Cheltenham Festival results 1979

triumph pollardstown twice placed in a champion hurdle

foxhunters spartan missile should have won a grand national

cathcart roller coaster fred winter johnny francome

back then on that day you had the county hurdle and the ritz club handicap chase cant remember who won them,also a race missing there was a time when the stayers hurdle was ran on gold cup day but i think its after that year.

N H Handicap Chase - Fair View 12/1  Ridley Lamb  George Fairbarn

County Hurdle  -  Monte Ceco  6/1  Colin Tinkler  Fred Rimell

was the ritz club or the stayers ran that day anorak ?

Foxy,

I only have the lists of winners from Chasers and Hurdlers, but I'm almost certain the Stayers Hurdle was run on day one, immediately after the Champion Hurdle, and the NH Handicap was run straight after the Gold Cup. I was working in Kuwait in 1979, so I know I wasn't at Cheltenham that year. But that was how the races were programmed throughout the early 80's.

Sequence on Gold Cup day would be Triumph, Foxhunters, Gold Cup, NH Handicap, Cathcart, County Hurdle.

Or maybe Cathcart and County Hurdle the other way round!

i remember the likes of derring rose,galmoy,crimson embers and nomadic way they were all on the tuesday

when dramatist won the cathcart it was the last race because jonjo won the county hurdle on path of peace the race before it was his only winner of the meeting but still ended up leading rider.

Pollardstown was one of my early favourites. That was a decent renewal of the Triumph, beating Celtic Ryde and Badsworth Boy. I think he got beat on debut and then won five in a row, including races like the Stroud Green. He was tough but hadn't quite got the pace to win a Champion. Best horse for Stan Mellor and the Tullochs.

by the time rooster booster and blowing wind won the county hurdle it was then the last race of the meeting as it still should be.

differentdrum i think they owned a whitbread winner the won with a funny name.

Looks like the Cathcart/County switch took effect in 1988, when Cashew King won the County.

The Whitbread winner was Lean Ar Aghaidh in 1987, also won the Aintree Foxhunters in 1990. I can do chapter and verse on that as I had a couple of horses with Stan in 1989-1991.

cashew king got me out of the **** in his year the last race of the meeting charter partys year.

dorans pride won the stayers on gold cup day.

Thursday March 15th 1979

CHELTENHAM   - Heavy

Daily Express TRIUMPH HURDLE

1. POLLARDSTOWN  - Phillip Blacker
2. Celtic Ryde
3. Badsworth Boy

Trained: Stan Mellor
Dist:  2 and a half lengths
28 ran

Christies FOXHUNTER CHASE

1. SPARTAN MISSILE  - Mr John Thorne
2. Queensberry Lad
3. Godfrey Secondus

Trained: M Thorne
Dist: 10 lengths
10 ran

Piper Champagne GOLD CUP

1. ALVERTON
2. Royal Mail
3. Aldaniti

Trained: M H 'Peter' Easterby
25 lengths - 13 ran
16  ran

NATIONAL HUNT HANDICAP CHASE  4m

1. FAIR VIEW  - Ridley Lamb
2. Son And Heir
3. Coolafancy

Trained: George Fairbairn
Dist: 15 lengths
15 ran

COUNTY HANDICAP HURDLE

1. MONTE CECO  - Colin Tinkler
2. Hippolito
3. Prousto
4. Bective Road

Trained: Fred Rimell
Dist: Half length
20 ran

CATHCART Challenge Cup

1. ROLLER COASTER  - John Francome
2. Persian Camp

Trained: Fred Winter
Dist: 7 lengths
5 ran

thats the one anorak he ran very well in a national.

christ that was a good triumph hurdle i knew celtic ryde was 2nd didnt realise the 3rd .

I think Celtic Ryde and Badsworth Boy must have won about 75% or more of the races they contested after that race.

Think the Tulloch's also had Mahogany on the Flat? Went favourite for the 1,000 after winning a Fred Darling?

good call with mahogany she had her work cut out against pebbles in the 1,000 guineas.

pebbles of course then took on katies at royal ascot cant remember which one was fav but i believe terry ramsden had more that a few quid on the winner katies.

Good days. Well, never known a bad Cheltenham?

thats true some are just better than others.

That was a fantastic run of Champion Hurdles from Persian War through to the early 80's. That was without Golden Cygnet joining in. I think rightly talked about as the golden era.

Ridley Lamb, a blast from the past!

the first race at the dublin festival is named after golden cygnet.

very sad end to ridley

Dunno Foxy. I was only a kid. Remember him as a jockey, though

drowned in a road accident with another jockey.

I see. Sad end

Thank you onlooker....good stuff.
Have you got the SP's.
Thanks.
MONTE CECO got that race in the stewards room. I know I backed Pollardstown at around 12/1.
While standing there in the freezing cold did not anticipate The Triumph would be such a brilliant race for class horses in the passage of time.

May I ask why you want the SPs of races from the Friday of Cheltenham in 1979?
I don't have the info you require, just seems a very random request lol

Brings back memories. My family had a home bred hurdler called Tough Debate who finished third to Celtic Ryde at Worcester. Tufty only ever won one race when ridden by Sandy May and trained by Jim Old so hardly surprising that he was well beaten by Celtic Ryde who as I remember was trained by Peter Cundell. I think I backed Pollardstown though (oh God, more grief from the after timers).

As I recall the juvenile hurdle scene in those days was totally different to what it is now. I think they had the Trial, the Finale and the likes of the Stroud Green but they attracted far more runners than the handful that we now expect. David Barons was usually the trainer to follow early season with his French breds like Banlieu and Valmony. Unfortunately, they were not usually good enough come March.

big field

there was no friday festival in 1979

differentdrum

the aw has affected the triumph {juvenile scene} that said we get get very good winners of the race.

I had forgotten that Badsworth Boy  was third in the Triumph , just recall him running in the Champion Hurdle the year after , before setting a staggering unique 2 mile record that none of the greats have been able to match.
The first 3 in the 81 Grand National all featuring.
Alverton was dead within a few weeks , Aldaniti out of action for almost 2 years , Royal Mail wins a Whitbread , Celtic Ryde runs up a sequence before being killed ...........