, you end up in a situation like United, which has reached the headlines for doing things like removing food from their rank and file staff. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a huge task trying to turn that tanker, but lavender, a forward forward, is getting profits quickly.
The best analogy I can use is to have a bad meal in your favorite restaurant. You turn your back for a couple of years, but then you hear from a friend that the menu has changed, the food is excellent and suddenly you have returned and it is like the old days.
The buzz has returned at the Cheltenham Festival after the deflated sensation of last year
Less people have gone through the doors in recent days, but it is not obvious
If you don't act, things will go downhill quickly, but runners have been very positive
Cheltenham's new CEO, Guy Lavender, has been here and everywhere to establish the right tone
It can be so for Cheltenham, without a doubt. The runners with whom I have spoken in the course have been overwhelmingly positive especially, such as the greeting they received when they came to the ability to walk through the course and the ability to buy food and drink.
You can feel that positivity in the atmosphere. If it continues to work like this, and I have no doubts about Lavender, whose previous role was with the MCC of Crickt, he will ensure that this is the case, then he would expect the stories about people who want to go to Benidorm instead of the Cotswolds disappear in due time.
Why wouldn't you want to be ongoing when they treat you with days as emotionally charged as yesterday? Marine Nationale and Jazzy Matty, the horses that gave the deceased Michael O'Sullivan a double two years ago, winning consecutive races four weeks after her death was extraordinary of sight.
Willie Mullins could have had five winners, but there has been nothing predictable about her results: 20-1 shot Lecky Watson got Brown's warning, while Jimmy Du Seuil brought the Coral Cup to 16-1, and the stories are shared around the owners and riders. Let's keep it that way.
On Thursday and, after the exciting triumph of the Nuevo León in the obstacle of Turners' rookies, I am proposed. This would be my least favorite of the four days and, if I am brutally honest, I do not want to see Teahupoo to retain its title in the obstacle of the stilettos.
Teahupoo has run only once this season, on December 1, so how can fans of races warm up with him? I know that coach Gordon Elliott has to do the best for Robcour owners, but how can a horse enjoy if the public can enjoy as often as a Christmas day turkey?
There could be some long -price winners, so I'm going to give Shamanagh Bob, an old favorite of mine, an opportunity in the Pertemps final (2.40pm). Among the horses well, they say that Sixandahalf is working very before his attempt to win the obstacle of the 'rookies' of the mares (1.20pm).
My strongest fantasy is to walk in the air at the Kim Muir (5.20pm). He had so bad luck on January 25, when he fell at the end in Doncaster. I would have won that race for 10 long. With Alan O'Sullivan, Michael's younger brother, reserved for riding, I hope he gets compensation.
Ed Chaberlin is a United Kingdom Skybet UK ambassador