A CLENCHED fist, a wave of the whip towards the crowd, and a punch in the air. Rewind back to the 2009 Cheltenham Festival, and an exuberant 20-year-old Aidan Coleman crossed the line in first position after winning the Pertemps Final on board 16/1 shot Kayf Aramis.

It was a swashbuckling ride, taking up the running three flights from home and then proceeding to power up the famous hill, with the dynamic duo fending off all-comers with a ‘none shall pass’ attitude.

It was Coleman’s first Cheltenham Festival winner, and the sense of elation he recalls fondly. “If you could bottle that feeling and sell it would be worth a bit - and a bit more! It was only just before that Festival that I had ridden out my claim, and so it was all a bit of a whirlwind - but that was some feeling.”

It was a feeling which he wanted to treasure and make the most of, as in sport, and in racing in particular, there can be more disappointments than joy.

“At that stage of my career, everything was just starting to get going, I was having a great time riding for Venetia (Williams) and it was all quite manic and I was just riding a little bit on autopilot; in the sense of not really having time to reflect on what’s just happened. It was a case of moving on to the next race, then off to the next meeting.

“However, a few of the lads in the weighing room made a point in saying to me in the aftermath to enjoy the winning feeling and soak it up - because it may not happen as much as we would all like it to. Considering it took me 10 years to ride my next Festival winner, I would say that advice was spot on!”

That decade passed, and Paisley Park came with his trademark storming run to land the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle. “I owe this horse so much, for what he has done for me and my career” Coleman retorts unprompted with an edgy sense of emotion, underpinned by immense pride.

“It was a while between drinks as far as Festival winners are concerned, but that was an immense feeling. He is such a warrior, and a testament to Emma and the whole team that he keeps coming back for more.”

Race of the season

That has certainly has been the case this season, as Paisley Park provided one of the races of the season so far when beaten a neck by Champ in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury, and then provided a real goosebumps moment when comfortably reversing the form in winning the rearranged Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day.

“That race even got me a little choked up I must admit - he’s some horse and he got some reception. I’ve won on him 10 times now - four of those at the highest level. He’s 11, but feels as good as ever, and the form in the book this season pretty much shows that, and he keeps finding more. He thrives on racing, he isn’t the type you want to run sparingly.”

Though the 11-year-old was beaten in the Cleeve Hurdle in late January, his trainer blamed the lack of pace - “they weren’t going quick enough for him to make it a test at the end of the race.” Looking ahead to March, there is a bullishness about Coleman in regards to his willing dance partner; his kindred spirit.

“I’m amazed he is such a big price to win the Stayers’ Hurdle; Home By The Lee looks an improved horse and I suppose is the one to beat on what we have seen this season, but Paisley deserves to be right up there. He’s won it, been placed the last two years and feels in the form of his life - if you didn’t know he was 11, you wouldn’t think he was.”

As is often the case in life (not just the microcosm of the racing world), you have to take the rough with the smooth, and Coleman revisits one of his lowest moments from the meeting of yesteryear. Paisley Park, in many peoples’ eyes, was the ‘banker of the meeting’ at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival.

Sent off the 4/6 favourite, he could only muster a laboured seventh place behind Lisnagar Oscar, in which his usual trademark finishing effort was not there. It subsequently transpired that Paisley Park was suffering with a heart murmur.

“I wasn’t frustrated or angry or anything like that, I was just disappointed, just a bit sad to be honest.” describes Coleman with a distinct sense of melancholy.

“I remember getting into my car that evening and just sat there feeling like a bubble had burst. Scarcely before any ride at Cheltenham in the past would I ever think that I was going to win, but I genuinely believed Paisley Park would just turn up and win. Even though I was a bit older - that was a little bit of a reality check.

“I was more disappointed for Emma, Andrew (Gemmell) and the whole team to be honest, but in this game you can’t dwell on the disappointments for too long or they will eat you up. I’m just so happy that touch wood, we have him back to his best and despite his advancing years, he can head to Cheltenham with a great chance once again. The joy he has brought to everyone connected to him” 

Kayf Aramis and Paisley Park have walked back into the hallowed winner’s enclosure with a jubilant Coleman lapping up the exultation. The third and fourth of his Festival wins came courtesy of the teak-tough mare Put The Kettle On, who Coleman feels perhaps still doesn’t get the credit she deserves.

Now in foal, the winner of the 2020 Arkle Trophy, and the 2021 Queen Mother Champion Chase, produced two moments of magic at the Festival.

“I’d say she is a bit underrated. Henry (de Bromhead) trained her perfectly for those big days in March and she delivered. With all the hype (and rightly so) surrounding Honeysuckle, she wasn’t always a mare who was talked about - yet the history books talk for her.”

Coleman then goes on to express how well she felt when heading to post on those hazy Cheltenham days, and throws in a tongue-in-cheek comment for good measure: “For whatever reason, her form improved at least 10lb when she got to Cheltenham. I don’t know whether it was the track, ground, the way the races were run, or just something in the air, but she loved it. I’d also say she had an excellent jockey on board who gave her two cracking rides as well - so that’s probably where the improvement came from!

Fond memories are often retold with a great sense of enthusiasm, and that very much comes across when referring to the mare who was often the underdog, but made it her business to dine at the top table.

The chat about that wonderful mare seems to have stirred up Coleman’s inner banter. “Put The Kettle On was Festival winners three and four...but it should be four and five; remember Any Currency?!”

The 2016 Cross Country winner caused a minor upset when landing the spoils at 11/1, only to be disqualified subsequently for testing positive for a prohibitive substance.

Expensive month

“I had been on holiday, and got back to find a letter through the post saying Any Currency had been disqualified, and a notice from Weatherbys to say I was now £3,000 worse off. That turned out to be an expensive month - I should have had a holiday in my back garden instead!

“In all seriousness, It was frustrating for all concerned, and Martin (Keighley) was cleared of any wrong-doing, but I suppose that is one that got away, there is no other way of dressing it up.”

As Coleman alluded to, you can’t dwell on the past, and he is very much excited about the future and understandably so. Former Champion Hurdler Epatante is a smashing mare and she has to be respected wherever she ends up: “Constitution Hill looks a formidable horse and he’s great for the sport, but I’m fed up with chasing his backside!

“She proved two and a half miles is no issue at Aintree and she could easily end up in the Mares Hurdle. Having said that, she is a former winner of the Champion Hurdle and is entitled to take her chance - you can’t run off from one horse.”

Carrying the same silks, the exciting Jonbon, who is hot favourite for the Arkle Trophy - is a horse he has built up a lovely rapport with.

“We always thought he would make up into a better chaser than hurdler, and he is going about his business in great style. Warwick and Sandown are proper tests for a chaser, especially a novice, and he jumped beautifully over those fences.”

The Arkle is one race that escapes the illustrious roll of honour for J.P McManus, and Coleman states his gratitude for the backing he has received from one of the heavyweight owners of the racing game.

“Obviously it would be great for all concerned if he could win, especially for Mr McManus. He has been very supportive, not just for me, but for the whole game and we have formed a great relationship.” Money doesn’t always guarantee success, but at a cost of £570,000 at a Goffs UK Point-to-Point Sale, Jonbon is more than living up to his price tag and is a horse who in time Coleman thinks could be capable of anything.

“The class horses like him relax and can go over any trip, so it wouldn’t shock me in time, if he ended up in something like a King George. He doesn’t need to go anywhere other than two miles for now, but he is a joy to ride and the world is his oyster.”

On the horse’s often questioned demeanour, he suggests that his temperament is sometimes unfairly diagnosed. “He gets sweaty and fizzy beforehand, but once the tapes go up, he relaxes. I think it’s overplayed; his antics before the race are just the way he is, but it doesn’t affect him in a negative way - it’s just him.”

Something to bear in mind perhaps, if during the cacophony of noise and pandemonium from 70,000 frenzied spectators in attendance. If he does get a bit worked up in the preliminaries, it may be unwise to hold it against him.

>Senior rider

Coleman, who turns 35 this year, rejects the term ‘twilight of his career’ but is more at home with the description of  ‘senior rider’.

When asked what he has learned most in regard to his riding at Prestbury Park, he offers interesting insight. “When I was at Jonjo O’Neill’s he had a big influence on me in regards to race-riding tactics, and when required, not to be afraid to ride with more patience. In the early days of riding at Cheltenham, I perhaps was a little too forceful at times, which is easy to do when the adrenaline is pumping.

“Over time, it has become very clear to me that if you don’t come down the hill, you won’t come up it, so keeping enough gas in the tank for the hard yards is something which I think has served me well. However, if you want to know how to ride Cheltenham properly and in more detail, watch Ruby Walsh chatting to Lydia Hislop - that is how to do it!”

Fifteen years after his first Cheltenham Festival appearance, he is as hungry as ever to succeed, but this Festival will be particularly poignant if he can land one on the big stage.

Lifelong friend

The reality of how fragile life can be has really hit home recently, with the passing of lifelong friend Paudie Palmer.

“Paudie had known my parents most of their life and they were great friends, and I can remember him from as far back as when I was just a boy. He lived just a stone’s throw from us when we grew up, and he was a wonderful man.

“Whenever I would ride a big winner, he was always one of the first to text me and congratulate me. I miss him dearly and I’m still a bit shocked to be honest.

“If, God willing, I could ride a winner at this year’s Festival, it would be my way of sending him a text message. A message simply to say ‘thank you’.”

This article is taken from The Irish Field Cheltenham Magazine 2023. CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY