“TIME”…. It’s a funny word, isn’t it lads? Depending on your situation, you can find yourself treating it like an elastic band.

Stretching it to its limit, getting it to last longer and longer prolonging the moment and enjoyment, or letting it go, wishing it and probably the stress and pain that comes with it away, as fast as possible.

Sure, the older we get it seems like our Cheltenhams come around in the calendar quicker each year and once we land in Prestbury Park you just want that elastic to stretch and hold at its limit for as long as possible.

Memories will be made this week that will last “for all time” and one man will more than likely walk out the gate on Friday evening being spoken of as the greatest “of all time”

More and more each and every year since his maiden success in 1995, Cheltenham has become about one man, William Peter Mullins.

It’s “time” to stop the clock and watch in wonder at a man whose name will be spoken of for “all time”. Welcome to Cheltenham 2024!

Monday

My usual posse of nephew Sean and bookmakers Berkie Browne and Tim “Spike” Murphy depart Listowel at 8.30 this morning for Cork airport and we jump on the 12pm Aer Lingus iron bird to Heathrow.

The plane is full of racegoers and as well as boys from Listowel. The County is well represented for the week with punters from Tralee, Killarney, Killorglin and Cahersiveen all in great order looking forward to their annual pilgrimage.

“Willie’s in this, Willie’s in that and Willie’s in the other”, if Willie doesn’t have a good week the Kingdom of Kerry will be broke it seems.

We have an easy journey and land to our house in Charlton Kings for 5pm. Our gorgeous land lady Christine is on hand to greet us and even has the dinner on spoiling us like relations home for a holiday.

Tuesday

I rock up to the media tent for 8.30am getting my ducks in a row and meeting and greeting our colleagues from this side of the pond. There are the guts of 100 photographers between racing and social accredited for the Festival so as you can imagine it’s a busy place.

I am parked beside Dave Hartley who specialises in photographing members of the Royal Family. We laugh and slag each other that my nightmare would be covering a Royal wedding in Windsor while his is the thoughts of driving into the field for Aghabullogue point-to-point!

On the pitch we have six winners today and even the local success with Chianti Classico trained by Kim Bailey has a touch of home about it as he is jointly owned by Sir Francis Brooke of Glenbevan Stud in Croom who is His Majesty The King’s Royal Ascot Representative. Also a great friend of Listowel Racecourse as himself and his wife Katherine lead the Ascot Team to the Harvest Festival for a few days racing every year.

Full set

State Man wins the Champion Hurdle, his ninth Grade 1, making it a fifth in the race for Willie and a maiden success for owners Joe and Marie Donnelly and 33-year-old jockey Paul Townend who has now completed the full set of championship races at the Festival. He is led up by Rachel Robins who also led up Gaelic Warrior earlier on in the day.

“How’s the heart, Joe?” the winning owner is asked as I picture him with the family.

“I’ll tell ye a story,” he says. “I was at Thurles one day and was rushing up the steps of the stand to watch a race and a fella shouts, ‘slow down Joe, you will give yourself a heart attack’, to which Mick O’Toole shouted, ‘that fella has no heart’!

Slade Steel wins the Supreme giving Henry de Bromhead a 22nd Festival success and jockey Rachael Blackmore her 15th. Owner Brian Acheson and wife Carmel are on hand with son Robert and daughter Courtney, hence “Robcour”.

Owners Rich and Susannah Ricci record a double on the card with Gaelic Warrior and Lossiemouth and the final race of the day the Maureen Mullins National Hunt Chase is poignantly won by her grandson Emmet Mullins with Corbetts Cross, owned by J.P. McManus and ridden by Derek O’Connor, who was winning the race for the third time.

I can give ye another Listowel connection with the win of Lark In The Mornin in the Boodles for owners Sean and Bernardine Mulryan, trainer Joseph O’Brien and jockey J.J. Slevin as the gelding won it’s two-year-old maiden at the Harvest Festival in 2022.

Wednesday

Day two and the weather is kind which makes everyone’s lives easier. Six races on the pitch today with the Cross Country called off due to waterlogging and we manage to bag four winners with Ballyburn, Fact To File, Captain Guinness and Jasmin De Vaux the final one in the Weatherbys Bumper, a landmark success for the sport with it being Willie’s 100th success at the Festival.

It’s 29 years since Tourist Attraction, owned by North Kildare Racing Club and ridden by Mark Dwyer, started the Closutton juggernaut and please God, William Peter has a few more years in the tank.

Willie is lavish in his praise for his owners, staff, horses and son Patrick’s story about the way he thinks at times makes me laugh the most: “I remember when David Casey got his appendix out and couldn’t fly to Australia for the Melbourne Cup and Willie said “can we get him there by land ? This is to Melbourne, who else would even think like that! Maybe geography is Willie’s weakness!

Congratulations

We have to pass on huge congratulations to Kilmeague native Declan Landy, his wife Josephine, and kids Shannon and J.D. with the win of Captain Guinness, trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Declan is a great racing man and you will meet him at Dundalk on a December Friday night in the winter or Derby Day at the Curragh and I’m sure everybody is thrilled for him.

Thursday

We have two Irish winners on the card today: Teahupoo under Jack Kennedy and Inothewayurthinkin, and both horses get their trainers Gordon Elliott and Gavin Cromwell on the scoreboard for the meeting.

Teahupoo led in by groom Ericka Peciulyte makes it a second success for owners Robcour while J.P. McManus bags his third of the Festival when Inothewayurthinkin, led in by groom Caragh Monaghan and bred by J.P.’s wife Noreen, wins apologising under Derek O’Connor.

We have to give a hat tip to the Skelton brothers, Dan and Harry, who record a double on the card, including Protektorat in the Ryanair which is part-owned by Manchester United legend Alex Ferguson with John Hales and Ged Mason, and just for good luck the three boys also win with Monmiral in the Pertemps, this time trained by Paul Nicholls.

Continuing with the soccer theme, one time Tottenham, West Ham and Southampton manager Harry Redknapp leads in his winner Shakem Up’Arry, trained by Ben Pauling, to a fantastic reception.

After another memorable Cheltenham Festival what have I learned lads? Our great much loved and much missed friend James Collins had a saying, “Time and patience got the snail to America”, wise words James, God Bless You, and you would have to think that if the snail was trained by William Peter Mullins it would get there quicker then the rest.