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Black Jack Ketchum runs loose after his fall.
By Dave Ord
Chanelle McCoy was one of the judges for the Best Dressed Lady competition at Cheltenham. I hope she enjoyed it, as the drive home with hubby on Thursday night was probably a quiet one. Black Jack Ketchum's fall at the third hurdle robbed the Ladbrokes World Hurdle of much of its lustre; it also meant the champion jockey was still winless at the meeting. As the other runners disappeared into the distance, McCoy cut a forlorn figure parked on the famous turf. Falls hurt anywhere, but especially in races like this. Perhaps the champ headed off to the pamper zone to recover, that was just one of a number of attractions on Ladies Day at Prestbury Park. Pride of place went to two fashion shows in the Centaur centre. George Davis was showing his Per Una collection which will hit Marks And Spencers' shelves in April. The clothes will fly off them judged by the reaction of the Centaur crowd. The underwear and beachwear sections were especially popular with the male members of the crowd. How they roared their approval. I got the impression they were ladies' day regulars at most courses. But this isn't any course and despite my cynicism ladies' day did seem to be a success. It wasn't for the punters though. New Little Bric and King Revo failed to fire in the opener, Monet's Garden was an expensive flop in the Ryanair and Black Jack's World Hurdle departure was another blow to contend with. But they smiled through the adversity. It hasn't been a great meeting for those placing the bets but the atmosphere at the track has been great. I'm not sure the same could be said of the McCoy transport as it pulled away into the gloom of the night.
